Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War hasn’t been shy about adding new content to its anime adaptation that hadn’t taken place in the original manga story. In the fight against Yhwach and the Wandenreich, we’ve seen the Royal Guard given far more material to work with and in a recent episode, witnessed a far more fleshed out confrontation featuring Renji and Ishida. Speaking of Renji, the voice actor responsible for bringing Ichigo’s Shinigami rival to life, Kentaro Ito, recently was a part of an interview wherein he dished some fascinating reveals to fans. Before the Blood War anime ends, we might see a surprise wedding arrive in the anime that hadn’t been shown in the original source material.
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For those who might not be familiar, Renji and Rukia, the Soul Reaper who was responsible for Ichigo Kurosaki receiving his powers at the beginning of Bleach, eventually get married. While they might not show much affection for one another throughout the series, creator Tite Kubo teamed up with writer Makoto Matsubara to create a novel in 2016 that went into detail regarding the wedding of Rukia and Renji. Bleach: We DO Knot ALWAYS LOVE YOU takes place following the fight against the Sternritter and not only focuses on the reconstruction of the Soul Society but also dives into the relationship between two of Ichigo’s strongest allies.
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Romances Blooms in The Blood War
In a recent interview, Renji voice actor Kentaro Ito discussed his part in the Bleach series and in choosing one of his favorite scenes, wondered if his character’s feelings for Rukia were there all along, “The most memorable scene was when Renji told Ichigo, “I know it will be a disgrace, but I’m asking you…!!” (Manga Volume 11, Chapter 98). I
also like the flashback scene where, after their life at “Dog Suspension,” they vow to “become Shinigami” with Rukia in front of their friends’ graves (Manga Volume 11, Chapter 98). Ever since I read that scene in the original manga, I’ve been looking forward to seeing it animated and acted out. However, because a female voice actor was cast for Renji as a boy because of the quality of his voice, I was excited, thinking, “Is it me in the scene where he vows to Rukia…?” (laughs).”
Ito had actually recorded dialogue for an audio transcription of Bleach: We DO Knot ALWAYS LOVE YOU, taking into account how this affected his voice acting in the Blood War, “I think the biggest difference when acting is whether you know the ending or not.
Until the classic series 10 years ago, neither the viewers nor we knew the ending. Therefore, when there was a new development in the character, it was necessary to make sure that the voice expression did not feel strange. However, in the
“Thousand-Year Blood War Arc”, both the viewers and we know the ending.
If you know the ending, you can work backwards from there to create the character.
However, there is one thing I tried not to be conscious of. It’s the relationship between Renji and Rukia (laughs).
Ito continues, “When I read that development in the manga, I said, “Since when!?” (laughs). Even during the recording of ” BLEACH WE DO KNOT ALWAYS LOVE YOU
” , which is available on YouTube’s “Jump Channel” , I thought, “Will this affect my character creation?”, but it is my mission and that of Orikasa Fumiko to absolutely hide the “love feeling” between Renji and Rukia until the very end in the “Thousand-Year Blood War Arc” (laughs).”
Renji x Rukia’s Wedding is Coming
In his farewell to readers in his recent interview, Kentaro Ito all but confirmed that a wedding that never made its way to the manga would be injected into the anime adaptation, “I hope you are all enjoying the “Thousand-Year Blood War” arc.
Through the character of Renji Abarai, I am trying to convey the time Renji spent and the worldview of “BLEACH” in my own way. Please stay with me until the final scene between Renji and Rukia.”
Following the Thousand-Year Blood War, Bleach creator Tite Kubo would return to the supernatural shonen universe in a special dubbed “Bleach: No Breaths From Hell.” In this sequel one-shot, readers were introduced to Ichika Abarai, the daughter of Renji and Rukia who looks like the perfect fusion of her parents. While this special chapter hasn’t confirmed if Bleach will release new chapters in the future, it has certainly set the stage for where the shonen series might go should Tite Kubo be looking to get back into the manga game.
Want to see if Rukia and Renji tie the knot officially in the grand finale of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War? Follow along with Team Anime for all the latest updates on the Soul Society and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.