Bleach Creator Promotes Loki in Japan With New Aizen Illustration

Tite Kubo has teamed up with Marvel Studios Japan to release a new illustration of one of Bleach's most infamous villains.

Kubo's new illustration of Aizen was revealed on Twitter, alongside an image of Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Both characters are in the same pose and have the same mischievous grin on their face, alongside a caption that states "The God of Betrayal and the Shinigami of Betrayal stand side by side!" Just as Loki is famous for constantly betraying his brother Thor, the character of Aizen is infamous for being Bleach's most duplicitous antagonist. The drawing was created by Kubo to help promote the release of the Loki Disney+ series in Japan.

Bleach was originally published in 2001 and is one of the most successful manga series of all time, having sold over 120 million collected volumes worldwide. The series tells the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, a young man who inherits the powers and title of a Soul Reaper, beings who are tasked with protecting the souls of the recently departed and who must fight against the Hollows, lost spirits that have become dangerous and violent. An anime adaptation of the manga aired from 2004-2012, and in 2020 it was announced that the anime series would receive an additional season to adapt the final arc of the manga. In addition to the anime series, Bleach has been adapted into a live-action movie, a series of video games and even a stage musical.

Following the conclusion of the Bleach manga in 2016, Kubo worked as a character designer on Sega's 2019 revival of the Sakura Wars video game, which was also adapted into an anime series. In 2020, Kubo's latest manga, Burn The Witch, began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump. The series centers on two witches living in London, and is set in the same world as Bleach.

Bleach is available for streaming on Hulu, Netflix and Crunchyroll. Loki is streaming exclusively on Disney+.

Source: Twitter