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)
The first "Bleach" artbook, "All Colour But The Black", has been released in Japan, the United States, and Europe. The artbook compiles a selection of color spreads from the first 19 volumes of the series, as well as some original art and author commentary. The second artbook, , was released on August 3, 2007. In addition to character guides and articles on other fictional aspects of the series, it compiles the various short comics, , that were published in "V Jump". The "omake"-style panels are similar to those included in the main series, but reveal more of the daily lives of characters. "Color Bleach+: Bleach Official Bootleg" was released in English by Viz Media on August 10, 2010. In December 2018, another artbook will be released, which will contain a massive 700 artworks from the series' 15 years tenure. It will be titled "Bleach JET".