The seventh season of the Bleach

Bleach (manga)

is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Noriaki "Tite" Kubo. Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a —a death personification similar to the Grim Reaper—from another Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki...

anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 series is named the . In the English adaptation of the anime released by Viz Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

, the title of the season is translated as the The Hueco Mundo. The episodes are directed by Noriyuki Abe

Noriyuki Abe

is a Japanese anime director, storyboard artist, and sound director. He is best known for working with Studio Pierrot on major hits such as Ninku, Flame of Recca, Bleach, and Yu Yu Hakusho...

 and produced by TV Tokyo

TV Tokyo

is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...

, Dentsu

Dentsu

is one of the largest advertising agencies in the world. Its headquarters are located in the Dentsu Building in the Shiodome district of Minato, Tokyo....

, and Studio Pierrot

Studio Pierrot

is a Japanese animation/animation studio, founded in 1979 by former employees of Tatsunoko Production. Its headquarters is located in Mitaka, Tokyo.The company has a simple logo of the face of a clown...

. The twenty episodes featured in the season are based on Tite Kubo

Tite Kubo

, known by his pen name , is a Japanese manga artist. His most significant work is the manga series Bleach.-Biography:Kubo was the son of a town council member in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima. He never took drawing seriously until he was 17, and after reading the manga Saint Seiya which...

's Bleach manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series. The episodes' plot follows Ichigo Kurosaki

Ichigo Kurosaki

is a fictional character in the anime and manga franchise Bleach by Tite Kubo. He is the story's main character. The series begins with Ichigo receiving Soul Reaper powers as a result of a run-in with Rukia Kuchiki, the Soul Reaper assigned to patrol his city, Karakura Town...

's journey to Hueco Mundo to rescue Orihime Inoue

Orihime Inoue

is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. She is a classmate and friend of Ichigo Kurosaki, the main character of the series. Like many other friends of Ichigo, she quickly develops spiritual powers of her own after Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper...

, who was kidnapped by the arrancar under the command of former Soul Reaper captain Sōsuke Aizen

Sosuke Aizen

is a fictional character and formerly the main antagonist in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. He is the captain of the 5th Division when he is first introduced, but later betrays the Soul Society and becomes the series' main antagonist...

. Although episodes focused on the character Ashido Kanō were not featured in the manga due to timing issues, Kubo still helped the anime staff to show them in the anime.

The season began airing on July 4, 2007 in Japan on TV Tokyo and ended on December 5, 2007. The English adaptation of the Bleach anime is licensed by Viz Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

, and this arc began airing on July 11, 2009 and ended on September 26, 2009 on Adult Swim. Five DVD compilations, each containing four episodes of the season, were released by Aniplex

Aniplex

, formerly known as Sony Pictures Entertainment Visual Works Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment Visual Works Inc., is a Japanese anime and music production and distribution enterprise owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan and established in January 1997...

 between December 19, 2007 and April 23, 2008 in Japan. While Viz Media released a single DVD volume on September 21, 2010 featuring the season's first episodes, the entire season has only been released within others DVDs. Episodes 132 and 133 were also released in Viz's seventh English DVD box on December 21, 2010. Episodes 134-145 were released on March 22, 2011 as Viz's eighth compilation while the remaining ones were released on June 21, 2011. Manga Entertainment

Manga Entertainment

Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensor and distributor of Japanese animation in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand...

 released the first volume from the season on September 26, 2011, while the second one is due to October 17, 2011. A collection of the two volumes is slated for a release on December 12, 2011.

The episodes use four pieces of theme music

Theme music

Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...

: two opening themes and two closing themes. The opening themes are "Alones" by Aqua Timez

Aqua Timez

is a Japanese pop rock band signed to Epic Records.-Overview:Futoshi and OKP-Star met on with9.com in 2000 and attempted to start a band together. Unable to agree on the band's future, the two disbanded. In 2003, the current band members gathered and formed Aqua Timez. Their first independent music...

, used for the first twelve episodes, and "After Dark

After Dark (Asian Kung-Fu Generation song)

is a song by Japanese rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation. It was released as the second single of their fifth studio album, World World World, on November 7, 2007, nearly a whole year after the release of the album's lead single...

" by Asian Kung-Fu Generation

Asian Kung-fu Generation

, typeset as ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, is a Japanese rock band formed in Yokohama, Japan in 1996. For nearly its entire career, the band has consisted of vocalist Masafumi Gotō, guitarist Kensuke Kita, bassist Takahiro Yamada, and drummer Kiyoshi Ijichi...

, used for the remaining episodes. The ending themes are by Chatmonchy

Chatmonchy

' is a two-piece all-female rock band which consists of Eriko Hashimoto , Akiko Fukuoka , and formerly Kumiko Takahashi who are from Tokushima Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Japan....

, utilized for episodes 132 to 143, and J-pop

J-pop

, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...

 singer Kousuke Atari

Kousuke Atari

Kousuke Atari is a J-Pop artist, born July 13, 1980, on Amami island, Japan. Hailing from Amami-Oshima in southern Japan, Atari Kousuke is a folk singer currently signed to Epic Records Japan...

's , used for the rest of the episodes. To promote the second Bleach featured film, Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion

Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion

is the second animated film adaptation of the anime and manga series Bleach. The film is directed by Noriyuki Abe and co-written by Michiko Yokote and Masahiro Ōkubo, and the theatrical release was on December 22, 2007. The theme music for the movie is by Sambomaster...

, the opening and closing credits for episode 151 use footage from the film, which was released on December 22, 2007.

Episode list

No.	Title	Original airdate	English airdate