Post

bleach was genuinely meteoric in those first few years. I still remember how much anime conventions were dominated by the series' fandom back then. imo the drop-off felt like a combo of the manga *and* anime industries being fundamentally broken at the time in a way out of his control

I'm not surprised that he felt bitter enough to write this. being ground down by the deadlines, having to constantly sign off on adaptations, and likely an escalating amount of hate mail. this line of work should not be so soul-crushing for authors who aren't extreme workaholics

I think he works at his own pace now. Which good for him, but it makes me sad that others can't do the same until they get successful and finish a series.

during soul society's run, I'd see tons of people with various shinigami cosplays at anime cons of the time. I don't think the cracks really showed until the anime version of hueco mundo where the filler really did not flatter the original material, which wasn't great on its own

Programmers say there are two kinds of programming languages: the kind everyone complains about, and the kind nobody writes in. Bleach kind of became the manga equivalent of that.

I like to point to recent series like jjk and dandadan as basically "what if authors took a single arc they liked from bleach and expanded it into a full series". imo of the big 3, it's had the most influence on other creators

At its peak, new volumes would sell over 900K copies in Japan. It wasnโ€™t the most popular manga, but it was ABSOLUTELY in the top 10. In the late 2000s, the only titles with better Oricon numbers were One Piece, Nana, Naruto, FMA, and Nodame Cantabile.

100% agree. The audience thinking they're part of the creative process has been such an issue, and I swear is driving people out of creating. I bet money that some manga ended early cause the creators were sick of 'fans.'

He says it so well. Fandom becomes toxic when it becomes an assertion of ownership and authority regarding a work over its creators, among other things. For better or worse art can not and should not be separated from a living artist.

Basically, if you like Bleach enough to hate how it went, and you think you can do better, I guess file the serial numbers off, write something similar, see how you go. I donโ€™t mean โ€œBleach but differentโ€, but take the things that worked, the themes, and build on those. Thatโ€™s all writing.

And I donโ€™t mean โ€œthis is MY story about shinigami that are stylistically feudal-Japaneseโ€, but I mean you dissect the characters, and their arcs, and figure out what you liked, what you didnโ€™t, and adapt those into something new. Youโ€™d never have Star Wars without a huge range of influences.

Iโ€™ll often say how things could have been tidied up, or given more symmetry in Dragon Ball Z, but not because I think Toriyama was a hack who couldnโ€™t write, because I, with a different writing sensibility, and the benefit of hindsight, can see how I would do it differently. One day I may.

Take this example: I think when Gohan beat Cell, he shouldnโ€™t have done it as Goku 2.0, but as the hybrid of Goku and Piccolo he was always portrayed as. One handed Kamehameha works for a bit, but then Gohan uses his brain, uses his training, and his powers of observationโ€ฆ

I became a fan of Bleach because of the slapstick comedy and the supernatural adventure feeling it had at first, and I ended up dropping it halfway because the stories were simply not interesting to me. I agree with him on dropping something that does not "click" with you. Dandadan is more my alley.

"You weren't willing to cook for yourself so don't complain to me about medium rare chicken breast I served you. Drink rain and eat dirt." -A chef with it above philosophy.

He wasn't merely critiqued, you know. He said this because the fandom sent him literal death threats over the final chapter. He was responding to the wrong idea that art is nothing more than a product that should satisy customers.

Haha I looked up the quote in Japanese, it's even angrier: "...ๅฃใ ใ‘้–‹ใ‘ใฆ้›จใจ่ช‡ใ‚Šใ ใ‘้ฃŸในใฆ่พ›ใ†ใ˜ใฆ็”Ÿใใฆใ‚โ€ "....I hope you barely survive, and open you mouth only to eat dust and drink rain."

God I hate fanatics. I didn't care for the final mega arc myself (had a hard time following it, but been meaning to go back and read it again to see if it makes more sense), but jeez.

It's better on a reread while considering certain bits of early foreshadowing most ppl forgot by then. Also the anime adaptation is expanding on things that Kubo didn't get to in the manga because he was being rushed. He's writing stuff for the anime.

I'm honestly not sure if I get what he's saying. What's meant by change the story of a work here? I feel like I'm missing some sort of context. Clearly there's some real frustration being expressed, but the actual nature of it is a thing I can't quite parse.

Are you being serious or are you just not aware of how bad fandoms can be to creators at times? People have quit their jobs over the vitriol thrown at them for not making a story go a certain way or when a scene in an anime is slightly less smooth than the rest.

The "live off the rain and the dirt" line really gets me, and it's a small wonder it works so well even translated to English. You get nothing, sir! Good day!

I feel like hes saying since they dont make an effort and only complain, theyre not going to make an effort to find decent food and water. So, they can sit there and rely on rain and dirt since they dont put in the effort to change things or work for better things.

