Episode 1: Ichigo Kurosaki is a fifteen-year-old high school student with orange hair, brown eyes, and the ability to see spirits. As he tries to protect the spirit of a little girl from a hollow, he witnesses a clash between the malevolent spirit and a female Soul Reaper. Later, Ichigo is met by the same woman again in his room. She introduces herself as Rukia Kuchiki, and explains to Ichigo the basic duty of the Soul Reapers is the act of soul cleansing. The hollow, named Fishbone D, returns to absorb Ichigo's high spiritual energy, attacking Ichigo's home, and Rukia is wounded. In order to save his family, Ichigo desperately takes Rukia’s power into himself and becomes a Soul Reaper to successfully defeat the hollow.
Episode 2: After discovering Rukia has enrolled in his class, Ichigo learns that she has lost her power and that he must pose as her substitute, until her powers can recover. Although he refuses this responsibility at first, Ichigo eventually accepts after realizing he cannot just turn a blind eye if he encounters a hollow again.
Episode 3: Ichigo discovers that one of his classmates, Orihime Inoue, is being stalked by her older brother's spirit who turned into the hollow Acidwire due to Orihime stopping her prayers for him, which makes him hesitate to fulfill his duty. As Ichigo is forced to use his power again, his qualms of killing hollows are rested and he finally submits to his purpose as a substitute Soul Reaper, killing Acidwire. Before he does so however, Orihime's older brother was able to revert to his kind and gentle nature, expressing his love for her and thanking her before bring sent to the Soul Society, the place where Soul Reapers and souls reside, via Ichigo's zanpakuto.
Episode 4: Ichigo’s friend Yasutora "Chad" Sado comes into possession of a cursed cockatiel that is inhabited by the soul of a small boy, Yui'ichi Shibata, but supposed misfortune to anyone who possesses the cockatiel is due to a hollow named Shrieker who has been stalking the boy's soul. Chad is attacked by Shrieker before Rukia arrives to aid him.
Episode 5: With Rukia's help, Chad fights Shrieker despite not being able to see him. Ichigo eventually arrives and defeats the Shrieker. But as Shrieker was originally a murderer in life, he is dragged through the Gates of Hell instead of dissolving into the Soul Society. The spirit that inhabited the cockatiel is released to move on to the Soul Society.
Episode 6: In order for Ichigo to transform into a Soul Reaper when Rukia is not around, she purchases some soul candy from the Urahara Shop for him. However, the candy is actually a modsoul, an artificial warrior from the Soul Society created to destroy hollows. Once inside Ichigo's body, the modsoul goes on a rampage while ruining Ichigo's social image.
Episode 7: Ichigo confronts the modsoul possessing his body, but is then distracted by an emerging hollow. Together, they defeat the hollow. When Kisuke Urahara, the merchant who sold Rukia her gigai, comes for the "defective" merchandise, Ichigo takes the modsoul back and places him into a stuffed lion plushie while naming him "Kon" to get even with him wounding his shoulder. Meanwhile in the Soul Society, a Soul Reaper is sent to track down Rukia for retrieval.
Episode 8: Ichigo and his family visit their mother's grave on the anniversary of her death. While there, the Soul Reaper sent to retrieve Rukia attacks them because she broke the Soul Society's laws by giving Ichigo her powers. The battle halts when Ichigo's sisters Karin and Yuzu are attacked by a huge hollow.
Episode 9: Ichigo confronts the hollow, who is revealed as the Grand Fisher, the hollow who killed Ichigo's mother. In a fit of rage, Ichigo defeats the hollow as he escapes before he is killed. The Soul Reaper sent after Rukia leaves with a warning when he witnesses Ichigo's strength.
Episode 10: When popular TV star/spirit medium Don Kanonji transforms a spirit into a hollow during an exorcism, Ichigo is forced to clean up the mess. Upon the hollow's defeat, Kanonji is shocked to realize what he has done. With a little cheering-up from Ichigo, Kanonji is back to his old self again, and calls Ichigo, despite Ichigo's objections, his new apprentice.
