Bleach (manga)
Bleach is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. It follows the adventures of teenager Ichigo Kurosaki, who obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper—a death personification similar to a Grim Reaper—from another Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki. He uses his newfound powers to take on the duties of defending humans from evil spirits called Hollows and guiding departed souls to the afterlife, which set him on journeys to various ghostly realms of existence.
Bleach was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from August 2001 to August 2016, with its chapters collected in 74 volumes. The series has spawned a media franchise that includes an anime television series adaptation produced by Pierrot from 2004 to 2012, two original video animations, four animated feature films, ten stage musicals, and numerous video games, as well as various types of merchandise. A Japanese live-action film adaptation produced by Warner Bros. premiered in 2018. Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, a sequel to the anime television series that adapts the manga's final story arc, premiered in 2022.
In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by Viz Media in 2004. It has released the collected volumes and published its chapters in its Shonen Jump magazine from November 2007 until the magazine's final issue in April 2012.
Bleach received the 50th Shogakukan Manga Award for the category in 2005. The manga had over 130 million copies in circulation worldwide by 2022, making it one of the best-selling manga in history.
Plot
is a teenager from Karakura Town who possesses the rare ability to perceive spirits. This gift leads him to encounter Rukia Kuchiki, a warrior from another world who is hunting a Hollow—a monstrous lost soul that preys on both the living and the dead. Rukia serves among the List of Soul Reapers in Bleach, an ancient order tasked with maintaining the balance between worlds. These guardians ferry departed souls to the Soul Society while protecting humanity from Hollows. After sustaining severe injuries while protecting Ichigo from a Hollow, Rukia transfers her powers to him, enabling him to assume her duties while she recuperates within a temporary human body. Stranded in the World of the Living, she mentors Ichigo as he navigates his dual responsibilities as a Substitute Soul Reaper and a high school student. They are joined by spiritually aware allies: Ichigo's classmate Orihime Inoue, his close friend Yasutora "Chad" Sado, and Uryū Ishida, a Quincy survivor with the ability to manipulate spiritual energy.Rukia is later apprehended by the Soul Society for unlawfully bestowing her powers upon a human and sentenced to execution. Determined to rescue her, Ichigo and his companions seek the aid of Kisuke Urahara, a former Soul Reaper scientist who trains Ichigo to awaken his innate Soul Reaper abilities. Upon infiltrating the Soul Society, tensions escalate among the Thirteen Court Squads when Sousuke Aizen, captain of the fifth company, is seemingly assassinated. Suspicion falls upon Ichigo and his allies, prompting the Soul Reapers to turn against one another. After Ichigo halts the conflict and secures Rukia's freedom, Aizen exposes his deception, revealing his orchestration of Rukia's execution to extract the Hōgyoku, a powerful artifact concealed within her by Urahara. Aizen flees to Hueco Mundo, the domain of Hollows, alongside his co-conspirators Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tōsen. In the aftermath, Ichigo is formally recognized as a Substitute Soul Reaper by the Soul Society.
The conflict intensifies as Aizen deploys his elite forces, the Arrancar—humanoid Hollows—against Ichigo and his allies. They are aided by the Vizards, former Soul Reapers who underwent Hollowfication due to Aizen's experiments. When Ulquiorra, one of Aizen's Espada, abducts Orihime, Ichigo and his comrades storm Hueco Mundo to infiltrate Las Noches. Though Ichigo defeats Ulquiorra and retrieves Orihime, Aizen reveals his true objective: sacrificing Karakura Town to forge a key to the Soul King's Palace and overthrow the ruler of the Soul Society. The Soul Reapers, anticipating his assault, relocate the town and engage Aizencs forces. Gin Ichimaru betrays Aizen but is slain, prompting Aizen to transcend into a near-divine state using the Hōgyoku. Ichigo sacrifices his powers to defeat him, resulting in Aizen's imprisonment and Ichigo's reversion to an ordinary human.
Months later, Ichigo is drawn into a conflict with Xcution, a group of Fullbringers—humans with supernatural abilities—led by Kugo Ginjo, his predecessor as Substitute Soul Reaper. After Xcution manipulates him into surrendering his Fullbring powers, the Soul Reapers restore his Soul Reaper abilities. Ichigo learns of Ginjo's betrayal, stemming from the Soul Society's surveillance and suppression of Substitute Soul Reapers. Despite this revelation, Ichigo reaffirms his trust in his allies and defeats Ginjo, reclaiming his role as a Substitute Soul Reaper.
