The series begins in the human world, with the sudden entry of a stranger into Ichigo's bedroom. This stranger is Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper (in the Japanese version, a shinigami, literally God of Death). After an ensuing conversation, Ichigo and Rukia are forced into combat against a hollow (evil spirit). Rukia is disabled, and forced to transfer her power into Ichigo, transforming him into a Soul Reaver. As it turns out, Ichigo is very powerful, and even has a semi-unique zanpukat�? (sword that is his primary weapon, it is much larger than most). Ichigo makes quick work of the hollow, and Rukia leaves.

The next day, she shows up in his classroom, apparently a normal human student. It turns out that Ichigo has completely absorbed her abilities, and she must recover them by using a temporary human form, Gigai. It is later revealed that the Gigai she entered was specially designed by Urahara and given to her. In the mean-time, Ichigo must take over her job, cleansing the hollows in the region.

As Ichigo get involved in a closer friendship level to Rukia, Ichigo got more to know about Shinigami life and its issues.

Credits: niomea

After all the hype, after all the great comments I had heard from friends and people on the internet, Bleach was an EPIC dissapointment. From the characters, to the artwork, the series was just plain awful in my opinion. Why did I watch so many episodes? I was hoping that it would get better, for everything that everyone said to finally come together. But it didn't. If the story could have been better and the characters more enjoyable, it truly could have backed up all the hype around it. It had so much going for it, but it fell flat on its face. Please don't waste your time on this unless you like to murder time for fun.