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117-492: The main character of the series, Ichigo Kurosaki , has the ability to interact with ghosts . He soon meets Rukia Kuchiki , a female Soul Reaper from the Soul Society whose mission is to deal with hungering lost souls called Hollows. After seeing Rukia grievously wounded by a Hollow in his presence, Ichigo receives the power of exorcism and psychopompy to carry out her Soul Reaper duties as she recovers. As Ichigo guides

234-522: A Hollow , a deceased spirit becoming a warped soul-eating monster which Soul Reapers deal with. After being wounded in an attempt to save Ichigo from a Hollow attack, Rukia transfers her Soul Reaper powers to him so he can save his family. In the following months, Ichigo acts in Rukia's place as the Soul Reaper in protecting Karakura Town from Hollows as their friendship continues to grow. Ichigo's past

351-421: A shinigami ", he wanted her name to sound like something a shinigami would have as a name. When deciding upon her family name, Kubo considered using "Kuchiru" ( 朽ちる , lit. "to rot") because it sounded like a name a shinigami would have. He decided to use "Kuchiki" ( 朽木 , lit. "rotten wood") , having once heard something that sounded like "Kuchiki Rukia" on Japanese television and liking it enough to use it as

468-414: A "survivor", due to how lonely she initially was and how she has been developed through the anime series as she had to start trusting people. She also liked how cool Rukia is when she is fighting but noted it challenging how to voice Rukia due to her various attitudes. Ruff was the winner in the category "Best Voice Actress (English)" from the 2009 SPJA Industry Awards for her work as Rukia. Rukia also won in

585-584: A "tough guy with a heart of gold" had already been done in several series. Charles White from IGN praised Ichigo's climactic fight against Byakuya Kuchiki as one of the best fights in the Bleach series, and later Ramsey Isler gave additional praise to both the design and voice acting for Ichigo's inner Hollow. Ichigo's development during the Rescue arc in which he sets to save Rukia Kuchiki from being executed have been praised by ANN's Theron Martin. He praised

702-577: A 2007 character poll from the Japanese magazine Newtype magazine character polls, Rukia has been featured as one of the most popular female characters from any anime. She has also appeared twice in the Anime Grand Prix polls, ranking as one of the most popular female anime characters. NTT customers voted her as their eighth favorite black haired female anime character. Merchandise based on Rukia's appearance has been released, including

819-684: A Flash Step. Eventually, defeated in the end, Kariya's true agenda is revealed to be the mutually assured destruction of the Soul Reapers and the Bounts. Jin is voiced by Tōru Ōkawa in the Japanese version of the anime and by Troy Baker in the English dub. Gō Koga ( 古賀 剛 , Koga Gō ) is the one that was closest to Jin Kariya, whose Doll is the spider-like Dalk, who is able to manipulate her metallic body to create weaponry or be confronted into

936-526: A Fullbringer with ability to change people's memories, used him to take Fullbring powers for Xcution's use. Rukia transfers the Reiatsu of the Gotei 13's senior officers and other Soul Reapers through a special sword and restores Ichigo's Soul Reaper powers. Ichigo fights Ginjo with his improved Shinigami powers and during their duel, it is revealed that Ginjo was the first Substitute Soul Reaper. Despite learning

1053-422: A Shinigami is to pass on the souls of those who have failed to pass on those who have yet to cross by means of konso. At the beginning, after a brief meeting with the protagonist of the series, Ichigo Kurosaki , who can see supernatural beings such as Soul Reapers, she transfers her powers to him in order to fulfill her duties as a Soul Reaper. Rukia has appeared in several other pieces of Bleach media, including

1170-579: A Soul Reaper assigned to patrol around the fictional city of Karakura Town. These powers come at the cost of her own, and as a result, he concedes to work as her stand-in, fighting to protect people from evil spirits called Hollows and sending good spirits, wholes , to a dimension known as the Soul Society . Ichigo appears in other media after the manga series, including the anime television series , four anime films, two original video animations , rock musicals , several video games , light novels and

1287-456: A battle axe that Koga uses. In the 1800s, while still going under the name Claude Gaugain, Koga was living in a countryside somewhere in Europe when Kariya brought him Cain to guide in their ways. But it ended with Cain's death which haunts Koga. In the end, after confronting Kariya and nearly getting killed by Hitsugaya, Kouga is the last remaining Bount as his wounds are tended to be Ran'Tao. Gō

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1404-448: A cave until signs of weakness causes him to be killed by his own doll. Ugaki is voiced by Katsumi Suzuki in the Japanese version of the anime and by Kirk Thornton in the English dub. Gesell is voiced by Neil Kaplan in the English dub. Yoshino Sōma ( 相馬 芳野 , Sōma Yoshino ) is Kariya's ex-wife, whose doll is a fire humanoid named Goethe that can regenerate from most attacks and sees his master as mother figure. Fighting against

1521-489: A character she was in the series' early going". In his review of the live-action film , Rob Hunter from the Film School Rejects criticised the narrative of the story, especially when the female lead character, Rukia played by Hana Sugisaki , had to be reduced into a supporting-type character for the male lead character, Ichigo played by Sota Fukushi . He further praised Sugisaki's performances and lamented

1638-507: A cheerful smile. Kubo has stated that Ichigo's greatest strength is his considerate and thoughtful nature. He always thinks about other's needs. However, he noted it as his greatest weakness, since worrying about his friends tends to put him in danger. When asked in an interview if he had any plans to focus on the love triangle between Ichigo, Orihime, and Rukia, Kubo chose neither to confirm nor deny it as he did not want to focus on romance. Kubo attributes Ichigo's popularity among readers to

1755-613: A daughter, Ichika. Rukia makes several appearances outside of the Bleach anime and manga. She appears in four films in the series: she fights the Dark Ones with other Soul Reaper comrades in Bleach: Memories of Nobody and aids in the search for Tōshirō Hitsugaya in Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion . Rukia has the main focus role in the third film, Bleach: Fade to Black , where she

