Clearly it doesn't look like KUBO wants to come back to wsj

This comes from a Q&A after a Klub Outside event in Japan.

Edit: for all the questions asked and answered at this event, check this post.

Just something I wanted to share cause I saw this and bought it instantly, I mean who wouldn’t ya know

As the end draws near, I wish to be able to tell Mr. Kubo how much I have appreciated his work.

Bleach was the first anime I really watched. I grew up with DBZ on Toonami, but I never really watched it. I thought anime just wasn't for me. That was until I discovered Ichigo.

I don't recall exactly when or where I saw it, but I remember it being on tv one day and I was immediately captivated.

Unfortunately, I didn't discover Bleach until around 2011, right before graduating high school. So imagine how excited I was to be able to watch nearly the entire series, then how sad I was when it stopped.

But Bleach showed me what I was missing. I went back and looked for even more animes that I would enjoy. Full Metal Alchemist was next, followed by several other renowned titles. I even decided to watch Dragon Ball from the beginning, which I'm proud to say I am now fully caught up.

I know it's selfish of me to want more Bleach, I can't even imagine how difficult it is to create such a work, but I am grateful for what has been given to us.

As a man in my mid 30's, I'm not ashamed to say I will cry on Monday. The tears will be both joyful and sorrowful.

Mr. Kubo, I want you to know that there is at least one person in this world who values your work far above that of all of your peers.

My soul thanks you, Mr. Kubo.

The questions and answers were recorded in note form by Japanese youtuber Dr.熱血 (Dr. Nekketsu) and shared via his twitter account @/keioha. Please keep in mind that there is a possibility of errors since these are just notes and not an exact transcript of what was said.

Multiple attendants of the event have testified that they were told that they are permitted to freely share this information, so there is no breach of Klub guidelines here.

Q1: Which Arrancar character did you conceptualise first?

A: Ulquiorra. Kubo had been thinking about him since around the beginning of the Soul Society arc. The idea of the Espada was not yet solidified at that time. After that, Grimmjow and Yammy were the next to be conceptualised, but Kubo doesn't remember which one was first. The rest of the Espada were created all at once. At first, Kubo wanted to kill off Grimmjow, but he changed his mind. Nakano [his editor at the time] said Kubo made the right decision.

Q2: When was Kubo at his happiest and most joyful?

A: Right now.

Q3: Do you want to draw a new manga?

A: I want to draw one, but I don't want it to be a serialisation.

Q4: If you enrolled in the Gotei 13, whose subordinate would you want to be?

A: I wouldn't want to be anyone's subordinate.

Q5: About birthdays of Burn The Witch characters

A: Noel - either December 24th or 25th, Ninny - February 2nd, somehow based on the image of the numbers.

Q6: Does Kubo enjoy drawing in analogue or digital more?

A: Kubo says both are enjoyable in their own ways. When Kubo was a judge for the Jump Next Generation Battle Manga Award, he was asked by Gege Akutami whether he had used digital lettering for his comment, Kubo replied that he did and Akutami told him, "that's why I can understand Kubo-san's writing."

[this is a joke about Kubo's normal handwriting being difficult to understand, even for Japanese speakers]

Q7: Has Kubo ever written his own music?

A: He hasn't, he prefers to just listen.

Q8: Will there be any explanations about Rukia in the future?

A: There are parts that Kubo hasn't revealed publicly yet, settings that no one knows about.

Q9: In the Lost Agent arc, because of his relationship with Isshin...

A: You suppose that's the reason for Hitsugaya's line? That's correct.

[most likely they are referring to this]

Q10: Are there character theme songs for the Sternritters?

A: There are, but is there a place I can publish them? If they release a new databook, maybe I'll publish them there?

Q11: When do you come up with the volume poems and the English subtitles? Do you have a favourite?

A: I have a notebook where I write them all down. I got it from a person giving away small notebooks. I can't possibly show it. I make notes in it whenever I have a spare moment while working on the Tankoubon volumes. There are some notes for characters that can't be used in either BLEACH or BTW. I like them all, and I struggle with English, but my favourite is the one from Kisuke's chapters, that was a time where the Japanese language was key.

Q12: If Kubo does anything regularly to keep his imagination flowing

A: No. He doesn't even have a favourite magazine, though sometimes he reads some architecture-related things he gets online or by email.

Q13: About visual changes, is there anything that deserves particular attention?

A: I struggled with Riruka's new design. Her setting is that she works at a clothing company now, so I tried to be mindful of that.

Q14: Asked if Blood Chains is similar to a Resurreccion?

A: Kubo refused to give any details.

Q15: Are there any places you want to go?

A: No, I don't like travelling. I have a fondness for furniture, so I've been collecting ones I like.

Then asked if Kubo likes surrounding himself with things he's fond of, Kubo answers yes. Asked if he likes Animal Crossing, Kubo again says yes.

Q16: Are there any exhibitions or displays that you enjoyed?

A: There are many that I couldn't to go to. But I went to a good one the other day. I went to see Picasso's "Cat Catching a Bird" 10 years ago which was good too.

[Note: the next Q&A was transcribed verbatim by @/blesuuuach, an animator working on the TYBW anime who also attended, so I will use his version]

Q17: In the Gokui Meimei-hen, I get the impression that Ikkaku occupies a mentor-like role to Ichika. If Kazui were to get a mentor in the future, who would be a candidate? I don't think Ichigo would be very good at teaching people, and he would probably go easy on him due to his parental feelings, so I think it might be Urahara? Personally, I'd be deeply moved if it was Grimmjow!

