Bleach Thread

Stuff Kubo says he planned, throughout the years.

2004

Orihime is going to be a very important character
>Inoue Orihime - She's going to be a very important character later on so, I want to get used to drawing her faster. (WSJ 42/2004, October 2004)

2006

"Kenpachi" and "Yachiru"
>Kubo: There’s still a lot I’d like to develop on. If I had infinite time that is. Like more about [Zaraki] Kenpachi. I’m sure I’ll be able to somewhere down the storyline.
>Question: I really wonder who “Yachiru” refers too…
>Kubo: I plan to bring it up. It’s a secret for now.
>(SOULs, February 2006)

Five noble houses - Never covered in the manga, at this point we don't know if Narita's novel will use Kubo's ideas or Narita comes up with his own idea
>Morita: And the “Four Noble Houses”…?
>Question: Kuchiki and Shihouin and…..Shiba?
>Kubo: No, not Shiba. When they were around, it was the “Five Noble Houses”.
>(SOULs, February 2006)

Hirako and a scrapped classmate
>(On 1st chapter's colorspread) The second person from the right is Hirako. There is also a girl on the left side on Orihime, but that girl doesn’t appear in the manga. I was planning to make her one of Ichigo’s classmate. (All Colors But The Black, December 2006)

2007

Rukia's design spawned the story about shinigami
>He was trying to draw some original characters. The first character he drew was Rukia, then Ichigo. He struggled more in drawing Ichigo but Rukia's design was done in first try. Her first clothes were not kimono but black uniform. In the first design, Rukia was holding a scythe.
>Because of the scythe, Kubo thought, "Ah, she must be a shinigami," then he decided to make a story about shinigami.
>(Bleach B Station #112, August 2007)

Order of creation: Rukia, Ichigo, then human friends.
>Morita asked, "So the first one was Rukia, then Ichigo, then..." Kubo was wondering a bit before said it was Chad, Uryuu, Keigo, Mizuiro, etc. Morita asked if Keigo was originally a shinigami, but Kubo said no. Keigo was a human, created as Ichigo's friend who also a human. (Bleach B Station #112, August 2007)

2008

He hasn't decided how Bleach will end. (in vague terms)
>SJ: Do you have an ending in mind for Bleach? How much of the story is written in advance? And do you ever change your mind about what will happen?
>KT: I still haven't decided how the series will end. As for how far ahead I write, that all depends. Occasionally, when I get ideas for new scenes, I try to link them by imagining the most interesting route. I dont know where the scens will go, because the ideas dont arrive in order. Things tend to be all over the place. I might think of a scene that belongs much much later in the story, and to get there I must draw a lot of other things first. If theres a scene I definitely want to draw, that doesn't change, but how I get there might.
>(US Shonen Jump July 2008 issue)

Character before plot
>1:38 PM - What comes first in Bleach? : Kubo puts character, not plot, first. (Comic Con panel, July 2008)

Bleach was inspired by him wanting to draw shinigami in kimono (this kind of contradicts the previous saying about Rukia? But could be something lost in translation)
>1:41 PM - What was the initial thought for bleach? "Bleach was inspired by the fact that I wanted to draw shinigami in kimonos, and to make something no one had seen before, started with Rukia’s design. (Comic Con panel, July 2008)

Quincy is Ichigo's rival
>1:42 PM - “I created Quincy to be Ichigo’s rival character, so, for that, I put him in white clothing.” (Comic Con panel, July 2008)

Isshin is a shinigami
>1:50 PM - Will there be an Isshin backstory? Yes! He knew from the start he was a Soul Reaper. (Comic Con panel, July 2008)

Rukia's name
>When I created the character, I thought Kuchiki really fit as a Soul Reaper (Shinigami) name and called her Kuchiki Rukia. She had her full name from the very beginning. Later on, I learned that the word "rukia" means "light." She's like a ray of light for Ichigo, which makes the name really suit her. (US Shonen Jump, September 2008)

