VIZ Media’s Bleach Heads to Nintendo Gaming Systems

SAN FRANCISCO/LONDON, July 9: Two new games based on VIZ
Media’s award-winning animated television series Bleach will be released by SEGA in the U.S. and SEGA Europe
this fall.

The game Bleach: Shattered
Blade will be available on the Nintendo Wii
home video game system and Bleach: The Blade of Fate on the
Nintendo DS portable handheld system. The games feature a cast of characters
voiced by the actors from the television series Bleach, which is
currently airing in the U.S. on the Cartoon Network’s late-night programming
block Adult Swim. There will a
cast of more than two dozen characters in the games, including Rukia, Kon and
Ichigo. The rollout of the two games this fall will coincide with the beginning
of the second season of the series on Cartoon Network.

The game Bleach: Shattered Blade offers an exclusive story line created specifically for
the Wii, with 32 characters to choose from. Once a new character is unlocked,
players can replay the story episodes utilizing the characters’ special moves
and weapons. Gamers will be able to wield the Wii Remote and Nunchuk as their
weapons— slashing, jabbing and lunging in furious battles. Each character
can perform special attacks with powerful weapons and super power attacks taken
straight from the TV series. Gamers can also square off against friends in
high-speed multiplayer combat in 3-D arenas and environments based on settings
from the series.

On the Nintendo DS, Bleach: The Blade of Fate is a 2-D game that will feature players facing a
variety of opponents as one of 28 characters in action-packed battles based on
the animated series. The game offers a twist to the traditional 2-D fighting
game, enabling players to move between upper and lower split-plane battle
arenas to chase after or escape from opponents. Bleach: The Blade of
Fate also allows gamers to build Spirit
Card Decks to strategically access power-ups and power-downs to perform special
attacks, cast healing spells on themselves, displace opponents, or prohibit
them from using their own Spirit Cards. Additionally, gamers can take to the
streets battling against enemies with up to four players in fast-paced combat,
via the Nintendo DS’ Wi-Fi capabilities.

The Bleach story line
follows 15-year-old Ichigo Kurosaki, who is able to see spirits, including
warriors from the afterlife known as Soul Reapers. The Soul Reapers are tasked
with defending humans from otherworldly beings called Hollows. One day, Ichigo
meets Rukia, a Soul Reaper who lends him her powers after she is injured by a
Hollow. In the game, players progress through a story line that includes facing
increasingly difficult opponents in their quest to uncover the truth.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with SEGA for the Bleach Wii and DS games,” stated Linda Espinosa, the VP of
content management at VIZ Media. “The SEGA games have enjoyed immense success
in Japan, the manga is a top seller in both the Japan and U.S., and we are
expecting great fan response when these games release.”