139 Fun Facts About Bleach

In which magazine was Bleach serialized from 2001 to 2016?

Weekly Shonen Jump first turned Bleach down: Kubo's pitch was rejected soon after his previous series was cancelled there, then accepted in 2001 for a run that lasted 15 years.

What opens every collected volume of Bleach?

Poem: each volume opens with a short verse tied to the character on its cover, a habit Kubo kept to the last volume, whose verse Ichigo and Rukia share. A 2013 book reissued 60 of the covers as postcards with the poems on the back.

What was the working title of the early Bleach concept in which Soul Reapers used guns?

Snipe fitted a draft in which only Rukia carried a scythe while every other Soul Reaper carried a gun; once Kubo swapped the firearms for swords, the title no longer made sense.

Which manga legend wrote Kubo a letter of encouragement after Bleach's original pitch was rejected?

Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, read the rejected concept and sent Kubo a letter of encouragement; the reworked series was accepted for serialization in 2001.

Which earlier Tite Kubo series was cancelled shortly before he pitched Bleach?

Zombiepowder was cut off mid-story, so its heroes' quest is never resolved; it reached English readers only years later, once Bleach had made Kubo's name.

Which animation studio produced the Bleach anime?

Pierrot stopped the anime in March 2012 with the manga's final arc still unadapted, then returned to the series ten years later to animate that ending.

Who voices Ichigo Kurosaki in the English dub of the original Bleach anime?

Johnny Yong Bosch first found fame in front of the camera as Adam Park, one of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, before becoming the English voice of Ichigo.

Which band's single 'Asterisk' served as the Bleach anime's first opening theme?

Orange Range's song opened the first 25 episodes, and it was then reused as the theme of Heat the Soul, the first Bleach video game.

Which prize did Bleach win in the shonen category in 2005?

Shogakukan Manga Award: Bleach took the 50th award's shonen prize in 2005 although Shogakukan was not its publisher, because the award considers manga from a number of publishers.

Which Japanese publisher put more than 130 million copies of the Bleach manga into circulation?

Shueisha kept selling Bleach long after the story ended in 2016: worldwide circulation stood at 120 million copies in 2018 and had passed 130 million by 2022.

Bleach's first and final chapters share the title Death & what?

Death & Strawberry opened the manga in 2001, and Kubo brought the title back for chapter 686 in 2016, an epilogue set ten years later that introduces the heroes' children.

Which anime-only race in Bleach's fourth season consumes human souls to extend their lives?

The Bount were an accident: an experiment in Soul Society went wrong and created them, Soul Reapers were then sent to kill them, and their leader's answer is a plan to destroy Soul Society itself.

Who composed the music for the Bleach anime?

Shiro Sagisu had already scored Neon Genesis Evangelion; he wrote the Bleach music for the whole 2004 to 2012 run and came back to score the sequel in 2022.

Which classic yokai manga did Kubo credit for his interest in drawing monsters and the supernatural?

GeGeGe no Kitaro: Kubo drew Shigeru Mizuki's yokai characters as an elementary schoolboy and has said the series is the reason he started reading manga at all.

Which pink-haired lieutenant spends much of Bleach riding on Kenpachi Zaraki's shoulder?

Yachiru Kusajishi was a nameless child when Zaraki found her, and he gave her the name of the one person he admired; the final arc reveals she is the spirit of his own sword.

What is the name of Rukia Kuchiki's Zanpakuto?

Sode no Shirayuki means 'sleeved white snow'; Kubo liked the design so much that he made it the most beautiful Zanpakuto in the series, and characters in the story describe it that way.

For what crime is Rukia sentenced to death in the Soul Society arc?

Giving her powers to a human was a real offence, but the death sentence was Aizen's work: he had killed the judges and issued the order himself to reach an object hidden in her soul.

What is the name of Rukia and Renji's daughter, seen in Bleach's epilogue?

Ichika Abarai turns up in the final chapter as an apprentice Soul Reaper who greets Ichigo's young son by pointing her sword at him, then is shocked to learn he is one too.

