As the first installment of "TV ANIMATION "BLEACH" THE STORIES," a special project looking back on the history of the TV anime "BLEACH," based on the popular manga by Tite Kubo that was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha), a special visual for the "Substitute Shinigami Arc" has been released. The special visual features a series of illustrations drawn by the original author Kubo, featuring all the different versions of Ichigo Kurosaki, and newly drawn illustrations for the anime.
The first episode of the voice actor roundtable discussion project "BLEACH THE STORIES OF CASTS," "Substitute Shinigami Arc," has been released on YouTube. Hosted by Masakazu Morita, who voices Ichigo Kurosaki, the talk features past and present cast members. The first episode features appearances from the "Substitute Shinigami Arc," including Fumiko Orikasa, who voices Rukia Kuchiki, Yuki Matsuoka, who voices Orihime Inoue, Hiroki Yasumoto, who voices Yasutora Chado, Noriaki Sugiyama, who voices Uryu Ishida, and Mitsuaki Madono, who voices Kon. The content is packed with never-before-seen anecdotes, including behind-the-scenes stories from auditions about 20 years ago and memories of dubbing.
As the first of the series' opening and ending videos, a video using "*~Asterisk~" by the band ORANGE RANGE was also released on YouTube.
"BLEACH" is a manga that depicts Ichigo Kurosaki, who has acquired the powers of a Shinigami, battling evil spirits called Hollows with his friends and embarking on an adventure across other worlds. It was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" from 2001 to 2016 and gained popularity as one of the magazine's flagship works.
The TV anime series aired from 2004 to 2012, and four feature films were released, as well as a live-action film starring Fukushi Sota in 2018. The final chapter of the TV anime series, "Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War," was based on the original work, with the first season airing from October to December 2022, the second season from July to September 2023, and the third season from October to December 2024. The fourth season, "Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War: Kashintan," will begin airing on TV Tokyo and other channels from July. The "Thousand-Year Blood War Arc" will be split into four seasons, with "Kashintan" being the final season.