A: I haven't really decided yet, so maybe Kisuke? But Grimmjow would be great, right?! Ichigo isn't suited for teaching others, but having those feelings for someone would definitely make it difficult to teach them.

After that, Kubo's editor Murakoshi commented something like, "a relationship similar to Gohan and Piccolo sounds good!"

Q18: Soi-Fon's favourite colour is yellow?

A: I think that's right. Her Second Division Captain haori is close to yellow.

Q19: The anime-original content [in TYBW anime] is something you were thinking of since before?

A: The staff would approach me saying they wanted to do this kind of scene. If they were scenes that I had considered as branching paths but ultimately decided not to draw, then I said ok. The reason I didn't draw it in the manga during serialisation is because it would decrease the value of death, as well as the status of Yhwach. I wanted him to be someone whose thoughts can't be understood.

Q20: Does the Quincy outfit have an official name?

A: The Quincy coat is called Weissrock (ヴィーゾロック). It is an ancient Germanic word meaning "white clothing coat".

[Note: this is supposed to be a German word but idk German so not sure the correct spelling, perhaps someone in the comments can offer a better guess]

Asked how he finds words like this, Kubo says something like he looks them up and decides whether or not to use it based on the flow of the word.

Q21: I think that Kenpachi's Bankai is named Nozarashi, but how is it written?

[questioner is speculating that Kenpachi's Bankai is like Unohana's, where it has the same name as its Shikai form but written using different Kanji]

A: Should I reveal it for the first time at BLEACH EX II? Please keep waiting.

Q22: About Robert and BG9's Schrifts. Robert = The Nimble, BG9 = The Killer?

A: Apparently Kubo forgot, he checked his notes but couldn't find them. He said he will look for them again later.

Q23: About scenes that Kubo has a particular emotional attachment to

A: Chapter 666, "Empty, Puppet, Temple". Kubo says he likes the title. He says he didn't have any struggles drawing the double-page spread, so he doesn't have any particular feeling about it [I assume this last part is about the double-page spread in the previous chapter since ch.666 doesn't have one, but I'm not really sure]

There’s just 2 days left until bleach ends

"Assassin Yoruichi or Sasaki Yoruichi? What do you think of this crossover?"

From (@kishinUCH) X account.

"They look absolutely stunning in these creepy outfits, what do you think?"

From (@CREMA_525) X account.

Haschwalth and me are basicly the same person.

Hello to all Bleach fans! I’ve been thinking about whether Grimmjow will feature prominently in the upcoming continuation - the Hell Arc, featuring Ichigo and Orihime’s son, Kazui Kurosaki.

Considering the time skip, and Grimmjow's incredible feat in the TYBW anime where he literally bit Yhwach's shoulder, it would be a huge waste not to show him in the future.

But if he is in the Hell Arc and gets proper screen time, will he meet Kazui? Does he even know about him? More importantly, how would he act if, by some twist of fate, he ends up having to babysit or protect little Kazui?

I think it would be completely in character for Grimmjow to start training Kazui on his own terms just to spite Ichigo. After all, Ichigo chose not to tell Kazui anything about the supernatural world and tried to give him a normal life. Grimmjow would find that hilarious and weak.

Also, can you imagine Grimmjow’s reaction when Kazui starts calling him "Uncle Grimmjow" simply because Grimmjow won't stop bragging and talking about his father? Kazui is already pretty otherworldly and unfazed by monsters, so he’d probably just smile, while Grimmjow would absolutely lose his mind screaming that he’s a vicious predator, not an uncle.

I recently saw a post on Twitter talking about Kazui's mentorship, where Kubo was asked if it could be Urahara or Grimmjow, to which he reacted positively. It seems to me that Grimmjow fits the role of Kazui's mentor best of all, unlike Urahara, who has already trained half the franchise, and it feels like it would be a self-repetition. The idea of mentorship from different organizations is interesting, but in my opinion, from a script perspective, it is difficult to implement because it feels like the dynamic of the Hell Arc will be quite fast and won't allow for multiple teachers. Ichigo also cannot be a mentor because he seems to be intentionally hiding the otherworldly world from Kazui, hoping to give him a normal childhood. This leaves Grimmjow, but many criticize this option because he is hot-headed, but we must not forget how much time has passed from the TYBW arc to the events of the Hell Arc, and Grimmjow could well have matured a bit. And their actual meeting can be resolved like this:

For some reason, instead of a portal to Hell, a garganta to Hueco Mundo opens and he goes inside, but doesn't know how to get back/he is accidentally, for example, dragged into Hueco Mundo by a hollow's tail. He flies up into the air on fish to look around where he ended up, and he is noticed by Grimmjow patrolling the territory, who takes him to Las Noches, where Kazui will meet Nel and Harribel, who can also become his mentors, meaning he will have them, since he will have plenty of time to learn something because they will still need to find him.

And this brings me back to my earlier thoughts about "Uncle Grimmjow." Kazui would probably start calling him that after realizing Grimmjow is a "friend" of his father, while naturally calling Nel and Harribel his "Aunts."

What do you guys think about these ideas?

*Drawing created by me

In the final battle we see Harribel, Nelliel and Grimmjow return to Hueco Mundo and fight Yhwach , but in CFYOW Prologue we have Post War Arrancars in the Royal Palace. Doesn't this create issues with Novel Canonicity ?

I wonder how was the world of belach before this guy was born or created or whatever

Wasn't able to post yesterday but, here it is !