1872-528: A foil to Ichigo and more like the other side of the same coin". Her actions and words were also commented by Alexendre to make Rukia deserve the respect she commands. IGN called the scene where Rukia is forced to leave Ichigo Kurosaki and return to Soul Society as "touchingly beautiful" and celebrated Rukia's character development during her time in the human world. Her subsequent appearances in Soul Society were criticized by ANN's Theron Martin due to her lack of activity making them "irritating given how strong

1989-417: A key chain, a plush doll, and a figurine. Fumiko Orikasa , Rukia's Japanese voice actor, liked how Rukia was developed while fighting against the arrancar, noting her to be a hero during her introductions. However, she was saddened by how after Rukia defeats the first arrancar (Di Roy Rinker), she is instantly stabbed by the arrancar Grimmjow. Michelle Ruff , Rukia's English voice actress, found Rukia to be

2106-621: A kidō barrier, at the cost of Ichigo's power. Seventeen months later, Ichigo becomes a senior in high school. The start of the Lost Agent arc describes his life after losing his power. One day, he meets Kūgo Ginjō , a Fullbringer from the group Xcution . Ginjo offers to replenish Ichigo's Soul Reaper powers in return for helping him and his group to become ordinary humans. With their help, Ichigo unlocks his own Fullbring powers through his Substitute Soul Reaper Badge. However, Ichigo later learns that Ginjo and his ally Shūkurō Tsukishima ,

2223-496: A long fight, he defeats Byakuya, who confesses why he tried to kill his sister. Captain Sōsuke Aizen , who faked his death prior, have been behind Rukia's sentencing and the chaos that plagued the Soul Society. He leaves the Soul Society and flees to the realm of Hollows, Hueco Mundo . In time, Aizen targets Karakura Town with an army of Arrancars , Hollows that assumed human form with Soul Reaper powers, after subjecting them to

2340-466: A lot and made it the most beautiful one from the series. When asked to design a Christmas cover with a female character, Kubo initially thought of using Rukia, but eventually chose Orihime Inoue as he thought the character was better suited for it—he has stated that he previously made a Christmas illustration with Rukia, and that he received requests from several fans wanting to see the image. In contrast to this, Kubo has found that he liked Rukia more in

2457-478: A musical based on the Bleach series, Ichigo is played by Tatsuya Isaka . His character is featured in two volumes from the Bleach Beat Collection CD soundtrack series which features themes composed by his Japanese voice actor, Masakazu Morita . These include the first of them, in which he is the only character and the fourth season's fourth volume along with Rukia. Ichigo also appears in

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2574-623: A musical based on the Bleach series, she is played by Miki Satō . In the Bleach video games , Rukia is a playable character in every game, including the Heat the Soul and Blade Battlers series. In some games, her human form and Soul Reaper state are available as separate characters, while Dark Rukia is playable in Heat the Soul 6 and Heat the Soul 7 . Rukia appears in the live-action adaptation of

2691-531: A name. Her first name was conceived as a result of Kubo hearing the Latin name for cosmos on television, and later decided that the name really suited her since the Latin word from which her name is derived means "light" and Kubo sees her as "a ray of light for Ichigo." Shonen Jump asked in an interview if Kubo had any plans to make Ichigo and Rukia a couple, but Kubo chose neither to confirm nor deny it. After designing Rukia's zanpakutō , Kubo noted he liked it

2808-593: A nonfatal alternative. The Hōgyoku is removed from her body, Aizen and his men flee Soul Society, and Rukia is acquitted of all charges. With the Hōgyoku , Aizen is able to create an army of arrancar , which he uses to attack Ichigo and his friends once they return to the human world. Rukia and a group of other Soul Reapers are sent to assist in fighting the arrancar, though after Aizen captures Orihime Inoue they are recalled to Soul Society. Rukia's zanpakutō , Sode no Shirayuki ( 袖白雪 , literally "Sleeved white snow" ) ,

2925-406: A person's body killing them from the inside out. They are tasked by Kariya to eliminate Uryū while he is recovering in his father's hospital after he's been attacked by Ryō Utagawa. They fight Ichigo, Renji, Rukia and Sado and try to kill them by drowning them from the inside, but they are killed when Ganju uses some firecrackers to destroy their dolls, aging them to death. In the Japanese version of

3042-408: A scientific experiment earlier in the Soul Society, where they were created, and began to eat the souls of human beings to gain more power. They each have a unique weapon known as a Doll, a familiar which is its creator's power given physical form. Dolls are mostly self-sufficient creatures when released, although they tend to be used as weapons in various ways such as a large battle axe or a snake, as

3159-471: A scythe. However, this was changed when he created the Soul Reaper kimono. Kubo also mentioned that Rukia did not seem like a lead character, so he created Ichigo Kurosaki to be the series protagonist, with Rukia being the first female lead. Ichigo's initial design had black hair like Rukia; Kubo had to modify Ichigo's appearance to contrast with hers, giving Ichigo orange hair and a trademark scowl. As for her name, Kubo stated that, because Rukia "looks like

3276-414: A snake. Ryō can also intercept attacks through a barrier called Snake Net. Once the technique is activated, if something is seen as a threat to Ryō through Fried, it will be attacked no matter where the threat runs to by snakes emerging from the ground. When it came to the fight against the Bounts at their mansion, Ryō was killed by Maki Ichinose and his body turns to dust. Ryō is voiced by Shūsuke Sakino in

3393-430: A sword and whip. Their leader Kariya, motivated by the destruction of himself and all connected to him, plans to invade the Soul Society along with the remaining Bounts to destroy it and themselves. However, with the exception of his friend Gō Koga, Kariya managed to have his forces wiped out by the Soul Reapers prior to himself being killed by Ichigo Kurosaki. IGN criticized the Bounts as being "lame bad guys," noting that

