“I want to draw something that can only be done as manga”: One Piece Live-Action’s Success Wouldn’t Be Enough to Convince Tite Kubo for a Bleach Adaptation
- The success of Bleach Thousand Year Blood War has fans anticipating for a possible live action adaption.
- Tite Kubo explains the why he doesn't wish for his popular series to get a live action.
- Kubo gives his honest review on the Bleach Live Action Adaptation that was released in 2018.
The One Piece Live-Action certainly raised the expectations of anime fans around the world. Having wonderfully portrayed the characters and scenes in the live adaptation, anime fans are hopeful about seeing the trend continue with other popular animes. More specifically, Tite Kubo’s magnum opus, Bleach.
Being given the title of one of the “Big Three” shonen series in anime, Bleach has certainly managed to capture the hearts of fans all over the globe. Especially with its revival, with the Thousand Year Blood War arc, the hype behind the series has been astounding. Though a live-action of the series would be a treat for fans, Kubo doesn’t seem to feel the need for it.
Beyond Live-Action as Tite Kubo’s Vision for Bleach stays a Pure Manga/Anime experience
Adapting manga or anime into live actions has never been really successful in the past with some exceptions being Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Rurouni Kenshin, Blade of Immortal, and One Piece, to name a few. Considering how difficult it is to capture the true essence of a writer’s vision, it’s not surprising to see most live-action anime adaptations fail to meet the mark.
Tite Kubo, the mastermind behind Bleach seemed to know all too well that an action adaptation for Bleach would not have lived up to the standards set by the anime and manga. During an interview all the way back in 2006, with Shonen Jump. Kubo made it clear how he felt about a possible Bleach Movie in the future.
When asked who he would want as the cast for a live-action Bleach movie, Kubo stated;
“If it were possible to do Bleach as a live movie, then I wouldn’t have drawn the manga. I want to draw something that can only be done as manga.”
However, despite this, Bleach did eventually get a live-action movie which was released back in 2018. And Tite Kubo certainly made sure to give the fans his honest take on how the movie turned out.
Creative Freedom takes on Live Adaptation as Kubo’s initial hesitation and review about the Bleach Live-Action Movie
The Bleach Live Action certainly had some mixed reactions with the fandom. While some believed that Shinsuke Sato, the director of the Live-Action Movie managed to hit the mark, some felt that the movie missed Tite Kubo’s magic touch in the movie.
But this was simply because Tite Kubo was not as involved while making the live-action due to his schedule with finishing the final series of the manga. He would, however, leave an honest review for the movie on X, giving his reasons for not being involved as well as urging the fans to watch the movie. Kubo, at the end of his note, wrote;
[Translated] “Honestly, I said, “I will not write a comment about this movie if I don’t like it.” Now, I wrote this with happiness. Please go to a theater and see how it is.”
— 久保帯人＆スタッフ (@tite_official) July 14, 2018
Though initially, Kubo seemed completely against the idea of his anime and manga series getting a Live-Action adaptation, Shinsuke Sato’s work with the movie did manage to impress him. So could this mean that Bleach fans might have the opportunity to see their beloved series get another go, joining One Piece’s success with Live Action? The fandom would certainly rejoice if it were the case.
You can stream Bleach on Hulu. The Bleach Live-Action movie is available to stream on Netflix.
