Bleach

Name: Bleach
Rating: 7.92

Manga7.9258599 votes74 volumes · 705 chaptersFinished

ActionAdventureAward WinningSupernaturalShounen

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About this title

Synopsis

For as long as he can remember, high school student Ichigo Kurosaki has been able to see the spirits of the dead, but that has not stopped him from leading an ordinary life. One day, Ichigo returns home to find an intruder in his room who introduces herself as Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper tasked with helping souls pass over. Suddenly, the two are jolted from their conversation when a Hollow—an evil spirit known for consuming souls—attacks. As Ichigo makes a brash attempt to stop the Hollow, Rukia steps in and shields him from a counterattack. Injured and unable to keep fighting, Rukia suggests a risky plan—transfer half of her Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo. He accepts and, to Rukia's surprise, ends up absorbing her powers entirely, allowing him to easily dispatch the Hollow. Now a Soul Reaper himself, Ichigo must take up Rukia's duties of exterminating Hollows and protecting spirits, both living and dead. Along with his friends Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado—who later discover spiritual abilities of their own—Ichigo soon learns that the consequences of becoming a Soul Reaper and dealing with the world of spirits are far greater than he ever imagined. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Publication notes

Bleach has sold over 130 million copies worldwide as of 2022, making it one of the top 20 best-selling manga series of all time; North American sales have also been significant with 1.7 million copies sold in the region. In 2005, the series won the 50th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shounen category. The series was published in English by VIZ Media under the Shonen Jump imprint from July 6, 2004, to October 2, 2018, and as omnibus volumes from June 7, 2011, to March 5, 2019; a hardcover collector's edition for volume one was released by VIZ Media on August 5, 2008, a box set of volumes 1-21 was released on September 16, 2008, as well as volumes 22-48 on July 7, 2015, and the final box set containing volumes 49-74 on November 6, 2018. It has also been published in Brazilian Portuguese by Panini Comics since July 2007, and in Spanish by Glénat since June 2006, publishing 51 volumes before the publisher went defunct; it was later republished by Panini Comics from February 2013 to November 2017. Many adaptations have also been made of Bleach, with four feature-length films, numerous video games, spin-off light novels, databooks, a live-action movie, and even a musical.

