Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: When did Tite Kubo create Bleach?
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" was serialized in the Japanese manga magazine "Weekly Shōnen Jump" from August 2001 to August 2016, with its chapters collected into 74 "tankōbon" volumes. The series has spawned a media franchise that includes an anime television series that was produced by Studio Pierrot from 2004 to 2012, two original video animation episodes, four animated feature films, ten stage musicals, and numerous video games, as well as many types of "Bleach"-related merchandise. A live-action film adaptation was released in 2018. 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. 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.
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".
, "Bleach" has grossed ¥448,895,200 () in Japan. The filmed opened at #4 on its opening weekend and grossed ¥135 million from Friday to Sunday. On the second weekend, it fell into #5 and grossed an additional ¥64,199,600. In the third weekend, "Bleach" dropped off the top 10 and earned ¥23,459,400.
The series was created by Shotaro Ishinomori, then known for the 1971–1973 "Kamen Rider" TV series and the long-running manga "Cyborg 009". He developed the first two Super Sentai Series "Himitsu Sentai Gorenger", which ran from 1975 to 1977, and "J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai", released in 1977. Toei Company put the franchise on hiatus in 1978, collaborating with Marvel Comics to produce a live action "Spider-Man" series, which added giant robots to the concept of "tokusatsu" shows. The giant robot concept was carried over to Toei and Marvel's next show, "Battle Fever J", released in 1979, and was then used throughout the Super Sentai Series.
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 80% approval rating based on 5 reviews, and an average rating of 6.1/10. Justine Smith for "SciFiNow" gave it a positive review with a consensus that "While clearly made for a dedicated fanbase, unlike some more recent anime live-action adaptations, one of the greatest assets of Bleach is how cohesively it outlines its mythology for the uninitiated." Additionally, Mark Schilling reviewed the film for "The Japan Times" and gave it a 3 star rating. He concluded that the film faithfully follows the mythology of the source material for the dedicated fans, but also simplifies it for casual viewers to understand.
Tetsuo Hara has stated that he came up with the idea of "Hokuto no Ken" from his editor Nobuhiko Horie. According to Hara, Horie suggested to him that he should draw a manga about "a martial artist who destroys his opponents by striking their acupressure points" based on Hara's aspiration to draw a manga about martial arts and his knowledge of pressure points. At the time, Hara was having trouble breaking into the market, as his first series, the "Iron Don Quixote", was cancelled ten weeks after its debut. A prototype version of "Hokuto no Ken" was published as a one shot story in the April 1983 issue of "Fresh Jump", which was followed by "Hokuto no Ken II", a second one-shot published in the June 1983 issue. Both stories are collected in the second "tankōbon" volume of "Tetsu no Don Quixote".
The series first appeared in December 1969, when it was published simultaneously in six different magazines. A total of 1,344 stories were created in the original series, which are published by Shogakukan under the manga brand, extending to forty-five volumes. The volumes are collected in the Takaoka Central Library in Toyama, Japan, where Fujiko Fujio was born. In July 2013 it was announced that the manga would be released digitally in English in full-color via the Amazon Kindle e-book service.
In September 1999, the serialized version of "Naruto" premiered in "Weekly Shōnen Jump 1999 No. 43" and quickly became a hit. "Naruto" ended on November 10, 2014 after more than 15 years of serialization, with a total of 700 chapters collected in 72 volumes. Sales have exceeded 113 million copies in Japan and over 95 million copies in the US, followed by over 93 million copies worldwide (outside Japan and United States) as of volume 36. Making total sales for the series approximately 301 million copies. Kishimoto was also the winner of "Rookie of the Year" for the series in the Agency for Cultural Affairs. It was adapted into two successful anime series, "Naruto" and "Naruto Shippuden". Kishimoto requested that Tetsuya Nishio oversee the character designs of "Naruto" when the manga was adapted into an anime series. The "Naruto" manga series became one of Viz Media's top properties, accounting for nearly 10% of all manga sales in the US in 2006. The seventh volume of Viz's release became the first manga to ever win a Quill Award when it claimed the award for "Best Graphic Novel" in 2006. Responding to "Naruto"'s success, Kishimoto said in "Naruto Collector Winter 2007/2008" that he was "very glad that the American audience has accepted and understood ninja. It shows that the American audience has good taste... because it means they can accept something previously unfamiliar to them." While writing the manga, Kishimoto met Eiichiro Oda, author of "One Piece" who he considered his rival. When "Naruto" ended, Oda left a message in the series' final volume acknowledging him as a rival. According to Kishimoto "That felt so gratifying." Additionally, before the anime adaptation's premiere of "My Hero Academia", he praised Kōhei Horikoshi's work, believing it would be a success overseas. Additionally, Kishimoto referred to Yoshihiro Togashi as one of his favorite artists.
