Bleach season 13

The thirteenth season of the Bleach anime 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), 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 2009 to April 2010 on TV Tokyo. The English adaptation of the Bleach anime is licensed by Viz Media. The season began airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in November 2011 in the United States, eventually joining the lineup of the newly relaunched Toonami programming block on the same network from May to August 2012. 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 episodes use five pieces of theme music: two opening themes and three closing themes. The first opening theme, "Shōjo S" (少女S) by Scandal, and the first ending theme, "Mad Surfer" by Kenichi Asai, are used for episodes 230 to 242. The second opening theme, "Anima Rossa" (アニマロッサ) by Porno Graffitti, and the second ending theme, "Sakurabito" (さくらびと) by SunSet Swish, are used from episode 243 to 255. The third ending theme, "Tabidatsu Kimi e" (旅立つキミへ) by RSP is used for episodes 256 to 265.