Bleach season 12

Bleach
Season 12
The cover of the first DVD compilation released by Aniplex of Arrancar: Decisive Battle of Karakura arc
No. of episodes17
Release
Original networkTV Tokyo
Original releaseMarch 31 (2009-03-31) –
July 21, 2009 (2009-07-21)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 11
Next →
Season 13
List of episodes

The episodes of the twelfth season of the Bleach anime series, released on DVD as the Arrancar: Decisive Battle of Karakura arc (破面・空座決戦篇, Arankaru Karakura Kessen Hen).[1] They are directed by Noriyuki Abe, and produced by TV Tokyo, Dentsu and Studio Pierrot. The 17-episode season is based on Tite Kubo's Bleach manga series.[2] The plot continues to show the fight between the Soul Reapers against Sōsuke Aizen's army of arrancars, with the former defending Karakura Town, and the latter planning to use Karakura Town to invade and destroy Soul Society. The season moves on to auto-conclusive stories beginning with episode 227.

The season aired from March to July 2009 on TV Tokyo.[3][4] The English adaptation of the Bleach anime is licensed by Viz Media,[5] and aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim from July to November 2011.[6] A total of four DVD volumes, each containing four episodes, have been released by Aniplex from January 27 to April 21, 2010.[1][7]

The episodes use four pieces of theme music: two opening themes and two closing themes. The first two episodes use "Velonica" by Aqua Timez as the opening theme. The second opening theme, "Shōjo S" (少女S, Shōjo Esu, "Girls") by Scandal is used for the remainder of the season. The first ending theme, "Sky Chord (Otona ni Naru Kimi e)" (Sky chord 〜大人になる君へ〜, Sukai Kōdo ~Otona ni Naru Kimi e~, lit. "Sky Chord (To the Adult You)") by Shion Tsuji is used for the first two episodes. The second ending theme is "Kimi o Mamotte, Kimi o Aishite" (君を守って 君を愛して, "I Will Protect You, I Love You") by Sambomaster, used for the remainder of the season.[8]

  1. ^ a b "BLEACH 破面・空座決戦篇 1 【完全生産限定版】 [DVD]" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
  2. ^ "ぴえろ BLEACH =ブリーチ=" (in Japanese). Studio Pierrot. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
  3. ^ 第214-226 [Episodes 214-226] (in Japanese). TV Tokyo. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
  4. ^ 第227-239 [Episodes 227-239] (in Japanese). TV Tokyo. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
  5. ^ "Viz Officially Announces Bleach Anime". Anime News Network. March 15, 2006. Retrieved April 13, 2009.
  6. ^ "Revised 6/22/2011". Adult Swim. Archived from the original on December 3, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  7. ^ "BLEACH 破面・空座決戦篇 4 DVD" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2011-04-15.
  8. ^ TV Tokyo, Dentsu, Studio Pierrot (April 14, 2009). "空座町を護れ！死神総登場". Bleach. TV Tokyo.