MA
Instagram LogoX Logo
SHUEISHA Inc. All rights reserved.
Tite Kubo
久保 帯人

BLEACH / Returns

2023,A2 (594 x 420mm),editions 20
Work ID
BLE_TP_006
Size
A2 (594 x 420mm)
Number of sheets
1
Paper
Gmund Cotton
Sales method
regular
Edition
20

ABOUT THE WORK


Renji Abarai, Byakuya Kuchiki, Toshiro Hitsugaya, Kenpachi Zaraki, and Ikkaku Madarame.

The Reiatsu of the space rises abnormally. The curtain comes down, and the sliding door that appears opens wide from side to side. Energy rises like a white flame in the sky.

In order to save Ichigo Kurosaki, who has been deprived of the power of the Shinigami, members of the Gotei 13 have descended from the Soul Society. We see the heroic figures of those who have contributed their Reiatsu. It's a moving scene.

The letterpress printing was carried out by Tokyo Letterpress (Kagurazaka, Tokyo).

To reproduce the thin lines, the screentone, and the dark, solid ink, the illustration was split into five plates for printing. Even the delicate details in the sky in the upper left corner were printed with the letterpress. This work embodies both sharpness and strength.

  • Signature on the print

  • Due to the nature of the cotton paper, small black spots may be seen in the work. In addition, subtle color irregularities and small ink droplets may be present as a result of the letterpress printing process. Please be aware of this when applying.

SOURCE ART WORKS’ INFO

First appearance
Weekly Shonen Jump Vol.37 2011
Year of first appearance
2011
Source book
Jump Comics "BLEACH" Vol.53
Date of issue
2011.12.02
Production method
Analog
Material
Pen on paper
Capture device
Fuji film SCANART 560i
Publisher
Shueisha inc.

ARTIST

久保 帯人Tite Kubo

1977.06.26 ~

Kubo debuted in 1996 with Ultra Unholy Hearted Machine (published in Weekly Shonen Jump Summer Special). He published BLEACH in Weekly Shonen Jump between 2001 and 2016,. In 2018, he released a new work, Burn the Witch. Recently, in 2021, a new episode titled "BLEACH: New Breaths from Hell" was released.

Kubo won the 50th Shogakukan Manga Award for BLEACH in 2005. And in 2008, he received the Comic-Con International Inkpot Award.

TITLE

BLEACH

Magazine carrying the works: Weekly Shonen Jump
Year the series started: 2001

BLEACH is essentially a battle action story that follows the life of the protagonist, Ichigo Kurosaki, who has suddenly gained Shinigami powers. The story linedepicts the growth of Ichigo and his friends as they battle evil spirits called Hollows and other Shinigami adversaries. The manga was made into an animated television series in 2004. The manga series concluded in 2016. The total worldwide circulation of the 74 BLEACH mangavolumes (tankobon) exceeded 130 million copies as of December 2022. A new episode, "BLEACH: New Breaths from Hell," was published in the 36th and 37th issues of Weekly Shonen Jump in 2021 (it went on sale August 10). In December 2021, an exhibition of the original artwork was held to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the initial publication of BLEACH.In 2022, The anime "BLEACH :Thousand-Year Blood War" was released.

MEDIUM

Flatbed Letterpress


活版平台印刷

Since its inception, the black and white storytelling medium known as manga has been produced by the letterpress, the most primitive method of printing. Even today, Shonen Jump and other manga magazines are created using the letterpress rotary printing method commonly known as katsurin.

Letterpress printing is an old-style printing method in which ink adhered to a printing resin plate is transferred by directly pressing the plate onto the paper. The way manga is drawn has evolved to accommodate this method of printing.

One good example is the text. The standard typeface used in manga is called "Anti-Gothi." It is a combination of a sans-serif typeface (often called "Gothic" in Japan) for kanji characters and a serif typeface (Ming) for hiragana and katakana. It is said that this typeface was chosen in the early days of manga production, when they were printed by letterpress, so as not to compromise readability (see Idea, Issue 336, 2009, Seibundo-Shinkosha.) Screen tones also developed with the use of design materials to imitate the gray and other form patterns using letterpresses, which are not capable of printing in gray.

While rotary letterpress printing can only be used with huge rolls of recycled paper for mass production, a flatbed letterpress is capable of printing on a variety of types of paper. Flatbed letterpress machines were employed all over Japan, including in Tokyo, but they have been replaced by offset printing presses, there are only a few large flatbed letterpress machines to be found.

Is it possible to take manga, which has always been a medium optimized for letterpress, and turn it into artworks using the highest possible quality of letterpress? This was the question we wanted to answer.

Using a letterpress machine, the artwork is created using extremely strong pressure on a paper. This creates a unique surface with a physical impact that is impossible to achieve using offset, lithographic, or silkscreen printing. When you touch it, you can see that the printed surface is concave.

The aim of us is to pass on not only compelling manga artwork, but also the printing technology used by rare printing presses to future generations.

Tsutatomo Printing Co., Ltd. (Nagano)
Tokyo Letterpress (Kagurazaka)
Nikkodo (Asakusa)

ART BLOCKCHAIN NETWORK GUARANTEED

To ensure the highest possible quality, we produce each work in a limited edition. To keep a permanent record of the entire history of the work on the blockchain along with information about the work, we use Startrail PORT, NFT management service operated by Startbahn Inc. This allows you to keep a permanent record of the various information that determines the value of a work.