Bleach

[[File:2cq0dxe.jpg|thumb|294px|Network: Toonami on Adult Swim, Saturdays 12:00 AM

Original run:	October 5, 2004 – Present

366 Episodes]]

Anime
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 on 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 (霊圧?, literally, "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 (尸魂界 (ソウル·ソサエティ) Sōru Sosaeti?). 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. 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, and Uryū Ishida, and the ex-Soul Reapers Yoruichi Shihōin and Kisuke Urahara. Once in Soul Society, Ichigo and company battle against the elites of the Soul Reaper military and strive to reach Rukia before her execution. It is revealed that Rukia's execution and Ichigo's rescue attempt both had been manipulated by a very high-ranking Soul Reaper, Sōsuke Aizen, who was previously believed to have been murdered, as part of a far-reaching plot to take control of the Soul Society. Aizen betrays his fellow Soul Reapers and allies himself with the strongest of the Hollows, the Espadas, whom he enhances. Aizen thus becomes the main antagonist of the series, and the Soul Reapers form an alliance with Ichigo. At this point, Bleach chronicles the war between the Soul Reapers, the Espadas, and Aizen.

Ichigo Kurosaki
Main article: Ichigo KurosakiIchigo Kurosaki (黒崎 一護Kurosaki Ichigo? ) is the primary protagonist of Bleach and main hero. He is an orange-haired high school student, Ichigo becomes a "substitute Shinigami (Soul Reaper)" after unintentionally absorbing most of Rukia Kuchiki's powers.[9] 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 given to him.[10] When creating the manga series, Kubo commented that Rukia Kuchiki, the first character he created, did not seem like a lead character, so he created Ichigo to be the series protagonist.[6] In the Japanese series, he is voiced by Masakazu Morita while in the English adaptation he is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch and in the Filipino adaptation by Marky Cielo.[11] [12]

===[edit] Rukia Kuchiki=== Main article: Rukia KuchikiRukia Kuchiki (朽木 ルキアKuchiki Rukia? ) is a Soul Reaper who is assigned hollow extermination duties in Ichigo's hometown (Karakura Town) and is the main heroine (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.[9] 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.[10] 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. Rukia was the first character of the series created by Kubo, her design being the one he decided to use for all the other Soul Reapers.[5] She is voiced by Fumiko Orikasa in Japanese and by Michelle Ruff in English.[11] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-engone_11-1" style="line-height:1em;">[12] ===<span class="editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;float:right;font-size:12.727272033691406px;margin-left:5px;">[edit] Orihime Inoue=== Main article: Orihime Inoue<p style="line-height:19.196969985961914px;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Orihime Inoue (井上 織姫Inoue Orihime<sup style="line-height:1em;"><span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color:rgb(0,0,238);font-weight:bold;font-size:8.181818008422852px;line-height:normal;padding-right:0.1em;padding-left:0.1em;">? ) is 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ch5_12-0" style="line-height:1em;">[13] Though initially devoid of spiritual powers, she develops spiritual awareness early in the plot and later obtains the God-like ability to warp reality through rejecting past phenomena.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ch43_13-0" style="line-height:1em;">[14] She is voiced by Yuki Matsuoka in the Japanese series and by Stephanie Sheh in the English dub.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-japtwo_14-0" style="line-height:1em;">[15] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-entwo_15-0" style="line-height:1em;">[16] ===<span class="editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;float:right;font-size:12.727272033691406px;margin-left:5px;">[edit] Yasutora "Chad" Sado=== Main article: Yasutora Sado<p style="line-height:19.196969985961914px;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Yasutora Sado (茶渡 泰虎Sado Yasutora<sup style="line-height:1em;"><span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color:rgb(0,0,238);font-weight:bold;font-size:8.181818008422852px;line-height:normal;padding-right:0.1em;padding-left:0.1em;">? ), better known as Chad (チャドChado<sup style="line-height:1em;"><span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color:rgb(0,0,238);font-weight:bold;font-size:8.181818008422852px;line-height:normal;padding-right:0.1em;padding-left:0.1em;">? ), 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ch107_16-0" style="line-height:1em;">[17] 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. Eventually as his power develops, Chad learns that he is very similar to a Fullbringer and joins Xcution to help Ichigo regain his Soul Reaper powers. Hiroki Yasumoto voices him in the Japanese series,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-japtwo_14-1" style="line-height:1em;">[15] while voices Marc Worden (2-85)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-entwo_15-1" style="line-height:1em;">[16] and Jamieson Price(86-onwards)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-eng1_17-0" style="line-height:1em;">[18] play him in the English adaptation. <p style="line-height:19.196969985961914px;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">

Uryū Ishida

Uryū Ishida|石田 雨竜|Ishida Uryū}} is 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'. He shoots these beams with a bow and arrow. He is voiced by Noriaki Sugiyama in Japanese and in English.