Bleach season 13

The thirteenth season of the Bleach anime television series is based on Tite Kubo's Bleach manga series. It is known as the Zanpakutō: The Alternate Tale arc (斬魄刀異聞篇, Zanpakutō Ibun-hen), is directed by Noriyuki Abe and produced by TV Tokyo, Dentsu, and Studio Pierrot. The anime original season focuses on an alternative set of events in which the Soul Reaper's swords, zanpakutō, assume human forms and declare war against their wielders, led by a mysterious man named Muramasa, who is a former zanpakutō.

The season aired from July 28, 2009, to April 6, 2010. Aniplex released the season in a series of nine DVD volumes, each containing the first four episodes, from May 26, 2010, to January 26, 2011. The English adaptation of the Bleach anime is licensed by Viz Media. The season began airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on November 13, 2011, in the United States, eventually joining the lineup of the newly relaunched Toonami programming block on the same network and continuing to air from May 27 to August 5, 2012.

The season uses five pieces of theme music; two openings and three endings. The first opening theme song, "Shōjo S" (少女S) performed by Scandal, and the first ending theme song, "Mad Surfer" performed by Kenichi Asai, are used from episode 230 to 242. The second opening theme song, "Anima Rossa" (アニマロッサ) performed by Porno Graffitti, and the second ending theme song, "Sakurabito" (さくらびと; lit. 'Cherry Blossom Person') performed by SunSet Swish, are used from episode 243 to 255. The third ending theme song, "Tabidatsu Kimi e" (旅立つキミへ; lit. 'Leaving You') performed by RSP, is used from episode 256 to 265.