Bleach Basic Introduction

Bleach ( Burichi, romanized as BLEACH in Japan) is a manga and anime series by Tite Kubo, mangaka of Zombie Powder. Bleach is at 23 volumes in length in Japan as of August 4, 2006, and new chapters are featured weekly in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The total number of chapters as of September 21, 2006 is 244. VIZ Media has released 15 volumes in English in North America.

Bleach follows the life of Ichigo Kurosaki, a 15-year-old high school student with the ability to see ghosts, and a shinigami (Soul Reaper or, literally, "death god") named Rukia Kuchiki, who runs into him one day while searching for a hollow (an evil spirit). During the ensuing confrontation with the spirit, she is wounded and forced to transfer all of her powers into Ichigo. Thus the adventures of Ichigo and Rukia begin. Together they search for hollows and perform soul burials on wayward souls, cleansing the spirits and sending them to Soul Society.

The early parts of the story focus mainly on the relationships between the characters, rather than the actual occupation of the shinigami. However, as events unfold, the story begins to delve deeper into the world of these gods of death on the "other side" called Soul Society.