First of all, let me just say that Bleach’s official anime studio, Studio Pierrot, has managed to stir up quite a commotion on the Internet with their latest revelation just before Jump Festa 2026, which is still quite a while away. During the exhibit, they have plans to unveil some really cool Merchandise – the result of the cooperation between Fortnite and Bleach. That’s right; Fortnite has cooperated with Bleach not only in cyberspace but also in the physical world. The creators plan to use an app called ‘Jump Navi’ to manage the distribution of tickets in a way similar to a concert ticket system. Accompanied by some very breathtaking images, the studio’s official tweet pointed everyone to a link telling more about the ticket acquisition.
In case you are not familiar with it, Jump Festa is an extraordinarily popular annual event in Japan that often features all of Shonen Jump’s major hits. Think of One Piece, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, and undoubtedly Bleach. The various anime world’s newest giant, Fortnite, getting involved in that space with an anime studio’s booth is indeed quite a strange thing to consider. This whole situation lays bare the extent to which gaming crossovers have gone. It is no longer skin sales in the virtual shop; real-world anime event merch is being sold. Crossover life is indeed a reality.
The online reaction was, as expected, a mixture of pure euphoria and… the usual Fortnite forum energy. Some players were quick to jump on the hype. User ‘Meowz Attack’ simply replied, “Already waiting for wave two!” accompanied by the fire emoji, indicating that the market for “more” has developed already. Another user, ‘lionbytee’, commented in Japanese on the twittersphere that the collab merch was “hot” and that they absolutely wanted to go if they could score a ticket. Thus, the hardcore fans around this are definitely alive and kicking.
However, things took a drastic turn in the replies. It was like the official Studio Pierrot and Fortnite accounts had opened the floodgates, which allowed every single player to voice his/her dissatisfaction with the game. Rather than discussing the awesome Bleach stuff, several replies started bashing the companies with their complaints. A user ‘Mr1Leg2018’ penned down a couple of rants criticizing the overpriced items and labeling both companies “greedy” while drawing attention to the high cost of a SpongeBob sidekick among other items. “I’m disabled but love the game and $ so high,” they wrote, adding that it shows “fans and customers mean nothing 2 y’all.” Another user, ‘realChuckIRL’, directly asked for past items to come back: “Bring back elf helper shoes so I can gift them out for Christmas…” and “Add this skin…” along with a picture. It simply depicts their frustration.
Then there was this little drama amidst the replies. User ‘EARTHRAlNS’ insisted on an “OG style” for a cosmetic item “for OG owners only,” which led to a bit of banter with another user, ‘TheMoooseman’, who responded with a ridicule of “Wahhh wahhhhhhh my og item wahhhhh.” It is that classic and everlasting Fortnite community debate about exclusivity and rewarding early adopters. It is humorous how a release concerning free convention merch can quickly shift the topic to the game’s business and perceived injustices. How did that happen? Oh yes, about the merch.
It is also quite interesting to see a random anime studio tweet turn into a quasi customer service center for Fortnite. One user went as far as to tag a well-known Fortnite leaker, ‘HYPEX’, in their reply saying “more Bleach X Fortnite stuff,” in a hope to bring more in-game content into existence. And another user, ‘JJoseRiveraa’, took this moment to ridicule Pierrot’s other big series, commenting “Let Boruto go give it up to ufotable or sum,” which is an anime fan battle we don’t have time for today.
So what is the main point after all this mayhem? To begin with, the partnership between Bleach and Fortnite is clearly going beyond the digital space, which is a clever way of getting the fans involved in a physical manner. Secondly, and perhaps even more importantly, it reveals the… fierce love-hate relationship players have with Fortnite. The moment an official account tweets, it becomes a lightning rod for every suggestion, complaint, and demand piled up since the last update. The excitement for cool stuff is always there, but it’s buried under a pile of issues like pricing, old skins, and what it means to be an “OG.” It’s a lot.
Eventually, if you are fortunate enough to attend Jump Festa 2026, you would want to prepare that Jump Navi app. For the rest of us, we will be watching from a distance, perhaps on our PlayStation or Xbox consoles.