Published

Aug 7, 2001 to Aug 22, 2016

Authors

Kubo, Tite

External links

MyAnimeList page Official Site Wikipedia Wikipedia

MAL rank: #1084
Members (MAL): 423,998
Favorites (MAL): 38,493

Related titles

Sequel

Bleach: Gokui Meimei-hen

Adaptation

Side Story

Spin-Off

Bleach 4-koma: Komaburi

Alternative Version

Main characters

Ichigo Kurosaki36613 fan favorites
External profile
Race: Human Birthday: July 15 (Cancer) Age: 15 (beginning); 17 (currently) Height: 174->181 cm Weight: 61->66 kg Known Relatives: Isshin Kurosaki (father), Masaki Kurosaki (mother, deceased), Yuzu Kurosaki (younger sister), Karin Kurosaki (younger sister), Theme Song: "Number One" by Hazel Fernandes and Shiro Sagisu. For the most part, Ichigo appears like a normal teenage boy, the one exception to that is his spiky, orange hair, a trait which he has been ridiculed about for years. He is a fairly tall, and lean-built person with peach skin and brown eyes. Since becoming a Shinigami, he has become noticeably more muscular, as noted by his sister Karin. When in his spiritual form, Ichigo wears standard Shinigami attire with the addition of a strap across his chest. When he was young, Ichigo considered his mother to be the center of his world. Ichigo always smiled whenever he was with Masaki and he was regularly at her side, holding her hand. As a teenager, Ichigo's personality is much more complex. Stubborn, short-tempered, occasionally confrontational, determined, outspoken, strong-willed and impulsive, he attempts to maintain a detached and "cool" image, despite claiming to not care about what other people think about him. He generally keeps his face set in a permanent scowl with his eyebrows drawn together. Ichigo carries the burden of the real world and the spirit world (Soul Society), a task quite difficult, especially for a teenager like Ichigo, who has his own worries and problems. Also, Ichigo is quite smart; he was ranked 23rd in his high school. He does this partly to prove to his teachers and classmates that just because he's unique, or somewhat punkish, that he can still succeed. When Ichigo first becomes a Shinigami, his Zanpakutō is a standard-looking katana, but oversized with an equally-oversized brown sheathe hung by a strap over his right shoulder. It has a rectangular bronze hand guard with gently inward-curved edges, a stylized flame pattern on the long sides, and a simple decorative slit on the short ones. The handle is red with two light blue tassels on the end of the handle. The large size is due to the unfocused but immense amount of Ichigo's spiritual power, which he didn't know how to control. As a result, the sword itself was rather weak, since very little spiritual power was used to create it. Nevertheless, it was powerful enough to subdue a Gillian-class Menos and lesser Hollows, completely blocking a Cero from the former. It was even able to upturn the ground with a single strike. Because of its weak spiritual energy nature, Byakuya Kuchiki was able to easily cut off most of the blade during his first encounter with Ichigo and Kisuke Urahara subsequently slices it down to the hilt during their training, forcing Ichigo to learn the name of his Zanpakutō in order to release its true form. This sword is found to be a result of Rukia's deprived spiritual energy and not a result of his own power.
Rukia Kuchiki10147 fan favorites
External profile
Occupation: Shinigami in the 13th Division, Birthday: January 14 (Capricorn) Height: 144 cm (4' 8") Weight: 33 kg (72.6 lb) Hair: Black Eyes: Violet/Dark Purple Zanpakutou: Sode no Shirayuki, Shikai Command: Mae (Dance), Sode no Shirayuki Theme Song: "Wing-Stock" by Ashley MacIsaac Rukia and her older sister, Hisana, were brought together to 78th District of Rukongai after they died in the human world. Hisana abandoned Rukia when she was still a baby since she could not continue to support both herself and Rukia. Rukia grew up on her own until she met Renji Abarai and other children her age. They worked together to steal food in order to survive and became a makeshift family. She's a bit of a tomboy to show that she's tough. During this time, Rukia and Renji showed signs of having spiritual power. While they initially opted against becoming shinigami, the death of all their friends prompted Rukia to suggest joining the academy for a better life. At the shinigami academy, Renji was admitted into the top class and Rukia into the second ranked one. Renji and Rukia started growing further apart as Renji got further ahead in his training. The emotional distance continued until Rukia was asked to join the Kuchiki family. Renji expressed happiness for Rukia's opportunity but both did not admit that they disagreed with the arrangement since they would likely never see each other again. Rukia reluctantly joined the family and was immediately inducted into the 13th Division without having to graduate or take a squad entrance exam. Unknown to Rukia, Byakuya had adopted her in order to fulfill the last wish of Hisana, whom he had taken as his wife. In the 13th Division, Rukia was not given a seat position, due to Byakuya Kuchiki's influence, since he did not want her sent on dangerous missions. She became friends with the division lieutenant, Kaien Shiba, who trained and mentored her. Their first training location was Mount Koifushi of Hokutan, the 3rd district of West Rukongai. Rukia greatly admired Kaien's wife, 3rd Seat Miyako Shiba. When Miyako was killed by a hollow, Rukia, Kaien, and the division's captain, Jūshirō Ukitake hunted the hollow down. Kaien faced the hollow alone but the hollow's special ability destroyed his zanpakutō. Rukia attempted to draw her sword and help but was stopped by Ukitake. He told her that Kaien's fight was one of honor rather than a fight for his life. If Rukia helped, Kaien would be saved but his honor would be damaged forever. Meanwhile, the hollow entered Kaien and possessed him. Ukitake faced the hollow but his illness allowed the hollow the opportunity to attack Rukia. Kaien momentarily regained control and thrust himself through Rukia's zanpakutō. He thanked Rukia and Ukitake for letting him fight for his honor and died in Rukia's arms. Rukia brought the corpse to the Shiba family but was afraid to apologize since she felt guilty about her role in Kaien's death. (Source: Wikipedia)
