'Bleach' Artist Shares New Take on Hollow Ichigo
One of Bleach's most compelling storylines over the course of its tenure was the Ichigo's inner [...]
One of Bleach's most compelling storylines over the course of its tenure was the Ichigo's inner battle with the Hollow part of himself and this eventually culminated in pretty cool looking transformations.
Bleach character designer Masashi Kudo recently paid tribute to one of such transformations with a killer new sketch of Hollow Ichigo at full power.
— 工藤昌史 Masashi Kudo (@Kudo_M_) December 5, 2018
The Hollow Ichigo inner-battle started early on when Ichigo first began training to better use his Zangetsu. Originally showing up as a personification of that power, Hollow Ichigo became a literal and figurative battle for Ichigo's soul as it lead to some pretty dramatic moments in the series. Ichigo's Hollow moments were some of the most fan-favorite in the entire series, so it's great to see Kudo pay tribute to it here.
The art here shows Hollow Ichigo at full power, and the intensity comes through as powerfully as the form did in Tite Kubo's original manga. Kudo understands Bleach on a deeper level than most due to his work on the anime, and it comes through absolutely well here. Kudo has kept the love for the Bleach series alive on Twitter. Previously sharing a sweet new sketch of Rukia, several alluring sketches of Orihime for her birthday, an equally spicy sketch of Rangiku, new sketches of Ichigo, Rukia, and Kenpachi, a striking new sketch of Grimmjow, and even sketches bridging the gap between Kubo's older series and brand new one-shot Burn the Witch.
It's not just Bleach either, Kudo is sharing his love for either as he's showed love for DC Comics villains Cyborg Superman and The Joker and reached across the comic world with a cool tribute to Venom. It's probably best for fans to keep an eye on Kudo's Twitter to see what cool art he shares next.
Bleach was first created by Tite Kubo for Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump, running from 2001 to 2016. The series follows the young delinquent Ichigo Kurosaki, who has the ability to see spirits. He soon obtains the power of a Soul Reaper - one meant to usher lost souls to the afterlife - and now has the duty to defend the living world from monstrous dark spirits known as Hollows.
It has been adapted into English thanks to VIZ Media, and has sold over 900 million copies in Japan. The series was later adapted into an anime by Studio Pierrot from 2004 to 2012, and has four feature-length animations, rock musicals, video games, and a ton of other merchandise. You can currently find the series now streaming on Hulu. There's also a live-action adaptation on Netflix. You can find ComicBook.com's review of the film here.