VIZ MEDIA BRINGS ACTION PACKED NEW EPISODES OF SMASH-HIT SERIES BLEACH TO ADULT SWIM

BLEACH Arrancar Story Arc Debuts With Two New Back-To-Back Episodes To Air Each Week

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, brings the latest action-packed English dubbed episodes of BLEACH to Adult Swim. Beginning with episodes 110 and 111 of the Arrancar story arc, Adult Swim premiered two new BLEACH episodes back-to-back on Saturday, April 18th and will continue air two new back-to-back episodes each week. Check local times for availability (http://www.adultswim.com/shows/bleach/index.html).

BLEACH is a popular manga and animated series (both rated ‘T’ for Teens), distributed domestically by VIZ Media, that follows the adventures of Ichigo, a 15-year old student with the ability to see ghosts. When his family is attacked by a Hollow — a malevolent lost soul – Ichigo encounters Rukia, a Soul Reaper, and inadvertently absorbs her powers. Now, he’s dedicating his life to protecting the innocent and helping tortured souls find peace.

In the new Arrancar story arc of Bleach, Ichigo meets an unusual new student named Shinji Hirako, who has come to Karakura Town to recruit Ichigo into the Visoreds, a group of ex-Soul Reapers that have crossed over into the realm of the Hollows. Meanwhile, ex-Soul Reaper Captain Sosuke Aizen has sent his vicious mob of Arrancars to the World of the Living. When Ichigo is faced with this new and extremely powerful adversary, it will be up to him to protect everyone!

“BLEACH remains a massively popular series and this is one of the most gripping plot developments yet,” says Bill Germain, Director, Programming Sales, VIZ Media. “Fans will be glued to the edge of their seats as Ichigo and Ruika face a wicked new force of tremendous power. Will the Arrancars succeed in their evil plan to topple the Soul Society? Find out in two new episodes each week!”

BLEACH is a tremendously successful multimedia property internationally. The manga has been licensed to more than a dozen countries and has sold over 50 million copies in Japan alone. In North America, the manga has been a sales hit and the popular animated series is viewed weekly by millions in the United States and Canada on cable broadcast. This success has further spawned an array of related video games, apparel, action figures and other merchandise.

BLEACH animation can be viewed through a variety of other web-based, video download and streaming outlets that have partnered with VIZ Media, including iTunes®, Xbox Live JOOST and HULU. For more information on BLEACH please visit www.bleach.viz.com.

A promotional Bleach image of two Arrancar characters