Orihime Inoue3481 fan favorites
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Blood type: B Height: 5'2" (157 cm) Weight: 45 kg Birthday: September 3 Zodiac: Virgo Theme Song: "T'en va pas" by Elsa Orihime Inoue has long orange-brown hair which she wears with the bangs behind her ears and hairpins. She does not remove her hairpins, except to sleep (she is seen without them in episode 64 when she wakes up), as they are worn in memory of her brother, while her hair is worn long in honor of the promise Tatsuki Arisawa once made to protect her. Her large breasts are occasionally made the subject of jokes in the series. She also has an amazingly hard head, which has injured Uryū, Chad, and Ichigo. The only person who has been able to damage her head has been Yachiru Kusajishi in a comical moment when she is riding on Kenpachi Zaraki's shoulders. Orihime has yellow-orange/brown eyes in colored pictures of the manga, but gray eyes in the anime. Orihime is friendly, humorous in her own way, sensitive, and kind. She comes off as naive and rather clueless, which is at odds with her exceptionally high marks in school. Apparently, she is hopeless when it comes to technology. One of the members of the Handicrafts' Club remarks that she is not smart enough to use a cell phone, which is why she does not have one. Additionally, according to Tatsuki, Orihime has the fighting skill of a black belt, however, in the English dubbed version she says Orihime is at the skill of a yellow belt. Orihime cooks and eats strange food at home, although she also likes some normal food. Aside from Rangiku Matsumoto and possibly Tessai Tsukabishi, no one shares Orihime's tastes. Her favorite food is red bean paste, and she likes putting butter on sweet potatoes. Orihime has a tendency to rush into situations without thinking, sometimes leading to embarrassing consequences. At one point, the schoolgirls ask Rukia if she has feelings for Ichigo. When Rukia denies any such thing, Orihime is disappointed that Rukia does not share her sentiments, because if she had, then it would be two girls against one boy and therefore the girls "team" would win, which makes no sense. She also tends to have an overactive imagination and gets carried away thinking of implausible scenarios, such as portraying herself as a futuristic and apparently highly destructive robot in an assignment asking "How do you see yourself in the future?" when the question refers to what occupation one wishes or believes they will have. Orihime has also demonstrated that she is perceptive, mostly when it comes to Ichigo Kurosaki. She is in love with Ichigo, and in both the manga and anime, her feelings only become more evident as time goes on. She has revealed these feelings both to Rangiku Matsumoto and to Ichigo himself, though he was asleep at the time. She also has the uncanny ability to detect Ichigo by scent and sense his spiritual pressure, even when masked by the visored. Orihime lives by herself in Karakura Town, where the story takes place, and is supported by relatives living elsewhere. Previously, she had lived with her older brother, Sora, who was fifteen years older than her. She and her brother were raised by a drunk father and an unfaithful mother, who always argued and beat their children. It is unknown if her parents are still alive. When Sora turned eighteen, he ran away with Orihime, who was three years old, and raised her since. For six years, Orihime and Sora lived in harmony despite the fact that Orihime was bullied in school because of her long hair. One day, Sora gave Orihime a pair of hairpins. However, Orihime refused to wear them because she said they were childish. On the same day, Sora was wounded in a car accident and died in the Kurosaki clinic. Orihime has worn the hairpins ever since. A year after Sora died, Orihime met Tatsuki who defended her from the bullies. They have been best friends ever since.
Renji Abarai3038 fan favorites
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Birthday: August 31 Zodiac: Virgo Gender: Male Race: Shinigami Height: 187.96 cm Weight: 78.17 kg Title: Lieutenant of 6th Division Zanpakuto: Zabimaru Bankai: Hihio Zabimaru, Shikai Command: Roar! Zabimaru! Education: Shinou Academy Marital status: married Favorite sport: futsal Renji is one of the most unusual Bleach character, having long crimson hair which is usually kept in high ponytail, and whole upper body tattooed in tribal work. He dresses in normal Shinigami kimono, but he usually wears some kind of headband (it's shown to be rather very expensive glasses or white headband). In terms of personality, Renji is same as any other Shinigami. His personality varies from cocky and eccentric, to being depressed after he's defeated, all the way to being clueless and funny. Although he's carefree and happy character in most of the series, he can be quite serious, especially when it's the matter of life and death situations for either him or people he hold precious. He is shown to have rather complicated relationship with his captain, Kuchiki Byakuya. Renji sees Byakuya as the goal he has to surpass. First time, when Renji was still in the Academy, he encountered Byakuya and felt something chilling about him. In the meantime, Renji became Byakuya's lieutenant, and throughout the series, Renji starts to see Byakuya not only as rival, but also as man he can look up to.
