Kubo started drawing manga in high school, where he was a member of his anime club. It was in high school that he originally wrote his first manga, Zombie Powder, and had a few editions published. Later in his career, Kubo created a new manga, called Bleach, and submitted it to Weekly Shonen Jump in hopes of having it published. Bleach was originally rejected from Weekly Shonen Jump due to similarties to another manga being serialized in the magazine, known as YuYu Hakusho. Although Bleach did extraordinarily well when presented to a control group of readers, Kubo was disheartened by the rejection of his manga. This all changed, however, when Akira Toriyama, creator and artist of the manga Dragon Ball, sent him a letter of reassurance and inspiration. Bleach was eventually serialized by Weekly Shonen Jump, and has currently reached over two hundred chapters.