Bleach: Shonen Jump's Biggest Creators Ink Ichigo to Honor the Anime's Return

By Nick Valdez

Some of Shonen Jump's biggest creators have shared cool new illustrations of Ichigo Kurosaki and the other Bleach characters in celebration of the manga's big anniversary and new anime! Tite Kubo's Bleach first appeared in the pages of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine 20 years ago, and Shueisha has been celebrating the milestone anniversary for the series in some pretty big ways. This included the aforementioned new anime, a new chapter of the manga from Kubo himself, and a special art exhibition honoring the series now running in Japan. An exhibition that features lots of never before seen art.  

This never before seen art includes some from other major creators as well such as One Piece's Eiichiro Oda, Naruto's Masashi Kishimoto, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's Koyoharu Gotouge, Jujutsu Kaisen's Gege Akutami, Black Clover's Yuki Tabata, Assassination Classroom's Yusei Matsui and Dr. Stone's Riichiro Inagaki! Each creator put their own spin on either Ichigo or one of their personal favorites from Kubo's long manga series, and you can check out the spread of art below as spotted by @WSJ_manga on Twitter: 

Bleach will be making its official anime comeback next October as part of the Fall 2022 anime schedule. Viz Media has licensed Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War for an international release, and they officially describe the series as such, "Was it all just a coincidence, or was it inevitable? Ichigo Kurosaki gained the powers of a Soul Reaper through a chance encounter. As a Substitute Soul Reaper, Ichigo became caught in the turmoil of the Soul Society, a place where deceased souls gather. But with help from his friends, Ichigo overcame every challenge to become even stronger. When new Soul Reapers and a new enemy appear in his hometown of Karakura, Ichigo jumps back into the battlefield with his Zanpakuto to help those in need. 

Meanwhile, the Soul Society is observing a sudden surge in the number of Hollows being destroyed in the World of the Living. They also receive separate reports of residents in the Rukon District having gone missing. Finally, the Seireitei, home of the Soul Reapers, comes under attack by a group calling themselves the Wandenreich. Led by Yhwach, the father of all Quincies, the Wandenreich declare war against the Soul Reapers with the following message: 'Five days from now, the Soul Society will be annihilated by the Wandenreich.' The history and truth kept hidden by the Soul Reapers for a thousand long years is finally brought to light. All things must come to an end—as Ichigo Kurosaki's final battle begins!"

What do you think of these creators' take on Bleach and its characters? Which other creator would you want to see more Bleach art from? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

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