The chapters of the manga series Boku wa Imōto ni Koi o Suru were written and illustrated by Kotomi Aoki. Originally serialized in "Shōjo Comic", the individual chapters were collected and published in ten "tankōbon" volumes by Shogakukan, with the first volume released May 26, 2003; the last volume was published on August 26, 2008. The story focuses on fraternal twins Yori and Iku, who fall in love with one another despite being siblings and struggle to deal with their illicit relationship.
Five volumes of Bleach Soundtracks have been released. "Bleach Original Soundtrack 1" was released on May 18, 2005, and features 25 songs credited to Shirō Sagisu. "Bleach Original Soundtrack 2" was released on August 8, 2006 and features 46 songs covering up to episode 64 of the Bount Arc. "Bleach Original Soundtrack 3" was released on November 5, 2008, and includes 54 songs from the anime. "Bleach Original Soundtrack 4" was the last OST and it was released on December 16, 2009 and included 30 songs. The fifth anniversary box set released July 29, 2009, includes a CD that includes 21 previously unreleased songs.
The Japanese children's manga series "Doraemon" was written and illustrated by Fujiko Fujio. It was serialized in various children's manga magazines published by Shogakukan. Total of eight-hundred and fifty chapters were collected in tankōbon by Shogakukan under imprint. The first volume was published on July 31, 1974 and the last forty-fifth volume on April 26, 1996. The series is about a robotic cat named Doraemon, who travels back in time from the 22nd century to aid a pre-teen boy called .
On August 10, 2000, All Japan mainstay Masanobu Fuchi walked into the New Japan Pro Wrestling ring and declared that his intention was to "break down the walls" between All Japan and New Japan. In response, New Japan foreman Riki Choshu rushed into the ring and exchanged a firm handshake with Fuchi, signaling the beginning of the cross-promotional alliance. On September 16, 2000, Toshiaki Kawada followed Fuchi's path and vowed to crush New Japan ace Kensuke Sasaki, as he defeated Sasaki in the Tokyo Dome on October 9, 2000; the event sold out the building. In 2001, Keiji Mutoh and Shinjiro Otani created the interpromotional stable BATT (Bad Ass Translate Trading), which included All Japan's Taiyō Kea, Michinoku Pro's Jinsei Shinzaki and Hiroshi Hase. During this time, Mutoh challenged and defeated Tenryu for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, as well as capturing the World Tag Team Championship with Taiyō Kea. The alliance between the promotions lasted until January 11, 2002.
The eighty-eight chapters of the science-fiction manga series "Chobits" are written and illustrated by Clamp. "Chobits" appeared as a serial in the Japanese manga magazine "Young Magazine" from the 43rd issue for 2000 to the 48th issue for 2002. Kodansha collected the chapters in eight bound volumes from February 14, 2001 to November 29, 2002. The series centers on Hideki Motosuwa, who finds an abandoned persocom—a personal computer in human form—which he names "Chi" after the only word that she initially can speak. As he forms a relationship with Chi, he gradually learns about her mysterious past and the relationships between humans and persocoms.
"xxxHolic" was conceived when the group Clamp wanted to link the supernatural and fantasy series they made with a realistic one. This idea was further worked with the creation of the character of Yūko Ichihara who would bridge the stories from "xxxHolic" and "Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle". Clamp proposed the idea of writing "xxxHolic" to "Young Magazine" after "Chobits". In the end they decided to publish both "xxxHolic" and "Tsubasa" in weekly magazines to make serialization easier. The manga's title was originally going to be "addicted" but it was changed for the less ambiguous "holic." Like Clamp's previous work "Tokyo Babylon", "xxxHolic" focuses on social pathologies but with a more esoteric tone.
The "xxx" before the holic is the Japanese way of saying of "fill in the blank." Therefore, the title itself gives a hint about what the series are about. It is talking about the people with the problems such as an alcoholic, or a workaholic. Being a fantastical series, these "---holics " can have very different pathologies.
These works were not created by Studio Ghibli, but were produced by a variety of studios and people who went on to form or join Studio Ghibli. This includes members of Topcraft that went on to create Studio Ghibli in 1985; works produced by Toei Animation, TMS Entertainment, Nippon Animation or other studios and featuring involvement by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata or other Ghibli staffers. The list also includes works created in cooperation with Studio Ghibli.
