http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-02-23/bleach-tv-anime-ending-on-march-27

Wow, I didn't expect that. If they were gonna end the series though, it would have made a lot more sense to end it after Aizen was defeated.

OMG!!!

tell all the bleach fans to see this

Not surprised. The anime dragged on a bit too long in my opinion. I felt like they were only continuing it because of the money they'll get. Anyway like Tethler said, it makes more sense if they ended it after defeating Aizen since the anime will have some kind of finality involved. But I do hope that the anime will show the scene where

So I take it you haven't watched this week's episode (361) yet?

i dont see how its ending soon when manga still hasnt ended yet

Yes unfortunately. I'm delayed by 2 episodes, which I plan to watch tom. But I'm guessing with you quoting me, what I was anticipating will happen in 361. Thanks for the heads up then!

Most anime end with the manga still ongoing, so that really isn't unusual.

I would not, however, say it is 100% confirmed at this point that it is ending.

While the headline over at ANN proclaims, "Bleach TV Anime Ending on March 27", the article simply states, "A recent television program listing in Japan reports that the Bleach television anime series will end its run in TV Tokyo's 6:00 p.m. Tuesday timeslot on March 27." (something that was known and reported 3 weeks ago by ANN, as that time slot was being taken over by the new Rock Lee series). The animation director just acknowledged the Japanese article itself, as opposed to outright confirming the series as ending.

Perhaps the strongest evidence it is indeed ending which I have seen mentioned is in the news article here at CR which mentions the presence of an "ending mark" in that listing for Bleach.

I expect we will have 100% confirmation or denial within 24 hours. If Bleach wasn't ending, TV Tokyo wouldn't want a report circulating around that it was.

It is currently approaching 7:30 PM in Japan, so I expect it will be more than 12 hours from this post before the normal daytime business staff arrive at TV Tokyo and issue some type of official statement.

just because its finishing within that time slot doesnt mean that it will end might just continue in a different time slot i dont see why it would end before the manga considering its a popular show

The "ending mark" that is mentioned is the strongest evidence it isn't simply moving to another time slot.

Also, the ratings for Bleach have not been doing so well in Japan, given its evening time slot:
http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-350782/japanese-anime-tv-ranking?pg=50

Some anime that air after midnight approach its most recent ratings (i.e, The New Prince of Tennis, also on TV Tokyo, but at 1:50 AM, was only 0.4% lower for the first week of this month). Gintama, in the same time slot a day earlier, was at 2.4% vs. 1.6% for Bleach.

Sorry, but just as the overwhelming popularity of One Piece in Japan doesn't carry over to the U.S., the popularity of the Bleach anime in the U.S. doesn't carry back to Japan.

oh well if it does end at least we still got naruto

I can live with this as long as they finish off Xcution Arc without ruining it.

finally this awful series is going to hell and collect dust

IMO I expect OVAs to come out. Hopefully quality FINALLY gets better.