Japanese Animation, a.k.a Anime, is best known for its style of drawing -- unreal characters with unusually large physical attributes -- and its exaggerated style of dialog. Anime is closely related to Manga -- Japanese comic book novellas.

In the most recent several years, Anime and Manga have found a tremendous following the world over, and the presence of replica items like swords has increased immensely.

Anime, Manga History
The very first Anime short movie was produced in 1917, although the genre was unable to gain a mainstream set of fans until the 60's and '70s. In that period, as Manga cartoons found popularity, Anime films were sometimes created in an attempt to gain a wider following.

Osamu Tezuka was the most successful creators from that formative period of Manga's popularity. Nowadays, Hayao Miyazaki has found worldwide recognition via internationally-acclaimed feature-length movies like "Spirited Away".

Series such as Bleach, Naruto and Dragonball Z have gone on to become the most well-known series produced in today's "modern era". These series and others have driven Anime to gain a tremendous following in Japan andalso world wide.

Bleach Swords
Anime Swords have become popular collectibles, although maybe none so popular as those from "Bleach."

This massively popular fantasy serial highlights numerous sword-wielding characters, like lead characters Ichigo and Rukia Kuchiki.

As the series has gained in viewership, replica swords for these two as well as others have been manufactured to address an insatiable market.

Ichigo's blade is called "Zangetsu." This type of blade is a "Zanpakuto" and is among the most popular Anime collectibles. A second popular blade is that of Toushiro Hitsugaya, a lead player in one of the Bleach feature-length movies.

More Anime Swords
Many additional Anime series include swords prominently and many are recreated as replicas. Dragonball Z's Trunks Sword is one such example as are InuYasha's Tetsusaiga Sword, Naruto's Zabuza, and Rurouni Kenshin's reverse blade Sakabato.

More Info
To find a much more in-depth discussion of both Anime and Manga, read up on the Wikipedia's site. For a large community of fans discussing "Bleach", check out the Bleach Message Boards.