When Tite Kubo’s Bleach started serializing, it became quite famous among the manga community. The popularity of the story reached so high that not only did the manga get an anime adaptation, but it became one of “The Big Three” and inspired many manga artists who used Bleach as a reference for their own works.
However, as the story progressed, Bleach and Kubo got engulfed in controversies of all kinds. Be it fan service or the animation of the series, all of the blame was put on the mangaka. But the biggest controversy that the manga had to go through was its ending. When Bleach ended, Kubo was criticized a lot by fans for rushing the ending.
Many believed that because the anime series ended before the manga, Kubo had to rush the ending, which left many plotholes and thus destroyed the image of Bleach as one of the best series of all time. But the real reason behind the Bleach ending was much more disheartening and sad compared to the rumors.
Rumors About Bleach’s Controversial Ending
According to a Reddit post by u/scheneizel, Ryohgo Narita, the creator of Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World, revealed that Kubo received a formal announcement from the editorial department at Shueisha to end Bleach in one year. Many believed that this was the reason why Kubo decided to end the series so soon, despite caring for the consequences.
Narita stated:
But when Kubo-sensei received a formal announcement from the editorial department, stating ‘end it in one year’, I felt like it was the end of an era. But then the ‘Novelization Plan’ was launched and Matsubara Makoto and myself were called upon to participate in this very important project.
While this was believed to be the main reason, many fans believed that because the anime series ended way before the conclusion of the manga, the sales of the manga went incredibly low. This became a serious issue for the Weekly Shonen Jump, so they decided to end the manga as quickly as possible. This led to the conclusion having so many plotholes.
The Real Reason Why Tite Kubo Ended Bleach
While many people don’t know this, the real reason Kubo rushed the ending of Bleach was his health. In 2016, Kubo was suffering from a partially torn tendon in his left shoulder, which he never had the opportunity to have surgically repaired. Thus, Kubo approached his editors and revealed that he planned to end the series in one or two years.
Kubo was not only suffering from physical health issues, but the mangaka also felt the strain on his mental health due to the hectic schedule of Shueisha. Thus, when the editors saw Tite Kubo’s condition, they asked the mangaka to end the series in one year, as it would have helped Kubo take care of himself.
Because of this rushed ending, Kubo had to go through a lot of criticism from fans. Thus, the mangaka decided to become a part of the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime team so that he could fix the plotholes and the controversial ending of the series and give fans the conclusion that they deserved from the beginning.
You can watch Bleach on Hulu.
