Bleach

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Bleach (manga) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "BLEACH" redirects here. For other uses, see Bleach (disambiguation). Bleach Bleach cover 01.jpg The first volume of Bleach (published in Japan by Shueisha on January 5, 2002) featuring Ichigo Kurosaki. ブリーチ (Burīchi) Genre Action, Adventure, Fantasy Manga Written by Tite Kubo Published by Shueisha English publisher AUS Madman Entertainment NA Viz Media UK Viz Media Demographic Shōnen Magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump English magazine NA Shonen Jump (former) Weekly Shonen Jump Original run August 7, 2001 – present Volumes 72 (List of volumes) Anime television series Bleach Directed by Noriyuki Abe Produced by Jun Takibuchi Written by Masashi Sogo Music by Shirō Sagisu Studio Studio Pierrot Licensed by AUS Madman Entertainment NA Viz Media UK Manga Entertainment Network TV Tokyo English network AU SBS, Cartoon Network (Adult Swim) CA YTV, Neon Alley NZ Cartoon Network SEA Animax Asia UK AnimeCentral, Sony Movie Channel US Adult Swim (Toonami), Neon Alley[1] ZA Animax South Africa Original run October 5, 2004 – March 27, 2012[2] Episodes 366 (List of episodes) Films Memories of Nobody The DiamondDust Rebellion Fade to Black Hell Verse Portal icon Anime and Manga portal Bleach (Japanese: ブリーチ Hepburn: Burīchi?) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. Bleach follows the adventures of the hotheaded teenager Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper (死神 Shinigami?, literally, "Death God")—a death personification similar to the Grim Reaper—from another Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki. His new-found powers force him to take on the duties of defending humans from evil spirits and guiding departed souls to the afterlife, and set him on journeys to various ghostly realms of existence. Bleach has been serialized in the Japanese manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 2001, and has been collected into 72 tankōbon volumes. The series has spawned a media franchise that includes an animated television series that was produced by Studio Pierrot from 2004 to 2012, two original video animations, four animated feature films, ten rock musicals, and numerous video games, as well as many types of Bleach-related merchandise. English-language releases of Bleach are coordinated by Viz Media, which has released several volumes of the manga each year since 2004, and published chapters of Bleach in its Shonen Jump magazine since November 2007. Sixty-three volumes were released in English. Viz Media secured foreign television and home video distribution rights to the Bleach anime in 2006. Cartoon Network's Adult Swim began airing dubbed episodes of Bleach in the United States that Fall, and Hulu later began to stream subtitled versions of the anime a week after each episode aired in Japan. Viz Media has also released each of the Bleach feature films in English. Bleach received the Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen demographic in 2005, and is among the best-selling manga in both Japan and the United States. Bleach has sold more than 84 million copies in Japan since its publication, and continues to perform commercially despite significant downturns in both the Japanese and English manga markets. Among critics, Bleach is most commonly praised for its action scenes and art, but criticized for its stereotypical characters and plot elements. Contents 1 Plot 2 Production 3 Themes 3.1 Religious and cultural 3.2 Characters 4 Media 4.1 Manga 4.2 Anime 4.3 Soundtrack CDs 4.4 Films 4.5 Musicals 4.6 Trading card game 4.7 Video games 4.8 Light novels 4.9 Other 5 Reception 6 References 7 External links Plot[edit] See also: List of Bleach characters Ichigo Kurosaki is a teenager who can see ghosts, a talent which lets him meet supernatural trespasser Rukia Kuchiki. Rukia is one of the Soul Reapers, soldiers trusted with ushering the souls of the dead from the World of the Living to the Soul Society (尸魂界（ソウル·ソサエティ） Sōru Sosaeti?)—the afterlife realm from which she originates—and with fighting Hollows, monstrous lost souls who can harm both ghosts and humans. When she is severely wounded defending Ichigo from a Hollow she is pursuing, Rukia transfers her Spirit Pressure (霊圧 Reiatsu?) to Ichigo so that he may fight in her stead while she recovers her strength. Rukia is thereby trapped in an ordinary human body, and must advise Ichigo as he balances the demands of his substitute Soul Reaper duties and attending high school. For aid in hunting the Hollows, the pair ally with a trio of other spiritually empowered teenagers: Ichigo's high school classmate Orihime Inoue, best friend Yasutora "Chad" Sado, and the Quincy Uryū Ishida. Eventually, Rukia is arrested by her Soul Reaper superiors and sentenced to death for the illegal act of transferring her powers into a human. Ichigo and friends move to rescue her, and in order to enter the Soul Society they enlist the help ex-Soul Reaper scientist Kisuke Urahara, who enables Ichigo to access his own Soul Reaper powers. Shortly after the party's arrival in the Soul Society, conflict arises among the captains of 13 Court Squads when it seemed that captain Sōsuke Aizen is apparently murdered. Learning more of a Soul Reaper's capabilities, and dealing with a Hollow-based secondary persona that manifested from his training with Kisuke, Ichigo fights his way through Rukia's childhood friend Renji Abarai, Squad 11's unsurpassed warrior Kenpachi Zaraki, and ultimately Rukia's final jailer, her brother Byakuya Kuchiki. It was only at the climax of the rescue and the Soul Society on the verge of civil war that Aizen reappears, revealed to have faked his death and arranged Rukia's execution to obtain the Hōgyoku that Kisuke planted in Rukia's Gigai. Aizen is then joined by his fellow conspirators, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tōsen, as they use Hollows to cover their escape into the Hollows' world Hueco Mundo (虚圏 （ウェコムンド） Weko Mundo?). From this point, Ichigo and Rukia are reconciled to the Soul Reapers, who view Ichigo as a powerful ally and designate him as an official Substitute Soul Reaper. Ichigo soon finds himself and his friends in escalating skirmishes with Aizen's army of humanoid Hollows, the Arrancars, as they are joined by the Visoreds, Soul Reapers who were among the victims of Aizen's experiments in creating Soul Reaper/Hollow hybrids. The Visoreds proceed to help Ichigo control his inner Hollow as he developed a personal rivalry with the Arrancar Grimmjow Jeagerjaques of the ten Espada. When the Espada Ulquiorra Cifer kidnaps Orihime, Ichigo and his allies enter Hueco Mundo to invade Aizen's palace Las Noches. However, as Ichigo rescues Orihime, Aizen reveals her abduction was a distraction as he and his strongest warriors launch an attack on Karakura Town as part of his plan to sacrifice the souls of the living to create an Ohken for his true goal: killing the Soul King who reigns over the Soul Society. Though the Visoreds join the Soul Reapers that remained to face their mutual enemy, Gin revealing his own agenda of assassinating him, Aizen reveals he used the Hōgyoku to become a Hollow-like being and overpowered everyone. But Ichigo, learning his father is a Soul Reaper and that Aizen has been manipulating his progress since birth, is ultimately able to subdue Aizen at the cost of his Soul Reaper powers and becomes a normal human. Months later, preparing for life after high school, Ichigo is called back into action when Xcution, a gang of Fullbringers—supernaturally aware humans like Chad—manipulate him and his loved ones in a scheme to siphon his Fullbring abilities. After his Soul Society allies restore his Soul Reaper status, learning that Xcution's leader Ginjo Kujo was his predecessor and that the Substitute Soul Reapers are not fully trusted, Ichigo defeats Ginjo while resolving to continue fighting with the Soul Society against any threat. In the final arc, an army of Quincies known as the Wandenreich appear and declare their own war on the Soul Society, after enslaving the Arrancars. The group is led by Yhwach, the ancient progenitor of the Quincies who was once worshipped as a god on earth. Yhwach has returned from long hibernation in the afterlife, and seeks to kill the Soul King like Aizen. In their first invasion, the Wandenreich killed many Soul Reapers with Head Captain Yamamoto among the deceased. Furthermore, as Uryū is recruited into the Wandenreich, Ichigo learns the truth that his abilities as both a Visored and a Fullbringer were because his mother was a Quincy who was indirectly affected by Aizen's experiments. After coping with the revelation, Ichigo and his friends aid the Soul Society in fighting the Wandenreich's second invasion as Yhwach proceeds to reach the Soul King's Palace in the ensuing chaos and, eventually, slays the Soul King.