Bleach’s comeback has been a long awaited event in the anime community, with many believing that Tite Kubo’s Shonen series ended far too soon when it wrapped in both the anime and the manga. While the return has sent ripples through the fan community, so to has the comeback garnered the attention of mangakas, specifically from Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, who shared his thoughts of the Soul Society’s return along with some ribbing of mangaka Tite Kubo.
In a recent interview, Oda had this to say about Bleach and Tite Kubo specifically, making mention of the rivalry between the two Shonen creators that have made names for themselves within the world of anime:
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“Years ago, Kubo publically announced on the radio, “I hate Oda.” You wanna know if I have a grudge against Kubo? Yeah< I do! That said, his whole statement didn’t sound particularly rude to me. Actually, I don’t dislike Kubo considering his audacity to have made such a public statement. Lol.”
Eiichiro then took the opportunity to praise Tite Kubo, recognizing the hard work the mangaka has put into Bleach over the years in telling the story of Ichigo Kurosaki and the Soul Society:
“I remember Kubo’s debut manga since we are around the same age. I felt, “Wow, this new mangaka has good drawing skills. His idea is good as well. His drawings eloquently tell us he is a pretty confident guy.” Now that he mentioned me that way, I announce here with 100% confidence that someone like Kubo is a competitive super-hard worker. I’m sure you are feeling embarrassed now, Tite Kubo. Lol.
You are a man of hard work! Congrats for the Bleach 20th anniversary! Let’s go for a drink together in the near future.”
While One Piece might be ending within the next five years, Bleach’s recent comeback in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump via its special one-shot might be hinting at more stories for the Soul Society down the line.
What do you think of the hilarious relationship between Oda and Kubo? Do you think we’ll ever see an official crossover between these two Shonen franchises? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of One Piece and Bleach.