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Bleach is a Japanese anime series based on the manga series of the same name. The original 366-episode series was produced by Studio Pierrot in Japan from 2004 to 2012, with the sequel, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War produced in 2022. It also spawned two original video animations and four animated feature films. Viz Media obtained foreign television and home video distribution rights to the Bleach anime on March 15, 2006.

Cartoon Network's Adult Swim began airing Bleach on September 9, 2006 as part of its Adult Swim Action block. On April 1, 2012, Bleach was the only Adult Swim regularly scheduled series that aired during the Toonami April Fools event.

Adult Swim began airing Bleach as part of the newly revived Toonami block on May 26, 2012 at midnight.[1] After the November 1, 2014 broadcast of the original series finale, Bleach was removed from the Toonami lineup. However, after a two week break, reruns of the series returned to Toonami on November 15, 2014 but were again removed following the January 31, 2015 broadcast.[2] The sequel, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War premiered on May 17, 2025. The series is rated TV-PG-DLV, TV-14-DLSV, and TV-MA-V on Adult Swim.

Plot

Ichigo Kurosaki is a teenager gifted with the ability to see spirits. His life is drastically changed by the sudden appearance of a Soul Reaper—one who governs the flow of souls between the human world and the afterlife—named Rukia Kuchiki, who arrives in search of a Hollow, a dangerous lost soul that absorbs energy from souls. When Rukia is severely wounded defending Ichigo from the Hollow, she attempts to transfer a part of her reiatsu ("spiritual pressure") energy to Ichigo so that he can defeat the Hollow. However, Ichigo takes almost all of her energy, transforming into a Soul Reaper and allowing him to defeat the Hollow with ease. With her powers diminished, Rukia is left stranded in the human world until she can recover her strength. In the meantime, Ichigo must take over Rukia's role as a Soul Reaper, battling Hollows and guiding souls to the afterlife realm known as the Soul Society.

As some time passes and Rukia has yet to return to the Soul Society, her Soul Reaper superiors learn about her whereabouts and actions and sentence her to death for performing the illegal act of transferring her powers. This however had ended with two high ranking Soul Reapers (Shinigami) injuring Ichigo and taking Rukia to their world The Soul Society. These two soul reapers are Renji Abarai, Rukia's childhood friend, and captain Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia's older brother. Although he is unable to stop Rukia's departure to the Soul Society, Ichigo resolves to rescue her with the aid of several of his spiritually aware classmates, Orihime Inoue, Yasutora (Chad) Sado, Uryū Ishida, and the ex-Soul Reapers Yoruichi Shihōin and Kisuke Urahara.

Characters

Ichigo Kurosaki — The primary protagonist of the series. An orange-haired high school student, who becomes a "substitute Shinigami (Soul Reaper)" after unintentionally absorbing most of Rukia Kuchiki's powers. His cynical nature at first makes him ill-disposed towards the duty, but, with the passage of time, he accepts and welcomes the strength his Soul Reaper powers give him. When Ichigo first becomes a Shinigami, his Zanpakutō was a standard-looking katana, but oversized. The large size is due to the unfocused but immense amount of Ichigo's spiritual power, which he did not know how to control.

Rukia Kuchiki — A Soul Reaper who is assigned hollow extermination duties in Ichigo's hometown (Karakura Town) and is the main heroine of the series (though her role is downplayed later on). Though her physical appearance is that of a teenage girl, in reality she is ten times older than Ichigo. At the opening of the story, Rukia is forced to transfer her powers to Ichigo and assume a temporary lifestyle as a regular human. She registers at the local high school and takes up residence in Ichigo's closet, while teaching him how to be a substitute Soul Reaper in her place. She is shown many times kicking Ichigo in the face and using similar, slightly comical tactics to "wake him up." Orihime stated once that Rukia seemed to be the only one that is able to cheer Ichigo up, as she seems to have a lot of faith in him.

Orihime Inoue — A long-time classmate of Ichigo Kurosaki who gains a crush on him later on in the series, linked to him by mutual friend Tatsuki Arisawa. She is effectively an orphan, as when she was 3, her older brother Sora left their abusive parents' home with Orihime and raised her on his own. Later on, when Orihime was in middle school, he died in an accident. Though initially devoid of spiritual powers, she develops spiritual awareness early in the series and later obtains the God-like ability to warp reality through rejecting past phenomena, which she often uses as a healing ability.

