Tite Kubo facts for kids

Noriaki Kubo (Japanese: 久保 宣章, Hepburn: Kubo Noriaki, born June 26, 1977), known as Tite Kubo (久保 帯人, Kubo Taito), is a famous Japanese manga artist. He creates amazing comics and designs characters. His most well-known manga series is Bleach. This series was super popular, with over 130 million copies sold by 2022!

Tite Kubo's Journey as a Manga Artist

Tite Kubo was born on June 26, 1977, in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Even when he was in elementary school, he knew he wanted to be a manga artist. He was inspired by reading the manga Saint Seiya.

Early Works and Challenges

Kubo's very first short manga story was "Ultra Unholy Hearted Machine." It was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1996. His first full manga series was Zombiepowder., which started in 1999. It ran for 27 chapters but ended in 2000. Kubo later shared that he was still learning how to create a weekly series. He focused a lot on his editor's advice instead of his own ideas.

The Success of Bleach

Kubo's next big series was Bleach. It began in the same magazine in 2001. The story is about Ichigo Kurosaki, a high school student. He becomes a shinigami (a soul reaper) and fights evil creatures called Hollows.

When Kubo first created Bleach, he thought it would only last about five years. The idea for Bleach was actually rejected at first. But Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, saw the story. He wrote a letter to Kubo, encouraging him to keep going!

Bleach ended up running for 15 years, from 2001 to 2016. It had over 698 chapters in total. An anime TV show based on Bleach also aired for 8 years. It had over 366 episodes. In 2004, Bleach won the Shogakukan Manga Award, which is a big honor!

Other Projects and Appearances

Tite Kubo has also worked on other projects. He helped design characters for anime shows like Aoi Bungaku. In 2018, he returned to Weekly Shōnen Jump with a new one-shot story called Burn the Witch. This story later became a series in 2020.

Kubo even visited the United States for the first time in 2008. He made an appearance at San Diego Comic-Con, a huge event for comic fans!

Kubo's Unique Art Style

Tite Kubo's manga often focuses on action. His fight scenes are known for quick changes in camera angles. He also uses minimal backgrounds to keep the focus on the characters.

Character Design

Kubo's characters often have a distinct, angular, and tall look. This style was clear in Zombiepowder. and the early parts of Bleach. As Bleach continued, his designs became a bit fuller. He sometimes includes elements of body horror in his designs.

What Inspired Tite Kubo?

Kubo's earliest inspiration came from Shigeru Mizuki's manga Gegege no Kitaro. He remembers trying to draw its characters when he was young.

Inspirations for Bleach

The idea for Bleach started because Kubo wanted to draw shinigami in traditional kimono. This led to the design of the Soul Reapers and the character Rukia Kuchiki.

Kubo has many different inspirations for Bleach. These include other manga, music, foreign languages, buildings, and movies. He credits GeGeGe no Kitaro for his interest in drawing supernatural beings. The cool weapons and battles in Bleach were inspired by Masami Kurumada's Saint Seiya.

Kubo also learned from Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball. He learned that all villains should be "strong, scary and cool."

Creating Characters and Battles

When Kubo draws battle scenes, he first imagines the fights with empty backgrounds. Then he finds the best angle to draw them. He tries to make injuries look very real so readers can feel the character's pain. Sometimes, he adds jokes to make the scenes more fun.

When creating characters, Kubo first draws their design. Then, he decides their personality based on how they look. He wants each character to be unique and grow throughout the series.

Kubo also uses different languages for terms in Bleach. Soul Reapers use Japanese names for their attacks. The Quincy use German words, and X-Cution members use English. For Hollows and Arrancars, Kubo chose Spanish terms. He finds the Spanish language "bewitching" and "mellow."

Tite Kubo's Published Works

Here are some of the manga series and other works Tite Kubo has created. Many of these were first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump.

Manga Series

• Zombiepowder. (1999–2000)
• Bleach (2001–2016)
• Burn the Witch (2020–present)

One-shot Manga Stories

Before his main series, Tite Kubo wrote several short, one-shot manga stories.

• Ultra Unholy Hearted Machine (1996)
• Rune Master Urara (1996)
• Bad Shield United (1997)
• Burn the Witch (2018)
• Bleach: New Breathes From Hell (2021)

Artbooks

• Bleach All Colour but the Black
• Bleach Official Bootleg
• Bleach JET

Databooks

• Bleach Official Character Book SOULs
• Bleach Official Anime Guide Book VIBEs
• Bleach Official Character Book 2 MASKED
• Bleach Official Character Book 3 UNMASKED
• Bleach 13 BLADEs.

Novels

• 2020: With Ryohgo Narita: Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, Vol. 1
• 2020: With Ryohgo Narita: Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, Vol. 2
• 2021: With Ryohgo Narita: Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, Vol. 3

Video Games

Tite Kubo has also designed characters for video games.

• Dragon Quest X (2015) – character and weapon designs
• Sakura Wars (2019) – character designs

See also

In Spanish: Tite Kubo para niños