“That made it even funnier”: Bleach Voice Actor Had to Resort to Other Methods to Remember His Lines After Getting Confused Again and Again
As one of the Big Three in Anime, Bleach has been a permanent resident alongside Naruto and One Piece for being the most popular anime series in the world. The Big Three dominated the shonen scene of the 2000s and early 2010s. The three animes helped make anime a global phenomenon, setting popular trends and gaining a lot of fans on the way.
While it’s true that Bleach didn’t sell quite as much as Naruto or One Piece, Bleach fans know there are certain things their favorite shonen manga series excels at. From its cast of lovable characters to its infamous battle system, Bleach certainly did some things right. Although the visuals feel a bit dated today, the anime features some of the industry’s best voice actors.
In an interview with the creator of Bleach, Tite Kubo, and Ichigo’s Japanese voice actor, Masakazu Morita share some fun tidbits and discuss the anime’s momentous return after a decade.
Takayuki Sugo’s Struggle With Delivering His Lines
As the interview progressed, the interviewer asked if any memorable event occurred during the production of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, to which Kubo replied that the most memorable thing was that Takayuki Sugo, who voices Yhwach, had a hard time memorizing his lines written in katakana. After struggling for quite some time, Sugo stated that he would write it in hiragana. Kubo narrated:
“The thing that was most memorable was that Takayuki Sugo, who plays Yhwach, had a hard time memorizing lines written in katakana. After being told how to say them several times, he said, “All right, I’ll write it out in hiragana.” [lol] He said it in a really cool voice, so that made it even funnier. [lol]”
Morita continues by saying that Sugo was unchanging in his behavior even through the years. Morita shares a funny anecdote:
“Sugo-san never changes, does he? That happened during the previous series as well. While in the booth, he asked me, “Ichigo, Ichigo, how do you read this line?” and I said, “It says Bankai.” Then he said, “All right, got it. It’s Bankai.” But once we started recording, he said something else. [lol]”
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Explained
Ten years after Bleach completed its serialization in 2016, the Thousand-Year Blood War arc made it to the TV screens. The arc is divided into four cours of 13 episodes each, with the first two cours already aired, while the third cour is scheduled to be released in 2024.
The Thousand-Year Blood War signifies the millennium that Yhwach spent hovering between life and death as his body and mind eventually regained former powers and abilities. The reason goes back to the first conflict Yhwach’s Lichtreich and the first Gotei 13 of Soul Society. The battle ended with Gotei 13’s victory and Yhwach’s defeat.
