The episodes of the ''

Bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series are based on

Tite Kubo , known professionally as , is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He is best known for his manga series '' Bleach'' (2001–2016), which had over 130 million copies in circulation as of 2022. Biography Kubo was born on June 26, 197 ...

's original manga series of the same name. It is directed by

Noriyuki Abe Noriyuki (written: 紀之, 紀行, 敬之, 記之, 徳行, 憲幸, 範之 or 範幸) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese anime director *, Japanese musician *, Japanese motorcycle racer *, Japanese ...

, produced by

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

Dentsu Dentsu Inc. ( ja, 株式会社電通 ''Kabushiki-gaisha Dentsū'' or 電通 ''Dentsū'' for short) is a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is currently the largest adverti ...

and

Pierrot Pierrot ( , , ) is a stock character of pantomime and '' commedia dell'arte'', whose origins are in the late seventeenth-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a diminutive of ''P ...

, and was broadcast in Japan from October 5, 2004, to March 27, 2012. The series follows the adventures of high school student

Ichigo Kurosaki is a fictional character in the ''Bleach'' manga series and its adaptations created by Tite Kubo. He is the main protagonist of the series, who receives Soul Reaper powers after meeting Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper assigned to patrol around the ...

who can see spirits and becomes a Soul Reaper, after assuming the duties of Soul Reaper

Rukia Kuchiki is a fictional character in the anime and manga series '' Bleach'' created by Tite Kubo. In the series, she is a Soul Reaper, (死神, Shinigami, literally 'Death God'), in charge of slaying evil spirits called Hollows. At the beginning, after a ...

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

obtained the foreign television, home video and merchandising rights to the ''Bleach'' anime from TV Tokyo Corporation and

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

on March 15, 2006. Subsequently, Viz Media contracted

Studiopolis Studiopolis, Inc. is an American post-production studio located in Studio City, Los Angeles. It specializes in voiceover recording and dubbing for cartoon, anime, and video game projects. They were formerly known as Screenmusic Studios and then ...

to create the English adaptation of the anime, and has licensed its individual ''Bleach'' merchandising rights to several different companies. The English adaptation of the ''Bleach'' anime premiered on Canada's YTV in their

Bionix Bionix may refer to: * Bionix (TV programming block), a program block on the Canadian channel YTV * Air Creation BioniX, a French ultralight trike wing design * '' AOI: Bionix'', a 2001 album by De La Soul, and its title song * Bionix AFV, a famil ...

programming block on September 9, 2006.

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

in the U.S. began airing ''Bleach'' the following evening on September 10 as part of

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

. Forty-five pieces of

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

are used for the episodes: Fifteen opening themes and thirty closing themes. Several CDs that contain the theme music and other tracks have been released by Studio Pierrot. As of January 23, 2013, all 366 episodes have been released by

Aniplex is a Japanese anime, music production and anime licensee company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Established in September 1995, Aniplex has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime series, such as both ''Fullm ...

in Japan in 88 DVD compilations. 32 DVD compilations of the English adaptation of the series have been released by Viz Media, and twenty six season boxsets have been released that contain all the seasons of the anime. A sequel television series that adapts the final arc of the manga, titled '' Thousand-Year Blood War'', premiered on October 11, 2022.

Series overview

Episode list

Season 1: ''The Substitute Soul Reaper'' (2004–05)

Season 2: ''The Entry'' (2005)

Season 3: ''The Rescue'' (2005–06)

Season 4: ''The Bount'' (2006)

Season 5: ''The Assault'' (2006–07)

Season 6: ''Arrancar: The Appearance'' (2007)

Season 7: ''The Arrancar Part 2: The Hueco Mundo Sneak Entry'' (2007)

Season 8: ''The Arrancar Part 3: The Fierce Fight'' (2007–08)

Season 9: ''The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai'' (2008)

Season 10: ''The Arrancar Part 4: Arrancar vs Soul Reaper'' (2008–09)

Season 11: ''Turn Back The Pendulum'' (2009)

Season 12: ''The Arrancar Part 5: Battle in Karakura'' (2009)

Season 13: ''Zanpakutō: The Alternate Tale'' (2009–10)

Season 14: ''The Arrancar Part 6: Fall of the Espada'' (2010–11)

Season 15: ''Gotei 13 Invading Army'' (2011)

Season 16: ''The Lost Agent'' (2011–12)

''Thousand-Year Blood War'' (2022–present)

Specials

Films

DVD releases

Japanese

The 88 DVD compilations of the series are grouped by season and were released in Japan by

between February 2, 2005 and January 23, 2013.

English

The 32 DVD compilations have been released by

in the United States. A DVD collection box of the first and final season was released on June 10, 2008 to September 29, 2015. In 2016, Viz started releasing the series on Blu-Ray, with a total of 13 sets planned, cutting the number of DVD sets in half. The series has been released in the United Kingdom by

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyro ...

in half-season sets, then re-released into season sets.

Blu-ray releases

Notes

References

;General * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Specific {{featured list