[3] Production[edit] Bleach was first conceived from Tite Kubo's desire to draw a Shinigami (Soul Reaper) in a kimono, which formed the basis for the design of the Soul Reapers in the series and the conception of Rukia Kuchiki.[4][5] The original story concept was submitted to Weekly Shōnen Jump shortly after the cancellation of Kubo's previous manga, Zombiepowder, but was at first rejected.[6] Manga artist Akira Toriyama saw the story and wrote a letter of encouragement to Kubo.[5] Bleach was accepted for publication a short time later in 2001, and was initially intended to be a shorter series, with a maximum serialization length of five years.[5] Early plans for the story did not include the hierarchical structure of the Soul Society, but did include some characters and elements that were not introduced into the plot until the Arrancar arc, such as Ichigo's Soul Reaper parentage.[4] The series was originally meant to be named "Black" due to the color of the Soul Reapers' clothes, but Kubo thought the title was too generic. He later tried the name of "White," but came to like "Bleach" more for its association with the color white and that he did not find it too obvious.[7] Kubo has cited influences for elements of Bleach ranging from other manga series to music, foreign language, architecture, and film. He attributes his interest in drawing the supernatural and monsters to Shigeru Mizuki's GeGeGe no Kitaro and Bleach's focus on interesting weaponry and battle scenes to Masami Kurumada's Saint Seiya, manga that Kubo enjoyed as a boy.[4] The action style and storytelling found in Bleach are inspired by cinema, though Kubo has not revealed any specific movie as being an influence for fight scenes. When pressed, he told interviewers that he liked Snatch but did not use it as a model.[8] Kubo has also stated that he wishes to make Bleach an experience that can only be found by reading manga, and dismissed ideas of creating any live-action film adaptations of the series.[5] Bleach's fight choreography is instead constructed with the aid of rock music, which the author listens to while imagining the fights in order to give him a sense of pacing for the panel cuts and change of angles through the scenes.[9] Kubo prefers to draw realistic injuries in order to render the fight more impactful, by making the readers feel the pain the characters are feeling.[10] Bleach's fight scenes are often broken up with brief gags, which the author inserts when he grows bored during the illustration process.[9] Bleach's plotting process is focused around character design. When writing plotlines or having difficulties generating new material, Kubo begins by thinking of new characters, often en masse, and rereading previous volumes of Bleach.[4][10] Kubo has said that he likes creating characters that have outward appearances that do not match their true nature—an element that can be found in many Bleach characters—as he is "attracted to people with that seeming contradiction" and finds an "urge to draw people like that" when he works.[11] The terminology used in Bleach has a variety of inspirations, with each category of characters bearing a different linguistic theme. Many of the names for swords and spells used by Soul Reapers were inspired by ancient Japanese literature. Hollows and Arrancars use Spanish terms. Fullbringers use English vocabulary, with names referencing rock music, and finally, both Quincy and Bounts draw on the German language. This multilingual terminology, along with the variety in apparent character ethnicities, emphasizes the international nature of the Bleach settings.[11] Themes[edit] Religious and cultural[edit] Von Feigenblatt describes Bleach as being culturally and religiously aware.[12] Bleach's plot incorporates the traditional Japanese belief of spirits coexisting with humans and their nature, good or evil, depends on the circumstances.[12] An example is Orihime's backstory: she was raised from the age of three by her brother Sora, and prayed for his soul's peace after he died in a car accident.[13] As time went on, she prayed less and Sora became jealous and turned into a Hollow and attacked Orihime. Drazen says this is a reminder to the audience to not abandon the old ways or risk the spirits taking offense and causing problems in the world.[14] Bleach also incorporates Shinto themes of purification of "evil spirits through charms, scrolls, incantations, and other rituals."[12] The manga also draws upon Christianity and Caribbean Santería.[12] Spanish terms are prevalent throughout the realm of Hueco Mundo, meaning abyss world, and its officers are the Espada, literally "sword" in Spanish.[12] Kubo says he chose the terms because they sounded "bewitching and mellow" to him.[11] Both Quincy and Bounts have been known to associate with the German language, making Kubo's world of characters diverse in race and language as well.[11] Von Feigenblatt notes that the Quincy "are clearly inspired by the Roman Catholic Christian Orders of Knighthood such as the Sovereign Order of Malta and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre whose influence is shown in terms of the uniform worn by the Quincy as well as by the symbolism of the cross."[12] Many of the names for swords and spells used by Soul Reapers were inspired by ancient Japanese literature.[11] Characters[edit] Kubo likes creating characters that have outward appearances that do not match their true nature.[11] The character Orihime is a complex character who has been both praised and criticized for her appearances. Her role has developed from a "big-breasted bimbo" throughout the story, but the way in which she uses her power has been deemed as stereotypical.[15][16] Rukia was initially set to be the protagonist of the series, but the early development of her character resulted in it being changed. Kubo drew Rukia based on his concepts of a Shinigami and wanted her to have an appropriate Shinigami sounding name.[17] Kubo's choice of the name is deliberate, eventually decided upon the last name "Kuchiki" (朽木?, lit. "rotten wood") and chose her first name based on the Latin name for cosmos, which in Latin means "light".[17] Kubo sees her as "a ray of light for Ichigo."[17] Michelle Ruff, Rukia's English voice actress, found Rukia to be a "survivor", due to how lonely she initially was and how she has been developed through the anime series as she had to start trusting people.[18] Melissa Harper notes that Rukia is not a stereotypical shōnen heroine, noting Rukia's loss of her powers and subsequent dependence on Ichigo were "a great source of both drama and comedy in the show."[19] Carlos Alexandre noted that she is "less of a foil to Ichigo and more like the other side of the same coin".[20] Media[edit] Manga[edit] See also: List of Bleach volumes The chapters of the Bleach manga are written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. In Japan, they have been published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump since 2001.[21] Since Bleach's premiere, over 600 chapters have been released in Japan. Most chapter names are written in English and have katakana above them to indicate how they are read in Japanese, similar to the usage of furigana ruby characters with advanced kanji characters. The total count of published Bleach chapters and the number on the highest-numbered chapter do not match. This is because, in addition to the positive numbered chapters, some chapters are published with a negative or fractional chapter number. These "negative" chapters are side stories that involve events that precede the main plot of the series. Individual chapters of Bleach are collected in tankōbon volumes several times per year. Each volume collects around 9 chapters of the story, along with extra content such as sketches, character trivia, and a poem offering insight into the character featured on the volume cover. The first Bleach volume was released on January 5, 2002, 72 volumes were released.[22][23] Shueisha published the first 21 volumes compiled into six omnibus collections under the name Resurrected Souls to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Bleach series. The first collection Bleach: Resurrected Souls 1 was released on August 22, 2011;[24] the last collection was published on January 23, 2012.[25] North American licensor Viz Media has been serializing the individual chapters in Shonen Jump in North America since November 2007.[26] 63 volumes were released.[27] The first volume on English was released on June 1, 2004.[28] On August 5, 2008, the company released a hardcover "collector's edition" of the first volume that came with a dust jacket, followed by a box set that was released on September 2, 2008, containing the first 21 volumes, a poster, and a booklet about the series.