I wandered into Borders in Corvallis at the end of July with my significant other. While he checked for a book he wanted, I meandered about looking at whatever happened to draw my attention.

On a jaunt over to the children’s section (I am, after all, a child at heart), I stopped dead in my tracks to look at something I noticed out of the corner of my eye. From the cover of a manga, a familiar face from the anime series “Bleach” stared out at me.

Of course I had to stop and examine a piece of literature that inspired a TV series I happened to discover completely at random and ended up loving.

“Bleach” began airing on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim last fall. It shows at midnight Monday through Friday and at 12:30 a.m. Saturdays.

The series follows the life of a 15-year-old boy by the name of Ichigo Kurosaki. Ichigo has the ability to communicate with and see ghosts.

Ichigo does what he can for the spirits he meets, until he and his family are attacked by a Hollow (evil spirit). They are rescued by Rukia Kuchiki, a Shinigami (death god), who chases the Hollow off and is astounded by the fact that Ichigo can see her and the Hollow since most mortals cannot.

The Hollow comes back a short time later and this time Rukia is badly wounded. She tries to transfer a portion of her powers to Ichigo so he can kill the Hallow, but she accidentally transfers them all. Rukia is then stranded in the living world, and Ichigo becomes a mortal with the powers of a Shinigami.

Now what intrigued me about this series is the basis for the death gods. I had heard them mentioned in other Japanese anime series, and wondered if they took root in Japanese mythology. It is not uncommon, after all, for a writer to pull such tales and retell them in a new way.

I was unable to scare up a book on Japanese mythology, but even if I had, it wouldn’t have backed my theory.

The general consensus on Web sites dedicated to “Bleach,” several blog spots and, of course, Wikipedia, is that the Shinigami in modern Japanese pop culture are actually borrowed from the death gods of Western and Chinese cultures that would help souls cross over.

I was sadly disappointed at this little discovery, but I still enjoy the fact that manga author Tito Kubo, who writes/draws “Bleach,” was able to pull mythology from another culture and thoroughly develop and include things that are distinctly Japanese.

One such element is the death gods’ zanpakutos. The single-edge swords resemble the Japanese katana swords used traditionally by the Samurai.

Because the Samurai are Japan’s warriors, it only fits that the Shinigami of “Bleach” would wield similar weapons. The death gods pride themselves on strength and the ability to fight, and their hierarchy is even based on the idea that the strongest shall lead.

The anime series based on this manga began airing on TV Tokyo in 2004, three years after the manga first appeared in Shonen Jump magazine.

The first 63 episodes follow closely to the manga, which can be found at bookstores in the valley or at the public library in the young adult section. Episodes 64 through 109 divert from the manga with original story specific to the anime. The show returns to the manga storyline with episode 110. From what I could find, there are 137 episodes in the anime series, so far.

Some of the English-version season-one episodes are available to rent. The episodes are being released as volumes instead of seasons; episodes one through 21 are out on DVD. The last disc with season-one episodes will be released Sept. 25.

For more information on “Bleach,” check out www.bleachexile.com.