Tite Kubo
His next series, "Bleach", about a high school student who becomes a "shinigami" and fights creatures known as Hollows, began running in the same magazine in 2001. Kubo initially expected the series' serialization to continue no longer than five years. The original story concept was submitted to "Weekly Shōnen Jump" shortly after the cancellation of "Zombiepowder", but was rejected. Akira Toriyama, creator of "Dragon Ball", saw the story and wrote a letter of encouragement to Kubo. "Bleach" ran for 15 years of serialization and reached over 686 chapters from 2001 to 2016. Additionally, an anime adaptation of the series was broadcast in TV Tokyo for 8 years from 2004 to 2012, spanning over 366 episodes. The manga was named a winner of the Shogakukan Manga Award for its category in 2004. Kubo and Makoto Matsubara have co-authored two novelizations of the "Bleach" series, which were published by Shueisha under their "Jump Books" label. The first was released in Japan on December 16, 2006, followed by a on December 22, 2007, a on December 13, 2008, and a on December 4, 2010. Kubo also appeared in the episode 112 of the Japanese radio program of "Bleach B-Station". In that program, Kubo was interviewed by Masakazu Morita, voice actor of Ichigo Kurosaki, the main character of "Bleach", and answered several questions from fans. On July 26, 2008, Kubo went to the United States for the first time and made an appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con International.
Bleach (manga)
Composed and produced by Shirō Sagisu, numerous CD soundtracks have been released for the "Bleach" anime series and movies by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. "Bleach Original Soundtrack 1" was released on May 18, 2005, which contains 25 tracks, including the first opening and ending themes in their original television lengths. "Bleach Original Soundtrack 2" followed on August 2, 2006, with an additional 23 instrumental tracks. "Bleach Original Soundtrack 3" later followed on November 5, 2008, with 27 instrumental tracks. "Bleach Original Soundtrack 4" was released on December 16, 2009, with 30 instrumental tracks. For the 5th anniversary of the series, Aniplex released "Bleach 5th Anniversary Box" set which contains CD with rare and unreleased tracks. "Bleach: Memories of Nobody Original Soundtrack" was released with 25 tracks from the "" film. "Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion Original Soundtrack" was also released for the "" film, with 29 tracks from the movie, followed by "Bleach: Fade to Black Original Soundtrack" for the "" film, with 29 tracks, followed by "Bleach: Hell Verse Original Soundtrack" for the "" film, with 21 tracks. Aniplex released "Bleach The Best" box set, which contains CD and DVD with 12 of the opening and ending themes from the series in their full length versions and few extras, later followed by "Bleach The Best Instrumental/Jam-set Groove", which contains eight instrumental tracks. The separated CD under the label, "Bleach The Best" which contains 12 tracks, was released in December 2008. The next release, "Bleach Best Tunes", contains 14 more opening and ending themes. "Bleach The Berry Best" box set, which contains CD with 13 tracks, bonus DVD and few extras, was released for the 10th anniversary of the series. On April 25, 2012, Aniplex released "Bleach Best Trax" box set, which include musical CD, bonus DVD with the complete opening and ending theme videos and few extras.