By far, Renji has been one of the most interesting and fascinating characters in the Bleach-verse, gaining much admiration and adoration from fans worldwide. His personality, combined with his character complexity and dynamics, has put him in the position in the hearts of many people.
Now what’s even more interesting about this character, is one particular behind-the-scenes incident during the audition for his Japanese voice actor, Kentaro Ito. In a surprising confession, Ito said that he was initially not allowed to audition for the one character he always wanted to play, which is none other than Reiji himself!
Renji’s Japanese VA Initially Auditioned For Ichigo’s Role, Out of Despair!
Kentaro Ito was all set for Renji’s voice acting role from the very beginning. He wanted it so much that he went straight to the audition for this role, after getting the news that the Bleach anime announcement was recruiting voice actors for its casts. But, of course, the audition process didn’t quite seem to go in his favor.
Ito was highly impressed by the moment when Renji appeared in the manga, and he quite literally fell for the character. He knew he couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to play this role, and was deadset prepared with his all eyes and ears for the audition. But the sad truth was, that Renji was not in the initial character cast list for the audition!
Also, the episode in which Renji appeared was very memorable from when I was reading it back then, and I thought, “I want to play the role of Renji!”
However, when it was decided that BLEACH would be made into an anime and I heard about the audition, Renji was actually not the audition target.
Still, Ito didn’t give up on his dreams that easily and decided to audition for the role of Ichigo instead for the time being. This gave him the chance to be part of the Bleach project, and though it wasn’t his dream role, he was eager enough to contribute. However, his dedication finally paid off, as he got to play Renji later on.
Ito Has Always Been Fascinated by The World of Bleach, From Day 1
Ito has long been intrigued by the world of Bleach since a very young age, thanks to his complete devotion to reading Weekly Shonen Jump week after week. From elementary school all the way to the present, Jump maintained a source of excitement and inspiration for him. It was through this much-loved magazine that he found Bleach, which eventually left a mark on his life forever.
I was a kid who read Weekly Shonen Jump (hereafter referred to as “Jump”) every week without fail from when I was in elementary school until now.
When I read the first chapter of BLEACH, I remember thinking, “It has a slightly different atmosphere compared to the previous works serialized in Jump, and it’s interesting.”
From the very first chapter of Bleach, Ito found himself completely captivated by the unique atmosphere in this series, an impression that differentiated it from other works being serialized in Jump. It was only a first impression but enough to get him interested and stuck in his mind. This interest eventually blossomed into a deep affection for the series, ultimately leading him to become an integral part of the Bleach universe as the voice of Renji Abarai.
The Bleach anime series is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
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