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 (season 7)
The season aired from July to December 2007. The English adaptation of the "Bleach" anime is licensed by Viz Media, and this arc began airing on July 11, 2009 and ended on September 26, 2009 on Adult Swim in the United States. Five DVD compilations, each containing four episodes of the season, were released by Aniplex between December 19, 2007 and April 23, 2008 in Japan. While Viz Media released a single DVD volume on September 21, 2010 featuring the season's first episodes, the entire season has only been released within others DVDs. Episodes 132 and 133 were also released in Viz's seventh English DVD box on December 21, 2010. Episodes 134–145 were released on March 22, 2011 as Viz's eighth compilation while the remaining ones were released on June 21, 2011. Manga Entertainment released the first volume from the season on September 26, 2011, while the second one is due to October 17, 2011. A collection of the two volumes was released on December 12, 2011.