Nick Simmons, the man who “allegedly” copied bleach has given us his side of the story;

Like most artists I am inspired by work I admire. There are certain similarities between some of my work and the work of others. This was simply meant as an homage to artists I respect, and I definitely want to apologize to any Manga fans or fellow Manga artists who feel I went too far. My inspirations reflect the fact that certain fundamental imagery is common to all Manga. This is the nature of the medium.

I am a big fan of Bleach, as well as other Manga titles. And I am certainly sorry if anyone was offended or upset by what they perceive to be the similarity between my work and the work of artists that I admire and who inspire me.

Nick Simmons states that there are “certain similarities” but does not go as far as to say that this work is directly copied or blatant plagiarism for which many fans are accusing him of doing.