I will say out of context this does sound a little reflective of criticism but in context that this was to people sending him death threats, entirely reasonable lol

"Oh so you think you can do better? Go ahead then," isn't a cool comeback; it's pretty pathetic, honestly. No work is above criticism, and one doesn't need to be a creator to be able to point out the flaws in a work. If that were true, then pointing out the strengths would be just as off-limits.

From a different perspective, why do you think an artist should listen to anyone. You can say what you like about a story, but what you don't have the right to do is try and change it to fit your liking. If you want to add to a story, then make your own. Is a very valid response.

Iโ€™ve never read Bleach, so I might be lacking context, but I believe the point is not that you canโ€™t criticize, but if your primary engagement is to say the creative choices are wrong and the creator should instead tell the story you want to read, youโ€™d both be better off telling your own stories.

On the other hand, developing the media literacy needed to genuinely understand one writing choice or another, and see what mightโ€™ve been better possibilities, is one thing. Actually building the whole work is a much, much bigger task, and one Iโ€™m far less confident in my abilities in.

And I know a lot of people like dunks, sick burns, and general messages of โ€œHey LOSERS, try not being LOSERS!โ€. Iโ€™m not fond of them, and theyโ€™ve never helped me. Theyโ€™re not for the person addressed; theyโ€™re for the approval of others.

Connections are important. If I hadn't met a waiter at the Greek restaurant I was washing dishes at, I might not have published 11 books by the time I was 31. The reality is knowing people helps a lot, but you have no idea who those people are until you get started and put yourself out there.

Knowing people in the business. For example, I worked on a project that went nowhere on a website that no longer exists I met a guy who referred me to someone else for a writing job. The interview was fun, even if they changed their plans. Without additional "Connections" I am shopping my...

Manuscripts to whatever agents I think might be interested, because whenever I approach a company I am told they only deal through agents they already work with. I consider Marshall Lakes a connection, but he hasn't used any of my scripts yet. If we knew each other better I might consider you one.

I remember his OG Twitter account and he used to be very open and more casual with fans and talk about the series and his life and he ended up nuking that account after being harassed off the internet for some fan drama that even I couldnโ€™t fully understand. So guyโ€™s been through it.

Which is odd because the eding wasnt bad especially when you consider the circumstances of what was going on behind the scenes (Kubos health and shonen jump fuckery) Its was mostly just shippers being mad

I mean, yeah. This doesn't absolve Bleach from criticism, but if you're bitching to the extent that the creator actually hears it, then you're probably just whining for attention.

I had some nit picks over the course of 1000 Year but enjoyed it very much over all, including the designs. The squad zero build up and final battle was my biggest disappointment in both the manga and anime.

That's what happened with Bleach back in the day.People stopped reading it.Shonen jump popularity rates plumbed and they just cancelled it.He started to introduce pointless story arcs and characters. Luckily we are having a blast with the last anime arc. The end Bleach actually deserves

Honestly I don't understand hating something so much it consumes you... UNLESS it used to be something you loved. Which, I dunno something that isn't eternal like I don't see the attachment. Like Nadia's ending was bad enough I never rewatched it despite it still being a fave show.

I can sort of understand it if it's your job, like being a dramatuber seems like the same amount of misery as being a retail worker to me, but for free? Tho even then, these people wouldn't have a job if people weren't haters for free so aunno, I don't get it.

You could also make fanfics and fanart for stuff you wish the story would go into or just to apply your headcanons and ships into something. Its on the same level as โ€œif you could do better/dont like something then do it yourselfโ€ without jumping into the industry too hastily.

As part of standard Japanese education, you have to read a lot of classical Japanese literature and poetry (which is qiute different from modern Japanese). "Live off the rain and dirt" is a transliteration of a quote from, I believe, a poem.

I dont keep up with anime and Manga anymore (its just really bad now) but bleach will probably always be my favorite and this just made me respect Kubo more The way he was treated back in 2016 was just BS

Is there a source to the post and a note who translated it (if you didnt translate it yourself/kubo-sensei posted in english) I do believe you, I just feel better to have a source when I put this into peoples faces.

Honestly while I might not like how Bleach went, and don't always agree with and will make fun of Kubo, I think it's cool they didn't just go "just learn to draw/write" but said talented editors are a boon to the industry too. Sometimes editors can suck but some are good as gold.

This is something I should learn from as well. Itโ€™s honestly very humbling, especially if you donโ€™t realize youโ€™re part of a problem. I love this.

On one hand, I understand that weirdos, who make it their identity to hate your work and harass you, truly should go somewhere and live off rain and dirt. On the other hand, though, as an author, I just can't get behind the notion of outright dismissing the reaction of the audience, either.

Sometimes, feedback from audiences improves an artistโ€™s work. Itโ€™s the height of hubris to pretend an audience member canโ€™t give meaningful criticism to a work just because they arenโ€™t an editor.