Anitory

InuYasha (犬夜叉^?), also known as InuYasha, a Feudal Fairy Tale (戦国御伽草子 犬夜叉 Sengoku Otogizōshi InuYasha^?), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on November 13, 1996 and concluded on June 18, 2008. The series follows Kagome Higurashi, a teenager from Tokyo, who is transported to the Sengoku period, where she meets the half demon, InuYasha. When a monster from that era tries to take the magical Jewel of Four Souls embodied in Kagome, she accidentally splits the Jewel into various shards, which are dispersed across Japan. Kagome and InuYasha start travelling to recover it, gaining allies and enemies throughout the journey. In contrast to her previous works, InuYasha is the first manga by Takahashi with a dark storyline, and thus used the setting of the Sengoku period to easily display the violent content.

The manga was published in North America by Viz Media with all of its 56 tankōbonvolumes having already been released. The manga was adapted into two animetelevision series produced by Sunrise. The first, broadcast for 167 episodes onYomiuri TV in Japan from October 16, 2000 until September 13, 2004, was directed by Masashi Ikeda for the first forty-four episodes and by Yasunao Aoki for the remainder. The second series, called InuYasha: The Final Act (犬夜叉 完結編, InuYasha Kanketsu-hen), began airing October 3, 2009 to cover the rest of the manga series and ended on March 29, 2010. Viz Media licensed the two anime series, having released the former in DVD volumes and aired most of its episodes. A total of four feature films and anoriginal video animation have also been released. Other merchandise include video games and a light novel.

One Piece (ワンピース Wan Piisu^?, romanized as ONE PIECE) is a Japanese shōnenmanga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published intankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 66th volume released as of May 2012. One Piece follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a 17-year-old boy who gains elastic abilities after inadvertently eating a supernatural fruit, and his diverse crew of pirates, named the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy explores the ocean in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as the One Piece and to become the next Pirate King. Along his journey, Luffy makes several friends and battles a wide variety of villains, many of whom try to kill the Straw Hats.

The chapters have been adapted into an original video animation (OVA) produced byProduction I.G in 1998, and an anime series produced by Toei Animation, which began broadcasting in Japan in 1999. Since then, the still ongoing series has aired over 500 episodes. Additionally, Toei has developed eleven animated feature films, an OVA, and five television specials. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising such as a trading card game, and a large number of video games.

The manga series was licensed for an English language release in North America byViz Media, in the United Kingdom by Gollancz Manga, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. The anime series has been licensed byFunimation Entertainment for an English-language release in North America, although the series was originally licensed and distributed by 4Kids Entertainment.

Since its release, One Piece has become the most popular manga series of all time in Japan, as well as currently being its most acclaimed manga.^[1] In 2010, Shueisha announced that they sold over 260 million volumes of One Piece manga so far; volume 61 set a new record for the highest initial print run of any book in Japan in history with 3.8 million copies (the previous record belonging to volume 60 with 3.4 million copies). Volume 60 is the first book to sell over two million copies in its opening week on Japan's Oricon book rankings.^[2] One Piece is currently ranked as the best-selling series of all time in manga history.^[3] It enjoys a very high readership, with more than 260 million volumes of the series sold by 2011 in Japan. One Piece has received wide critical acclaim from reviewers, primarily for its art, characterization, humor and story.

Naruto (NARUTO—ナルト— NARUTO^?) is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and dreams to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of all. The series is based on a one-shot comic by Kishimoto that was published in the August 1997 issue of Akamaru Jump.

The manga was first published by Shueisha in 1999 in the 43rd issue of Japan'sWeekly Shōnen Jump magazine. Currently, the manga is still being serialized; fifty-ninetankōbon volumes have been released so far. The manga was later adapted into an anime, which was produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex. It premiered across Japan on the terrestrial TV Tokyo network and the anime satellite television network Animaxon October 3, 2002. The first series lasted 220 episodes, while Naruto: Shippuden, a sequel to the original series, has been airing since February 15, 2007. In addition to the anime series, Studio Pierrot has developed eight movies for the series and severaloriginal video animations (OVAs). Other types of merchandise include light novels, video games and trading cards developed by several companies.

Viz Media has licensed the manga and anime for North American production. Viz has been publishing the series in their Shonen Jump magazine, and as well as the individual volumes. The anime series began airing in the United States and Canada in 2005, and later in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The films, as well as most OVAs from the series, have also been released by Viz, with the first film premiering in cinemas. The first DVD volume of Naruto: Shippuden was released by Viz in North America on September 29, 2009, and it started broadcast onDisney XD in October of the same year.

Naruto is one of the best selling manga of all time having sold more than 113 million copies in Japan. Serialized in Viz's Shonen Jump magazine, Naruto has become one of the company's best-selling manga series. The English adaptation of the series has also appeared in the USA Today Booklist several times and volume 7 won the Quil Award in 2006. Reviewers from the series have praised the balance between fighting and comedy scenes, as well as the characters' personalities, but have criticized it for using standard shōnen plot elements.

Bleach (ブリーチ Burīchi^?, romanized as BLEACH in Japan) is a Japanese mangaseries written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. Bleach follows the adventures of 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 newfound powers force him to take on the duties of defending humans from evil spirits and guiding departed souls to the afterlife.

Bleach has been serialized in the Japanese manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jumpsince August 2001, and has been collected into 55 tankōbon volumes as of March 2012. Since its publication, Bleach has spawned a media franchise that includes ananimated television series that was produced by Studio Pierrot in Japan from 2004 to 2012, two original video animations, four animated feature films, seven rock musicals, and numerous video games, as well as many types of Bleach-related merchandise.

Viz Media obtained foreign television and home video distribution rights to the Bleachanime on March 15, 2006. Cartoon Network began airing Bleach in the United States as part of its Adult Swim block on September 9, 2006. Viz Media has licensed the manga for English-language publication in the United States and Canada, and has released 39 bound volumes as of April 2012 as well as published chapters of Bleachin its Shonen Jump magazine since November 2007. Viz Media released the firstBleach film, Bleach: Memories of Nobody, on DVD in North America on October 14, 2008. The second film, Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion, was released on September 15, 2009. The third film, Bleach: Fade to Black, was released on November 15, 2011. In addition, Hulu releases subbed versions of the anime a week after each episode airs in Japan.

Volumes of the manga have sold more than 72 million copies in Japan, and is one of the most sold mangas in the United States. The anime adaptation has been similarly received; it was rated as the fourth most popular anime television series in Japan in 2006 and held a position amongst the top ten anime in the United States from 2006 to 2008. The series received the Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen demographic in 2005, and is among the best-selling manga issues in both Japan and the United States. In 2011, Bleach was ranked 8th for top selling manga in Japan.

Slam Dunk (スラムダンク Suramu Danku^?) is a sports-themed manga series written by Takehiko Inoue about a basketball team from Shōhoku High School. It was first serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan from 1990 to 1996 and had also been adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation which had been broadcast worldwide, enjoying much popularity particularly in Japan, several other Asian countries and Europe.^[1][2] Inoue later used basketball as a central theme in two subsequent manga titles: Buzzer Beater and Real. In 2010, Inoue received special commendations from the Japan Basketball Association for helping popularize basketball in Japan.^[2]