Tite Kubo

Tite Kubo, born Noriaki Kubo on June 26, 1977, is a Japanese manga artist best known as the creator of Bleach. He grew up in Hiroshima Prefecture and has cited Saint Seiya and GeGeGe no Kitaro among formative influences. Before Bleach, Kubo made his professional serialization debut with Zombiepowder in Weekly Shonen Jump. That series ran from 1999 to 2000 and was collected in four volumes before its cancellation. Bleach began in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in August 2001. It follows Ichigo Kurosaki, a teenager who acquires the powers and responsibilities of a Soul Reaper after meeting Rukia Kuchiki. The premise expands into conflicts involving Hollows, the Soul Society, Arrancar, and Quincy enemies. Kubo's plot centers on Ichigo's efforts to protect people close to him while navigating the hidden spiritual world. The manga was serialized until August 2016, ending with chapter 686. Shueisha collected it in 74 tankobon volumes. Its popularity led to a television anime series produced by Studio Pierrot, which adapted the early portion of the manga and later returned to adapt its final major arc, a war against the Quincy. The franchise also includes animated films, video games, novels, stage productions, and a 2018 live action film directed by Shinsuke Sato. A 2020 anime film adapted Kubo's Burn the Witch manga, whose story is set in a parallel Reverse London. Set in Reverse London, it concerns witches Noel Niihashi and Ninny Spangcole, who work for the Western Branch of Soul Society and protect people from dragons. The original Burn the Witch chapter appeared in 2018, and its limited serialization began in 2020. His short story "The Mirror Has Been Broken" appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1996, preceding his major serial work. Kubo also provided the main character designs for Sega's 2019 video game Shin Sakura Taisen, released outside Japan as Sakura Wars. His visual style is noted for sharply tailored clothing, distinctive silhouettes, and deliberate use of black and white space. Kubo received the 2005 Shogakukan Manga Award for Bleach in the shonen category. In North America, Viz Media published the manga in English and serialized chapters in its Shonen Jump magazine. Kubo has continued the Bleach universe through projects including the "No Breaths From Hell" story, published in 2021, which presents Ichigo and Rukia years after the manga's conclusion. The special story was released for Bleach's twentieth anniversary and introduced a disturbance connected to Hell and deceased Soul Reapers.