Bleach ブリーチ

Like Naruto or One Piece, Bleach highlights traditional Japanese elements. For example, the manga is centered on the theme of shinigami, who are gods of death in Japanese folklore. The traditional aspect of Japanese culture is also reflected in the clothing worn by the shinigami, which is reminiscent of kendo practitioners. 

Noriaki Kubo, better known under his pen name Tite Kubo, mangaka and author of Bleach, distinguished his work from other action-adventure shonen popular at the time by breaking certain codes. For example, Ichigo, the protagonist of the story, as well as the other shinigami, wear black fighting clothes, whereas this color is traditionally associated with antagonists. Kubo decided to reverse the trend and assign black to the good guys and white to the bad guys.

Another striking element is the absence of a quest. While Naruto pursues the dream of being the next Hokage, Luffy seeks to become the King of Pirates or Gon wishes to become a Hunter and find his father, Ichigo does not pursue a particular goal. 

The adventures of Kurosaki Ichigo are as developed and exciting as those of the other mangas! 

Tite Kubo succeeded in creating a popular and original manga that stands out thanks to a myriad of details that allow it to be different from other successful mangas of its time.

Bleach has sold more than 130 million volumes worldwide.

Published for the first time in 2001, the Shonen Jump magazine quickly placed it in the collective imagination alongside Naruto and One Piece to form the Big Three from the beginning of the 2000s. The Big Three is a qualification used to talk about the three most popular mangas, which, after Dragon Ball, have managed to reach international fame.

Since 2004 an animated series was broadcast, helping to popularize the universe of Bleach to a wider audience. The anime was stopped in 2012, after 366 episodes and an alternative ending, which largely disappointed the fans.

Plot twist, 6 years after the end of the manga in 2016, the anime comes back in October 2022 to offer a real ending with the The Bloody War of a Thousand Years arc. 

Thanks to its popularity, Bleach even invited itself on the big screen in 2018, in addition to novels, musicals, video games and other derivative products related to the manga. 

Along with One Piece and Naruto, Bleach has revolutionized the manga universe!