SDCC 08: An Audience With Bleach's Creator
Tite Kubo sits down with IGN to chat about his blockbuster manga and anime.
by A.E. Sparrow

August 1, 2008 - Alongside Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Death Note and Naruto is Bleach, one of the biggest and most successful manga franchises in the world (and specifically North America).

During last week's San Diego Comic-Con, IGN had the rare privilege to speak with the creator of the series, Tite Kubo. We tried to make the most of our few minutes with the creator before his busy schedule pulled him back to signings and meetings.



IGN: What's your reaction to the success of Bleach in the United States? Did you expect it to be as well-received as it has been?

Kubo: I didn't think it would be such a big hit in the US. I don't even think it's a big success yet!

IGN: Currently in the U.S. we've seen an abundance of manga on bookstore shelves. While some see this as a good thing, it's caused some companies to re-do their business plans. What are your thoughts on this? Does a similar situation exist in Japan?

Kubo: In Japan there is a lot of manga, but around manga there are video games, manga on cellphones, manga in card games…so people not only enjoy manga but also the products around it. I think that eventually in the U.S. bookstores will have a lot of manga that are not of good quality. Fans are clever, and fans are smart enough to tell the quality of them, and over time the quality titles will stay, while the not-so-quality titles will go away.

IGN: Viz recently released some beautiful artbooks for Naruto and Angel Sanctuary. Now they're releasing All Colour But the Black, the artbook for Bleach. What's your reaction to that?

Kubo: I'm very happy about it.

IGN: What are your plans for the future of Bleach? Do you have an ending in mind?

Kubo: There is no ending for Bleach at the moment.

IGN: What you would you like to do as a next project when Bleach does eventually end?

Kubo: Take a vacation! (laughs)



IGN: Creating manga is rarely a one person job. How heavily do you rely on your assistants?

Kubo: I have three assistants, but there isn't a head assistant. All the important drawings I do myself. Every single character is also done by me.

IGN: What are some things that go into creating a manga that readers might take for granted?

Kubo: The hardest thing about being a manga-ka is that it's a weekly thing. I have to finish (19 pages) a week. If I want to draw more in a particular scene that I think is important, because of time I cannot. That's hard for me. But I've always wanted to be a manga-ka so I'm doing what I love.

Q: One thing I enjoy about Bleach is that there are many moments of humor as well as drama. Is that intentional to break up some of the heavier moments in the story?

Tite Kubo: I don't really plan on it, but when I get bored drawing battle scenes, then I throw in a joke or two to make it more fun for me.

Gisaiagami escreveu:Sei lá, acho meio hipocresia mentir

Q: Speaking of Ichigo's relationships with his friends, there seems to be a love triangle between Ichigo, Rukia and Orihime. Do you delve more into this in later volumes?

Tite Kubo: (laughs) I get asked about that a lot! I don't want to make Bleach into a love story because there are much more exciting things about their personalities and things that they can do instead of getting into the romance aspect of their relationships.

Q: Are there any characters that you thought fans would love but didn't, or a character that caught on with fans in a way that you didn't expect?

Tite Kubo: I don't really recall any characters that I've created that I thought fans would love but didn't, but usually I notice that when I start describing a character's personality or back story, the fans start to really respond to them, and really start liking them.

However, in the case of Suhei Hisagi (Lieutenant / Acting Captain of Squad 9), fans got hooked on him before I even started describing his personality, so that was very unusual.

Q: How do you draw your action scenes? Do you have models?

Tite Kubo: Nobody poses for me -- I just have rock music going in my head and just imagine the action scenes. I pause the action and rotate the characters and find the best angle, and then I draw it.