Bleach is coming back this October after almost a decade and we have all been excited. A decade-long wait might blur out a little part of memory and we might need a rewatch.
However, if you do not want to rewatch all 16 seasons, keep reading to get a quick recap of what happened so far!
Bleach is adapted from Tite Kubo’s manga of the same name and spanned over 366 episodes, from October 2004 to March 2012. It was action-packed and filled with bizarre comedy. It was a hit and is considered a part of the BIG 3 by many fans.
1. Plot
The basic plot of bleach revolves around our protagonist, Ichigo Kurosaki, who is a completely average, orange-haired high school boy who can see ghosts.
The calm and peaceful life of this Strawberry is disrupted by Death God herself, Rukia Kuchiki. She saves his sisters from getting attacked by a corrupted soul, we will get to know them as Hollows, later on. During the fight, she has to transfer her powers due to her injury.
This interaction starts the journey of Ichigo, who has to learn to understand his powers as a soul reaper and in the process deal with badass villains with epic powers.
2. Season 1: The Agent of Soul Reaper Saga
The Agent of the Soul Reaper Saga is the first season directed by Noriyuki Abe and produced by Studio Pierrot. This season adapts the first 8 volumes of the manga and spans over twenty episodes.
Ichigo Kurosaki is introduced as a 15-year-old boy who can see ghosts. In the very first scene, we see him fighting off some other boys, who accidentally knocked over the flowers he got for the little girl’s soul who wasn’t able to pass away.
As he tries to protect this little girl from a malevolent spirit, he witnesses a woman of short stature, in a black kimono clashing with the spirit. Later, during the night he witnesses the same woman in his room, who does not seem to acknowledge his presence and just walks in.
Imagine the surprise Rukia gets when Ichigo kicks her down. Even though she is taken aback by surprise that a human can see her, she quickly collects herself and when questioned by Ichigo tells him about soul society.
Soul society is a place, as the name indicates, all the souls reside. The souls are generally classified as Wholes and Hollows. When a soul lingers too long on earth with unfulfilled dreams and regrets, they inevitably turn into a Hollow.
A soul reaper’s job is to send wholes to soul society and purify Hollows and thereby maintaining the balance of souls. During this explanation, Ichigo’s sisters are attacked by the same Hollow they encountered before.
Rukia goes to save the day but ends up getting injured which forces her to transfer her powers to Ichigo. Unintentionally he steals her entire powers and transforms her into a Shinigami with a huge, wide blade.
He successfully defeats the Hollow. The next day, Rukia enrols into Ichigo’s school and tells him that he must act as Rukia’s proxy and defeat the Hollows.
Reluctant at first, he eventually accepts the job and performs his duties diligently. We then meet Ichigo’s friends Inoue Orihime and Yasutora “Chad” Sado, each with their own story.
Ichigo and his family visit his mother’s grave, however a huge Hollow attacks Yuzu and Karin. After a confrontation, we get to know that the Hollow is called Grand Fisher, and was the one responsible for his mother’s death.
In a fit of rage, Ichigo defeats the Hollow, but it escapes. Afterwards, we meet Ishida, who claims to be a Quincy and he also can exterminate Hollows but bears a huge grudge towards Soul Reapers.
They have a competition which lures out a Menos Grande, one of the very huge Hollows and Kurosaki and Ichigo inflict a wound on the Menos. Orihime and Sado also awaken their powers during this competition.
Ichigo faces Renji, who is a lieutenant and has come back to take Rukia for a punishment. Soul Society has laws which do not allow you to transfer powers to humans.
However, Ichigo’s blade is broken by the bare hands of the silent captain, Kuchiki Byakuya, and Ichigo is left heavily injured. After the incident, he is treated by the mysterious stranger, who we all will eventually come to love, Urahara Kisuke.
Rukia is sentenced to death and Ichigo trains under Kisuke’s guidance and learns that the name of his zanpakuto is Zangetsu. Orihime, Sado, Uryu and Ichigo get ready to go to Soul Society to save Rukia.
I. Scene of the Season
It was super cool seeing Renji being overpowered by Ichigo. I am aware that they were under restriction and only using 20% of their power, but still seeing Renji being astonished by the immense growth Ichigo shows just in one fight is amazing and come on we all thought Renji was just an ass at that time.
3. Season 2: Sneaky Entry Arc!
The Soul Society: The Sneak Entry arc is the second season of Bleach and contains 21 episodes. The season adapts the 9th volume of the manga and centres on Ichigo and his group’s journey to enter Soul Society.
After going through Senkaimon, they reach the gates of Seireitei. Due to the training acquired from Urahara, he easily defeats Jidanbo, the gatekeeper. However, they are kicked out by Squad 3 Captain Ichimaru Gin.
With no other choice, they enter Rukon district and meet Ganju Shiba and his sister, Kukakku with the help of Yoruichi in cat form. Ichigo and his friends have to train to create a Cannonball to enter the barrier surrounding Seireitei.
Though Ichigo faces some trouble, in the beginning, he finally manages to learn the Cannonball technique. Ganju wants to tag along to know more about Kaien’s death and tells Ichigo that he believes in him.
The Cannonball is activated, however during the entry, it breaks apart and this causes the group to land in different places.
Ichigo and Ganju encounter Madarame Ikkaku and Ayasegawa Yumichika, from the 11th squad. Ganju takes on Yumichika and eventually overpowers him.