3510-407: A teenager and Mona Marshall as a child for the English dub. While describing Ichigo as one of his best roles, Morita notes that voicing him can be at times difficult. Bosch has enjoyed voicing Ichigo's character due to his personal interest in the character's morals. However, he experienced difficulty voicing him in some scenes where Ichigo shouts for a long time. Sota Fukushi played Ichigo in

3627-411: A trademark scowl, and removing the glasses. During the series' first chapter, Ichigo's wristwatch was based on one Kubo himself wore at the time. In later chapters, his wristwatch was based on Naoto Fukasawa 's W11K cellphone. According to Kubo, Ichigo, along with Orihime Inoue , are the most arduous characters to sketch. While illustrating one of Ichigo's scenes, Kubo found it awkward to draw him with

List of Bleach characters - Misplaced Pages Continue

3744-433: A true friend because she is encouraging and understands what he is feeling. During her time in the human world, Rukia remains unaccounted for in Soul Society, so Byakuya Kuchiki and Renji Abarai are sent to find her and return her to the Soul Society. They succeed, and upon their return Rukia is sentenced to death for giving her Soul Reaper powers to a human. Ichigo goes to the Soul Society, in order to save her. During

3861-422: Is Gesell, which is a huge, eyeless monster. It has the ability to manifest many melee weapons from its limbs. Gesell can see through the eyes that generate light as his master does through his glasses. It is controlled by Ugaki through a deck of cards. Whatever is shown on a card Ugaki plays, appears within the shadow of an object, which is created by the light generated from the eyes. Ugaki fights Ichigo and Renji in

3978-406: Is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo . In the series, she is a Soul Reaper, (死神, Shinigami, literally 'Death God'), in charge of slaying and eradicating corrupted souls whose unfortunate fate lies destined for ruthless killing and feeding of living beings. We call these lost souls hollows. Along with eradicating hollows, Rukia's primary objective as

4095-535: Is abruptly invaded by the Wandenreich , an organization made up of Quincy who has survived their genocide one thousand years before, Rukia discovers Byakuya attacked by Äs Nodt , and is knocked out before she can come to her aid. Rukia is taken to the Royal Dimension so she could be healed, and is then taught by Ichibei Hyosube to achieve her bankai , Hakka no Togame ( 白霞罸 , literally "Censure of

4212-468: Is also revealed as a completely white blade, earning it the recognition as the most beautiful zanpakutō in Soul Society. Sode no Shirayuki utilizes ice to attack, each of its abilities being labeled as "dances" by Rukia. During the anime's 13th season , Sode no Shirayuki manifests in a yukionna -like form, voiced by Mie Sonozaki . After learning that Aizen kidnapped Orihime, Rukia and friends head for Hueco Mundo to save her. There, Rukia encounters

4329-541: Is also revealed as he faces the Grand Fisher, a hollow who killed his mother when he was nine years old. In time, the Soul Society sends two high-seated officers to take Rukia back for committing the crime of transferring her Soul Reaper powers to a human. In training with Kisuke Urahara in order to rescue Rukia, Ichigo obtains his own Soul Reaper powers and learns the name of his Zanpakutō , Zangetsu ( 斬月 , literally “Slaying Moon”) . He takes his friends with him to

4446-538: Is consistently the most popular female character in those polls. Several pieces of merchandise have been released in Rukia's likeness, including a plush doll and several figurines. Bleach was first conceived from Tite Kubo's desire to draw a shinigami in a kimono , which formed the basis for the design of the Soul Reapers. Because of this, Rukia was one of the first characters of the series to be created. Before deciding that every Soul Reaper had swords, Kubo thought that they should all use guns, while only Rukia used

4563-507: Is defeated by him, before being captured by Kisuke and sentenced to the Muken for twenty millennia. Aizen is voiced by Show Hayami in the Japanese version of the anime and by Kyle Hebert in the English dub. The Bounts ( バウント , bounto ) are a group of humans with special abilities. They are the main antagonists during the anime-exclusive Bount and Bount Assault on Soul Society arcs. The Bounts live eternally due to an accident during

4680-543: Is focused around character design . When writing plotlines or having difficulties generating new material, Tite Kubo begins by thinking of new characters, often en masse , and rereading previous volumes of Bleach . Kubo has said that he likes creating characters with outward appearances that do not match their true nature, an element that can be found in many Bleach characters, as he is "attracted to people with that seeming contradiction", and finds an "urge to draw people like that when [he] works." When creating characters for

4797-449: Is forced to retreat when Byakuya intervenes. She then duels Ishida and dies at his hand when he realises she can't block and attack at the same time and forces her to attack him before piercing her heart with an arrow. Yoshi's doll is Nieder, who takes on the form of a jian and fan combination. In its base form, the fan can fire needle-like projectiles at its target. It can also be used for defense against regular attacks. The jian part of

List of Bleach characters - Misplaced Pages Continue

4914-452: Is her kidō spells, which are severely limited in strength and variety. She uses her kidō for such purposes as restraining, healing and attacking others. Because of the amount of time she spends with Ichigo, Rukia manages to gain a keen understanding of his inner workings. Rukia's relationship with Ichigo is unique, for despite the relatively short amount of time they have known each other, Ichigo can easily confide in her and considers her

5031-614: Is kidnapped and mind-wiped by two mysterious rogues, and later transformed into 'Dark Rukia'. In the fourth film, Bleach: Hell Verse , Rukia helps Ichigo rescue his sister Yuzu from the depths of Hell. Rukia appears in both of the original video animations produced in the series, helping Ichigo in Memories in the Rain and combating the rogue Soul Reaper Baishin in The Sealed Sword Frenzy . In Rock Musical Bleach ,

5148-470: Is one of Ichigo's friends at school. He is of mixed Japanese / Mexican heritage and a student who towers over his classmates at 6 feet 5 inches. Despite his imposing appearance and fearless attitude he is quite meek and refuses to fight unless it is for the sake of another. 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. He

