From an interview in Shonen Jump
magazine:
The Название wasn't Bleach when Tite
Kubo decided to draw a story about
Shinigami. This was before he drew
the one-shot Манга that appeared in
Akamaru Jump. The weapon wasn't a
sword, but a scythe. Only Rukia had a
scythe and the other characters used
guns. At that point, the Название was
Snipe (as in "Sniper"). Right before
he started drawing, he began to
think that a sword would be better
and realized he couldn't use Snipe as
a Название anymore. He began looking for
a Название that grasped the bigger
picture. Shinigami are associated
with the color black, but it would
have been boring to use "black".
"White", on the other hand, can
suggest black as a complementary
color. So Tite Kubo chose "bleach" to
evoke the impression of the color
white.
magazine:
The Название wasn't Bleach when Tite
Kubo decided to draw a story about
Shinigami. This was before he drew
the one-shot Манга that appeared in
Akamaru Jump. The weapon wasn't a
sword, but a scythe. Only Rukia had a
scythe and the other characters used
guns. At that point, the Название was
Snipe (as in "Sniper"). Right before
he started drawing, he began to
think that a sword would be better
and realized he couldn't use Snipe as
a Название anymore. He began looking for
a Название that grasped the bigger
picture. Shinigami are associated
with the color black, but it would
have been boring to use "black".
"White", on the other hand, can
suggest black as a complementary
color. So Tite Kubo chose "bleach" to
evoke the impression of the color
white.