What is Renji Abarai's segmented, whip-like Zanpakuto called?

Zabimaru kept a secret from Renji: the Bankai he used for most of the series was incomplete, because the sword had only partly accepted him and had never told him its true name.

Byakuya Kuchiki's Zanpakuto Senbonzakura literally means 'a thousand' what?

Cherry blossoms: on release the blade separates into thousands of slender, petal-like blades, which is why Byakuya's attacks look like a swirl of pink petals rather than a sword stroke.

Which commoner did Byakuya Kuchiki marry against his clan's rules, later adopting her sister Rukia?

Hisana fell ill five years into the marriage and asked Byakuya to find and adopt the baby sister she had abandoned; keeping that promise meant breaking his clan's rules a second time.

How did Kenpachi Zaraki take command of the 11th Division?

He killed his predecessor in a duel, a legal but rarely used route to a captaincy, and he did it years before he ever learned the name of his own sword.

What does Kenpachi Zaraki's eyepatch actually do?

Absorbs most of his power: Zaraki had Soul Society's researchers make the patch as a handicap, because he loves fighting and most opponents would otherwise fall too quickly.

Kenpachi's surname, Zaraki, is taken from what?

The lawless area where he grew up was Zaraki, the 80th and most violent district of Rukongai; the nameless boy who fought his way out of it took its name as his own.

What name does Kenpachi Zaraki's Zanpakuto finally reveal after his duel with Unohana?

Nozarashi, the 'Weather-Beaten One': Zaraki had fought as a captain with a blade whose name he never knew, and he first heard its voice only after cutting down Unohana.

Which ice-type Zanpakuto topped Bleach's first Zanpakuto popularity poll?

Hyorinmaru, an ice dragon, won the readers' vote ahead of the hero's own sword: Ichigo's Zangetsu could only finish third.

In Bleach's early-2008 popularity poll, which character displaced Ichigo as the most popular?

Toshiro Hitsugaya had climbed from sixth to second in earlier polls before taking the top spot, while Ichigo, the usual winner, slipped to third.

What does Kanzen Saimin, the ability of Aizen's Zanpakuto Kyoka Suigetsu, translate to?

Complete Hypnosis takes hold of anyone who has watched the sword's release even once, after which Aizen can deceive them whenever he likes; the one known escape is to touch the blade before it is released.

Aizen arranged Rukia's execution to obtain which object hidden inside her soul?

The Hogyoku was Urahara's invention: unable to destroy it, he hid it in Rukia's soul without telling her, and Aizen needed the execution's heat to get it out.

Which lieutenant does Aizen impale after revealing his betrayal in Soul Society?

Momo Hinamori idolised her captain so completely that, even after he ran her through, she insisted Aizen must have been manipulated by someone else.

Which body sentences Aizen to 18,800 years in prison, then 20,000 when he mocks it?

Central 46 had been rebuilt by then: Aizen had murdered every member of the previous council and issued orders in its name, so he greeted his new judges with open contempt.

Which technique does Ichigo use to overpower Aizen at the cost of his own Soul Reaper powers?

Mugetsu is the Final Getsuga Tensho, in which Ichigo himself becomes the attack; it left Aizen weak enough for Urahara's seal to take hold and Ichigo powerless for seventeen months.

After betraying Soul Society, Aizen and his accomplices escape into which realm?

Hueco Mundo is the Hollows' world of endless white desert: Menos lifted Aizen, Gin and Tosen there inside beams of light, and Aizen used it as the base for his Arrancar army.

Gin Ichimaru tells Ichigo that his Bankai, Kamishini no Yari, can extend to what length?

13 km is Gin's boast, along with a speed 500 times that of sound; he later tells Aizen he lied about the Bankai, whose real weapon is a poison that breaks down cells.

Head Captain Yamamoto's Zanpakuto, Ryujin Jakka, commands which element?

Flame: its Bankai, Zanka no Tachi, is said to burn at 15 million degrees, hot enough that Yamamoto warns keeping it active for long would destroy Soul Society along with his enemy.