5265-583: Is quite loyal to his friends, especially Ichigo, who is one of his closest friends. He displays little emotion except when something or someone he cares about is in danger. Chad is voiced by Hiroki Yasumoto in the Japanese version of the anime. In the English dub, Chad is voiced by Marc Worden from episode 2–85, by Jamieson Price from episode 86–366 and by Alain Mesa in Thousand-Year Blood War . Hollows ( 虚 （ ホロウ ） , Horō) are

5382-442: Is soon revealed to be a more complex character with a sad past. Los Angeles Times ' s Charles Solomon comments Ichigo's character has little in common with protagonists from other series due to his bad temper and how he tends to fight. However, he added that readers from the series still "love" Ichigo. The way Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper was found to be relatively common by Carlos Alexandre. He noted that Ichigo's character of

5499-418: Is stopped by Sōsuke Aizen and his accomplices. Aizen, having singlehandedly orchestrated Rukia's execution, reveals to her that within her soul is stored the Hōgyoku ("breakdown sphere"), a powerful artifact created and placed there by Kisuke Urahara that gives hollows Soul Reaper powers and vice versa. Wanting the Hōgyoku for himself, Aizen hoped that her death would give him access to it, but settles for

5616-467: Is the oldest of the bunch. Sawatari's doll is Baura, who has a whale -like appearance that Sawatari sits on top of. Baura has a dimension in its stomach where anyone that is swallowed by Baura will die if they stay in him too long. He attacks Rangiku, Sado, Ururu and Noba in Karakura Town and uses Baura to swallow Ururu, who is saved when Rangiku uses Kido to force the doll out of the ground. During

5733-424: Is tricked by her and dies after being hit twice in the same spot by Suzumebachi. Mabashi's doll is Ritz, who has the ability to possess the body of anyone and control them. Mabashi is voiced by Daisuke Ono in the Japanese version of the anime and by Keith Silverstein in the English dub. Ritz is voiced by Asami Sanada in the Japanese version of the anime and by Sandy Fox in the English dub. Sawatari ( 沢渡 )

5850-504: Is voiced by Tōru Furusawa in the Japanese version of the anime and by Richard Epcar in the English dub. Dalk is voiced by Takako Honda in the Japanese version of the anime and by Karen Strassman in the English dub. Cain ( ケイン , Kein ) is a young male Bount that Jin Kariya left in Gō Koga's care many years ago. When he tried to summon his mantis -like doll Waineton, the doll turned on Cain and killed him in front of Gō Koga. Cain

5967-517: Is voiced by Yuki Matsuoka in the Japanese version of the anime and by Stephanie Sheh in the English dub. Renji Abarai ( 阿散井 恋次 , Abarai Renji ) , is a Soul Reaper of Squad 6 in the Gotei 13 . When he was first introduced he played an antagonistic role as he was sent to the human world to find and bring Rukia back to the Soul Society. He initially dedicates his life to defeating Ichigo, before joining forces with him to rescue Rukia halfway through

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6084-500: Is voiced by Takayaki Fujimoto in the Japanese version of the anime and by Peter Doyle in the English dub. Waineton is voiced by Philece Sampler in the English dub. Hō ( 鵬 ) and Ban ( 磐 ) are twin brothers who appeared when they used their dolls in order to attack Uryū Ishida. Hō and Ban's dolls are Guhl and Günther, bottle caps that manipulate water making its power source nearly unlimited. They can wrap themselves around their opponents in order to drown them or even flood

6201-555: The 2018 live-action film . Ichigo is voiced by Masakazu Morita in the Japanese anime adaptation; Johnny Yong Bosch in the English dubbing ; and played by Sota Fukushi in the live-action film. Ichigo's character has been well received among both readers and reviewers. He featured often in Weekly Shōnen Jump character popularity polls, and was consistently ranked as the most popular character in Bleach . The 2007 Japanese Newtype magazine polls ranked Ichigo as one of

6318-619: The Anime Grand Prix polls, ranking as one of the most popular male anime characters. At the first Seiyu Awards in March 2007, Masakazu Morita won in the category "Best Rookie Actor" for his role as Ichigo Kurosaki. Ichigo's voice actor in the English adaptation, Johnny Yong Bosch , has also been praised for his voice work on Ichigo's character by Anime News Network (ANN), which favorably compared Bosch and Morita's work. Various merchandise based on Ichigo's appearance has been created, including action figures, plush toys and key-chains. Since

6435-497: The Espada , Aaroniero Arruruerie , who is revealed to have possession of Kaien's body. Saddened that she had not saved her mentor from the control of a hollow as she had previously thought, Rukia manages to kill Aaroniero. Rukia is badly injured during the battle, and it is not until Soul Society sends reinforcements to Hueco Mundo that she is revived and her wounds are healed. She later assists Ichigo in his rescue to save Orihime from

6552-586: The Zanpakutō popularity polls. In the 2007 Japanese Newtype magazine poll, Ichigo was ranked one of the best male anime characters. In the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), Ichigo was elected for the best anime male character in 2008. The Japanese music distributor Recochoku has made two annual survey of which anime characters that people would like to marry. Ichigo ranked tenth in

6669-557: The bittō (the Bounts’ mosquito-like creatures that collect souls) in particular were like "something straight out of a bad sci-fi movie," but admitted the Bounts were "decent plot devices" to develop the other characters. Jin Kariya ( 狩矢 神 , Kariya Jin ) is the Leader of the Bounts who planned to destroy the entire Soul Society through the Jōkaishō, the device that created the Bounts. He

6786-468: The original video animations ; fighting against a Hollow called the Grand Fisher in the first one and combating the rogue Soul Reaper Baishin in the second. In the Bleach video games , Ichigo is a playable character, including the Heat the Soul and Blade Battlers series. In some games, his Hollow form and Bankai state are available as separate characters. In Rock Musical Bleach ,

