The Bleach manga was first released in August of 2001 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. New Japanese-language chapters are featured weekly in the same magazine. The chapters are regularly compiled in seven-to-nine chapter tankōbon by Shueisha every few months. The first volume of the manga sold over 1.25 million copies in Japan, and the manga series alone has sold over 40 million volumes. In 2005, Bleach was awarded the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category.
The Bleach animated TV series is broadcast on Wednesdays by TV Tokyo and affiliated stations throughout Japan. It is co-produced by TV Tokyo, Dentsu and Studio Pierrot and directed by Noriyuki Abe, with character designs by Masashi Kudō and music by Shiro Sagisu. The first episode was aired on October 5, 2004. The first 63 episodes were based on the manga, and the following 46 were original to the anime. Beginning with episode 110, the anime has returned to the manga storyline, yet incorporates elements from the previous 46 filler episodes. There are no plans to end production of the series. In addition, two OVAs have been produced and an animated film, Bleach: Memories of Nobody, was released in Japan on December 16, 2006. A second Bleach film, entitled Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion, was announced on June 4, 2007. The movie will be released in December 2007. In a 2006 internet poll by TV Asahi, Bleach was ranked as Japan's seventh-favorite anime program.
VIZ Media has released 19 English-language volumes of the manga in North America, and numerous scanlation groups continue to release unofficial English translations of new chapters. North American sales of the manga have been high, with 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. On March 15, 2006, VIZ Media obtained foreign television, home video, and merchandising rights to the Bleach anime from the TV Tokyo Corporation and Shueisha. Subsequently, VIZ Media contracted Studiopolis to create the English dub of the anime, and has given its individual Bleach merchandising rights to several different companies.
The English version of the Bleach anime premiered on Canada's YTV channel in the Bionix program block on September 8, 2006. Cartoon Network's Adult Swim began airing Bleach the following evening. 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
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