TV SERIES · 2004–present · JAPAN
Bleach
- Network
- TV Tokyo, TV Aichi, TVQ
- Seasons
- 2
- Episodes
- 416
- Studio
- Pierrot, Aniplex, Shueisha
- Original title
- BLEACH
41 archived facts 5 topics 3 sources Last reviewed Sep 2026
For as long as he can remember, Ichigo Kurosaki has been able to see ghosts. But when he meets Rukia, a Soul Reaper who battles evil spirits known as Hollows, he finds his life is changed forever. Now, with a newfound wealth of spiritual energy, Ichigo discovers his true calling: to protect the living and the dead from evil.
Summary: TMDB
All facts (41)
- #001
Masakazu Morita, the voice actor for Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach, attempted to recreate the feeling he had when reading the manga and imagining the dialogue.
- #002
The manga began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shounen Jump magazine in August 2001, and its first volume sold 1.25 million copies in Japan.
- #003
In an interview with Elicia O'Reilly of the Japan Foundation, Masakazu Morita said that he would say a line that epitomizes a character in order to get into character.
- #004
The series was awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award in the shounen category in 2005.
- #005
Studiopolis, based in Studio City, Los Angeles, was hired to dub the Bleach anime, and its English-language cast was assembled from experienced industry actors with dozens of roles in other anime series, films and video games.
- #006
The anime was produced jointly by Studio Pierrot and TV Tokyo under the direction of Noriyuki Abe, with character designs by Masashi Kudo and music arrangements by Shiro Sagisu.
- #007
Johnny Yong Bosch, Ichigo's English voice actor in Bleach, initially struggled with pronouncing the character names and tried to emulate Ichigo's deep gruff voice; he noted that directorial control loosened as work progressed, around episode 10, as he was guided into the role and the character's growth.
- #008
The anime aired on TV Tokyo every Wednesday starting October 5, 2004, and ran for a total of 366 episodes.
- #009
Bosch said the long scenes of screaming and panting in Bleach, particularly the scene in episode 18, nearly made him pass out.
- #010
The first 63 episodes followed the manga, while the following 46 episodes told an anime-original story; from episode 110 onward, the production returned to the manga.
- #011
Stephanie Sheh observed that her Orihime voice in the English adaptation of Bleach was higher-pitched and "innocent-sounding"; the English dub producers wanted Orihime to sound tough and comedic rather than "ditzy", and Sheh relates to her character's unusual food creations.
- #012
Viz Media acquired the overseas television and home video distribution rights to the Bleach anime in March 2006; the series aired in the United States on Adult Swim from September 2006 to November 2014.
- #013
During the voicework for Bleach, one challenge was delivering Japanese phrases while keeping the correct pronunciation and inflection.
- #014
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, the sequel series covering the manga's final story arc, was produced by Studio Pierrot for its first two episodes and by Pierrot Films for its last two.
- #015
The Bleach cast had to handle the story's duality and shift between the different lifestyles of the characters.
- #016
The sequel series' first 13-episode part aired from October to December 2022, its second 13-episode part from July to September 2023, and its third 14-episode part from October to December 2024.
- #017
Bleach voice actors sometimes proposed changes to scenes that differed from the approved script, leading to rewrites and extra takes included in the dub.
- #018
Masakazu Morita, who voiced Ichigo Kurosaki in Japanese, also appeared alongside Yuki Matsuoka in the character's childhood scenes.
- #019
Noriyuki Abe was selected to direct Bleach, while Masashi Sogo served as head writer for episodes 1 through 212.
- #020
In an internet poll conducted by TV Asahi in 2006, Bleach was voted the 7th most-loved anime program among Japanese viewers.
- #021
Tsuyoshi Kida took the head writer role on Bleach for episodes 230 to 265.
- #022
Kento Shimoyama was credited as head writer on Bleach for episodes 17 through 366.
- #023
Masashi Kudō handled character designs for Bleach and at times also contributed key animation or worked as an animation supervisor.
- #024
Shirō Sagisu composed the music for the Bleach television series.
- #025
The score Sagisu wrote for the Bleach television series was issued as four-CD sets.
- #026
Four further CDs collected the music composed for the four animated Bleach films.
- #027
Bleach's first 167 episodes were produced and broadcast in 4:3 screen size.
- #028
Aniplex released an animated video on October 5, 2024, marking the 20th anniversary of the Bleach anime series.
- #029
The anniversary video for Bleach presents climactic scenes from the series, animated in the style of the newer Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime.
- #030
Shirō Sagisu composed the soundtrack for Bleach, which was released across four volumes and an anniversary box set.
- #031
Sony Music Entertainment Japan released a series of Bleach character song albums titled the "Bleach Beat Collection," along with best-of albums made up of the series' theme songs.
- #032
Bleach Original Soundtrack 1, containing twenty five songs, was released on May 18, 2005.
- #033
Bleach Original Soundtrack 2 was released on August 8, 2006, and its twenty three songs cover up to episode 64 of the Bount Arc.
- #034
Bleach Original Soundtrack 3, with twenty seven songs, was released on November 5, 2008.
- #035
Bleach Original Soundtrack 4 was the fourth and final album, containing thirty songs, and was released on December 16, 2009.
- #036
Sony Music published a set of CDs titled the Bleach Beat Collections, featuring recordings by the original Japanese voice actors of Bleach.
- #037
The Bleach Beat Collections recordings offer a look at the personalities of the characters in Bleach as well as the voice actors themselves.
- #038
The first Bleach Beat Collections CD was released on June 22, 2005.
- #039
Twenty-one volumes of the Bleach Beat Collections followed the first CD, spread across four named sets called Sessions.
- #040
Two volumes of Bleach music were released under the title "The Best", each containing twenty-four songs across two discs. The first volume came out on March 21, 2007, and the second on March 18, 2009.
- #041
The "Bleach Breathless Collection" consists of six releases, each featuring five tracks tied to an individual Soul Reaper. The six volumes center on Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, Toshiro, Shuhei and Byakuya, respectively.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia Vikipedi (TR)
- Wikipedia Wikipedia (EN)
- Wikipedia Bleach (TV series) — Wikipedia
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work