[29][30] Viz Media started a re-release of the series under the label of "3-in-1 Edition" on June 7, 2011;[31] Eight volumes were released.[32] Viz Media released digital forms of the first 16 volumes in English on June 17, 2011.[33][34] 60 digital volumes were published.[35] On September 21, 2012, Shueisha released 45 digital volumes in Japanese e-book stores.[36][37] 61 digital volumes have been released.[38] Digital editions of the series have been re-released as a set of 10 volumes on April 26, 2013;[39] six sets were released.[40] Anime[edit] See also: Bleach (anime) and List of Bleach episodes The Bleach anime series aired in Japan on TV Tokyo's Tuesday 6pm timeslot from October 5, 2004, to March 27, 2012, excluding holidays.[2][41][42] The series was directed by Noriyuki Abe and produced by TV Tokyo, Dentsu, and Studio Pierrot.[43] Viz Media obtained the foreign television, home video, and merchandising rights to the Bleach anime from TV Tokyo Corporation and Shueisha on March 15, 2006.[44] Viz Media has later licensed its individual Bleach merchandising rights to several different companies.[45] Bleach premiered in Canada on YTV, as part of their Bionix programming block, on September 8, 2006.[46] Cartoon Network's Adult Swim began airing Bleach in the United States the following evening.[47] Adult Swim stopped broadcasting new episodes of the English adaptation on October 13, 2007 after airing the first 52 episodes of the series.[48] It was replaced with another Viz Media series, Death Note, to provide Studiopolis more time to dub additional episodes of Bleach. The series resumed on March 2, 2008, but went back on hiatus on November 21, 2009, after the airing of its 167th episode.[48][49] Adult Swim would continue to air new episodes as part of the revived Toonami block, with the final episode airing on Saturday November 1, 2014 at 12am.[50] In the United Kingdom, Bleach premiered on Anime Central on September 13, 2007, with new episodes airing weekly.[51] In 2013, the Sony Movie Channel began broadcasting Bleach as part of their 'Late Night Anime' block, which runs concurrently with the Animax pay-per-view service, and continues to do so.[52] The English dubbed version of Bleach premiered on Animax Asia on December 18, 2009 with the first 52 episodes.[53] 88 DVD compilations were released by Aniplex in Japan.[54] Viz Media has released 32 DVD compilations of the English adaptation of the anime,[55][56] along with twenty-one boxsets that contain fourteen seasons of the anime.[57][58][59] On July 29, 2009, Aniplex released a "TV Animation Bleach 5th Anniversary Box" that includes 15 DVDs and three bonus discs.[60] On November 24, 2010, Aniplex released a special edition of the DVD, "2004 & 2005 Bleach Jump Anime Tour", which contains two OVAs—Memories in the Rain and The Sealed Sword Frenzy.[61] Soundtrack CDs[edit] See also: List of Bleach soundtracks 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.[62] Bleach Original Soundtrack 2 followed on August 2, 2006 with an additional 23 instrumental tracks.[63] Bleach Original Soundtrack 3 later followed on November 5, 2008 with 27 instrumental tracks.[64] Bleach Original Soundtrack 4 was released on December 16, 2009 with 30 instrumental tracks.[65] For the 5th anniversary of the series, Aniplex released Bleach 5th Anniversary Box set which contains CD with rare and unreleased tracks.[66] Bleach: Memories of Nobody Original Soundtrack was released with 25 tracks from the Bleach: Memories of Nobody film.[67] Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion Original Soundtrack was also released for the Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion film, with 29 tracks from the movie, followed by Bleach: Fade to Black Original Soundtrack for the Bleach: Fade to Black film, with 29 tracks, followed by Bleach: Hell Verse Original Soundtrack for the Bleach: Hell Verse film, with 21 tracks.[68][69][70] 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.[71][72] The separated CD under the label, Bleach The Best which contains 12 tracks, was released in December 2008.[73] The next release, Bleach Best Tunes, contains 14 more opening and ending themes.[74][75]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.[76] 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.[77] Five Radio DJCD Bleach 'B' Station season CD sets, have been released in Japan.[78] Drama CDs have been produced for the series as well, featuring the original voice actors from the anime; these drama CDs have only been included as part of the DVD releases.[79] The labels Bleach Beat Collections and Bleach Breathless Collections are sets of CDs published by Sony Music featuring recordings by the original Japanese voice actors that provide a look at the personalities of the characters they play, as well as the voice actors themselves. The first CD was released on June 22, 2005, 29 volumes all-together were released.[80]Aniplex introduced two Bleach concept albums. The first, Bleach Concept Covers, was released on December 15, 2010 and the second one, Bleach Concept Covers 2, was released on December 14, 2011.[81][82] Films[edit] There are four animated feature films based on the Bleach series, all of which are directed by Noriyuki Abe, director of the Bleach anime series. The films were released annually each December starting in 2006, though none were released in 2009. Each movie features an original plotline along with original characters designed by Tite Kubo, which is contrary to the normal practice for anime-based films, as the original author usually has little creative involvement.[83] The first film, Bleach: Memories of Nobody, was released in Japan on December 16, 2006 and had a limited release in American theaters in June 2008.[84][85] The movie is centered around the activities of the "Dark Ones," who were banished from the Soul Society and are subsequently trying to destroy both the Soul Society and the World of the Living. Memories of Nobody was released in North America on Region 1 DVD by Viz Media on October 14, 2008.[86] The second film, Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion, was released to Japanese theaters on December 22, 2007.[87] Its plot focuses on 10th Division captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya's efforts to clear his name after an artifact belonging to Soul Society's king is stolen while under his care. The DiamondDust Rebellion was released in North America on Region 1 DVD by Viz Media on September 8, 2009.[88] The third film, Bleach: Fade to Black, was released in Japan on December 13, 2008.[89] In the film, members of Soul Society are struck with amnesia, caused by a parasitic Hollow that erases the memories of its victims. The people in those memories forget the victim as well, resulting in everyone losing their memories of Rukia and subsequentially of Ichigo. When he goes to the Soul Society to investigate, Ichigo is hunted as an intruder and the perpetrator of a great disaster and also discovers that Rukia has not only forgotten him, but has forgotten her own identity as well.[90] The film was released on Region 2 DVD on September 30, 2009.[91] The English Dub release of Fade to Black was released on Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray by Viz Media on November 15, 2011.[92] The fourth movie, Bleach: Hell Verse, was released in Japan on December 4, 2010.[93] In the film, Ichigo is heading into the Gates of Hell, which is where souls and Hollows who had committed evil during their lives as humans are sent. Denizens of Hell, aware of the power of Ichigo's inner Hollow, desire to draw out that power and free themselves from Hell and so they lure Ichigo into the realm by kidnapping his sisters. Tite Kubo did oversee the production of the film.[94] The dubbed version was released on Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray by Viz Media on December 4, 2012.[95] In March 2010, Warner Bros. (USA/Canada/International) confirmed that it is in talks to create a live action movie adaptation of the series. Peter Segal and Michael Ewing have been lined up to produce the movie.[96] In 2012, Dan Mazeau was added as a screenwriter for the project, and Masi Oka joined as producer.[97] Musicals[edit] Main article: Rock Musical Bleach Bleach has been adapted into a series of rock musicals, jointly produced by Studio Pierrot and Nelke Planning. There have been five musicals produced which covered portions of the Substitute and Soul Society arcs, as well as five additional performances known as "Live Bankai Shows" and "Rock Musical Bleach Shinsei", which did not follow the Bleach plotline. The initial performance run of the Bleach musical was from August 17–28, 2005 at the Space Zero Tokyo center in Shinjuku.