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A timely new collaboration was announced just one day before the finale of the third part ofBleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, which ended this past week. The penultimate part of the anime aired on December 28th, and the day before, on December 27th, a sports store called Champs Sports announced two new special pairs of shoes in collaboration withBleach. The shoes' designs are based on two of the anime’s leading characters.
The specialBleachshoes were announced via the X (formerlyTwitter) of Champs Sports, displaying both of the shoe designs along with their specially designed boxes. They were then posted to the X account for Foot Locker shortly after. The shoes are available for limited purchase now from both stores.
New Shoes Based on Bleach
Inspired by Two Leading Characters
The new shoes are based on theBleachcharacters Ichigo Kurosakiand Renji Abarai, and are done in those respective characters' color schemes. The Ichigo-themed shoes are the GT-2160, and the Renji-themed shoes are called GEL-NYC. The shoes themselves have subtle designs, with just the colors reflecting the characters they are based on, with no other details like character faces.
According toViz Media, the shoes do have “the familiar Substitute Soul Reaper badge and Squad 6 flower symbol of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.” For anime fans that want to have something subtle to show their love for a series, the shoes are perfect. For anyone who doesn’t know what they are, they just look like stylish athletic shoes. However, they do come in veryBleach-themed shoe boxes that have Ichigo and Renji on them.
The Bleach Shoes by Asics
All the Details
While Sports Champs just posted photos of the shoes and shoe boxes themselves on their X account, Foot Locker went a little more creative. Their announcement post of the specialBleachshoes included an animated video of employees from the store wearing the special shoes and beingtransported to the Inverted World. Out of the two, Foot Locker definitely knows how to appeal to the fans.
AnimeNewsNetworkhas reported a few more detials about the shoes themselves, including that the
Asics GT-2160 Ichigo-inspiredshoecosts US$145.00 and is only available in men’s size 8.0 and medium width. The GEL-NYC Renji-inspiredshoecosts US$165.00 and is available in men’s size 8.0, 8.5, and 10.0 and medium width.
The best news about theseBleach-themed shoes is that they are available for purchase in the United States. They are being produced by a Japanese shoe company called Asics, but because they are being sold at Sports Champs and Foot Locker, they are significantly more accessible than usual anime collaborations. With otheranime shirts now being available with international shipping, it seems that international anime fans are starting to have more access to official merchandise.