6903-484: The zanpakutō swords(katana) are also based on Japanese literature. Rukia Kuchiki was the first character Kubo designed, but he did not see her as a lead character, so he created Ichigo Kurosaki to be the series protagonist. Other characters from the series also use different languages to describe their terminology; the powers from the Quincy are taken from German, while Hollows and Arrancar instead use Spanish terms; for

7020-550: The "soul" of an object to bring out its full potential. But a Fullbringer's true power comes from enhancing the soul of an object they are compatible with, such as a prized possession. However, the effects of a Fullbringer's power will cease once the user is dead. Using Tsukishima's Fullbring, Xcution's other members had placed themselves in a fabricated notion that they need a Soul Reaper to become normal humans and train Ichigo to use Fullbring. But once Tsukishima restored their memories,

7137-513: The Doll is used for regular offense. When the fan's size increases, it can protect Yoshi against all attacks, but Yoshi loses all form of offense. When the jian increases in size, its offensive power increases further, as the jian gains a trail of energy swords. Yoshi is voiced by Yōko Sōmi in the Japanese version of the anime and by Stephanie Sheh in the English dub. The jian and fan parts of Nieder are voiced by Taro Yamaguchi and Mariko Kōda in

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7254-418: The English dub. Rukia Kuchiki ( 朽木 ルキア , Kuchiki Rukia ) is a Soul Reaper,(死神, Shinigami, literally 'Death God'), who is assigned hollow extermination duties in Karakura Town. She meets Ichigo for the first time when she breaks into his house, not knowing that he can see her. Their relationship further complicates when Rukia saves Ichigo and transfers her powers to him. Rukia lacks it and cannot return to

7371-576: The English dub. Xcution ( エクスキューション , Ekusukyūshon ) is a secret organization in Naruki City that makes itself known to Ichigo seventeen months after he loses his Soul Reaper powers and serve as the main antagonists in the first arc after the timeskip. The group is made up of humans whose preborn encounter with hollows resulted in them becoming outcasts who possess a power known as Fullbring ( 完現術 （ フルブリング ） , Furuburingu , lit. "Final Manifestation Art") , an ability to manipulate

7488-570: The Espada Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez , Ichigo manages to save Orihime and defeat Ulquiorra. Soon after, Ichigo returns from Hueco Mundo to Karakura Town, and confront Aizen. During the battle interim, Ichigo learns a technique called the Final Getsuga Tenshō ( 最後の月牙天衝 , Saigo no Getsuga Tenshō , literally “The Final Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer”) that weakens and defeats Aizen, allowing Urahara to seal him within

7605-558: The Espada Ulquiorra Cifer by engaging the remaining Arrancars until requiring support. After Aizen's defeat, Rukia bids farewell to Ichigo, when he loses his powers and the ability to sense their presence. Seventeen months later, Rukia, now lieutenant of Squad 13, returns to aid in restoring Ichigo's Soul Reaper powers before engaging the Fullbringer Riruka Dokugamine . When the Soul Society

7722-574: The Hōgyoku. In order to defeat the Arrancars and to control his Hollow powers, Ichigo begins to train with the group of Soul Reaper outcasts known as the Vizard . During the invasion of Karakura Town, Ichigo's friend Orihime Inoue has been abducted by Ulquiorra Cifer , one of Aizen's strongest Arrancars: The Espadas. Ichigo and his friends independently head to Hueco Mundo to find Orihime. After defeating

7839-406: The Japanese version of the anime and by Tony Oliver in the English dub. Fried is voiced by Miho Saiki in the Japanese version of the anime and by Wendee Lee in the English dub. Yoshi ( ヨシ ) is a member of the Bounts. She fought Rukia, Orihime, and Kuroda in an alley until Mabashi ordered her to leave. Later, she invades Soul Society with the other Bounts and nearly kills Rukia in a fight, but

7956-500: The Japanese version of the anime and by Joe J. Thomas and Wendee Lee in the English dub. Mabashi ( 馬橋 ) interrupts Yoshi's battle against Rukia, Orihime and Kuroda. He uses his doll to control Rukia's body and use her to fight the others, but falls back once Orihime uses her powers to force it out of her body. During the Bount Assault on Soul Society, he poisons Soi-Fon and uses his doll to turn her squad against her, but

8073-557: The Soul Reaper form to the point it would fit Ginjou Shinjo better. As a result, Kubo noted that readers were relieved reobtained his Soul Reaper as he once again wore a kimono despite being sightly different from the original one. Ichigo is voiced by Masakazu Morita as a teenager and Yuki Matsuoka as a child for the Japanese anime. Morita said that Ichigo was one of his favorite characters he ever played, alongside Tidus in Final Fantasy X . Johnny Yong Bosch voiced him as

8190-507: The Soul Reapers. He bears a deep grudge against all Soul Reapers, including Ichigo, and is an early antagonist in the series, along with a double-agent for the main antagonist in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc. He comes to view Ichigo differently over time, and eventually becomes a valuable ally and a friendly rival. As a Quincy, Uryū possesses the supernatural power to gather invisible "spirit particles" called reishi from

8307-434: The Soul Society arc. He has since become a major protagonist and a consistent ally and rival of Kurosaki. His weapon throughout the series is Zabimaru. Renji is voiced by Kentarō Itō in the Japanese version of the anime and by Wally Wingert in the English dub. Uryū Ishida ( 石田 雨竜 , Ishida Uryū ) is a Quincy , a descendant of a line of near-extinct, priest-like, hollow-hunting archers, who were historical enemies of

8424-417: The Soul Society invasion, he runs into Mayuri Kurotsuchi and fights him, dying after being poisoned by Ashisogi Jizo. Sawatari is voiced by Yuzuru Fujimoto in the Japanese version of the anime and by Joe J. Thomas in the English dub. Baura is voiced by Takaya Kuroda in the Japanese version of the anime and by Richard Epcar in the English dub. Ugaki ( 宇柿 ) is a member of the Bounts. Ugaki's doll