Who succeeds Yamamoto as Head Captain after the first Quincy invasion of Soul Society?

Shunsui Kyoraku, one of Yamamoto's own pupils, takes command after the old man's death and soon makes a desperate call: he has Aizen released from prison to help fight Yhwach.

Which military force did Yamamoto found about 1,000 years before Bleach begins and command until his death?

The Gotei 13 began as a brutal mob of killers, 'defenders' in name only, under a Yamamoto who boasted that no Soul Reaper born in the thousand years since was stronger than him.

Yhwach, sovereign of the Wandenreich, is the son of whom?

The Soul King is the being whose existence holds the worlds together, and Yhwach's war builds to the moment he absorbs his own father to take his place.

Yhwach's Schrift, the letter A, stands for which power?

The Almighty lets Yhwach foresee the future and even rewrite it, so he falls only to a trick: an arrow of special silver switches the power off for a moment, and Ichigo strikes before it returns.

Which of Ichigo's friends does Yhwach name as his heir?

Uryu Ishida is named heir over the objections of the Sternritter: Yhwach singles him out as the only mixed-blood Quincy to survive the purge that killed Uryu's mother.

What is the Espada?

The ten strongest Arrancar are powerful enough that those ranked fourth and above are forbidden to release their swords inside Aizen's fortress, in case they bring it down.

Ulquiorra Cifer holds which Espada rank?

Cuarta (4th), yet Ulquiorra is the only Espada shown with a second release, a form he says not even Aizen has seen.

Ulquiorra's Zanpakuto Murciélago, which gives him two great wings, is Spanish for what?

Bat: after releasing it Ulquiorra seems to kill Ichigo outright, and that proves his undoing, because Ichigo rises again in a Hollow form that wounds him beyond recovery.

As Ulquiorra dies, he finally comes to understand the meaning of what?

Heart: Ulquiorra had insisted that anything his eye could not see did not exist, but as his body turns to ash an unafraid Orihime reaches out to him and he finally understands.

Which aspect of death does Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez represent?

Destruction suits him: Grimmjow loses an arm and his rank for attacking without orders, then kills his replacement Luppi the moment Orihime restores the limb.

Grimmjow's released form gives him the traits of which animal?

Panther: his sword Pantera is written with kanji meaning 'Panther King', and even before becoming an Arrancar he was a panther-like Hollow whom a pack of others asked to lead them.

Which British architect lent his name to the Sexta Espada?

Nicholas Grimshaw, an English architect known for modernist buildings, became 'Grimmjow': Kubo has said many of his Arrancar are named after real architects and designers.

Orihime Inoue's power, which manifests through her hairpins, is called what?

Shun Shun Rikka can undo events after they happen. Aizen has her abducted claiming to need that power, but it is a pretext to draw Ichigo's group and several captains away before his own attack.

Orihime's late brother Sora returns as a Hollow under what name?

Acidwire is what Sora became after dying in a car accident; in life he had run away with three-year-old Orihime to get her away from their parents and raised her himself.

Ten years after the war, Orihime is married to Ichigo and they have a son named what?

Kazui Kurosaki is already a Soul Reaper as a small boy: in the last chapter he touches the final trace of Yhwach's power and it simply dissolves.

Which Hollow, later killed by Isshin, was responsible for the death of Ichigo's mother?

Grand Fisher dangles a lure shaped like a young girl; nine-year-old Ichigo ran to stop her jumping into the river, and his mother was killed trying to pull him back.

Why does Ichigo call Yasutora Sado 'Chad'?

He misread the name on a nametag: the kanji for Sado can also be read 'Chado', and Ichigo never switched back, even once his friend was boxing for a world heavyweight title.

What keepsake from his grandfather Oscar does Chad treasure?

An old Mexican coin: his grandfather gave it to him after taking a beating meant for the boy without hitting back, and Chad later vowed on it to fight only to protect others.

Yoruichi Shihoin can transform into what animal?

