Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War voice actor Johnny Yong Bosch has revealed the thing that allowed him to play Ichigo Kurosaki again after more than a decade away.
The actor, who is currently reprising his role as the lead character in the anime's reboot after its initial cancellation in 2012, shared the secret in an exclusive interview with Digital Spy.
When asked if it was a challenge to find the voice again, he said: "I have to admit that working on [Bleach protagonist] Ichigo was easier because we were essentially continuing from where we left off. To regain his voice, all I had to do was say his name."
Bosch compared finding his Ichigo voice to his work on Trigun: Stampede, another anime series in which he plays a character he previously voiced more than 20 years ago - Vash the Stampede.
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He said: "With Trigun, I didn't know what to expect, so I revisited the original material to set my bearings. Despite its unique tone, I'm extremely satisfied with the outcome. The new season had a beautiful ending."
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Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War is a continuation of the hugely popular anime series Bleach, bringing back all its original voice actors from both the Japanese and English casts.
Bleach was unceremoniously cancelled back in 2012, meaning fans didn't see the final arc of Tite Kubo's manga adapted into animation until Thousand Year Blood War debuted in October 2022.
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The series is approaching the finale of its second cour, with Studio Pierrot recently announcing that Part 2 would conclude with an extra-long finale episode.
The hour-long episode will air on September 30 and will combine the show's 25th and 26th episodes.
Bosch's other series, Trigun: Stampede, concluded its first season in March 2023, but no official season 2 announcement has been made.
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War is available on Disney+.
Ali is Hearst UK's deputy social strategy director. He has been covering TV and movies for more than six years, all while wrangling Digital Spy's social media and video channels - for which he received a PPA 30 Under 30 award. He specializes in writing about anime, LGBTQ+ representation, science fiction, and comic book adaptations. Recently he's begun collecting Star Wars interviews like Infinity Stones and has spoken with The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal, Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy and the creative team behind The Bad Batch. Dave Filoni, you're next.
