According to the latest popularity poll by VIZ Media, Ichigo Kurosaki, the orange-haired protagonist of Bleach, is not the most popular character in the series.
Rukia Kuchiki managed to top the Bleach anime brand's main character in VIZ Media's latest poll. Ichigo, on the other hand, took second followed by Kisuke Urahara, Kenpachi Zaraki, Sosuke Aizen and Orihime Inoue, respectively. Grimmjow, Toshiro Hitsugaya, Byakuya Kuchiki and Yoruichi Shihōin rounded out the top ten.
The iconic Bleach multimedia franchise kicked off in August 2001 with the publication of the first chapter of Tite Kubo's beloved manga in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump. The title's final chapter eventually appeared in the magazine in August 2016. The story focuses Ichigo, a high school delinquent with the ability to see spirits. After encountering the wounded Soul Reaper Rukia, he gains the powers needed to battle the monstrous Hollows, corrupted entities that survive by eating other souls. Bleach, along with Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto and Eiichiro Oda's One Piece, is considered one of the shōnen genre's Big Three.
Bleach's Anime Story Picks Up Where it Left Off
Kubo's manga was adapted into an anime series by studio Pierrot (Yu Yu Hakusho) in the early 2000s. Originally airing from October 2004 until March 2012, the show produced a total of 366 individual episodes. Since the first anime ended before the manga concluded, the final chapters and story arcs were left unadapted until recently. The sequel series, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, premiered at the beginning of the month and depicts the saga of the same name from the manga.
Several members of the first Bleach anime have returned to work on Thousand-Year Blood War, including composer Shiro Sagisu (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and character designer Masashi Kudo (Tower of God). Moreover, many of the original voice actors reprise their iconic roles. For example, Fumiko Orikasa (Tokyo Ghoul) is once again voicing Rukia and Masakazu Morita (Dragon Ball Super) is playing Ichigo. The return of series veterans is notable since Thousand-Year Blood War has such an expansive cast of old and new characters, and its production actually hindered the work of other anime series.
The sequel series quickly climbed to the top of the anime rating charts after the release of its first episode. According to MyAnimeList, Thousand-Year Blood War surpassed both Spy x Family and One Piece, earning a rating of 9.18. MAPPA's Chainsaw Man also beat out the previous top contenders, settling into second place with a score of 9.11.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War debuted on Oct. 10, and the series is available to stream on Hulu.
Source: VIZ Media