Bleach, created by Tite Kubo, is one of the longest-running manga and anime of the Shonen genre, whose target audience is teenage boys. Featuring high-octane sword fights, unique sword designs, a variety of characters, and much more, the series is one of the most popular manga and anime of all time. The anime was notorious for not adapting the final story arc, The Thousand-Year Blood War Arc, for years but that changed as the arc has finally been adapted.
Like with any job, working on a manga comes with its own ups and downs, and when Tite Kubo was going through a particularly difficult period, he received a letter from a fan that helped motivate him.
What did the fan letter to Tite Kubo say?
Years and years into the grind of drawing and writing Bleach, Tite Kubo was beginning to feel hopeless and was losing motivation, apart from not keeping very well in terms of his health. It was at this point that Kubo received a letter from a fan, and the fan in question was a hospital patient who expressed their appreciation for Bleach. The fan also said that it was their favorite series and that it kept them going during difficult times.
Deeply touched by this, Kubo steeled himself and kept working hard for all his fans, especially the one who wrote him the letter. While Bleach still didn’t get the ending that Kubo wanted as it got canceled, at least it wasn’t canceled earlier, and fans did get to see an ending of sorts.
Tite Kubo received an encouraging letter from a famous mangaka
The letter from the ill fan was far from the only famous letter that Tite Kubo received, with him having received another one from none other than Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball. The story behind it is that back when Kubo was trying to get Bleach published in a magazine, he was struggling to get accepted, and that naturally left him feeling down.
His spirits rose after reading Toriyama’s letter which encouraged him, and he chose to pursue getting his manga published, which eventually led to the Bleach we know and love today.
This isn’t the only connection Tite Kubo has with Akira Toriyama and Dragon Ball either, as often looks to the Dragon Ball villains for inspiration. He considered characters such as Frieza and Cell cool, powerful, and intimidating, which is how he wanted all his villains to be.
Source: CBR
