Country of origin Japan Original network TV Tokyo | No. of episodes 28 | |
Original release January 17 (2006-01-17) – August 1, 2006 (2006-08-01) | ||
The fourth season of the Bleach anime series was directed by Noriyuki Abe and produced by Studio Pierrot. Like the rest of the series, it follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki, but instead of adapting Tite Kubo's Bleach manga, it features an original, self-contained story arc. The twenty-eight episodes form the Bount arc (バウント篇, Baunto Hen), which focuses on the introduction of the Bount, a race of humans that consume human souls to extend their lives, and their conflicts with Ichigo Kurosaki and his allies.
The season initially ran from January 17, 2006 to August 1, 2006 in Japan on TV Tokyo. The English adaptation of the season began airing on May 18, 2008 on Adult Swim in the United States, and the last episode of the season aired on December 6, 2008. Seven DVD compilations, each containing four episodes of the season, were released by Aniplex between May 24, 2006 to December 20, 2006. Viz Media released the season on seventeen DVDs from May 12, 2009 to November 17, 2009. Each of them contain four episodes in both English and Japanese languages. Two DVD box sets collecting the entire season were released on November 3, 2009 and February 16, 2010. Manga Entertainment released the season in three DVDs for the United Kingdom from October 26, 2009 to June 7, 2010, while a box set was released on August 9, 2010.
The episodes use five pieces of theme music: two opening themes and three ending themes. The opening theme for the first eleven episodes is "Ichirin no Hana" (一輪の花, Ichirin no Hana) by High and Mighty Color; the rest of the episodes use "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" by Beat Crusaders. The first ending theme is "My Pace" (マイペース, Mai Pēsu) by SunSet Swish, switching at episode 75 to "Hanabi" by Ikimonogakari and again at episode 87 to "Movin!!" by Takacha.