The conflict reignites when the List of Bleach characters#Wandenreich, an army of Quincies led by Yhwach, declares war on the Soul Society. After subjugating Hueco Mundo, they launch a devastating assault, killing numerous Soul Reapers, including Head-Captain Yamamoto. Uryū joins Yhwach, uncovering the truth behind his mother's death. In the final battle, Ichigo and his allies storm Yhwach's palace, defeating his elite Sternritters. Yhwach attempts to annihilate the Soul Society, but Ichigo, aided by Uryū and the temporarily freed Aizen, ultimately destroys him.
A decade later, Rukia assumes command of the thirteenth company and raises a daughter, Ichika, with her childhood companion Renji Abarai. Ichigo and Orihime marry and have a son, Kazui, who inherits his father's spiritual abilities. Two years afterward, Ichigo participates in the Soul Funeral Ceremony for Captain Jūshirō Ukitake. While assisting lieutenants in Karakura Town to capture Hollows for the ritual, they are ambushed by the Beasts of Hell, led by the resurrected Espada Szayelaporro Granz. Though the lieutenants repel the attack, it is revealed that the ceremony serves as a means to consign deceased captains, including Ukitake, to Hell.
Production
The concept for Bleach originated from Tite Kubo's interest in depicting a wearing a kimono, which became the foundational design for the Soul Reapers in the series. An initial concept featured Soul Reapers using guns, leading to the working title "Snipe"; this one-shot was published in Akamaru Jump in 2000. The title was changed last-minute to reflect the introduction of swords, though the initial announcement still used "Snipe." Subsequent title considerations included "Black"—a reference to the Soul Reapers' attire—which Kubo rejected as too generic. "White" was also considered, but he ultimately chose "Bleach" for its association with the color white and because it was less obvious.The series proposal was submitted to Weekly Shōnen Jump after the cancellation of Kubo's previous work, Zombiepowder., and was initially rejected. Manga artist Akira Toriyama later wrote a letter of encouragement to Kubo after reviewing the concept. Bleach was accepted for serialization in 2001 and was originally planned to run for no more than five years. Early story outlines did not include the hierarchical organization of the Soul Society but incorporated certain elements, such as Ichigo's Soul Reaper heritage, which were not introduced until the Arrancar arc.
Kubo cited diverse influences for Bleach, including manga, music, architecture, film, and foreign languages. His interest in supernatural themes and monsters was inspired by Shigeru Mizuki's GeGeGe no Kitaro, while the focus on weaponry and combat drew from Masami Kurumada's Saint Seiya, a series he enjoyed in his youth. Saint Seiya use of Greek mythology also influenced Bleach incorporation of mythological elements and themes of the afterlife. Although Kubo acknowledged cinematic influences on the action and narrative pacing, he did not cite specific films as direct references for fight scenes; he mentioned enjoying Snatch but denied using it as a model.
The fight choreography was developed while listening to rock music, which helped Kubo establish a rhythmic flow for panel transitions and perspective shifts. He emphasized realistic injury depictions to enhance the visceral impact of combat and evoke empathy from readers. To break the monotony of illustrating extended action sequences, Kubo frequently inserted comedic interludes. Character design served as the primary driver for narrative development. When facing creative challenges or constructing new plotlines, Kubo often introduced large numbers of new characters or consulted earlier volumes for inspiration. He expressed a preference for characters whose appearances contrasted with their true natures, reflecting a personal interest in such contradictions.
The series employed a multilingual naming scheme to differentiate its factions: Soul Reapers use terms from classical Japanese literature, Hollows and Arrancar adopted Spanish names, Fullbringers used English, and Quincies utilized German. This linguistic diversity reinforced the international scope of the series' settings and character identities.
Themes and analysis
Bleachs plot incorporates the traditional Japanese belief of spirits coexisting with humans and their nature, good or evil, depends on the circumstances. An example is Orihime's backstory. She was raised from the age of three by her brother Sora, and prayed for his soul's peace after he died in a car accident. As time went on, she prayed less and Sora became jealous and turned into a Hollow and attacked Orihime. Academic Patrick Drazen says this is a reminder to the audience to not abandon the old ways or risk the spirits taking offense and causing problems in the world. Bleach also incorporates Shinto themes of purification of "evil spirits through charms, scrolls, incantations, and other rituals". Christopher A. Born regards Bleach as transmitting Confucian values.Von Feigenblatt describes Bleach as being culturally and religiously aware, as it draws upon Christianity and Caribbean Santería. Spanish terms are prevalent throughout the realm of Hueco Mundo, and Quincies have been known to associate with the German language, making Kubo's world of characters diverse in ethnicity and language as well. Feigenblatt notes that the Quincy "are clearly inspired by the Roman Catholic Christian Orders of Knighthood such as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre whose influence is shown in terms of the uniform worn by the Quincy as well as by the symbolism of the cross".