The Soul Society: The Sneak Entry arc is the second season of the Bleachanime series, containing 21 episodes. The episodes are directed by Noriyuki Abe, and produced by TV Tokyo, Dentsu and Studio Pierrot. In the English release by Viz Media, the title is translated as The Entry. The episodes are based on Tite Kubo's Bleachmanga series. The episodes' plot centers on Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends' journey to the Soul Society in order to save Soul ReaperRukia Kuchiki from her impending execution. The arc initially ran from March 1, to July 19, 2005 in Japan on TV Tokyo. The first English airing of the series lasted from February 3 to July 14, 2007. It was shown on YTV's Bionixprogramming block in Canada and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in the United States. The episodes use five pieces of theme music: two opening themes and three ending themes. The opening theme for the first five episodes is Orange Range's single "Asterisk"; the rest use "D-tecnoLife" by Uverworld. The initial ending theme is "Thank You!!" by Home Made Kazoku, switching at episode 26 to Younha's "Houkiboshi" and again at episode 39 to "HappyPeople" by Skoop on Somebody. Five DVD compilations, each containing four episodes of the season, have been released by Aniplex between July 27, 2005 and November 23, 2005. The DVDs of the English adaptation of the series are distributed by Viz Media; five DVD compilations, each containing four episodes of the season, have been released by Viz Media between September 25, 2007, and May 20, 2008. In the United Kingdom, Manga Entertainment released the season in two DVD volumes on June 30, 2008 and November 3, 2008. A compilation of these two volumes was released on December 29, 2008. The second season of Shonen Jump’s Bleach is currently licensed by VIZ Entertainment LLC in North America, when it aired on Cartoon Network’s late-night primetime programming block, Adult Swim. It is also now distributed by Warner Bros. Animation/Warner Home Video on North Americanhome video.
