Bleach season 3

The Soul Society: The Rescue arc (尸魂界 救出篇) is the third season of the Bleach anime series. In the English adaptation of the anime released by Viz Media, the title of the season is translated as The Rescue. The episodes are directed by Noriyuki Abe, and produced by TV Tokyo, Dentsu and Studio Pierrot. The season adapts Tite Kubo's Bleach manga series from the rest of the 14th volume to the 21st volume (chapters 118–182), with the exception of episode 50 (filler). The episodes' plot centers on Ichigo Kurosaki's and his friends' efforts to save Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki from execution by her superiors in the Soul Society.

The season aired from July 2005 to January 2006 on TV Tokyo. The English adaptation of the season began airing in July 2007 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in the United States. In October 2007 the series went on a hiatus; episodes resumed airing in March 2008 and finished in May of the same year.

The episodes use four pieces of theme music: two opening themes and two ending themes. The opening theme for the first ten episodes is "D-TecnoLife" by Uverworld; the other episodes of the season use "Ichirin no Hana" (一輪の花) by High and Mighty Color. The two ending themes are "HappyPeople" by Skoop on Somebody, used from episode 42 to 51, and Yui's "Life", which was used for the remainder of the episodes.

Five DVD compilations, each containing four episodes of the season, with the exception of the last two discs with contain five episodes, were released by Aniplex between December 21, 2005, to April 26, 2006. The English adaptation of the anime is distributed by Viz Media; three DVD compilations have been released on July 22, September 23, and November 18, 2008, respectively. Another DVD compilation was set for release on January 20, 2009.