A black cat: in that form Yoruichi speaks with a male voice, and she enjoys changing back in front of people who have assumed she was a man just to see their shock.

Which title does Yoruichi Shihoin hold?

Goddess of Flash is the one title Yoruichi kept when she gave up her captaincy to help Urahara escape, and her successor Sui-Feng fights her hoping to take it.

Which of Kisuke Urahara's inventions is used to summon Zangetsu so Ichigo can learn Bankai?

Tenshintai forces a Zanpakuto's spirit into physical form for about three days; subduing it in that window gave Ichigo a Bankai that normally takes ten years or more to reach.

The Sokyoku, the halberd used for executions in Soul Society, transforms into what creature?

A phoenix: the halberd's true form is a giant firebird, yet Ichigo blocks its strike with his own sword, and two captains then destroy it with a shield borrowed from a noble house.

How do Ichigo and his friends get past the wall into the Seireitei?

Fired from a fireworks cannon: Kukaku, a fireworks expert, launches the group inside a ball of their own spirit energy that punches through the barrier above the city.

Which giant gatekeeper does Ichigo defeat while trying to enter the Seireitei?

Jidanbo accepts his defeat and lifts the gate for them himself, only for Gin Ichimaru to cut off his arm and drive the whole group back outside.

Who invites Ichigo to join the Vizards, Soul Reapers who can summon Hollow masks?

Shinji Hirako poses as a new student in Ichigo's class to recruit him; a century earlier he was a captain whose own lieutenant, Aizen, used him as a test subject for Hollowfication.

Which dead Soul Reaper's face does the Espada Aaroniero reveal to Rukia?

Kaien Shiba was the lieutenant who trained Rukia, and she had to run him through when a Hollow took over his body; Aaroniero later devoured that Hollow, gaining Kaien's face and memories.

Ichigo unlocks his Fullbring powers through which object?

His Substitute Soul Reaper badge had recorded the memory of every battle he fought with it, so Xcution trained him to draw his lost power back out of the object itself.

Ichigo's Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, primarily boosts what?

His speed: where most Bankai grow enormous, Tensa Zangetsu compresses all of that power into a slim blade, and Ichigo spends it on moving faster than a captain can follow.

Ichigo later learns that the old man he believed to be Zangetsu is really the embodiment of what?

His Quincy powers, inherited from his mother, had been posing as Zangetsu and holding the real sword back; the white Hollow Ichigo feared was his true Zanpakuto all along.

Which mysterious Soul Reaper appears in the first Bleach film, Memories of Nobody?

Senna cannot name her division because she is the Shinenju, the merged memories of the lost souls called Blanks, so none of the memories she recalls are her own.

Which Bleach film centres on Sojiro Kusaka, a Soul Reaper who manifested the same Zanpakuto as a captain?

The DiamondDust Rebellion: Kusaka and the captain were academy friends who drew the same sword, and since Soul Society's law lets only one person hold a Zanpakuto, they were forced to fight for it.

The Bleach film Fade to Black opens with an ambush in the laboratory of which Soul Reaper scientist?

Mayuri Kurotsuchi is struck by two siblings with a memory-stealing scythe and, in his panic, wrecks his own machine, releasing a flood of spirit particles that devastates the Seireitei.

Who is dragged into Hell by the Sinners in the film Bleach: Hell Verse, forcing Ichigo to follow?

Yuzu is taken as bait: the Sinners want Ichigo in Hell so that his Hollow power can break the chains that bind them there, and he does lose control and transform.

Who played Ichigo in the 2018 live-action Bleach film?

Sota Fukushi starred in a film Tite Kubo once ruled out: in 2008 he said he drew Bleach as something only manga could do, yet he joined this production to keep it faithful.

Who performs 'Scar', the opening theme of the first part of Thousand-Year Blood War?

Tatsuya Kitani had already written 'Rapport' as the theme song for the Bleach original art exhibition in 2021, a year before 'Scar' opened the sequel anime.

Outside Asia and the United States, which service streamed Thousand-Year Blood War from its 2022 debut?

