Bleach Creator Tite Kubo Reveals He Considered Killing Orihime Inoue in the Manga

Bleach creator Tite Kubo has revealed that he once considered a storyline in which Orihime Inoue dies while writing the original manga.

The revelation came during a special screening event held Oct. 25 ahead of the finale of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity. Kubo attended the event alongside Ichigo Kurosaki voice actor Masakazu Morita, Uryu Ishida voice actor Noriaki Sugiyama, director Hikaru Murata and animation producer Yoshihiko Tominaga.

Speaking at the event, Kubo discussed the developments featured in episode 45, “Defend You.” The episode, which consists of anime-original scenes, drew attention for its dramatic developments involving Orihime.

In the episode, Orihime puts herself in danger to protect Ichigo Kurosaki during his battle against Yhwach. As Ichigo is overwhelmed by Yhwach’s power, Orihime pushes herself to the limit, using her Shun Shun Rikka ability in a desperate attempt to protect him and appears to sacrifice herself in the process.

Turns out the development was connected to a storyline he had considered for the manga, in which Orihime dies.

“There was also a route in which Orihime died that I had considered while writing the manga. Based on that idea, I even specified certain techniques that had already existed in my original concepts, telling them [staff] which ones to use,” he revealed.

According to Kubo, the anime’s production team regularly consults him about original scenes, asking whether they can pursue particular ideas.

He evaluates these proposals based on whether he had ever considered a similar narrative possibility while writing the manga.

“When the production team wants to include anime-original scenes, they come to me to ask things like, ‘We want to do this,’ ‘What do you think of this?’ or ‘Can we go ahead with this?’ My criterion for deciding whether something is acceptable is whether I ever considered that possibility as a potential route while working on the original manga.“

Bleach TYBW Finale Will Feature New Original Characters:

Kubo also revealed new details about the upcoming finale, episode 50, titled “DEATH & STRAWBERRY,” which depicts events 10 years after the final war.

He confirmed that while the episode largely follows the original manga, it includes new characters he created specifically for the finale.

“I’ve designed two new characters, both older men. I’m not sure whether one or both of them will be used, so please look forward to seeing what happens. I haven’t watched the final episode yet, so I’ll be watching it alongside all of you.”

The finale of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity is scheduled to air on Oct. 26.

Source: Oricon