Tite Kubo created many iconic characters in Bleach, but Kenpachi Zaraki took home the ‘baddest gym-rat’ trophy. The 11th Division Captain lived and breathed battles throughout the series and became one of the most coveted characters.
Despite being so popular, Zaraki did not appear nearly as much as people wanted to see him in the manga and anime. His battles were some of the most celebrated Bleach fights, each more restless than the last.
An old comment from Tite Kubo will give you more insight into the author’s relationship with this particular Shinigami.
Tite Kubo Regrets Kenpachi’s Complicated Haistyle
In a character commentary, Tite Kubo did in 2004, he expressed his lament over Kenpachi Zaraki’s character design.
“Tied with Tousen Kaname, out of the BLEACH characters, he has the hardest hair style to draw. I think I’ll continue to regret eternally for giving him that hair style.”
Both Kenpachi Zaraki and Tousen Kaname have extremely detailed hairstyles, which are time-consuming to draw. For a mangaka who always needs to worry about deadlines, drawing intricate hairstyles can get hard very soon.
Kubo seems to regret Kenpachi’s hairstyle, but many fans love this specific crazy hairdo. Why not? It suits his quirky, masochistic character and makes his battle scenes even more epic.
Did Tite Kubo Restrict Kenpachi’s Appearance in Bleach?
While Tite Kubo never admitted to restricting or limiting Kenpachi Zaraki’s appearances in Bleach, fans have a lot to complain about his screentime. Zaraki was the ultimate battle junkie with an insane backstory.
He did not care for much, other than getting a good fight out of people. Unfortunately for Ichigo, he faced Kenpachi during the Soul Society arc and got a good beating out of the encounter.
However, no matter how good, a hard-to-draw character is bound to become a burden at some point. It might not have been Kubo’s conscious decision, but there must have been times when thinking of drawing the electric-zapped hair made him want to avoid it.
Another character in the same category is Tousen, who has a braided hairstyle. No doubt he was one of the coolest-looking characters, but he turned out to be a traitor and died during the Karakura Town arc. Did Kubo invent his betrayal because it would make for an excellent plot? Or was it because he was bored of drawing Tousen? We will never know.
You can read Bleach on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll and Disney+.