Disney+ carried the sequel internationally, but not in the United States, where the rights went to Hulu instead; the split was announced a week before the premiere.

Which subtitle closes the Thousand-Year Blood War anime?

The Calamity is the last of four parts, each separated by a break, that together adapt the rest of the manga through to its ending, something the original anime never reached.

Kubo's spin-off Burn the Witch is set in which city, home to Soul Society's Western Branch?

Reverse London keeps its Bleach link for a closing twist: a gate destroyed during the story turns out to be the entrance to Soul Society's Western Branch, which manages dragons rather than Hollows.

The mobile game Bleach: Brave Souls, released in 2015, was developed by which company?

KLabGames drew Tite Kubo into the project: he designed new versions of his characters for the game, and it has gone on to play out stories from the sequel novels as well as the manga.

Which mod soul spends most of Bleach living inside a stuffed lion?

Kon reached Ichigo by chance, mixed into the ordinary soul candy Rukia had bought; a combat model who lived in fear of being disposed of, he refuses to kill anything.

Where does Ichigo Kurosaki live at the start of Bleach?

Karakura Town later becomes Aizen's target: he plans to sacrifice its people to forge a key to the royal realm, so the Soul Reapers fight him in a replica of the town instead.

Which publisher licensed the Bleach manga for English release in North America in 2004?

Viz Media started more than two years behind Japan, but by the manga's final years it was releasing each new chapter digitally in English as it appeared in Japan.

In Bleach's multilingual naming scheme, which language do the Quincies use?

German supplies Quincy terms such as Wandenreich and Schrift; Kubo gave each faction its own language so the groups would sound distinct, with Spanish going to the Hollows and Arrancar.

Which title, referencing the Soul Reapers' attire, did Kubo reject for the series as too generic?

He also considered 'White' before settling on Bleach for its association with that colour.

Bleach grew out of Tite Kubo's wish to draw a death god dressed in which garment?

Kimono: Kubo wanted a death god in traditional Japanese dress, and the design he drew for Rukia became the uniform of every Soul Reaper in the series.

The first Bleach video game, Heat the Soul, debuted in 2005 on which platform?

PlayStation Portable: Heat the Soul took the anime's first opening song as its theme and began a fighting series whose every instalment was released only in Japan.

Which 1980s manga did Kubo credit for Bleach's focus on striking weapons and battle scenes?

Saint Seiya did more than shape Bleach's fights: Kubo has said that reading Masami Kurumada's series as a boy is what made him decide to become a manga artist.

Who leads the Fullbringer group Xcution and preceded Ichigo as Substitute Soul Reaper?

Kugo Ginjo turned on Soul Society after discovering it had been secretly watching him and limiting his power, and he befriends Ichigo only to steal his new abilities.

The Turn Back the Pendulum chapters of Bleach are numbered using what?

Negatives: the arc runs from chapter -108 to -97 because it is set before chapter 1, and those 12 chapters are why the manga totals 698 although its last is numbered 686.

Fullbring abilities such as Dirty Boots, Love Gun and Time Tells No Lies share their names with works from which field?

Rock music: Love Gun is a Kiss album, Dirty Boots a Sonic Youth single and Time Tells No Lies the debut album by Praying Mantis; English is the language Kubo's naming scheme assigns to the Fullbringers.

Which flamboyant TV spirit medium accidentally turns a ghost into a Hollow during a live broadcast in Bleach?

Don Kanonji believed his televised exorcisms sent spirits to heaven; he is mortified to learn the method was turning them into Hollows, and Ichigo has to clean up the mess.

Which 7th Division captain in Bleach hides a wolf's head beneath a helmet?

Sajin Komamura hid his face out of shame until Kenpachi Zaraki smashed the helmet in battle; from then on he found the confidence to fight with his face uncovered.

Who directed the original Bleach anime for its entire 2004 to 2012 run?

Noriyuki Abe also has a director's credit on all four Bleach films, but when the final arc was animated in 2022 the chair passed to Tomohisa Taguchi.

