Tite Kubo

, born June 26, 1977, and known by his pen name, is a Japanese manga artist. His most significant work is the manga series Bleach.

Biography
The son of a town council member in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima, Tite Kubo graduated from the local high school. At the age of 18 he submitted his first concept of Zombiepowder but it got rejected. Zombie Powder was rejected multiple times, but when Kubo was 22, it finally got accepted to Shonen Jump. It did not last long however as it got canceled due to lack of popularity.

As of November 2011, Bleach has reached over 470 chapters, and an anime adaptation began running in Japan in 2004. The manga was named a winner of the Shogakukan Manga Award for its category in 2005. Kubo and Makoto Matsubara have co-authored two novelizations of the Bleach series, which were published by Shueisha under their Jump Books A Bleach movie was released in Japan on December 16, 2006, followed by a second movie on December 22, 2007, a third on December 13, 2008 and a fourth 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.

Influences
He had already decided to become a manga artist when he was in elementary school. When he became a manga artist, he became interested in architecture and design, but he really only wanted to become a manga artist. His biggest influences to become a manga artist were Saint Seiya by Masami Kurumada because the characters all wear armor and have interesting weapons. and Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro by Shigeru Mizuki as he's always liked the yokai (monsters) in that series. Bleach was first conceived from a desire on Kubo's part to draw shinigami in kimono, which formed the basis for the design of the Shinigami in the series, and conception of the character Rukia Kuchiki and the world of Bleach.

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.

In the making of battle scenes, Kubo's comments that he imagines the fights with the empty backgrounds and then he tries to find the best angle to make it. Then, he tries to make the injuries look very realistic in order to make the readers feel the character's pain.

In an interview, Kubo has stated that he entered a magazine's manga contest, and that although he did not win, one of the magazine's editors noticed his talent. They subsequently worked together on joint projects.

Not long afterward, his first manga short, "Ultra Unholy Hearted Machine", was published in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Special in 1996. This was followed by two more shorts, and in 1999 his first serial, Zombiepowder., began in Weekly Shonen Jump and ran for four volumes until 2000.

His next serial, Bleach, about a high school student who becomes a Shinigami and fights evil spirits, began running in the same magazine in 2001. As of August 23, 2011, Bleach has reached over 450 chapters, and an anime adaptation began running in Japan in 2004, with the english release reaching over 280 chapters.

The manga was named a winner of the Shogakukan Manga Award for its category in 2005.

A Bleach movie was released in Japan on December 16, 2006, followed by a second movie on December 22, 2007, a third movie on December 14, 2008, and a fourth movie released on December 4, 2010.

Short stories

 * "Ultra Unholy Hearted Machine" (1996, Weekly Shonen Jump Special. Appears in volume 2 of Zombie Powder.)
 * "Rune Master Urara" (刻魔師 麗, Kokumashi Urara) (1996, Weekly Shonen Jump. Appears in volume 3 of Zombie Powder.)
 * "Bad Shield United" (1997, Weekly Shonen Jump. Appears in volume 4 of Zombie Powder. Also makes a cameo in Bleach as the fictitious movie Bad Shield United 2.)

Serials
Initially appearing in Weekly Shonen Jump and published by Shueisha in Tokyo, Japan, both manga have been licensed in North America by Viz Media.
 * Zombiepowder. (1999–2000, Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha. Collected in four volumes in 2000 and discontinued.)
 * Bleach (2001-Ongoing, Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha. Collected in 50+ volumes.)

Artbooks

 * All Colour But The Black
 * Bleach: Official Bootleg KaraBuri+

Others

 * Bleach: Official Character Book SOULs
 * Bleach: Official Animation Book VIBEs
 * Bleach: Letters From The Other Side
 * Bleach: The Honey Dish Rhapsody
 * ''Bleach: Official Character Book 2 MASKED
 * ''Bleach: Official Invitation Book The Hell Verse
 * ''Bleach: Official Character Book 3 UNMASKED