[98][99][100] The musicals are directed by Takuya Hiramitsu, with script adaptation by Naoshi Okumura and music composed by playwright Shoichi Tama. The songs are completely original and not taken from the anime soundtrack. Key actors in the series include Tatsuya Isaka, who plays Ichigo Kurosaki, Miki Satō, who plays Rukia Kuchiki, and Eiji Moriyama, who plays Renji Abarai.[101] Trading card game[edit] Main article: Bleach Trading Card Game Two collectible card games (CCG) based on the Bleach series have been produced, one in the Japanese market and a different one in North America. Bleach Soul Card Battle, produced by Bandai, was introduced in Japan in 2004.[102] Twenty named sets were released for the series.[103] After Bleach Soul Card Battle, Bandai introduced three more series. Bleach The Card Gum, which contains 14 sets, was released in early September 2007.[104] The next series, Bleach Clear Collection, which contains six sets, was released in July 2008.[105] The last series, Bleach Clear Soul Plate, which consists of three sets, was published in December 2009.[106] Bleach TCG was introduced in the United States by Score Entertainment in May 2007,[107] but ceased publication April 2009, just before the planned launch of its seventh expansion, Bleach Infiltration.[108] This cancellation was attributed to the ongoing recession, which has heavily affected TCG sales.[108] Designed by Aik Tongtharadol, the TCG is a two-player game in which each player starts with at least 61 cards: a "Guardian" card, a 60-card "main deck," and an optional 20-card "side deck." A player loses if his or her power, as dictated by the Guardian card, is reduced to zero, or if he or she is unable to draw or discard a card from his or her deck.[109] The cards for the game have been released in named sets with each set released in three formats: a 72-card pre-constructed box set containing a starter deck and two booster packs, a 10-card booster pack, and a 12-pack booster box. Six named sets were released.[110] Video games[edit] See also: List of Bleach video games A number of video games have been created featuring characters from the Bleach series, primarily though not exclusively fighting games. The first video game to be released from the Bleach series was Bleach: Heat the Soul, which debuted on March 24, 2005 for the Sony PlayStation Portable.[111] Currently, the majority of the games have only been released in Japan, though Sega has localized the first three Nintendo DS games and the first Wii game for North America.[112] So far, all dedicated Bleach games released for Sony's consoles have been developed and published by SCEI, whereas the games for Nintendo consoles are developed and published by Sega, and the Nintendo DS games are developed by Treasure Co. Ltd..[113][114] Light novels[edit] Tite Kubo and Makoto Matsubara have co-authored three novelizations of the Bleach series, which were published by Shueisha under its Shounen Jump Books label. The first volume, Bleach - Letters From The Other Side: The Death and The Strawberry, was published on December 15, 2004, and re-released as Bleach - Letters From The Other Side: The Death and The Strawberry - New Edition on November 4, 2009.[115][116] The second, Bleach: The Honey Dish Rhapsody, was published on November 30, 2006.[117] The third, Bleach: The Death Save The Strawberry, was published on September 4, 2012.[118] Two novelizations of the Bleach series, have been co-authored by Narita Ryohgo. The first volume, Bleach: Spirits Are Forever With You, and the second, Bleach: Spirits Are Forever With You 2, were published on June 4, 2012.[119][120] Shueisha published four novelizations based on the Bleach movies. The first volume, Bleach: Memories of Nobody, was published on December 18, 2006.[121] The second, Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion, Another Hyōrinmaru, was published on December 22, 2007.[122] The third, Bleach: Fade to Black, I Call Your Name, was published on December 15, 2008.[123] The fourth volume, Bleach: Hell Chapter, was published on December 6, 2010.[124] Other[edit] 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.[125][126] The second artbook, Bleach Official Bootleg: KaraBuri+ (BLEACH OFFICIAL BOOTLEG カラブリ プラス?), 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, Tedious Everyday Tales Colorful Bleach (徒然日常絵詞 カラフル ブリーチ Tsuredure Nichijou Ekotoba Karafuru Buriichi?), 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.[127]Color Bleach+: Bleach Official Bootleg was released in English by Viz Media on August 10, 2010.[128] Six databooks have also been released about the series. The first two, Bleach: Official Character Book SOULs. and Bleach: Official Animation Book VIBEs., were released on February 3, 2006.[129][130] Bleach: Official Character Book SOULs. was later released in English by Viz Media on November 18, 2008.[131] The third book, Bleach: Official Character Book 2: MASKED, was released on August 4, 2010. This book covers details about characters that appear 100 years prior to the story, such as former captains and lieutenants, along with the Arrancars and Visoreds. It should be noted that while it was released on the same day as volume 46, Back From Blind, the book only covers material up to volume 37, Beauty Is So Solitary.[132] The English version was released by Viz Media on March 6, 2012.[133] A fourth book Bleach: Official Invitation Book The Hell Verse, was published on December 4, 2010. This book was released to promote Bleach movie:Hell Verse and it contains character sketches, promotional posters and the one-off Hell manga special.[134] A fifth book Bleach: Official Character Book 3: UNMASKED, was released on June 3, 2011, the same day as the volume 50 of the series. However it only covers material up to volume 48, God is Dead.[135] On June 4, 2012, a sixth book has been released under the name Bleach: The Rebooted Souls. This free booklet has been distributed with Bleach manga volume 55, with the aim to provide information to readers about upcoming manga's final arc, The Thousand-Year Blood War.[136] Shueisha published a special book Bleach: JCCover Postcard Book MAILs., which was released on December 4, 2013. It features cover pages as postcards up to volume 60 with poems on the back.[137] Reception[edit] Fans dressed as characters from Bleach, pictured in 2014. Bleach has sold a total of 84 million copies in Japan, ranking as the sixth best-selling series from Weekly Shōnen Jump.[138] In 2005, Bleach was awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category.[139][140] During 2008, volume 34 of the manga sold 874,153 copies in Japan, becoming the 12th best-seller comics from the year. Volumes 33 and 35 have also ranked 17 and 18, respectively.[141] In total the manga has sold 3,161,825 copies in Japan during 2008, becoming the year's 5th best selling series.[142] In the first half from 2009, Bleach ranked as the 2nd best-selling manga in Japan, having sold 3.5 million copies.[143] Having sold 927,610 copies, Volume 36 ranked 7th. Volume 37 was 8th with 907,714 sold copies, and volume 38 at 10th with 822,238 copies.[144] North American sales of the manga have also been high, with all volumes having sold over 1.2 million copies.[145][146] Volume 16 placing in the top 10 graphic novel sales in December 2006 and volume 17 being the best-selling manga volume for the month of February 2007.[147][148][149] In a 2010 interview, Gonzalo Ferreyra, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Viz, listed Bleach as one of six Viz titles that continue to exceed expectations in spite of the harshening manga market.[150] The English version of the manga was nominated for the "best manga" and "best theme" awards at the 2006 and 2007 American Anime Awards, but did not win either category.[151][152] Deb Aoki from About.com considered the series as the Best Continuing Shōnen Manga of 2007, along with Eyeshield 21, praising the "compelling stories, dazzling action sequences and great character development".[153] She also placed the title on her list of "Top 10 Shōnen Manga Must-Reads".[154] The artwork and the character designs received positive response by IGN's A.E. Sparrow. He also commented on the series' ability to handle multiple minor character plotlines at the same time, which he considered a point of appeal, in response to fans' claims about a "lack of a story" in Bleach.[155] Leroy Douresseaux from ComicBookBin agreed with Sparrow in the number of storylines, but also praised the fighting scenes finding them comparable to the ones of popular films.[156][157] On the other hand, Mania reviewer Jarred Pine criticized the series as being plagued with stereotypes from the genre. He felt it was a rough start for the series with unimpressive battles, overused gags, and a bad introduction for central character Ichigo that causes him to come across "as a frowning punk" whose one good trait is his desire to protect. Despite this, Pine notes that he loves the series, particularly its quirky, lovable characters.