Which resurrected Espada leads the Beasts of Hell in Bleach's 2021 anniversary chapter?

Szayelaporro Granz, long dead, climbs back out of Hell to attack the lieutenants, and the fight exposes the captains' funeral rite as a way of casting its dead into Hell.

Ichigo Kurosaki of Bleach is often grouped with Naruto and which other manga hero as anime's 'big three'?

Monkey D. Luffy of One Piece completes the trio. A 2007 Newtype poll also placed Ichigo among the 100 most-loved anime characters.

After Ulquiorra abducts Orihime in Bleach, Ichigo and his friends storm which white-domed palace used by Aizen?

Las Noches is Spanish for 'The Nights'. Aizen used the enormous fortress to garrison his troops.

Bleach grew out of Tite Kubo's wish to draw a shinigami dressed in which traditional Japanese garment?

A kimono even decided the weapons. Kubo first armed his Soul Reapers with guns, then switched to swords because firearms did not suit the outfit.

Which Japanese television network broadcast the original Bleach anime from October 2004 until March 2012?

TV Tokyo also co-produced the series with Dentsu, and it brought the sequel Thousand-Year Blood War to air in 2022.

Which former Power Rangers actor provides the English-language voice of Ichigo Kurosaki in the Bleach anime?

Johnny Yong Bosch joined Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1994 as Adam Park, replacing Walter Emanuel Jones in the show's second season.

Which publisher's magazine first rejected Tite Kubo's Bleach pitch, then serialised it for fifteen years?

Shueisha's second thoughts paid off with a franchise spanning an anime, animated films, stage musicals and a live-action movie.

In Bleach, which blast of spirit energy, shown as a coloured sphere or beam, can every Menos-class Hollow fire?

Cero is Spanish for 'zero'. The English manga sometimes renders the attack as a 'Doom Blast'.

Which Japanese term does Bleach use for the soul burial Soul Reapers perform to lay ghosts to rest?

Konso sends a ghost on to Soul Society before it can turn into a Hollow; there it lives as an ordinary human until it is reborn on Earth.

In Bleach, the Quincy gather spirit particles from the air and shape them into which signature weapon?

A bow and arrow built from gathered reishi is the Quincy hallmark. These priest-like Hollow hunters were historical enemies of the Soul Reapers.

Shinigami, the Japanese word that the English version of Bleach renders as Soul Reaper, literally means what?

Death god is the literal reading. One reviewer still judged 'Soul Reaper' a perfectly fine translation, calling it an adequate description.

Which squad of the Gotei 13 in Bleach, led by Retsu Unohana, handles medical treatment and supplies?

The Fourth Division's captain learned her healing arts from a member of Squad Zero, originally so that she could prolong her own fights.

Which Gotei 13 squad in Bleach became home to the Research and Development Institute under Captain Kisuke Urahara?

The Twelfth Division gained its institute when Urahara took command; he staffed it partly with inmates freed from an underground prison, the Nest of Maggots.

Which Gotei 13 squad in Bleach, led by Byakuya Kuchiki, is seen as a model for its strict obedience to rules?

The Sixth Division's lieutenant, Renji Abarai, first appears as an enemy sent to drag Rukia home, then joins the effort to rescue her.

Squad Zero in Bleach, an elite unit of just five members, is better known by which name?

The Royal Guard admits only those who shaped Soul Society's history; its members are credited with inventing the Soul Reapers' swords and uniforms.

What does every Gotei 13 squad emblem in Bleach depict, each chosen for a meaning that fits the squad's role?

A flower stands for each squad, read through the language of flowers: the snowdrop of Squad Thirteen means 'hope', while the thistle of Squad Twelve stands for revenge and independence.

Which Second Division captain in Bleach, once Yoruichi Shihoin's bodyguard, also commands the Stealth Force?

Soi Fon, also romanised as Sui-Feng, was crushed when Yoruichi left Soul Society without her; when her mentor returned a century later, the two fought before making peace.

Which Gotei 13 captain in Bleach hides his wolf-like head under a huge helmet until Kenpachi Zaraki destroys it?

