The manga Bleach is written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. In Japan, they have been published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 20, 2001. The first issue with Bleach started in 2001's issue #36-37 (double issue). The plot starts with Ichigo Kurosaki, a teenager who accidentally steals the powers of the Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki and subsequently assumes her duties while she convalesces. Since that event, Ichigo has to fight Hollows, evil spirits of past humans that feed on unwary people.
The individual chapters are collected by Shueisha in a series of tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on January 5, 2002. The latest volume is 73, released on July 4, 2016. An airing anime adaptation, produced by Studio Pierrot and TV Tokyo, premiered on TV Tokyo on October 5, 2004 and ended on March 27, 2012.
North American licensee Viz Media has been serializing the individual chapters in Shonen Jump since November 2007 in the United States. Viz Media released the first volume on June 1, 2004; as of March 7, 2016, 69 volumes have been released. The company released a hardcover "collector's edition" of the first volume with a dust jacket on August 5, 2008, followed by a box set on September 2, 2008, containing the first 21 volumes, a poster, and a booklet about the series. A re-release of the series under the label of "3-in-1 Edition" started on June 7, 2011;as of May 2, 2017, nineteen volumes have been released.
Viz Media released digital forms of the first 16 volumes in English on June 17, 2011. As of March 7, 2017, 69 digital volumes have been published. On September 21, 2012, Shueisha released 45 digital volumes in Japanese e-book stores. As of May 2, 2014, 63 digital volumes have been released. Digital editions of the series have been re-released as a set of 10 volumes on April 26, 2013; as of March 14, 2014, six sets have been released.