Masakazu Morita has voiced Ichigo Kurosaki for more than two decades, making it difficult to imagine the Japanese version of BLEACH without his performance. However, the actor recently revealed that his long connection with the franchise almost never began because he was given the wrong date for his original audition.
Morita shared the story during a joint Anime Corner interview with Johnny Yong Bosch, Ichigo’s English-language voice actor, at Anime Expo 2026. While discussing his first experiences with Tite Kubo’s series, Morita explained that a scheduling mistake left him late for the audition that ultimately changed his career.
A Scheduling Error Nearly Cost Morita the Role
According to Morita, the mistake was not caused by him forgetting the appointment. His manager and company had provided the wrong date, putting him at risk of missing the audition entirely.
Looking back on the incident, Morita acknowledged how differently events could have unfolded, adding: “So I might have not made it.”
The anecdote is especially striking considering how closely Morita has become associated with Ichigo. Had the scheduling problem prevented him from auditioning, one of anime’s most recognizable protagonists could have sounded completely different.
Morita did not reveal additional details about how the misunderstanding was resolved or how late he arrived. The confirmed story is simply that incorrect information from his representatives nearly kept him from attending, so more dramatic versions of the incident should not be treated as established fact.
Morita First Discovered BLEACH Through the Manga
Before auditioning for the anime, Morita encountered BLEACH while reading its serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump. He remembered the manga immediately leaving a strong impression on him, particularly because of the way it placed Soul Reapers at the center of its supernatural world.
Tite Kubo’s manga began serialization in 2001 and concluded in 2016. Its opening chapter introduced Ichigo as a teenager able to see ghosts whose life changes after meeting the Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki. The anime adaptation began airing in Japan in 2004, with Morita selected to portray Ichigo.
That casting decision became one of the defining roles of Morita’s career. The official BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War website continues to list him as Ichigo’s Japanese voice actor, confirming his return for the anime’s final conflict.
Ichigo’s Voice Has Changed Alongside the Character
During the same interview, Morita and Bosch discussed how their performances have evolved over the years.
Both actors agreed that Ichigo does not sound exactly as he did at the beginning of the anime. Bosch described additional layers and textures entering the performance over time, while Morita connected those changes to Ichigo’s gradual development across the story.
Morita explained that a long-running production creates a particular acting challenge. A character’s growth can unfold naturally across many years, but the performer must communicate it through small and carefully controlled adjustments rather than one sudden transformation.
That approach is especially relevant to Thousand-Year Blood War, where Ichigo learns more about his heritage, the true nature of his powers and his place within the conflict between the Soul Reapers and Quincies.
New Anime Material Required Close Work With Tite Kubo
The actors also addressed the additional scenes created for the Thousand-Year Blood War adaptation.
Morita said the production team frequently consulted original creator Tite Kubo when working on material that was not present in the manga. Because Kubo possesses a much larger understanding of the BLEACH universe than can be shown directly on the page, Morita sometimes needed detailed discussions to ensure his interpretation matched the creator’s intentions.
He compared that process to an ongoing exchange between Kubo’s imagination and his own. Rather than treating anime-original scenes as simple additions, the cast attempted to understand how they fitted into the established characters and world.
This close cooperation has helped the television adaptation expand portions of the final arc while keeping Kubo involved as original creator and general supervisor. The official production credits list Pierrot Films as the animation studio and Morita among the returning principal cast members.
More Than 20 Years as Ichigo Kurosaki
Morita’s story gives a new perspective on a casting choice that now feels inevitable.
He began portraying Ichigo when the original television anime launched in 2004 and later returned for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War. The final cour, titled The Calamity, began its Japanese broadcast on July 25, 2026.
After so many years, Morita said he remains proud of the work created by the cast and production team. Speaking without revealing story details, he expressed confidence that viewers would be satisfied with the effort placed into the conclusion.
The revelation that he nearly missed his original audition therefore represents more than an entertaining behind-the-scenes story. A single scheduling error almost prevented Morita from beginning a role that would follow him for over two decades.
Instead, he reached the audition, became the Japanese voice of Ichigo Kurosaki and helped define how generations of viewers hear one of shōnen anime’s most famous heroes.
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