The studio was founded after the success of the 1984 film "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind", written and directed by Miyazaki for Topcraft and distributed by Toei Company. The origins of the film lie in the first two volumes of a serialized manga written by Miyazaki for publication in "Animage" as a way of generating interest in an anime version. Suzuki was part of the production team on the film and founded Studio Ghibli with Miyazaki, who also invited Takahata to join the new studio.
, taken from half of the Japanese pronunciation of "animation", is the Japanese word for animation in general, but is used more specifically to mean "Japanese animation" in the rest of the world. Anime dates from about 1917. TV networks regularly broadcast anime programming. In Japan, major national TV networks, such as TV Tokyo broadcast anime regularly. Smaller regional stations broadcast anime on UHF. "Naruto", "Pokémon", "Bleach", "Dragon Ball", and "One Piece" are examples of anime. While many popular series air during the daytime and evening hours, most air only at night from 12:00am – 4:00am. These series usually make profits primarily through BD (Blu-ray Disc)/DVD sales and merchandising rather than through television advertisement. Some anime series are original, but most are intended to promote something else, such as an ongoing manga, light novel, or video-game series.
Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a cyberpunk manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's "Business Jump" magazine. Two of the nine-volume comics were adapted into two anime original video animation episodes titled "Battle Angel" for North American release by ADV Films and the UK and Australian release by Manga Entertainment. Manga Entertainment also dubbed "Battle Angel Alita" into English. A live-action film adaptation titled "" is scheduled for release on February 14, 2019.
In 2001, Tetsuo Hara began working on a "Fist of the North Star" prequel titled "Fist of the Blue Sky", which was serialized in "Weekly Comic Bunch" until 2010. Set during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1935, the story stars Hokuto Shinken predecessor and Kenshiro's namesake, Kenshiro Kasumi. An English adaptation of "Fist of the Blue Sky" was published in North America by Gutsoon! Entertainment in the now-defunct manga anthology "Raijin Comics". Four collected volumes were published before the company went out of business.
Hayao Miyazaki made his credited directorial debut in 1979 with "The Castle of Cagliostro", a film which was a distinct departure from the antics of the "Lupin III" franchise, but still went on to receive the Ofuji Noburo Award at the 1979 Mainichi Film Concours. Although "Cagliostro" was not a box office success, Toshio Suzuki, editor of the magazine "Animage", was impressed by the film and encouraged Miyazaki to produce works for "Animage's" publisher, Tokuma Shoten. Miyazaki's film ideas were rejected, and Tokuma asked him to do a manga: this led to the creation of "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind". Miyazaki began writing and drawing the manga in 1979, and it quickly became "Animage's" most popular feature. Hideo Ogata and Yasuyoshi Tokuma, the founders of "Animage" and Tokuma Shoten respectively, encouraged Miyazaki to work on a film adaptation. Miyazaki initially refused, but agreed on the condition that he could direct.
"Bleach" author Tite Kubo stated that he began creating the characters "from their faces." According to Kubo, Chad "looked like he was of Mexican heritage" so he decided to make him half-Japanese and half-Mexican.
"Bleach"'s creative process is focused around character design. When writing plotlines or having difficulties generating new material, Tite Kubo begins by thinking of new characters, often "en masse", and rereading previous volumes of "Bleach". Kubo has said that he likes creating characters with 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." When creating characters for the manga, Kubo first designs character appearances and only then decides what their personalities will be, in reflection of what he drew. When brainstorming character designs, he will go out and draw the faces of real people he sees, a hobby of his dating back to childhood. Kubo considers every character to be unique and wants each of them to have the opportunity for character development in the course of the series. When asked about potentially-romantic relationships between certain characters, Kubo states that he "doesn't want to turn the series into a love story", since he thinks there are more exciting aspects of their personalities to draw out.
The "Bleach" manga and anime created by Tite Kubo. The series takes place in a fictional universe in which the characters are split into various factionalized fictional races. All these races are subdivisions of humanity, but are distinguished by whether they live on earth or in one of the afterlives, by possession of thematically contrasting supernatural powers, and by the use of aesthetics drawn from the artistic traditions of different real-life regions.
"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. At first, Kubo thought that the Soul Reapers should use guns, so the first title for the series was "Snipe" (as in "sniper"); however, this was changed with the inclusion of swords. After that, the series was 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. 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. Manga artist Akira Toriyama saw the story and wrote a letter of encouragement to Kubo. "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. 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.