Sajin Komamura belongs to a clan once banished to the Animal Realm, where they took on half-beast forms; losing the helmet gave him the confidence to show his face.

Which captain in Bleach, known for his straw hat and pink haori, succeeds Yamamoto as head of the Gotei 13?

Shunsui Kyoraku prefers sake, naps and peaceful solutions, yet he defeated the top-ranked Espada using only his sword's first release.

Which Gotei 13 captain in Bleach has had white hair since a childhood lung disease and still coughs up blood?

Jushiro Ukitake survived because his parents carried him to the shrine of Mimihagi, a hand-like deity that saved him by removing his lungs.

Which blind Gotei 13 captain in Bleach defects from Soul Society alongside Aizen and Gin Ichimaru?

Kaname Tosen lost faith in Soul Society after the man who murdered his closest friend was allowed to go free; he 'sees' through his spiritual sense.

Which pink-haired lieutenant in Bleach clings to Kenpachi Zaraki's back and points him in random directions?

Yachiru was found as an infant in one of the most violent districts of Rukongai; Zaraki named her after the only person he had ever admired.

Which Gotei 13 lieutenant in Bleach wields Wabisuke, a hooked blade that doubles the weight of whatever it strikes?

Izuru Kira served under Gin Ichimaru. After seven or eight blocked blows an opponent can no longer lift their sword and is left bowing as if to apologise.

Which bald, battle-loving officer in Bleach hides his bankai so he can keep fighting under Kenpachi Zaraki?

Ikkaku Madarame fears being pushed into a captaincy. His spear Hozukimaru also hides a blood-clotting ointment in its hilt.

Which vain Gotei 13 officer in Bleach wears feathers on his eyelashes and judges everything by its beauty?

Yumichika took the fifth seat only because third was already taken by his friend and he finds that numeral prettier than the one before it.

Which timid healer in Bleach risks his position as a Soul Reaper to help Rukia Kuchiki escape execution?

Hanataro Yamada owns a sword that heals whatever it cuts, filling a gauge with the wounds it takes in until he can release them as a single blast.

Which tall lieutenant in Bleach, known for her odd nightmares, succeeds Retsu Unohana as a Gotei 13 captain?

Isane Kotetsu once woke from a nightmare screaming about fish paste. She wept on finding her captain's farewell note before Unohana's fight to the death with Zaraki.

Which member of Squad Zero in Bleach forges the blank Asauchi blade that every new Soul Reaper receives?

Oetsu Nimaiya is credited with inventing the zanpakuto, and he alone can truly repair a broken bankai, by reforging the whole sword.

Which lieutenant in Bleach wears a '69' tattoo on his face to match the captain who saved him as a child?

Shuhei Hisagi copied the number from Kensei Muguruma's stomach. He also serves as editor-in-chief of the Seireitei Bulletin.

Ichigo, the first name of Bleach's orange-haired hero, is also the Japanese word for which fruit?

Strawberry is the pun behind 'Berry-tan', the nickname that the Vizard Mashiro Kuna pins on him.

Which Mod-Soul in Bleach lives inside a stuffed lion and takes over Ichigo Kurosaki's body while he is away?

Kon was engineered for leg strength, so he outruns and outjumps any human even as a plush toy, and he hosts the omake talk show Radio Kon Baby.

Tite Kubo based Kisuke Urahara, Bleach's shopkeeper in a bucket hat and clogs, on which Moomin character?

Snufkin simply struck Kubo as cool. The borrowed look of hat and wooden sandals earned Urahara the nickname 'Mr. Hat-and-Clogs'.

Which karate-trained classmate in Bleach is Orihime Inoue's best friend and sparred with Ichigo as a child?

Tatsuki has known both since she was young, and she steps in whenever people pick on or bother Orihime.

What is the first name of Ichigo Kurosaki's mother in Bleach, killed by a Hollow while protecting her son?

Masaki had been raised to marry the heir of another family, but wed Isshin instead after he had his own abilities sealed to save her life.

