Bleach Exec Reveals How Orihime’s “Sensualness” Got Him the Job

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In the year ahead, I’m excitedly anticipating the final chapter of “Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War,” a manga adaptation that brings Tite Kubo’s original work full circle, nearly two decades after the initial anime series concluded. Interestingly, Masashi Kudo, a key figure in the character design for this new series, shared an intriguing tale during Anime Expo 2025. It seems Orihime Inoue played a crucial role in helping him secure his job on this project!

During Anime Expo 2025 earlier this month, Masashi Kudo unveiled exclusive insights about the production of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, which ComicBook had the pleasure to attend. In a special video presentation, he disclosed behind-the-scenes details never before revealed. Among these tidbits was an intriguing tale about how Masashi Kudo earned his role as character designer for the original Bleach anime series. It turns out that Kubo was so impressed with Kudo’s drawing of Orihime, which he submitted during a competition, that it secured him the job in the design team.

Bleach Designer Talks Orihime’s Help With the Anime

Kudo started his career at Artland Animation Studio, and then moved on to freelance work, where his first project was at Studio Pierrot on the series “Tokyo Mew Mew,” which was also Director Abe’s creation. There, he worked on key animation. Since then, I could say he’s been a part of Team Abe. Following that, came the project “Detective School Q.” It was after this that Kudo began working on “Bleach.” He had heard they were seeking a character designer. Producer Hagino suggested there was a competition for him to enter.

When Kudo joined the contest for the anime “Bleach”, he shared how his interpretation of Orihime captured the original creator’s attention and secured him a position as character designer: “I submitted several sketches, including those of Ichigo, Uryu, and Orihime. I later learned that Kubo Sensei was drawn to my drawing of Orihime. In essence, with just that, I became the character designer for Bleach. It seems it was Orihime’s sensuality that won him over.” Interestingly, Kudo had no prior experience with the manga but still managed to grasp Orihime’s allure.

When Does Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 4 Come Out?

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 4 – The Catastrophe” is currently being developed for a release next year, though a specific date has not been confirmed yet following its updates at Anime Expo 2025 earlier this month. As there are roughly 30 chapters of Tite Kubo’s Bleach manga remaining to be adapted into the anime, fans can look forward to fresh content in upcoming episodes, with Kudo hinting during the panel that some major surprises await them.

Until now, the storyline has been consistent between the manga and anime, but that changes with exclusive anime-only scenes. For instance, the creator might have envisioned a particular scene, but it wasn’t incorporated into the manga. In this new release, there will be more of these unique scenes. I believe these fresh elements are worth getting excited about. Even longtime Bleach readers who read it in Jump magazine might discover some new aspects. New characters will certainly be introduced, and you’ll definitely encounter some of them.

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2025-07-14 19:14