8541-402: The Soul Society. She assumes a temporary lifestyle as a regular human, using a gigai (human form) obtained from Kisuke Urahara 's shop, and enrolls into Ichigo's high school and takes up residence in his closet, while teaching him how to be a substitute Soul Reaper in her place. Rukia was the first female character of the series created by Kubo, her design being the one he decided to use for all

8658-686: The Soul Society: Sado “Chad” Yasutora, Orihime Inoue, and Uryū Ishida. Ichigo is confronted by members of Gotei 13 , the main military force in the Soul Society. As he approaches the prison where she is being held captive, Ichigo does battle with, faces and defeats other Soul Reapers, including Renji Abarai , Kenpachi Zaraki , and Byakuya Kuchiki , who adopted Rukia as his sister. For his match against Byakuya, Ichigo learns his Bankai , Tensa Zangetsu ( 天鎖斬月 , literally “Heaven Chain Slaying Moon”) , which highly increases his speed. After

8775-714: The Wandenreich's high-ranked officers Quilge Opie . Later, Ichigo finds out that the Quincies are attacking the Soul Society. Arriving just after Captain Commander Yamamoto's death, Ichigo encounters the Wandenreich's leader Yhwach . During the fight against Yhwach that ends with a draw, Ichigo's Zanpakutō is shattered and Yhwach leaves the Soul Society. Ichigo returns to the World of the Living, where he learns

8892-426: The adoption, Hisana died after asking Byakuya to find and adopt Rukia as his sister. This remains unknown to Rukia, until Byakuya confesses it to her. When she was accepted into the 13th Division, Rukia befriended the lieutenant of her division, Kaien Shiba , and trained under him. During the course of a mission, Kaien was possessed by a hollow and Rukia inadvertently kills him. During Rukia's bid for freedom, she

9009-408: The age of three, she had been an orphan when her older brother Sora left their abusive parents' home with her and raised Orihime on his own. Later on, when Orihime was in middle school, Sora died in an accident. Though initially devoid of spiritual powers, she develops spiritual awareness early in the plot. She later obtains the god-like ability to warp reality through rejecting past phenomena. Orihime

9126-435: The anime, Hō and Ban are both voiced by Daisuke Sakaguchi . In the English dub, Hō and Ban are voiced by Roger Craig Smith and Brian Beacock . Ryō Utagawa ( 宇田川 稜 , Utagawa Ryō ) served under Jin Kariya and had ambitions to overthrow him. Ryō Utagawa's doll is Fried, which takes the form of a golden snake with black stripes and green eyes when unsealed. Its powers allow Ryō to turn whatever Fried touches or sees into

9243-491: The arc, Rukia's past is explored. She died as an infant and was sent to the Soul Society with her older sister, Hisana. Though Hisana initially tried to protect and provide for Rukia, she could not ensure her own survival while caring for a baby as well, and thus abandoned Rukia. As Rukia grew up, she befriended Renji Abarai , and entered the Soul Reaper academy, where she was adopted into the Kuchiki family. One year prior to

9360-408: The atmosphere. Once gathered, these particles can be shaped into spirit-energy constructs, foremost among them a bow and arrow, and to fuel various magical spells and superhuman abilities. Uryū is voiced by Noriaki Sugiyama in the Japanese version of the anime and by Derek Stephen Prince in the English dub. Yasutora Sado ( 茶渡 泰虎 , Sado Yasutora ) , better known as Chad ( チャド , Chado ) ,

9477-475: The category "Best Female Character" based on her appearances on Bleach: Memories of Nobody . Several publications for manga, anime, video games, and other related media have provided praise and criticism on Rukia's character. Although Chris Beveridge from Mania Entertainment noted Rukia's introduction in Bleach was typical in several others series, he praised how she interacted with her schoolmates and Ichigo. Anime News Network 's (ANN) Melissa Harper praised

9594-469: The category "The Character I Want to Be My Groom" from the 2008 survey and eight in the 2009 poll. Wizard Entertainment considered Ichigo the best hero from 2007, commenting that he does not try to be a typical hero but he fights in order to protect his friends. He was also 20th in IGN 's "Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time" with comments focused on his design and personality. Ichigo has also appeared twice in

9711-493: The class of spirit that most enemies in the series they are part of. They are spirits that had been human but were not sent to Soul Society in due time after death. This makes them lose their sense of being and gives them a craving for human souls. Their main characteristic is a white mask completely covering their face and a hole near their chest. Each hollow's mask has a design unique to that individual. The Arrancars , Hollows who acquired humanoid form and Soul Reaper powers, become

9828-444: The differences between Rukia and stereotypical shōnen heroines, asserting that Rukia's loss of her powers and subsequent dependence on Ichigo were "a great source of both drama and comedy in the show." However, the removal of the humor from Rukia's scenes as a schoolgirl due to the English translation was lamented, although Ruff was extolled for doing an "excellent job." Carlos Alexandre from popcultureshock.com regarded her as "less of

9945-405: The duty, but, with the passage of time, he accepts and welcomes the strength his Soul Reaper powers give him. 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. Ichigo is voiced by Masakazu Morita in the Japanese version of the anime and by Johnny Yong Bosch in

10062-515: The fact that he "looks cool". He also mentioned that as people read more about him they will discover that he is a warm and kind-hearted person. Following over fifty volumes of the manga's released, Kubo believes that Ichigo was the most developed character. He said that Ichigo leads the story and introduces readers to the events in it. When the Arrancar arc ended, Kubo rebooted the series which resulted in Ichigo losing his Soul Reaper powers. In

10179-424: The final fight in the manga between Ichigo and his allies against Yhwach for lacking any entertainment, giving a rushed feeling due to all characters assisting him briefly and how Ichigo became able to wield powers of every type of character in the process. During the serialization of the manga, Tite Kubo said he received a letter from a reader who decided to name his son "Ichigo". This brought joy as well as fear to

