Pierrot was inspired by Kimetsu no Yaiba for BLEACH's comeback

Michiyuki Honma, president of Pierrot Studios, recently participated in an interview where he stated that the success of "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" was a major turning point in the anime industry and greatly influenced production decisions for the return of "BLEACH."

Honma commented with Comic Natalie about the fact that "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" not only motivated the returns of "BLEACH" and "Kingdom" with short seasons instead of long-running anime, but its effect was also felt throughout the industry as a whole:

• "I think Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba was a major turning point for the anime industry. It was a high-quality work that required a lot of time and a generous budget, and it was a huge success when it aired attracting people of a wide range of ages. I saw it. Before and after Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, I felt like we had to change the way we created anime. In addition, other studios were releasing high-quality works on a similar scale, and Japan has an environment where you can see it on commercial television," he said.

Pierrot Studios has become famous for its adaptations of long-running weekly series, with "Naruto," "BLEACH," "Black Clover" and "Boruto: Naruto Next Generations" as obvious names, but also 75 episodes of "Hikaru no Go" and more than 100 episodes of "Urusei Yatsura." Honma says the studio's legacy is "certainly wonderful," but "it comes with big risks in terms of big budgets and time costs."

He aims for Pierrot to be number one, adapting to this new format with the return of "Bleach: The Thousand Year Blood War." Honma is impressed with the current method and asks fans to check out "Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master," which airs during Spring-2024 (April-June). He adds, "Please stay tuned for the future of Pierrot, who is taking on the challenge of creating new anime."

Source: Comic Natalie