The season began airing on December 12, 2007 in Japan on TV Tokyo and ended on April 16, 2008. The English adaptation of the Bleach anime is licensed by Viz Media,, and this arc began airing on September 26, 2009 and ended November 21, 2009 on Adult Swim. Four DVD compilations, each containing four episodes of the season, were released by Aniplex between May 28, 2008 and August 27, 2008 in Japan.