Spanish football club Real Betis references Bleach ahead of recent LaLiga match

On Sunday, February 18, 2024, the official X account of Real Betis Balompié paid homage to Tite Kubo's Bleach manga while promoting their LaLiga match against Deportivo Alavés. The Spanish Football Club posted an artwork that saw Luis Ezequiel "Chimy" Ávila replace series protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki on the manga's Volume 1 cover.

Bleach manga, written and illustrated by Tite Kubo, follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki, a boy who can see ghosts. However, one day when a Hollow, a monstrous lost soul, attacks his town, Ichigo happens to meet Rukia Kuchiki, a Shinigami. The Shinigami had arrived at the town to cleanse the Hollow but got injured and was forced to transfer her powers to Ichigo.

---

Real Betis promotes LaLiga against Deportivo Alavés match by referencing Bleach

Before their 25th match in LaLiga against Deportivo Alaves, the official X (formerly Twitter) account of Real Betis Balompié posted an artwork to promote the match.

The artwork paid homage to Tite Kubo's manga series Bleach, referencing its first volume cover to create a similar artwork. The artwork saw the team's No. 9 Luis Ezequiel "Chimy" Ávila being recreated in the manga's art style to replace series protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki.

Not only that, Chimy Ávila could be seen holding Ichigo's Zanpakuto Zangetsu. However, minor color changes were made to make it look more Real Betis-like.

While the post did not reveal why the football club paid a surprising homage to the manga, fans observed that it was an AI artwork.

---

How fans reacted to the artwork

Fans reacting to Real Betis Balompie's post (Image via Sportskeeda/X)

Fans were hyped to see the Spanish Division side Real Betis paying homage to Bleach. This proved that the manga series was popular worldwide, especially in Spain.

Many fans believed that One Piece was the only anime out of Shonen Jump's Big Three that had some motion. However, with the football club's recent post, it became evident that Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime made a good impact on fans, so much so that a professional football club's official account made a reference to it on its X account.

Fans reacting to Real Betis Balompie's post (Image via Sportskeeda/X)

Fans also joked around that Real Betis Balompie was bound to pay such an homage because the manga's character, former Gotei 13 12th Division Captain, Kisuke Urahara was already a Real Betis player. This is because his attire's colors resembled Real Betis' primary colors.

Additionally, some fans started backing Real Betis against their city derby rivals Sevilla, stating that Seville would always be green henceforth. Lastly, one fan asked the Real Betis social media team to create a similar post by referring to the Kagurabachi manga.