The ninth season of the Bleach anime series is named The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai arc. The series is based on Tite Kubo's manga with same name. The episodes are directed by Noriyuki Abe and produced by TV Tokyo, Dentsu, and Studio Pierrot. The episodes' plot focuses on the introduction of a new Soul Reaper captain, Shūsuke Amagai, and the mystery surrounding the Kasumiōji clan, one of the families that constitute the nobility of Soul Society.
The season began airing on April 23, 2008 in Japan on TV Tokyo and ended on October 7, 2008. The English adaptation of the Bleach anime is licensed by Viz Media, and this arc began airing on August 28, 2010 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, and finished on January 29, 2011. Five DVD compilations, each containing four episodes of the season, have been released by Aniplex; the first DVD compilation was released on November 26, 2008 and the fifth on March 25, 2009. A DVD box will be published by Viz Media on December 13, 2011.
The episodes use three pieces of theme music: one opening theme and two closing themes. The opening theme is "Chu-Bura" by Kelun. The first closing theme is "Orange" by Lil'B, used for episodes 168 to 179, and the second closing theme is "Gallop" by pe'zmoku, used for the remainder of the episodes.