[158] Jason Thompson said he was no longer able to take Bleach seriously after it introduced villains Ulquiorra and Yammy in a scene precisely mirroring Vegeta and Nappa's arrival in Dragon Ball Z, but acknowledged it was likely intended as a deliberate homage. He also said Kubo was able to avoid the worst artistic failings typical in series which indulge in superpowered combat, but that the battle scenes were still sometimes difficult to follow.[159] References[edit] ^ "Bleach on Neon Alley". Viz Media. ^ a b "Bleach TV Anime Ending on March 27". Anime News Network. ^ "Manga Panda". Bleach 614 - Read Bleach 614 Online - Page 10. MangaPanda. 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2015-09-12. ^ a b c d Deb Aoki. "Interview: Tite Kubo (page 1)". About.com. Retrieved September 16, 2008. ^ a b c d Charles Solomon (August 28, 2008). "Creator Tite Kubo surprised by 'Bleach' success". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 23, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2008. ^ "Tite Kubo". Metacritic. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach: Interview with Tite Kubo". Anime Insider (Wizard Universe) (61): 39. October 2008. ISSN 1547-3767. ^ Shonen Jump #51. Volume 5, Issue 3. March 2007. VIZ Media. 328. ^ a b Deb Aoki. "Interview: Tite Kubo (page 3)". About.com. Retrieved 2008-09-16. ^ a b Kai-ming Cha (August 4, 2008). "Kubo Comes to Comic-Con". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz, LLC. Retrieved September 17, 2008. Query Wayback Bibalex Wayback WebCite Wikiwix ^ a b c d e f Shonen Jump. Volume 6, Issue 6. June 2007. Viz Media. 12. ^ a b c d e f von Feigenblatt, Otto F., Japanese Animation as a Global Product: The Lingering Traces of Nijonjinron and the Rise of Globalism and Hybridity (August 2, 2012). Journal of History & Social Sciences, 2(2), pp. 1–14, July–December 2012. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2195562 ^ Kubo, Tite (2004). "Chapter 6". Bleach, Volume 1. Viz Media. ISBN 1-59116-441-9. ^ Drazen, Patrick (Jun 29, 2011). A Gathering of Spirits: Japan's Ghost Story Tradition from Folklore and Kabuki to Anime and Manga. iUniverse. pp. 11–12. ^ Pine, Jarred (2005-02-24). "Bleach Vol. 1 Review". Mania Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-04-23. ^ Santos, Carlos (2005-08-21). "Bleach Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2008-12-25. ^ a b c Tite Kubo, Masakazu Morita (August 2007). Tite Kubo Interview, Bleach B-Station 112. Japan: Bleach B-Station. ^ Bleach Uncut Season 2 Box Set; Behind the scenes of Bleach (DVD). Viz Media. August 19, 2008. ^ Harper, Melissa (2007-01-22). "Bleach DVD 1 - Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2008-03-11. ^ Alexandre Carlos (July 30, 2007). "Anime Review: Bleach, Vol. 1". popcultureshock.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach". Viz Media. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach 1" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach 72" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 11, 2016. ^ "BLEACH総集編 Resurrected Souls 1" (in Japanese). Amazon.com Japan. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "BLEACH総集編 Resurrected Souls 6" (in Japanese). Amazon.com Japan. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "Viz to Serialize Bleach, Publish Slam Dunk". Anime News Network. July 27, 2007. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach, Volume 63". Viz Media. Retrieved February 4, 2015. ^ "Bleach, Vol. 1". Viz Media. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach (Box Set)". Viz Media. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach , Vol. 1 (Collector's Edition)". Viz Media. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach (3-in-1 Edition), Volume 1". Viz Media. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach (3-in-1 Edition), Volume 8". Viz Media. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach digital, Volume 1". Viz Media. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach digital, Volume 16". Viz Media. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach digital, Volume 60". Viz Media. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach digital 1" (in Japanese). ebookjapan.jp. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach digital 45" (in Japanese). ebookjapan.jp. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach digital 61" (in Japanese). ebookjapan.jp. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "BLEACH モノクロ版 1～10巻セット" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "BLEACH モノクロ版　51～60巻セット" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach 1-13" (in Japanese). TV Tokyo. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach 355-366" (in Japanese). TV Tokyo. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "ぴえろ BLEACH =ブリーチ=" (in Japanese). Studio Pierrot. Retrieved April 7, 2009. ^ "Viz Media named master licensor for hit Japanese action manga Shōnen Jump's Bleach" (Press release). Viz Media. Archived from the original on May 4, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2007. ^ "Viz Announces Bleach Merchandise Licenses". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 24, 2007. ^ "New YTV Friday Lineup This Fall". Anime News Network. September 7, 2006. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Swim Picks up Bleach". Anime News Network. March 30, 2006. Retrieved April 12, 2009. ^ a b "Adult Swim to Run 52 More Episodes of Bleach". Anime News Network. January 28, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2011. ^ "New Bleach Episodes Return to Adult Swim Tonight". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach". Adult Swim. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach: Show times". animecentral.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ http://www.sonymoviechannel.co.uk/programs/late-night-anime ^ "Bleach". Animax Asia. Retrieved May 10, 2014. ^ "Bleach: Season 16 DVDs The Lost Agent Series" (in Japanese). Aniplex. Retrieved May 5, 2014. ^ "Bleach, Vol. 1 (DVD)". Amazon.com. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "Bleach, Vol. 32 (DVD)". Amazon.com. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "Bleach Uncut Season 1 Box Set (Original and Uncut)". Amazon.com. Retrieved October 5, 2008. ^ "Bleach Uncut Season 2 Box Set". Amazon.com. Retrieved October 5, 2008. ^ "Bleach Uncut Season 3 Box Set: The Rescue". Amazon.com. Retrieved September 26, 2009. ^ "TV Animation Bleach 5th Anniversary Box Limited Release". CD Japan. Retrieved November 7, 2009. ^ "2004&2005 BLEACH Jump Anime Tour Limited Release". Sony Music Shop. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "TV Animation BLEACH Original Soundtrack 1" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved July 20, 2009. ^ "TV Animation BLEACH Original Soundtrack 2" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved July 20, 2009. ^ "TV Animation BLEACH Original Soundtrack 3" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved July 20, 2009. ^ "TV Animation BLEACH Original Soundtrack 4" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved December 11, 2009. ^ "TV Animation Bleach 5th Anniversary Box [Limited Release]". cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved June 1, 2014. ^ "劇場版 BLEACH MEMORIES OF NOBODY Original Soundtrack" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved July 21, 2009. ^ "劇場版 BLEACH The DiamondDust Rebellion Original Soundtrack" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved July 21, 2009. ^ "劇場版 BLEACH Fade to Black Original Soundtrack" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved July 21, 2009. ^ "劇場版BLEACH 地獄篇 Original Soundtrack【初回限定仕様】" (in Japanese). Sony Music Shop. Retrieved May 7, 2014. ^ "BLEACH THE BEST【期間限定生産盤】" (in Japanese). Sony Music Shop. Retrieved May 7, 2014. ^ "BLEACH THE BEST INSTRUMENTAL/JAM SET GROOVE" (in Japanese). Sony Music Shop. Retrieved May 7, 2014. ^ "BLEACH THE BEST（通常盤）" (in Japanese). Sony Music Shop. Retrieved May 7, 2014. ^ "BLEACH: The Best" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved July 20, 2009. ^ "BLEACH BEST TUNES(DVD付)" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved July 20, 2009. ^ "BLEACH BERRY BEST【期間生産限定盤】" (in Japanese). Sony Music Shop. Retrieved May 7, 2014. ^ "BLEACH BEST TRAX【期間生産限定盤】" (in Japanese). Sony Music Shop. Retrieved May 7, 2014. ^ "RADIO DJCD [BLEACH"B"STATION] Fifth Season Vol.5 （最終巻）【初回限定仕様】" (in Japanese). Sony Music Shop. Retrieved May 7, 2014. ^ "BLEACH 破面(アランカル)・激闘篇 1 【完全生産限定版】 [DVD]" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved July 20, 2009. ^ "BLEACH : ディスコグラフィ" (in Japanese). Sony Music. Retrieved January 1, 2009. ^ "ブリコン　～BLEACH CONCEPT COVERS～" (in Japanese). Sony Music Shop. Retrieved May 7, 2014. ^ "ブリコン ～BLEACH CONCEPT COVERS～ 2【初回限定仕様】" (in Japanese). Sony Music Shop. Retrieved May 7, 2014. ^ Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion (Media notes) (in Japanese). Noriyuki Abe. Japan: Toho. 2008. ^ "Japan Box Yearly Box Office 2006". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "First Bleach Film to Run in U.S. Theaters June 11–12". Anime News Network. April 17, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Bleach Movie Video 1". Viz Media. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Japan Box Yearly Box Office 2007". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Bleach Movie Video 2". Viz Media. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Japan Box Yearly Box Office 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Third Bleach Film, First Major Film Have Titles, Dates". Anime News Network. July 15, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "劇場版BLEACH Fade to Black 君の名を呼ぶ(通常版) [DVD]". Amazon Japan. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Bleach Movie Video 3". Viz Media. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "December's Bleach: Jigoku-Hen Film Overseen by Kubo". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Bleach: Jigoku-Hen Film, Yakumo Promos Streamed (Updated) - News". Anime News Network. September 14, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Bleach Movie Video 4". Viz Media. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Warner Brothers in Film Talks for Bleach Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Warner Develops Live-Action Film of Tite Kubo's Bleach Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 20, 2014. ^ "Rock Musical Bleach official website" (in Japanese). Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "ロックミュージカル『BLEACH』". Nelke.co.jp (in Japanese). Nelke Planning Co., LTD. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Bleach Rock Musical". Anime News Network. April 11, 2005. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Rock Musical BLEACH Saien - Live". CDJapan.co.jp. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "BLEACH :SOUL CARD BATTLE.1 構築済みスターターセット 友情デッキ". Amazon.com Japan. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "BLEACH SOUL CARD BATTLE March Of The Death (20) ブースターパック BOX" (in Japanese). Amazon.com Japan. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "Bleach The Card Gum 1" (in Japanese). Bandai. Retrieved May 9, 2014. ^ "Bleach Clear Collection 6" (in Japanese). Carddass. Retrieved May 7, 2014. ^ "Bleach Clear Soul Plate 3" (in Japanese). Carddass. Retrieved May 7, 2014. ^ "Official Bleach TCG: FAQ". Score Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2008. ^ a b "'Bleach TCG' RIP". icv2. Retrieved May 22, 2009. ^ "Official Bleach TCG: Rules". Score Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2008. ^ "Bleach Trading Card Game - Bankai Starter Deck". Amazon.com. Retrieved July 21, 2009. ^ "IGN: Bleach: Heat the Soul". IGN. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (July 28, 2006). "Bleach 2nd Details". IGN. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "IGN: Bleach: The Blade of Fate". IGN. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "IGN: Bleach: Shattered Blade". IGN. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "BLEACH-letters from the other side: The Death and The Strawberry" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "BLEACH-letters from the other side: The Death and The Strawberry -new　edition-" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Bleach: The Honey Dish Rhapsody" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Bleach: The Death Save The Strawberry" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "BLEACH: Spirits Are Forever With You I" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 3, 2014. ^ "BLEACH: Spirits Are Forever With You II" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 3, 2014. ^ "劇場版BLEACH　　 ―MEMORIES　OF　NOBODY―" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "劇場版　BLEACH　　 The　DiamondDust　Rebellion　もう一つの氷輪丸" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "劇場版BLEACH　　 Fade　to　Black　君の名を呼ぶ" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "劇場版BLEACH　　 地獄篇" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "BLEACHイラスト集 All Colour But The Black" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "The Art of Bleach". Viz media. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "BLEACH OFFICIAL BOOTLEG カラブリ+" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Color Bleach+: Bleach Official Bootleg". Viz media. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "BLEACH―ブリーチ― OFFICIAL CHARACTER BOOK SOULs." (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "BLEACH―ブリーチ― OFFICIAL ANIMATION BOOK VIBEs." (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Bleach SOULs. Official Character Book". Viz media. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "BLEACH―ブリーチ― OFFICIAL CHARACTER BOOK 2 MASKED." (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Bleach MASKED: Official Character Book 2". Viz media. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "劇場版 BLEACH ブリーチ 地獄編 入場者特典コミック 【 INVITATION BOOK The Hell Verse 】" (in Japanese). Amazon.com Japan. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "Bleach: Official Character Book 3: UNMASKED" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "BLEACH: THE REBOOTED SOULS" (in Japanese). s-manga.net. Retrieved May 6, 2014. ^ "BLEACH: JCCOVER　POSTCARD　BOOK MAILs．" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 4, 2014. ^ "Shueisha Media Guide 2013: Boy's & Men's Comic Magazines" (PDF) (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved 2013-12-27. ^ 小学館漫画賞: 歴代受賞者 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved August 19, 2007. ^ の作品はオンラインで購入することができます (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved December 14, 2006. ^ "2008's Top-Selling Manga in Japan, #1-25". Anime News Network. December 19, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008. ^ "2008's Top-Selling Manga in Japan, by Series". Anime News Network. January 2, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2009. ^ "Top-Selling Manga in Japan by Series: 1st Half of 2009". Anime News Network. June 15, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2009. ^ "Top-Selling Manga in Japan by Volume: 1st Half of 2009 (Updated)". Anime News Network. June 15, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2009. ^ "Viz To Release Bleach The Movie 2: The DiamondDust Rebellion on DVD". Anime News Network. September 1, 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2009. ^ "Viz Media's Shonen Jump Welcomes Bleach Manga Creator Tite Kubo for Ultra-Rare Appearance at 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International". Anime News Network. May 21, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2009. ^ "Top 100 Graphic Novels Actual--December 2006". ICv2. January 16, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2007. ^ "Top 100 Graphic Novels Actual--February 2007". ICv2. March 20, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2007. ^ "Civil War Finale Tops the Charts". ICv2. March 20, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2007. ^ "Interview with Viz's Gonzalo Ferreyra, Part 1". ICv2. January 21, 2010. Retrieved January 21, 2010. ^ "American Anime Awards Finalists Announced". Anime News Network. February 2, 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2009. ^ "American Anime Awards Winners". Anime News Network. February 24, 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2009. ^ Aoki, Deb (2007). "2007 Best Continuing Manga List — Top 10 Current Manga Series of 2007". About.com. Retrieved December 13, 2008. ^ Aoki, Deb. "Recommended Reading — Top 10 List of Shōnen Manga Must-Reads". About.com. Retrieved December 13, 2008. ^ Sparrow, A. E. (March 12, 2007). "Bleach: Volume 18 review Blink and you'll miss something very cool". IGN. Retrieved November 1, 2008. ^ Douresseaux, Leroy (January 27, 2007). "Bleach: Volume 22 review". comicbookbin.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. ^ Douresseaux, Leroy (July 22, 2007). "Bleach: Volume 20 review". comicbookbin.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. ^ Pine, Jarred (February 24, 2005). "Bleach Vol. #01". Mania. Retrieved December 13, 2008. ^ Thompson, Jason (2013-01-31). "Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - The Saga of Shonen Jump Part II". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2014-08-15. External links[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to: Bleach (manga) Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bleach (manga). 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Story of Bleach