Still 2008

Kubo uses dictionary to make English titles
>Kubo-sensei explained to us how he chose English chapter titles for the manga. He uses a dictionary to look up words that match his idea for the title, and often replaces a word with one that has a similar meaning but sounds better. Kubo-sensei didn't use a dictionary to choose "bleach" because the English word is already commonly used in Japan. (US Shonen Jump, September 2008)

Aizen's lack of backstory
>J: Will you ever do an Aizen backstory?
>Kubo-sensei: Will I...? To be honest, I think part of Aizen's appeal is that he's mysterious. It probably wouldn't be good for his character if I revealed everything about him. If I felt the urge to tell, maybe I would, but I'm just not sure right now. (US Shonen Jump, September 2008)

No plans for Yama-jii (does it mean he hasn't thought about the war vs Yhwach 1000 years ago?)
>SJ: Does Captain Yamamoto have a larger plan for the Soul Society? He seems to have no problem with his captains dying.
>Kubo-sensei: Does he? I don't have anything planned for him right now. What's interesting about Genryuusai is you can never guess his true intentions. Among the captains, like Shunsui and Unohana, there are a few who appear to have something more to them, but for now I'll have to say it's all a secret. (US Shonen Jump, Sep 2008)

Renji is not captain material (by the end of SS arc)
>SJ: Will we learn who will become captains in place of Aizen, Ichimaru and Tousen?
>Kubo-sensei: Probably not anytime soon. Assistant captains lack certain abilities that captains have. I personally think the assistant captains need some time before they can become captains. Renji is a major character who's pretty powerful, but put him next to the captains and you'll probably notice that he's kind of erratic... and missing a noble quality. The captains are simply on a whole other level. (US Shonen Jump, Sep 2008)

Many English material from 2008 because SDCC

Again, no ending in sight.
>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, August 2008)

At first, captains didn't exist
>Tite Kubo: At first, I didn't plan that there would be Taicho, the head Captain of the Soul Society. The captains, they didn't exist at first. (About.com, July 2008)

Quincy is rival, name derived from 5 point cross
>Tite Kubo: I created Quincies to be Ichigo's rival characters, so I put Uryu in white clothing (compared to the black kimono worn by the Soul Reapers). Quincies use arrows because they're long range weapons, so it's difficult for Ichigo to fight them with his sword, which is more for short range combat. The Quincy cross has 5 points, kind of like the the Japanese 5-pointed star. 5 points, quintet, Quincy! Quincies use arrows, so if you call them Quincy Archers, it sounds like a name, so I kind of liked that. (About.com, July 2008)

Isshin is decided to be a shinigami at chapter 2. He was not yet a captain, because captains haven't been decided.
>Tite Kubo: After I finished drawing chapter one, I already knew that Ichigo's dad Isshin would be a Soul Reaper. At the time, I didn't plan on having leaders in the Soul Society, so I didn't plan on him being one of the leaders. (About.com, July 2008)

Isshin backstory - he eventually wrote it 5 years later.
>Q: Will you feature a back story about Isshin?
>Tite Kubo: Yes, I will draw it! (About.com, July 2008)

"Brave" as theme? Not planned.
>What do you think is the main theme of Bleach?
>In my work, I don’t like to impose a message or theme onto the reader. I want the characters to develop on their own and create the story themselves, and it usually turns out very clever. (Anime Insider Oct 2008 issue)

Soul Society Arc
Arrancar Arc
1000 year Blood War
Pre-Reaper
Fullbring Arc
Fake Karakura Town War

On when Aizen was decided as a bad guy, it's reiterated in Masked interview.

So at the time Kubo killed Aizen, in Kubo's mind he is an actual good guy?

Chronology
>Aizen dead
>Kubo writes ending of SS arc
>'eh, I don't want him dead after all'
>Aizen is now the mastermind of everything & next arc will be the world of hollows
>oh there's this old scene of ripping off the mask... I know! unmasked hollows and masked shinigami!
>and this scrapped transfer student from chapter 1 will be the masked shinigami!

>and my paycheck for the next 5 years is guaranteed!