10296-481: The first two polls, and fell to third place in the third poll, being replaced by Tōshirō Hitsugaya . In early 2008, she was voted the second most popular character in Bleach , receiving 383 votes less than the front runner, Tōshirō Hitsugaya. Her zanpakutō , Sode no Shirayuki, ranked 2nd in the zanpakutō popularity poll of the series. In 2009, Rukia ranked 4th in a survey of the Japanese music distributor Recochoku titled "The Character I Want to Be My Bride". In

10413-526: The first volume of Bleach Breathless Collection CD soundtrack series together with the embodiment of his Quincy powers that posed as the Zanpakutō spirit Zangetsu. Ichigo is a playable character Jump Force . Amongst the Bleach reader base, Ichigo has been always highly ranked in the Weekly Shōnen Jump popularity polls for the series. He has usually taken first place, though in early 2008 he dropped to third. His sword, Zangetsu, also ranked third in

10530-492: The four feature films in the series, the two original video animations and several video games. 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. Reaction to her character is generally positive. Her differences from typical shōnen heroines is praised, as is her interaction with other characters. Additionally, she usually ranks second in Weekly Shōnen Jump ' s Bleach popularity polls, and

10647-452: The group reveals their real intention to take Ichigo's Fullbring powers. Though Xcution got Ichigo's Fullbring, they were scattered after Ginjō's death. Ichigo Kurosaki Ichigo Kurosaki ( 黒崎 一護 , Kurosaki Ichigo ) is a fictional character in the Bleach manga series and its adaptations created by author Tite Kubo . He is the main protagonist of the series, who receives Soul Reaper powers after meeting Rukia Kuchiki ,

10764-433: The illustrations where her face expresses pain, such as when she is going to be executed in the manga. Rukia meets Ichigo in the midst of a hollow attack. After suffering severe injuries, she transfers her powers to him in order to save themselves. Without her powers, Rukia cannot return to the Soul Society. She accompanies Ichigo in the real world, intending to stay until her powers are restored. Therefore, her only ability

10881-544: The latter, Kubo believed that the language sounded "bewitching" and "mellow" and that felt appropriate for a species of ghost. The names of several Arrancar are based on famous architects and designers who inspired scenery appearing in Bleach . Ichigo Kurosaki ( 黒崎 一護 , Kurosaki Ichigo ) is the main protagonist of the series. A tall orange-haired high school student, Ichigo becomes a "substitute Soul Reaper" after unintentionally absorbing most of Rukia Kuchiki's powers. His cynical nature at first makes him ill-disposed towards

10998-438: The live-action adaptation of the series with the storyline's first arc, with Bosch reprising his role in the English dub. Ichigo is one of the students attending Karakura High School and having the ability to see ghosts. He meets a Soul Reaper named Rukia Kuchiki from a secret organization called the Soul Society , who are in charge of sending souls to the afterlife. At the same time, Ichigo's younger sisters are attacked by

11115-505: The main antagonist of the pre-timeskip half. While introduced as the captain of Squad Five later revealed to have been behind various events prior to the series, Aizen has orchestrated a series of events in the Soul Society to obtain the Hōgyoku for his goal to create an Ōken to kill the Soul King with the aid of the Arrancars and rogue Soul Reapers he recruited. However, revealed to have played an indirect role in Ichigo's conception, Aizen

11232-424: The manga artist due to how his work influenced other people. While feeling that he also made a good manga during this comment, Kubo decided to work more on the character in hopes that once the real Ichigo grows up, he would feel proud with his name. [REDACTED] Media related to Ichigo Kurosaki at Wikimedia Commons Rukia Kuchiki Rukia Kuchiki ( Japanese : 朽木 ルキア , Hepburn : Kuchiki Rukia )

11349-531: The manga series, Tite Kubo commented that Rukia Kuchiki , the first Bleach character he introduced, was originally intended to be the protagonist . Through subsequent development of the series, however, Kubo decided to make her a valued ally and instead introduced Ichigo as the central character of the manga series. Initial design sketches show Ichigo wearing glasses, and having dark hair and softer eyes. When designing Rukia, however, Kubo modified Ichigo's appearance to contrast with hers, giving Ichigo orange hair,

11466-542: The manga, Bleach . She is by Hana Sugisaki and the film took place during the Soul Reaper Agent arc, when she had to transfer her powers to Ichigo. The film opened in Japan on July 20, 2018. Rukia has ranked highly in the Weekly Shōnen Jump popularity polls for the series, placing in the top five most popular characters in all four polls. She was ranked as the second most popular character after Ichigo in

11583-411: The manga, Kubo first designs character appearances and only then decides what their personalities will be, in reflection of what he drew. When brainstorming character designs, he will go out and draw the faces of real people he sees, a hobby of his dating back to childhood. Kubo considers every character to be unique and wants each of them to have the opportunity for character development in the course of

11700-461: The other Bounts, Yoshino tried to take the soul of a human until she was stopped by Yoruichi. In the end, following Kariya's example, Yoshino absorbs Goethe to increase her power but is still killed with her energy used to create the Bittos. Yoshino is voiced by Masako Katsuki in the Japanese version of the anime and by Dorothy Elias-Fahn in the English dub. Goethe is voiced by Richard Epcar in

11817-425: The other Soul Reapers. Rukia is voiced by Fumiko Orikasa in the Japanese version of the anime and by Michelle Ruff in the English dub. Orihime Inoue ( 井上 織姫 , Inoue Orihime ) is a long-time classmate of Ichigo and one of his closest friends. She used to have a crush on Ichigo since the beginning, however due to Ichigo's selfless wish to protect his loved ones, Orihime genuinely falls in love with him. Since

11934-454: The primary antagonists later in the series under the command of the rogue Soul Reaper Sōsuke Aizen and the ten strongest Arrancars known as the Espadas. The 10 Espadas are numbered 0–9, 0 being the strongest and 9 the weakest. But the rating also works with spirit pressure density numbered 1–10, with Espada's 0's power contained with a 10 tattoo. Sōsuke Aizen ( 藍染 惣右介 , Aizen Sōsuke ) is

