Bleach is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga series Bleach by Tite Kubo. It was produced by Pierrot and directed by Noriyuki Abe. The series aired on TV Tokyo from October 2004 to March 2012, spanning 366 episodes. The story follows the adventures of the teenaged Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper—a death personification similar to the Grim Reaper—from a Soul Reaper named Rukia Kuchiki. His newfound powers allow him to take on the duties of defending humans from evil spirits Hollows and guiding departed good souls to the afterlife. In addition to adapting the manga series it is based on, the anime periodically includes original self-contained storylines and characters not found in the source material.