Bleach

CONTACT _Con-41598BC6419 c s l TV
Kids Weekly, June 12, 2007

ORIGIN: The show is based on the manga by Tito Kubo in the weekly Shonen
Jump magazine in Japan.

CREATOR: Tito Kubo

TV SHOW: Bleach is an
animated series consisting of 104 episodes based on the best-selling manga
series from VIZ Media with more than 1.4 million copies in print.

Bleach is the story of 15-year-old Ichigo Kurosaki, a normal
high-school kid who happens to be able to see ghosts. His fate takes an
extraordinary turn when he meets Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper who shows up at
Ichigo's house on the trail of a Hollow, a malevolent lost soul. Drawn to
Ichigo's high level of spiritual energy, the Hollow attacks Ichigo and his
family. Rukia steps in to help but is injured and unable to fight. As a last
resort, Rukia decides to transfer a part of her Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo.
Ichigo, now a full-fledged Soul Reaper, and Rukia, minus her powers, join
together to face the challenges that lie ahead.

The other main characters in the
series include Orihime Inoue, one of Ichigo's classmates. She has a wild
imagination as well as a distinctive palette for interesting food combinations.
Uryu Ishida is the last member of the Quincy clan, human hunters of evil
spirits, who died out over 200 years ago. Uryu possesses an incredible ability
to detect and destroy Hollows, as well as a deep hatred for Soul Reapers. He is
also skilled at needlepoint and belongs to the craftwork club. Yasutora
"Chad" Sado is known to his fellow classmates simply as Chad. He's
bigger than your average high-school student. Chad believes his only asset is
his sheer size and he has an affinity with small animals. No matter who tries
to bully him, he refuses to fight back. More information about the show can be
found at www.viz.com/bleach.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Noriko Kobayashi, Yutaka Sugiyama and Ken Hagino

MAIN BROADCASTER: Bleach airs on
Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block in
the U.S.

TV SALES: Bleach has been
sold to France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Australia. VIZ Media is
also looking at online distribution opportunities, including offering the show
on a download-to-own (DTO) basis.

MAJOR TOY LICENSEE: Toynami

OTHER PRODUCTS: The products connected to Bleach include DVDs, trading card games, video games, apparel,
bags, accessories, calendars and manga.

STRATEGY FOR ROLL OUT: “We believe Bleach
is one of those rare properties that combines non-stop action with a strong
story line and offbeat humor,” says Daniel Marks, the senior VP of strategy and
business development at VIZ Media. “Judging by the manga sales and the strong
response it has gotten on Adult Swim,
we think the fans agree.”