12051-434: The recently deceased to the afterlife while contending with Hollows, he clashes and forms alliances with the other supernaturally powered residents of the city, including his friends. Many individual characters and the series' character design work have been praised, though Bleach ' s constantly-expanding character roster has been a point of criticism in the press. The size of the cast has been explained by author Kubo as

12168-499: The result of his writing process, in which he first creates new figures, then writes their personalities and character arcs, and finally assembles these interactions into a new plot. The overall response to this technique is mixed, with some reviewers believing the resulting characters are still relatively stereotypical and often get little individual focus, while others have remarked that even secondary characters feel like protagonists of their very own stories. Bleach 's creative process

12285-401: The same way Ichigo became a Soul Reaper during the series' first chapter; he starts searching for methods to recover his original powers. During the story arc, Ichigo wears a new outfit after developing his Fullbring powers. Kubo wanted to bring the readers a feeling of uneasiness when creating this design as it resembles more of a tokusatsu character rather than his kimono counterpart from

12402-445: The scenes in which Ichigo manages to stop Rukia's execution and his subsequent demonstration of his Bankai as one of the "eminently satisfying landmark moments in the series". Wired News 's Corrina Lawson stated that she liked Ichigo's strong sense of responsibility, and commented it was one of the reasons of the series' popularity. However, the early dynamic between Ichigo and Rukia was the subject of criticism as Film School Rejects

12519-426: The second invasion by the Wandenreich, Ichigo and his friends confront Yhwach at the Soul King's Palace. Ichigo gets overwhelmed, but Tsukishima and Orihime's combined efforts fixed his broken True Tensa Zangetsu. Together with Uryū, Renji and Aizen, Ichigo defeats Yhwach. As revealed in the light novel Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World , Ichigo was a potential heir of the Soul King due to the nature of his origins and

12636-402: The series was released, replica models of Ichigo's Zanpakutō and Bankai have been produced for purchase by collectors and fans. Several publications for manga, anime, video games, and other related media have provided praise and criticism on Ichigo's character. ANN's Melissa Harper commented that Ichigo's initial rebellious actions make him almost a stereotypical anti-hero, but note that he

12753-423: The series. When asked about potentially-romantic relationships between certain characters, Kubo states that he "doesn't want to turn the series into a love story", since he thinks there are more exciting aspects of their personalities to draw out. Kubo has cited influences for elements of Bleach ranging from other manga series to music, foreign language, architecture, and film. He attributes his interest in drawing

12870-418: The supernatural and monsters to Shigeru Mizuki 's Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro and Bleach 's focus on unique weaponry and battle scenes to Masami Kurumada 's Saint Seiya , both manga Kubo enjoyed as a boy. Bleach was first conceived from Kubo's desire to draw a shinigami in a kimono , which formed the basis for the design of the Soul Reapers. Several characteristics from them such as the kidō spells and

12987-526: The top 100 most-loved anime characters. He is also known as one of the big three anime characters, including Naruto and Luffy. Reviewers of the series have praised his personality, though some consider him to be a stereotypical anti-hero . Critics have expressed dislike, however, for Ichigo's anticlimactic fights in the latter half of the series' due to his lack of memorable scenes at those points. Merchandise based on Ichigo's likeness has also been released, including toys, clothing and action figures. When drawing

13104-551: The truth that his mother was a pure-blood Quincy who was on a verge of hollowification after she was infected by White, Aizen's experimental Hollow. She was saved by Isshin at the cost of his Soul Reaper powers. Ichigo later learns that entity he believed to be Zangetsu is actually the embodiment of his Quincy powers while his inner Hollow is the True Zangetsu. Despite this, Ichigo still accept him as he gains his reforged true Zanpakutō in its new split true Shikai form. During

13221-434: The truth, Ichigo resolves to protect everyone and help other Soul Reapers defeat Ginjo. Though learning from Ginjō that the Soul Society monitor and limit their powers, Ichigo promises the Soul Reapers to continue fighting by their side. While patrolling Karakura Town, Ichigo is informed about the invasion of Hueco Mundo by Wandenreich , a group of Quincies. He goes to Hueco Mundo with his friends to liberate it from one of

13338-411: The white haze" ) . Returning to the Soul Society when the Wandenreich resume their attack, Rukia utilizes her newly acquired bankai to defeat Äs. In the subsequent battles against Yhwach's Schutzstaffel Rukia and a large number of high rank Soul Reapers are quickly defeated by the powerful Gerard Valkyrie . After Ichigo defeats Yhwach, Rukia becomes the new Squad 13 captain and marries Renji. They have

13455-507: Was disappointed that the latter was reduced from a strong Soul Reaper into a weak supporting character as the former becomes the lead character with her powers. Anime News Network criticized the handling of how Ichigo faced off his biggest nemesis in the following arcs, Aizen and Ginjou. While the former was seen as anticlimactic and might have given the series a proper ending, the latter instead made no impact to his character despite their misrelationship caused by Ginjou's plans. Similarly, for

13572-437: Was originally Eugene Currier, a boy who was befriended by the Soul Society scientist Ran'tao before being forced to leave his home when Soul Reapers are dispatched to kill the Bounts. Jin Kariya's Doll is Messer, having long absorbed it to manipulate wind without releasing it into its true form. While usings Messer's full power, Kariya can move the wind at such speeds in order to generate lightning and move at high speeds similar to

13689-415: Was spared the burden when a new Soul King was created from Yhwach's remains. The manga's epilogue, taking place ten years after Yhwach's defeat, Ichigo and Orihime had a son named Kazui , who destroys the remnants of Yhwach's power. Ichigo appears in four films for the series, including Memories of Nobody , The DiamondDust Rebellion , Fade to Black and Hell Verse . He also appears in both of

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