Episode 11: While on another hollow fighting mission, Ichigo encounters Uryū Ishida, a classmate belonging to a clan known as the Quincy, humans that can use spiritual power to manifest a bow to fight hollows. Uryū declares himself an enemy of all Soul Reapers and challenges Ichigo to a competition of hunting hollows.
Episode 12: The contest between Ichigo and Uryū has lured hundreds of hollows into Karakura Town, endangering many of Ichigo's friends. Chad is forced to fight a hollow in order to save Karin. During the battle, he is finally able to see the hollow clearly, and develops a new ability, an armored right arm capable of firing energy blasts called "The Right Arm of the Giant".
Episode 13: The situation worsens as more hollows appear in the human world, attacking the school where Orihime and her friends are. While defending them, Orihime develops her own power, the Shun Shun Rikka, a group of fairy-like creatures coming from the hairpins given to her by her brother, and defeats the hollow. Afterward, Urahara takes in Orihime and Chad to help them with their new powers while Rukia and Ichigo confront Uryū.
Episode 14: The legion of hollows force Ichigo and Uryū to team up in combat while the others watch. A giant hollow called a Menos Grande arrives on the scene, and is driven away after Ichigo inflicts a wound assisted by power from Uryū. However, he releases too much spiritual power in the process. The strain of his powers causes Ichigo to lose consciousness, and Uryū saves him by releasing the excess energy through his bow.
Episode 15: Tired of mistreatment from Ichigo, Kon runs away to find a better owner. But he finds his abuse continuing from girls due to his perverse nature. Ichigo makes an effort to befriend Uryū but is rebuffed. Rukia becomes conflicted with her attachment with humans. Rather than endanger Ichigo, she runs away to face the newly-arrived hunters from the Soul Society. Ichigo chases after Rukia only to encounter the two Soul Reapers pursuing her.
Episode 16: Ichigo faces off against the Soul Reaper Lieutenant Renji Abarai. Renji triggers the Shikai state of his zanpakutō, overwhelming Ichigo with his strength.
Episode 17: Ichigo makes a comeback against Renji, overpowering him with his enormous spirit energy. Just when Renji is about to fall, his commander Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia's brother, steps in and defeats Ichigo with overwhelming pace. Rukia returns to the Soul Society so that Ichigo can be spared death, and Ichigo is left dying with his power stripped from him. He is then saved by Urahara, who agrees to help him rescue Rukia, who faces the death penalty in the Soul Society. Ichigo, however, must agree to train with Urahara to regain his powers.
Episode 18: As his last day of school ends, Ichigo is upset to discover that no one except for Orihime, Chad and Uryū seems to remember Rukia, due to a mind wipe imposed by the Soul Society. He begins his training at the Urahara Shop, first battling the shop's girl assistant, Ururu Tsumugiya to regain control of his spirit body. As the training enters stage two, Ichigo's soul is cut from his body and thrown into a pit. He must regain his Soul Reaper powers within three days, or risk becoming a hollow. Meanwhile, Yoruichi Shihōin, a talking cat, offers to train Chad and Orihime to control and enhance their powers so they can join Ichigo to go to the Soul Society and rescue Rukia.
Episode 19: In the Soul Society, Rukia’s sentence is moved up and she only has twenty five days left. In the pit, Ichigo battles through the agony of the process of becoming a hollow. His transformation is almost complete as he enters his own mind, coming face to face with his inner spirit, Zangetsu, who helps him unleash the Soul Reaper powers he was born with. In a powerful display, Ichigo emerges from the pit with his Soul Reaper uniform on, wearing the mask of a hollow. Breaking the mask off, Ichigo enters the next stage of his training, that is to fight Urahara.
Episode 20: While fighting Urahara, Ichigo learns that Zangetsu is the name of his zanpakutō. Upon learning the name, the sword transforms into its more powerful shikai form as Ichigo unleashes an energy blast which knocks off Urahara's hat, completing the third stage in his training. Orihime and Chad, meanwhile, finish their training with Yoruichi. The entire group, including Uryū, who has been training alone, set out for the Soul Society using a gate that Yoruichi and Urahara made.
Rating for the whole arc: 8/10
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