Bleach Finally Addresses One of Its Epilogue's Most Frustrating Questions

Bleach fans have long had questions about Ichigo's life after the end of the manga, and series creator Tite Kubo has occasionally provided some answers. His latest Q&A has finally offered some insight into Ichigo's choice of career, and how and why that came to be his job.

In the epilogue of Bleach, it's revealed that Ichigo has married Orihime and appears to have become a doctor, running his father's old clinic and settling down to live a fairly normal life and raise his son, Kazui Kurosaki. However, in the 2021 Bleach anniversary one-shot "NO BREATHES FROM HELL," set many years later, it's revealed that Ichigo actually became an English/Japanese translator. Many fans felt this was an odd change, to say the least, and have wondered since the one-shot came out how Ichigo wound up in this extremely specific career. Now, Kubo has finally provided an answer to that question through his fanpage, "Klub Outside."

Ichigo Became a Translator For a Fascinating Reason

Ichigo's New Career Wasn't Chosen at Random

Klub Outside is a members-only Japanese service, so answers that Kubo provides to questions on that platform can at times be hard to come by. Fortunately, X (formerly Twitter) user @Cellexion translated and shared the answer to the latest questions. The question asks, "I always thought Ichigo was going to be a doctor, so I was very surprised to hear that he became a translator instead. Could you tell us how this came to be?" Kubo answered, "It's because he was interested in connecting two different worlds."

Another question asked, "Ichigo became a translator after ten years, but did he have the experience of studying abroad to gain a deeper understanding of foreign languages?" with Kubo answering, "He studied in England." While simple answers, they begin to paint an interesting picture of Ichigo's life between the end of the manga and the one-shot. As Ichigo has already had to bridge the cultural gap between the Soul Society and the Human World, it makes sense that he might want to carry that experience forward, and help bridge the gap between English-speaking cultures and Japan.

Could Ichigo's Studies Hint at a Crossover?

Kubo's Other Work, Burn the Witch, Could Be Connected

What's interesting to note is that the manga Kubo has worked on since the end of Bleach, Burn the Witch, is set in the UK, and deals with a Western branch of the Soul Society. If Ichigo studied English in the UK, then it's entirely plausible that he may have had a run-in with the characters of Burn the Witch at some point, tying the two series even more closely together. It's certainly fantastic fodder for fanfic writers, but is there any chance that fans could actually see a crossover? Given that they're established as the same world, it can't be ruled out, but it does seem unlikely at best.

Ichigo's career as a translator makes a little more sense now that Kubo has offered an explanation for why he chose it. Ichigo is a pro at bringing together disparate groups toward a common goal, so translating feels like a natural extension of that. Ichigo's Bleach ending may have caught people by surprise, but it turns out Kubo has thought it through after all.