An eagle-eyed fan has spotted a sneaky Bleach reference in the cover of Tite Kubo's spinoff manga series Burn the Witch.
As a video posted on Reddit demonstrates, in specific lightning, the slipcase for the first volume of Burn the Witch also features the word Bleach emblazoned across the front; while the B, E, C and H are fairly easy to spot, the L and A are cleverly hidden with the first T and W of Burn the Witch.
After finishing the Bleach manga series in 2016, Kubo began working on Burn the Witch. It was first published as a one-shot chapter in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in July 2018 and began as a full, ongoing manga series in August 2020. While set in the same universe as Bleach, it isn't necessarily a sequel; the story follows two witches, Noel Niihashi and Ninny Spangcole, who work for the Western Branch of the Soul Society, which is located in Reverse London. The Burn the Witch manga is currently ongoing and licensed for English distribution by Viz Media.
Studio Colorido (Star Wars: Visions) adapted Burn the Witch into an anime film, which premiered in October 2020. Tatsuro Kawano (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress) directed the movie with Chika Suzumura (Muromi-san) overseeing the script, Keiji Inai (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) composing the music and Natsuki Yamada (Fate/Apocrypha) designing the characters. Kunihiko Inaba (Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa) served as the art director and Keiichiro Miyoshi (Megalobox) was the sound director.
Asami Tano (The God of High School) and Yuina Yamada (The Strongest Sage With the Weakest Crest) starred as Ninny and Noel respectively in the Burn the Witch anime. The cast featured several other popular and experienced voice actors, including Chikahiro Kobayashi (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime), Haruka Shimizu (Kakegurui), Haruka Shimizu (Tiger & Bunny), Saori Hayami (Boruto: Naruto Next Generations) and Miou Tanaka (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin).
Bleach, meanwhile, is gearing up for the return of its anime adaptation. The new season will be entitled Thousand-Year Blood War, and is set to premiere next October. The anime will adapt the chapters of Kubo's manga that were published after the original show's conclusion, though the author has stated that new show will feature new story elements not seen in the original story.
The Burn the Witch anime film is available to stream on Netflix and Crunchyroll.
Source: Reddit
