Bleach

Bleach has been serialized in the Japanese manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 2001, and has been collected into 58 tankōbon volumes as of December 2012. Since its publication, Bleach has spawned a media franchise that includes an animated television series that was produced by Studio Pierrot in Japan from 2004 to 2012, two original video animations, four animated feature films, seven rock musicals, and numerous video games, as well as many types of Bleach-related merchandise. Viz Media obtained foreign television and home video distribution rights to the Bleach anime on March 15, 2006.

Cartoon Network's Adult Swim began airing Bleach on September 8, 2006 as part of its Adult Swim Action block. Adult Swim stopped broadcasting new episodes of the English adaptation on October 20, 2007 after airing the first 52 episodes of the series. It was replaced with another Viz Media series, Death Note, to provide Studiopolis more time to dub additional episodes of Bleach. The series began airing again on March 2, 2008, but went back on hiatus on November 21, 2009, after the airing of its 167th episode. The series returned from hiatus on August 28, 2010, on Adult Swim. Then on May 26, 2012 Adult Swim started airing Bleach as part of the newly revived Toonami.

Plot
Ichigo Kurosaki is a teenager gifted with the ability to see spirits. His life is drastically changed by the sudden appearance of a Soul Reaper—one who governs the flow of souls between the human world and the afterlife—named Rukia Kuchiki, who arrives in search of a Hollow, a dangerous lost soul that absorbs energy from souls. When Rukia is severely wounded defending Ichigo from the Hollow, she attempts to transfer a part of her reiatsu ("spiritual pressure") energy to Ichigo so that he can defeat the Hollow. However, Ichigo takes almost all of her energy, transforming into a Soul Reaper and allowing him to defeat the Hollow with ease. With her powers diminished, Rukia is left stranded in the human world until she can recover her strength. In the meantime, Ichigo must take over Rukia's role as a Soul Reaper, battling Hollows and guiding souls to the afterlife realm known as the Soul Society.

As some time passes and Rukia has yet to return to the Soul Society, her Soul Reaper superiors learn about her whereabouts and actions and sentence her to death for performing the illegal act of transferring her powers. This however had ended with two high ranking Soul Reapers (Shinigami) injuring Ichigo and taking Rukia to their world The Soul Society. These two soul reapers are Renji Abarai, Rukia's childhood friend, and captain Byakuya Kuchiku, Rukia's older brother. Although he is unable to stop Rukia's departure to the Soul Society, Ichigo resolves to rescue her with the aid of several of his spiritually aware classmates, Orihime Inoue, Yasutora (Chad) Sado, Uryū Ishida, and the ex-Soul Reapers Yoruichi Shihōin and Kisuke Urahara.



Characters
Ichigo Kurosaki - The primary protagonist of the series. An orange-haired high school student, who becomes a "substitute Shinigami (Soul Reaper)" after unintentionally absorbing most of Rukia Kuchiki's powers. His cynical nature at first makes him ill-disposed towards the duty, but, with the passage of time, he accepts and welcomes the strength his Soul Reaper powers give him. When Ichigo first becomes a Shinigami, his Zanpakutō was a standard-looking katana, but oversized. The large size is due to the unfocused but immense amount of Ichigo's spiritual power, which he did not know how to control.

Rukia Kuchiki - A Soul Reaper who is assigned hollow extermination duties in Ichigo's hometown (Karakura Town) and is the main heroine of the series (though her role is downplayed later on). Though her physical appearance is that of a teenage girl, in reality she is ten times older than Ichigo. At the opening of the story, Rukia is forced to transfer her powers to Ichigo and assume a temporary lifestyle as a regular human. She registers at the local high school and takes up residence in Ichigo's closet, while teaching him how to be a substitute Soul Reaper in her place. She is shown many times kicking Ichigo in the face and using similar, slightly comical tactics to "wake him up." Orihime stated once that Rukia seemed to be the only one that is able to cheer Ichigo up, as she seems to have a lot of faith in him.

Orihime Inoue - A long-time classmate of Ichigo Kurosaki who gains a crush on him later on in the series, linked to him by mutual friend Tatsuki Arisawa. She is effectively an orphan, as when she was 3, her older brother Sora left their abusive parents' home with Orihime and raised her on his own. Later on, when Orihime was in middle school, he died in an accident. Though initially devoid of spiritual powers, she develops spiritual awareness early in the series and later obtains the God-like ability to warp reality through rejecting past phenomena, which she often uses as a healing ability.

Yasutora (Chad) Sado - better known as Chad, he is one of Ichigo's friends at school. He is a biracial Japanese/Mexican student who towers over his classmates at 7 feet 2 inches. Despite his imposing appearance he is quite meek, and refuses to fight unless it is for the sake of another. Chad does not have awareness of ghosts at first, but this changes when he attempts to protect Ichigo's sister, Karin,and her friends from a hollow. He discovers a unique ability that strengthens and armors his right arm, enabling him to fight hollows.

Uryū Ishida - A Quincy, descendant of a line of priest-like hollow-hunting archers who were historical enemies of the Soul Reapers. He bears a deep grudge against all Soul Reapers, including Ichigo, and is an early antagonist in the series. He comes to view Ichigo differently over time, and eventually becomes a valuable ally and a friendly rival. Uryu's powers as a quincy are used by gatheing spirt particles called reshi. He uses them to create a beam or 'arrow', and shoots these beams with a bow.