The story opens with the sudden appearance of Shinigami Rukia Kuchiki in Ichigo Kurosaki's bedroom. She is surprised at his ability to see her, but their conversation is shortly interrupted by the appearance of a "Hollow", an evil spirit. After Rukia is severely wounded while trying to protect Ichigo, she attempts to transfer half her powers to Ichigo in order to let him face the Hollow on equal footing. Ichigo instead unintentionally absorbs almost all her energy, allowing him to defeat the Hollow with ease. The next day Rukia appears in Ichigo's classroom as a seemingly normal Human, and informs Ichigo that his absorption of her powers has left her stranded in the Human World until she recovers her strength. In the meantime Ichigo shelters Rukia in his home and takes over her job as a Shinigami, battling Hollows and guiding lost souls to Soul Society. After a few months of this arrangement, in the sixth volume of the series, Rukia's Shinigami superiors interpret her disappearance as desertion, send a detachment to arrest her, and sentence her to death. Ichigo is unable to stop Rukia's capture, but with the help of several of his classmates who also possess spiritual abilities and ex-Shinigami Kisuke Urahara, he sets off for the Shinigami base, located in the afterlife realm known as Soul Society. Once there, Ichigo and company battle against the elites of the Shinigami military, and are ultimately successful in halting Rukia's execution. It is then revealed that Rukia's execution and Ichigo's rescue attempt were both manipulated by Sōsuke Aizen, a high ranking Shinigami previously believed to be murdered, as part of a far-reaching plot to take control of Soul Society. Aizen betrays his fellow Shinigami and allies himself with the Hollows, becoming the main antagonist of the series, and Ichigo teams up with his former enemies in Soul Society after learning that the next step in Aizen's plan involves the destruction of his home town. The Gotei 13 unite to defeat Aizen and the Arrancar but are unable to stop Aizen in the Fake Karakura Town they created. Ichigo eventually defeats Aizen in Soul Society at the cost of his Shinigami powers. Seventeen months later, Ichigo is approached by a mysterious organization of Fullbringers known as Xcution with an offer to help him recover his lost powers in order to transfer their own and become normal humans; however, it is revealed their true objective is to steal Ichigo's Fullbring in order to empower their own by orchestating a massive manipulation of his family and acquaintances. Ichigo regains his powers thanks to Rukia and the Gotei 13 and battles the leader of Xcution and the former first Substitute Shinigami, Kūgo Ginjō, killing him. At this point, Bleach chronicles a war between Soul Society and an army of Quincies known as the Wandenreich. According to Tite Kubo, the ending of the series is not yet planned out or written.[1] Characters All Bleach characters are "souls". Living Humans contain souls within their bodies, while disembodied souls, or spirits, have a form composed of particles of Reiryoku called Reishi (霊子, Spirit Particles), which otherwise mimics Human anatomy, aside from incredibly slowed aging (Rukia appears to be in her teens, yet is over 150 years old.). This form encompasses all of the spirit's being; there is no distinction between spirit and body. There are a variety of different types of spirits in Bleach, each with a different visual theme and approach to combat. Main characters See also: Characters Ichigo Kurosaki The primary protagonist of Bleach, orange haired high school freshman Ichigo Kurosaki is forced to become a Substitute Shinigami after unwittingly absorbing most of Rukia's powers. His cynical nature at first makes him ill-disposed towards the duty, but with the passage of time he comes to accept and welcome it, recognizing that even if he is not able to save everyone, he can at least use his skills to protect those close to him. Rukia Kuchiki Rukia Kuchiki is a Shinigami who was sent on a Hollow extermination patrol in Ichigo's home town. Though her physical appearance is that of a teenage girl, in reality she is over 150 years old. Rukia is forced to transfer her power to Ichigo and assume a temporary lifestyle as a regular Human. She registers at the local high school and takes up residence in Ichigo's closet, while teaching him how to be a substitute Shinigami in her place. Orihime Inoue Orihime Inoue is a long-time classmate of Ichigo, linked to him by mutual friend Tatsuki Arisawa. She her elder brother Sora ran away from their abusive parents at a young age, and her brother later died. Though initially devoid of spiritual powers, she begins to develop spiritual awareness and later obtains one of the most powerful healing abilities in the Bleach universe, able to completely restore a body to its previous state regardless of how severely it is wounded. It is not technically a healing ability, however. She has the ability to "reject" what happened to an object or area, making it as if nothing ever happened. Uryū Ishida Though on the surface nothing more than the solitary class genius, Uryū Ishida is actually a Quincy, descendant of a line of priest-like Hollow-hunting archers. He bears a deep grudge against all Shinigami, including Ichigo, but comes to view Ichigo differently over time, eventually becoming an ally and friendly rival. His father refuses to have anything to do with the Quincy, so he receives training from his grandfather, until his grandfather is killed. Yasutora Sado Yasutora Sado, better known as Chad, is one of Ichigo's few friends at school. He is a biracial (Japanese/Mexican) student who towers over his classmates. Despite his imposing appearance he is quite meek, and refuses to fight unless it is for the sake of another. He does not have awareness of ghosts at first, but can still touch Hollows, and eventually is able to see them when he witnesses a group of children being attacked by a Hollow. He later discovers a unique ability that strengthens and armors his right arm, enabling him to fight Hollows. Renji Abarai Renji Abarai is an elite Shinigami bearing the rank of 6th Division Lieutenant, making him second in command of a sub-branch of the Shinigami armed forces. Although first introduced as a deadly enemy, he has conflicting loyalties between his job and Rukia, whom he grew up with. A brash and driven man, he holds both a deep respect and animosity towards his immediate superior, 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. Character types Human: The Humans of Bleach are much like the residents of modern Japan, and most cannot see or sense disembodied spirits in any way. Spirits can, however, inhabit artificial Human bodies called Gigai which are visible to ordinary Humans. One in 50,000 Humans is a medium with some awareness of nearby spirits, but only a third of these are able to see them clearly, and only the strongest of mediums are able to speak with or touch spirits.[2] Certain unique Humans, like the Fullbringers, naturally have both the power to sense and the strength to fight with spirits. Ordinary Humans can gain the ability to interact with spirits by spending time around a large source of spirit energy.[3] Plus: Benign spirits in Bleach are known as Pluses. A plus is the spirit of a person who has died. They are distinguished by a chain, known as the Chain of Fate(因果の鎖, inga no kusari), that protrudes from the chest. This once bound the plus to its living body. Normally, Pluses are sent to Soul Society by Shinigami, but if this is not done before the Chain of Fate is corroded entirely, a hole will form in the chest of the Plus where the chain was once anchored. Such souls are driven mad, lose their heart and become evil spirits known as Hollows.[4][5] Shinigami: Shinigami (Soul Reaper in the official English editions, Death Gods in most subtitled versions) are the psychopomps of Bleach. They are souls with inner spiritual power, recruited from the ranks of the residents and nobility of Soul Society. Like all spirits, they cannot be detected by normal Humans. Shinigami use their Zanpakutō, supernatural swords that are the manifestation of their owners' power, to perform soul burials on pluses.[4] Shinigami also use Zanpakutō and magic known as Kidō to fight their arch-rivals, the Hollows.