Yasutora (Chad) Sado — better known as Chad, he is one of Ichigo's friends at school. He is a biracial Japanese/Mexican student who towers over his classmates at 7 feet 2 inches. Despite his imposing appearance he is quite meek, and refuses to fight unless it is for the sake of another. Chad does not have awareness of ghosts at first, but this changes when he attempts to protect Ichigo's sister, Karin,and her friends from a hollow. He discovers a unique ability that strengthens and armors his right arm, enabling him to fight hollows.

Uryū Ishida — A Quincy, descendant of a line of priest-like hollow-hunting archers who were historical enemies of the Soul Reapers. He bears a deep grudge against all Soul Reapers, including Ichigo, and is an early antagonist in the series. He comes to view Ichigo differently over time, and eventually becomes a valuable ally and a friendly rival. Uryu's powers as a quincy are used by gatheing spirt particles called reshi. He uses them to create a beam or 'arrow', and shoots these beams with a bow.

Gallery

Episodes

Color Story Arc Episodes U.S. Season Premiere U.S. Season Finale
The Substitute 20 September 8, 2006 January 26, 2007
Soul Society: The Entry 21 February 2, 2007 July 15, 2007
Soul Society: The Rescue 22 July 21, 2007 May 11, 2008
The Bount 28 May 18, 2008 December 6, 2008
The Assault 18 December 13, 2008 April 11, 2009
The Arrancar 22 April 18, 2009 July 11, 2009
Arrancar Pt. 2: The Hueco Mundo Sneak Entry 20 July 11, 2009 September 26, 2009
Arrancar Pt. 3: The Fierce Fight 16 September 26, 2009 November 21, 2009
The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai 22 August 28, 2010 January 29, 2011
Arrancar Pt. 4: Arrancar vs Shinigami 16 February 5, 2011 May 21, 2011
The Past 07 May 28, 2011 July 9, 2011
Arrancar Pt. 5: Battle in Karakura 17 July 16, 2011 November 5, 2011
Zanpakutō: The Alternate Tale 36 November 12, 2011 August 4, 2012
Arrancar Pt. 6: Fall of the Arrancar 51 August 12, 2012 September 28, 2013
Gotei 13 Invading Army 26 October 5, 2013 April 26, 2014
The Lost Agent 24 May 3, 2014 November 1, 2014
Thousand-Year Blood War TBA May 17, 2025 TBA

Broadcast History

Bleach aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from October 5, 2004 to March 27, 2012. The sequel, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War aired on October 10, 2022, split into four cours with the first cour titled "The Blood Warfare" running from October 10, 2022 until December 26, 2022. The second cour titled "The Separation" ran from July 7, 2023 to September 29, 2023. The third cour titled "The Conflict" aired from October 4, 2024 to December 27, 2024. After the completion of the third cour, the fourth cour was announced with an unknown release date. In 2006, Viz Media obtained the North American television and home video rights to the series[3], and enlisted Studiopolis to produce an English dub, which premiered in Canada on YTV, as part of the Bionix programming block on September 8, 2006. In the United States, Adult Swim began airing Bleach on September 9, 2006, as part of the Adult Swim Action programming block.[4] Adult Swim stopped broadcasting new episodes of the English adaptation on October 13, 2007, after airing the first 52 episodes of the series, replacing Bleach with another Viz Media series, Death Note, to provide Studiopolis more time to dub additional episodes. The series began airing again on March 1, 2008[5], but went back on hiatus on November 21, 2009, after airing episode 167. The series aired in reruns until new episodes returned on August 28, 2010.[6] The original series last aired on Adult Swim on January 31, 2015. In the United Kingdom, Bleach aired on Anime Central beginning on September 13, 2007.[7]

The sequel series, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War made its Toonami premiere on May 17, 2025, starting with the first cour.

  • Japan (TV Tokyo) — October 5, 2004 - March 27, 2012;[8] October 10, 2022 - December 26, 2022; July 7, 2023 - September 29, 2023; October 4, 2024 - December 27, 2022
  • Canada (YTV) — September 8, 2006 - February 2010[9]
  • United States (Adult Swim) — September 9, 2006 - January 31, 2015; May 17, 2025 - present
  • United Kingdom (Anime Central) — September 13, 2007[7]