What kind of business does Ichigo Kurosaki's father, Isshin, run in the human world in Bleach?

A clinic became Isshin's new life after he lost his Soul Reaper abilities; he had once been a captain in the Gotei 13.

Tite Kubo's first sketches of Bleach hero Ichigo Kurosaki gave him dark hair, softer eyes and which accessory?

Glasses came off, and the orange hair and trademark scowl went on, when Kubo reworked Ichigo to contrast with Rukia.

Where in the Kurosaki home does Rukia Kuchiki take up residence while stranded in the human world in Bleach?

A closet belonging to Ichigo is her hideout while she poses as his classmate in an artificial body supplied by Kisuke Urahara's shop.

Yasutora 'Chad' Sado first discovers his power in Bleach as armour that strengthens which part of his body?

His right arm first armours itself when he tries to protect Ichigo's sister Karin and her friends from a Hollow.

Ganju, who joins Ichigo's raid on Soul Society in Bleach, leads a gang whose members all ride which animals?

Boars carry the whole gang, and Ganju's own mount is called Bonnie-chan. He starts out hating Soul Reapers, yet still joins the raid to rescue Rukia.

Which aproned assistant at the Urahara Shop in Bleach was once captain of Soul Society's Kido Corps?

Tessai can cast a level 99 binding spell without its incantation; using forbidden spells to help Urahara save his friends forced him to flee Soul Society.

Which short-tempered Vizard in Bleach is known for slapping her leader in the face with one of her sandals?

Hiyori took the longest of all the Vizards to defeat her inner Hollow, and she still resents Soul Society too much to accept its offer to return.

Which laid-back Espada in Bleach fights beside Lilynette, a girl who is really the other half of his soul?

Coyote Starrk split himself in two out of loneliness, because weaker Hollows died simply from being near his spiritual pressure.

Which Espada in Bleach, the only woman among them, takes over as ruler of the Hollows' world after Aizen falls?

Tier Harribel dislikes needless slaughter and fights only to protect her followers; her sword Tiburón, Spanish for shark, lets her command water.

Which childlike guide who befriends Ichigo in Bleach is really a former third-ranked Espada with amnesia?

Nel Tu shrank into a child after a treacherous blow from behind cracked her mask; she regains her adult form, Nelliel, when Ichigo is tortured in front of her.

Which hulking Espada in Bleach arrives on Earth with Ulquiorra and bears a 10 tattoo that can become a 0?

Yammy Llargo stores up energy by eating and resting; when he releases his sword the 1 flakes off his tattoo and he swells into a many-legged giant.

Ulquiorra Cifer, the Espada who serves as Orihime Inoue's jailer in Bleach, represents which aspect of death?

Emptiness suits an Espada who shows no emotion, attacks even allies who get in the way of his orders, and writes off anyone dull as expendable.

Ulquiorra Cifer of Bleach delivers his report to Aizen by pulling out and crushing which part of his body?

An eye, once crushed, turns to dust that swirls around his audience and shows them what he saw; he can regrow everything except his brain and organs.

Which Sternritter grandmaster in Bleach serves as Yhwach's closest adviser and wields the power called The Balance?

Jugram Haschwalth once trained with his friend Bazz-B to take revenge on Yhwach, only to be singled out and made his deputy on the spot.

The first name of Bleach's Rukia Kuchiki derives from a Latin word that Tite Kubo felt suited her, meaning what?

Light is the root meaning, and Kubo decided it fit because of what Rukia brings into Ichigo's life; he first heard the name on television.

Which Hollywood studio produced the Japanese live-action Bleach film that premiered in 2018?

Warner Bros. backed a cast that included Seiichi Tanabe as the shopkeeper Kisuke Urahara and Masami Nagasawa as Ichigo's mother.

In Bleach, which mindless giant, the first stage of the Menos, forms when numerous Hollows devour one another?

Gillian are treated as mere foot soldiers by Soul Reapers, but one that keeps a single personality can shrink into a far deadlier form.