[4] Visored: A group of Shinigami known as the Visoreds have obtained Hollow powers, gaining removable masks and access to certain Hollow abilities. Hollow: Hollows are the central antagonists of the Bleach franchise. They are evil spirits that reside in Hueco Mundo, but travel to the Human World to feed on the souls of the living and dead alike. Like Shinigami, Hollows are made of spiritual matter and cannot be detected by ordinary Humans. While the majority of Hollows can be overcome by the average Shinigami, there are some which surpass even the most elite Shinigami in strength. All normal Hollows wear white masks,[5] but a small group of Hollows have broken them, becoming Arrancar. By shattering their masks, these Hollows regain the ability to reason, sometimes obtain a humanoid form, and gain access to Shinigami powers.[6] Quincy: The Quincy are a clan of spiritually aware Humans who once fought against the Hollows, using weapons composed of spiritual energy to slay them.[7] As opposed to Shinigami, Quincy absorb and channel energy from their surroundings to fight.[8] Unlike the Shinigami method of killing Hollows which allows the Hollow to enter Soul Society, the Quincy technique simply destroys the Hollow's soul entirely.[7] This method has the propensity to shatter the balance of the universe, because when souls are destroyed, the number of souls entering and leaving Soul Society cannot remain equal.[9] This issue prompted the Shinigami to conduct a campaign to exterminate the Quincy about 200 years before the main storyline.[10] At least two Quincy still remain. Artificial soul: Artificial souls (also known as Modified Souls, or Mod-Souls) are a type of soul mass-produced by the Shinigami.[11] Issued in pill form, they are used to force Shinigami out of their Gigai during protracted stays in the living world, and also to evict pluses that refuse to leave their bodies after death.[11] They come with a pre-programmed personality that animates the host body until the owner returns.[11] In addition to the mundane versions, a series of experimental souls authorized and created by Shinigami researchers exists.[12] Known as modified souls, these were meant to hunt Hollows by possessing soulless Human bodies and supercharging a particular aspect of them (for example, strength or speed).[12] The Shinigami decided to scrap the project due to the inhumanity of forcing dead bodies to fight, and ordered the destruction of all modified souls.[12] Only one modified soul exists in the manga, but there are three more such characters in the anime. Bount: They are a vampiric like race created when an experiment in Soul Society (conducted by Ran'Tao) has gone horribly wrong, and the Bount souls got mixed up with normal souls which caused Bounts to be born from normal Humans. Because of the Bounts' powers, they where despised by Humans as well. They were easy prey for Hollow, because of their massive Reiatsu, which caused Soul Society to take action in exterminating the Bount which happened when the Bount battled the Quincy. The Soul Society used the opportunity to destroy the Bounts. They only appear in the anime. Fullbringer: The Fullbringers are rare spiritually aware Humans who are born with an ability called a Fullbring, in which they can manipulate the "soul" of matter for a variety of effects. Their powers are defined by Hollow Reiryoku. Setting The planes of existence in the Bleach universe broadly correspond to the life and afterlife of Human belief systems. The living Humans of Bleach reside in a world resembling present-day Japan; buried souls live in a kind of Heaven called Soul Society; evil souls are sent to Hell. Once in Soul Society, a spirit is able to live longer than Humans in the living world, with many aging into the thousands of years. Once a spirit dies in Soul Society, its soul is sent back to the living world and reborn as a new Human. This provides the two worlds with balance. Human World: The Human World of Bleach is modern Japan, specifically, a fictional area of Western Tokyo called Karakura Town.[13] In this world, Ichigo attends school and fights Hollows. Places of note are the high school, the Urahara Shop, the river where Ichigo's mother was killed, the cemetery, Karakura Hospital, and Ichigo and Orihime's homes. Soul Society: Soul Society consists of an expansive walled city, Seireitei (瀞霊廷, Court of Pure Souls) in the center and four regions, each with 80 districts, outside of it. The districts outside of the Seireitei are known as the Rukongai (流魂街, Town of Wandering Spirits) and are the place where non-Shinigami and commoners live.[14] The district number of the Rukongai (ranging from 1 to 80) also describes its conditions.[15] District 1, the closest to Seireitei, is peaceful and orderly, while the most distant District 80 is filled with criminals and has the poorest living conditions.[15] A king resides in another realm within Soul Society. [16] Hueco Mundo: Hueco Mundo is the desert-like area between the Human World and Soul Society. Literally meaning "hollow world" (the word hueco can also mean "empty"), it is where Hollows reside when not hunting in the Human world, where they are undetectable. Entrances to Hueco Mundo are created by ripping the dimensional fabric between the two worlds (Garganta). Hell: Hell is the destination of those who committed unforgivably evil acts during their lives in the Human world. When a Hollow whose mortal soul is too wicked to enter Soul Society is slain by a Zanpakutō, the gates of hell (giant doors held by skeletons) appear and begin to open. A giant, laughing spiritual being with a blade spears the wicked spirit and drags it down into hell.[17] Bleach characters move from world to world by several means. Shinigami open passages between worlds by means of their Zanpakutō. Butterflies created during Soul Burial, called Jigokuchō, make these routes safe. Human souls usually cross between planes only through birth into the Human World or soul burial by Shinigami. Living Humans can also use special portals to move between worlds, but this is dangerous. While Hollows are portrayed as able to move between planes at will by opening rifts in space, they usually remain in Hueco Mundo due to the risk of discovery in Soul Society or the Human World. Encounters between characters crossing realms are a driving plot force in Bleach. Media information Since its first appearance in August 2001, the Bleach manga has appeared weekly in Shueisha's Shonen Jump magazine. The individual chapters are collected by Shueisha in a series of tankōbon volumes, which also include a poem by the character of the cover.[18] The first volume of the manga has sold over 1.25 million copies in Japan,[19] and the manga series as a whole has sold over 40 million volumes.[20] In 2005, Bleach was awarded the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category.[21] Viz Media have released the first three volumes of Bleach in a single book, Bleach (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 1.[22] To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Bleach series, the first twenty-one volumes were compiled into six omnibus collections under the name Bleach: Resurrected Souls. The first volume of the manga has sold over 1.25 million copies in Japan, and the original Japanese version of the manga series as a whole has sold over 50 million copies.[23] In 2005, Bleach was awarded the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category.[24][25] North American sales of the manga have been high, with Volume 16 placing in the top 10 graphic novel sales in December 2006[26] and Volume 17 being the best-selling manga volume for the month of February 2007.[27][28] The distributing company Viz Media has been releasing the Bleach manga volumes in English in the United States. Viz releases the chapters in their Shonen Jump magazine as well as in tankōbon format; the first volume was released on June 1, 2004[29]. The English version of Bleach was nominated for the "best manga" and "best theme" awards at the 2006 American Anime Awards, but did not win either category. It was nominated again in 2007 in the fields of "best manga", "best actor", "best DVD package design", and "best theme", but failed to win any awards.[30] Color Pages Over its 14-year run, Bleach has had a number of color pages drawn by Kubo for its chapters. These alternate between color versions of normal pages and spreads showing characters in situations outside the present storyline, though the latter is far more common. Whether or not the chapter of the week's Shonen Jump issue gets a color page is usually dependent on the series' popularity at the time, but generally, every volume has at least one color page or spread, which are grayscaled due to restrictions of the format. Some color pages celebrate specific events within the history of the manga, such as anniversaries or the start of a new arc, while others serve to mark the importance of particular characters in upcoming chapters, and still others simply show the characters in everyday situations. They are always placed at the beginning of a chapter. Notably, chapter 162, which featured the reveal of Ichigo's Bankai, was entirely in color.