Uryuu Ishida1857 fan favorites
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Age: 15 (formerly) – 17 Birthday: November 6 Zodiac: Scorpio Species: Human (Quincy) Height: 171 (formerly) – 177 cm Weight: 55 kg (formerly) – 57 kg Blood type: AB Hair color: black Eye color: blue Occupation: High School Student, Quincy Theme Song: "Idioteque" by Radiohead Artifacts & Weapons: Quincy Bow & Spirit Arrows, Sanrei Glove, Quincy Bangle, Seele Schneider, & Silver Tubes Known relatives: Ryuuken Ishida (father), Souken Ishida (grandfather, deceased), Uryuu is a friend of Ichigo's and one of the last surviving Quincy. Uryuu Ishida is a dark blue-haired, bespectacled teenager of average height. At school, Uryuu wears the school uniform along with a tie, while outside he dons white Quincy clothes with blue stripes representing the Quincy cross, and a mantle. Uryuu is generally shy and quiet, but tries harder to act cool when other people are around. For example, during the Soul Society arc he wears a mantle that serves no purpose other than to make him look cooler, despite the fact that it hinders his movement. He even keeps a spare to that effect. In addition, he also has a tendency to say things with characteristic drama. Uryuu operates on a moral ethic known as the "Pride of the Quincy" and has a strong sense of justice. He has also shown to be very chivalrous, stating that he enacts justice on men who abuse or treat women badly. He demonstrates this at multiple points throughout the series, such as when he tried to defend Rukia Kuchiki from Renji Abarai when he and Byakuya Kuchiki came to the real world to take her, or when he defends Orihime Inoue at multiple points throughout the Soul Society arc. Uryuu also has a tendency to not use lethal force in battle, especially if he can win without doing so. Instead, he will simply incapacitate his opponent. Uryuu does not hold his father, Ryuuken Ishida, in high respect; he calls his father by his given name which is considered very rude in Japanese society. Despite this, in the anime Uryuu seems mildly offended when Rukia commented that the Ishida's hospital (his father being the present director) is falling apart and Renji replies tactlessly that the hospital is only for show. Uryuu has low blood pressure and hates procrastination. The other things he hates are quite odd: buttons (despite being an expert in sewing) and the word "haphazard." His favorite food is homemade mackerel miso stew. The television program he likes is Don Kanonji's "Bura-Rei." The shadow that jumped out of the crowd at Kanonji's first appearance was in fact Uryuu. Like his grandfather, Sōken Ishida, Uryuu is left-handed.
Yasutora Sado1024 fan favorites
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Birthday: April 7 Zodiac: Aries Height: 197 cm (6'5") Weight: 112 kg Blood type: A0 Favorite food: tomato Favorite song: "No Song Unheard" by The Hellacopters Chad is a teenager of Mexican descent. He is extremely tall and appears to be much older than he actually is. Chad has a tattoo on his left shoulder which reads Amore e Morte ("love and death" in Italian) and consists of a heart, a snake and angel wings around the heart. In the series, he is usually seen wearing either his school uniform or a t-shirt. At one point in the series, he is seen wearing a dark, long-sleeved shirt with a rose emblazoned on the left sleeve. The rose may be in honor of his grandfather seeing as how his grandfather's name was Oscar Joaquín de la Rosa, de la Rosa being Spanish for "of the Rose." Chad is a quiet person and is sometimes the subject of jokes or bullies because he never fights back, against ordinary humans, or often hollows and Soul Reapers until necessary. Nonetheless, he is treated equally within his group of friends in Karakura (Ichigo, Keigo and Mizuiro). Chad also has a weakness for cute things, like small animals and Kon, and is one of the few characters that actually treats Kon with any dignity but for the most part ignores him. To match his extraordinary size, Chad possesses extraordinary superhuman durability, even before activating his spiritual powers, being able to survive the impact of a falling steel girder on his back and a head-on motorcycle collision, and is strong enough to break telephone poles and wield them as giant clubs, even when already injured. Besides his physical strength, Chad has also shown to be very intelligent; he ranked 10th out of 322 in school, while Ichigo ranked 23rd. Chad likes music, but rarely watches TV. The only programs he likes are Carnivore Kingdom, which starts at 8 a.m. on Sundays. He likes it so much that he bought the DVDs for it. Not surprisingly, since Kon is a cheap knock-off plushie of the main character of Carnivore Kingdom, Chad finds Kon especially cute. The other show is Don Kan'onji's Ghost Bust. Chad also has a bass guitar, but has never been shown playing it. It has been shown in Chad's room in episode 69 and in the 8th anime ending sequence. It's also shown in episode 12 after a "band practice." He is also seen carrying it immediately preceding the appearance of the incomplete arrancar. (Source: Wikipedia)