Toonami Broadcast History

Bleach premiered on Toonami at 12:00 AM on April 1, 2012, kicking off the April Fool's Day prank night. The episode that aired there was episode 247, "Deceived Shinigami! The World Collapse Crisis", following the order in which it was airing on the regular Adult Swim schedule. On May 26, 2012, the night Toonami was revived as a programming block on Adult Swim, Bleach continued airing at midnight. The first episode to air on the regular Toonami schedule was episode 255, "Final Chapter - Zanpakutō the Alternate Tale".[1] The original series finale made its U.S. television premiere on November 1, 2014, and the series was subsequently removed from the lineup and replaced by Dragon Ball Z Kai. However, the series returned in reruns two weeks later, beginning with episode 282, on November 15, 2014, taking over the 2:30 AM time slot previously held by Hellsing Ultimate.[2] The series was pre-empted by Toonami's month of movies during the month of December and returned in the 3:00 AM time slot on January 3, 2015.[10] Three weeks later, on January 24, 2015, the series moved back into the 2:30 AM time slot.[11] However, following the January 31, 2015 broadcast, Toonami lost the 11:30 PM - 12:00 AM time slot and the 3:30-5:00 AM time slots due to low ratings. As a result, Bleach was one of the series removed from the lineup.[12]

The series returned for the first time in 10 years since January 31, 2015 with the sequel, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War (first cour) premiering on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block beginning May 17, 2025 at 12:30 AM, replacing Common Side Effects. The series will be moved to the 1:15 AM timeslot on June 14, 2025 due to the extended length premiere of Dragon Ball Daima taking the former 12:30 AM timeslot. The following week, the series will begin airing at 1:00 AM.

  • Toonami (United States) — April 1, 2012; May 26, 2012[1] - November 1, 2014; November 15, 2014[2] - January 31, 2015; May 17, 2025 - present

External Links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Adult Swim's Toonami Block to Air Casshern Sins, Deadman Wonderland ". animenewsnetwork.com. May 21, 2012. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-05-21/adult-swim-toonami-block-to-air-casshern-sins-deadman-wonderland. Retrieved on June 8, 2015. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "11/15 Lineup Announcement ". toonami.tumblr.com. November 1, 2014. http://toonami.tumblr.com/post/101497458943/11-15-line-up-announcement. Retrieved on November 2, 2014. 
  3. "Viz Officially Announces Bleach Anime ". animenewsnetwork.com. March 15, 2006. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-03-15/viz-officially-announces-bleach-anime. Retrieved on April 7, 2017. 
  4. "Adult Swim: Inu Yasha Movie Next Month, Bleach in Sept ". animenewsnetwork.com. July 6, 2006. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-07-06/adult-swim-inu-yasha-movie-next-month-bleach-in-sept. Retrieved on April 7, 2017. 
  5. "Adult Swim to Run 52 More Episodes of Bleach ". animenewsnetwork.com. January 28, 2008. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-01-28/adult-swim-to-run-52-more-episodes-of-bleach. Retrieved on April 7, 2017. 
  6. "New Bleach Episodes Return to Adult Swim on August 28 ". animenewsnetwork.com. June 29, 2010. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-06-29/new-bleach-episodes-return-to-adult-swim-on-august-28. Retrieved on April 7, 2017. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 "UK's AnimeCentral Channel Launches on Sky Digital ". animenewsnetwork.com. September 13, 2007. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-09-13/uk's-animecentral-channel-launches-on-sky-digital. Retrieved on April 7, 2017. 
  8. "Bleach TV Anime Ending on March 27 ". animenewsnetwork.com. February 23, 2012. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-02-23/bleach-tv-anime-ending-on-march-27. Retrieved on April 7, 2017. 
  9. "Canada's YTV Removes Naruto, Bleach From Schedule ". animenewsnetwork.com. February 7, 2010. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-02-07/canada-ytv-removes-naruto-bleach-from-schedule. Retrieved on April 7, 2017. 
  10. "New Year New Schedule New News ". toonami.tumblr.com. December 5, 2014. http://toonami.tumblr.com/post/104441873323/new-year-new-schedule-new-news. Retrieved on December 5, 2014. 
  11. "LINE UP CHANGES - EFFECTIVE TOMORROW ". toonami.tumblr.com. January 23, 2015. http://toonami.tumblr.com/post/108934242548/line-up-changes-effective-tomorrow. Retrieved on January 23, 2015. 
  12. "CH-CH-CH-CHANGES ". toonami.tumblr.com. January 27, 2015. http://toonami.tumblr.com/post/109334851853/ch-ch-ch-changes. Retrieved on January 27, 2015. 
Toonami Series
Cartoon Network (1997-2008)
Adult Swim (2012-Present)