One Punch Man mangaka sends Bleach creator an open message after GOTEI 13 animation

One Punch Man mangaka Yusuke Murata sent Bleach creator Tite Kubo an open message on Twitter after he witnessed the First Gen GOTEI 13 animation.

About a week ago, a new Bleach poster by Tite Kubo, set to be released in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump #51, got leaked, sparking much speculation about the poster and what it signifies.

With the release of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War episode 7, fans finally got their answer as the First Generation Gotei 13 captains were featured in a flashback battle at the beginning of the episode.

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One Punch Man manga author Yusuke Murata praises Tite Kubo's work

Screenshot of One Punch Man manga author Yusuke Murata's tweet (Image via Twitter/Sportskeeda)

After the release of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War episode 7, One Punch Man manga author Yusuke Murata sent an open message to Bleach creator Tite Kubo, praising his artwork in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump #51.

The illustration featured the First Generation Gotei 13 captains, as each of them, except for Yamamoto and Unohana, were new character designs. While nothing was revealed about the characters within the magazine itself, they did appear in Bleach TYBW episode 7, where fans were finally able to watch them fight ruthlessly against the Quincy in a war that took place a thousand years ago.

In the open message, One Punch Man mangaka Yusuke Murata said that he loved Tite Kubo's character designs and the way they were portrayed within the anime as well.

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What happened during the First Generation Gotei 13's appearance in Bleach TYBW episode 7?

First Generation Gotei 13 as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

The First Generation Gotei 13 appeared in a two-minute-long flashback of the war between the Quincy and the Shinigami that took place one thousand years ago. The captains were seen annihilating the Quincy with no mercy as they crushed and sliced their opponents left, right, and center.

As Yamamoto kept burning away his enemies through his Zanpakuto Ryūjin Jakka, he walked towards the enemy leader, "the Father of the Quincy" Yhwach. When Yhwach was about to prepare himself to fight Yamamoto, Sasakibe, who was hidden within a pile of corpses, rose up and impaled Yhwach with his Zanpakuto.

Taking this opportunity, Yamamoto defeated Yhwach, after which he was sealed away for a thousand years.

Yhwach as seen in Bleach TYBW (Image via Studio Pierrot)

While this may have seemed like the end of the First Generation Gotei 13 captains' appearance in the episode, they later appeared again when Yhwach started rambling about the original Gotei 13 after having defeated Yamamoto.

He believed that the original Gotei 13 was far superior to the current generation, given how they were just Court Guards in name, but in reality, were ruthless mercenaries. With that, he declared how the new Gotei 13 was a cheap imitation of the original one. He also added that the Gotei 13 Court Guards had actually died a thousand years ago when he was sealed away.