Bleach

Synopsis 15 year old Kurosaki Ichigo is not your everyday high school student. He has from as far he can remember always had the ability to see ghosts and spirits. A fateful day arrives as Ichigo encounters the shinigami Kuchiki Rukia, who saves him and his family from a Hollow at the cost of injuring herself. During this encounter, with Rukia unable to defeat the hollow she transfers her shinigami powers into Ichigo. In the aftermath, unable to continue with her job, Rukia allows Ichigo to take on the role of a shinigami in her place as they together defeat the Hollows plaguing Ichigo's town.

Main Character

Orihime Inoue (井上 織姫)

Blood type: B
Height: 5'2" [157 cm]
Weight: 45 kg
Birth Date: September 3rd
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.

Uryuu Ishida (石田 雨竜)

Date of Birth: November 6
Species: Human (Quincy)
Height: 171- cm (5'7")
Weight: 55 kg (121 lbs)
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
Ryūken Ishida (father)
Sōken Ishida (grandfather, deceased)

Ishida is a friend of Ichigo's and 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, Ryūken 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.

Rukia Kuchiki (朽木 ルキア)

Occupation: Shinigami lieutenant in the 13th Division
Birthday: January 14
Height: 144 cm (4' 8")
Weight: 33 kg (72.6 lb)
Hair: Black
Eyes: Violet/Dark Purple
Zanpakutō: 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.

Ichigo Kurosaki (黒崎 一護)

Race: Human, Shinigami


Birthday: July 15th
Age: 15 (beginning) - 17 (currently)
Gender: Male
Height: 181 cm
Weight: 66 kg
Known Relatives: Isshin Kurosaki (father), Masaki Kurosaki (mother), Yuzu Kurosaki (younger sister), Karin Kurosaki (younger sister)
Theme Songs: "Number One" by Hazel Fernandes, "News From the Front" by Bad Religion

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.


Ichigo is an extremely rare case. Despite being a Shinigami, he is still a living Human being and resides in the Human World, rather than in Soul Society. Uniquely, he gained his own powers through Urahara's training/forced encroachment, which simultaneously gave him Hollow powers. Due to his Hollow powers, Ichigo is technically classified as a Visored, but he still thinks and refers to himself as a Shinigami. For all purposes, Ichigo is a Human in physical body and Visored in spiritual body, thus making his situation even rarer. After losing his Shinigami powers Ichigo returns to being a human, this time with no spiritual power or spiritual awareness at all.