Ichigo is left to take care of the 3rd seat, Madarame Ikkaku. During the fight, Ichigo is overpowered, however, eventually, he is able to defeat Ikkaku.
Elsewhere, Ishida and Orihime encounter Jirobo, who attacks relentlessly. Orihime sends out Tsubaki who is injured easily leaving her defenceless. Ishida takes on Jirobo and defeats him, leaving Orihime feeling powerless.
With the help of Hanataro, Ichigo and Ishida go in search of Rukia. During the journey, they encounter Renji who is 5 times stronger. He fights viciously and Ichigo is injured seriously but eventually defeats Renji.
We also get to know that Aizen is murdered and Soul Society is in chaos. The next enemy Ichigo encounters is Kenpachi.
In the beginning, even with leeway, Ichigo is not able to cut open Zaraki. Ichigo is heavily injured but somehow stops the bleeding. He then increases his spiritual pressure and they put stakes on their final attack with all they got.
The fight ends with both Kenpachi and Ichigo being severely injured and Yoruichi takes Ichigo for treatment while Yachiru takes Kenpachi for the same.
Inline Spoiler: How was Ichigo able to stop the bleeding?
The Quincy powers of Ichigo known as Blut Vene, help him stop the bleeding. It is not just a plot armour, but a little foreshadowing for what’s coming later on.
I. Scene of the Season
The scene that gives literal chills is when Zaraki appears. The insane spiritual pressure he has and Ichigo cannot even slice Zaraki, that crazy bastard Ichigo’s hands are torn from the impact. Hands down one of the best fights in Bleach.
4. Season 3: The Rescue Arc
Rescue Arc adapts from the 14th manga volume to the 21st volume and spans over 21 episodes starting from episodes 42 to 63. It primarily focuses on the efforts of Ichigo and his friends to rescue Rukia.
The season starts with Renji recovering in a cell, and the spirit of his Zanpakuto, Zabimaru wants to face off Zangetsu but Renji tells Zabimaru that Ichigo is no longer his enemy.
Elsewhere, Ichigo is being carried by Yoruichi after she evades Byakuya. Ichigo regains his consciousness, and she eventually tells him about a higher form of Zanpakuto “Bankai”, which would increase his power by a lot.
On the other side, Orihime and Ishida are trying to get to Rukia’s confinement cell but unbeknownst to them, Kurotsuchi Mayuri is watching them.
While the duo continue, they are ambushed by some soul reapers who are made into human bombs by the mad scientist. They detonate and Orihime saves them by using her shield.
Mayuri expresses his desire to experiment on Orihime and Uryu begins to fight him. However, he is quickly paralyzed by Kurotsuchi’s Zanpakuto.
His lieutenant, Nemu holds him down while Mayuri tells about his inhumane experiments on all the other Quincy along with Uryu’s grandfather and was responsible for his death.
Uryu in rage uses his technique called ransōtengai but is completely outclassed by Kurotsuchi. This pushes him to remove the limit over the technique and he immediately overpowers Mayuri even with Bankai.
However, Kurotsuchi turns into a liquid and escapes. Nemu gives the antidote to Mayuri’s poison and Uryu continues his journey while he encounters another captain, Kaname Tosen.
Tosen disables Uryu and throws him in jail while Kenpachi agrees to help Inoue find Ichigo so he can fight him again. Elsewhere, Yoruichi summons Zangestu using Urahara’s invention.
The condition to acquire Bankai is to defeat Zangetsu, and the training begins. Momo Hinamori escapes jail and goes in search of the person who murdered her dear captain.
Hitsugaya is seen confronting Ichimaru and Kira regarding Aizen’s death. Hinamori somehow holds Toshiro responsible for the captain’s death and attacks him.
Toshiro knocks out Hinamori and prepares to fight Ichimaru. Ichimaru takes the upper hand by targeting the unconscious Hinamori with his Shikai. Meanwhile, Rangiku comes to aid her captain. This forces Ichimaru to retreat.
Elsewhere, Renji comes in with bad news and tells Ichigo that Rukia’s execution date has been moved up to the very next day.
In her cell, we see Rukia reminisce about her past and remember how she had to face Shiba Kaien, who was taken over by the Hollow. Kaien managed to gain control over the Hollow and impaled himself over Rukia’s Zanpakuto.
She finally convinces herself that she deserves the execution. Alternatively, we see Kenpachi moving with Yachiru, Orihime and his subordinates to the execution field.
However, they are stopped by captains Komamura and Tosen. A grand fight ensues and Kenpachi being the crazy badass he is, easily manages both the captains and forces Tosen to use his bankai.
His bankai removes all the senses except touch, despite being unable to see anything, Kenpachi manages to dodge Tosen’s attacks by hair’s breadth.
In the end, he gets stabbed and holds Tosen’s Zanpakuto to regain his senses and almost kills the blind captain but Komamura interferes.
Elsewhere we see that Renji has acquired his bankai and heads to fight Byakuya. As expected, Byakuya annihilates Renji’s Bankai with his own and severely injures the lieutenant.
Rukia is taken to the execution grounds and it looks like she accepted her fate. She makes a final request to Genryusai Yamamoto and tells him to send off Ichigo and his friends after the execution.
Sokyoku transforms into a Phoenix and is said to hold the power of “Thousand Zanpakuto”. The bird leaps to attack Rukia while Ichigo comes in the best way possible and just stops the power of Thousand Zanpakuto with his own.
The captains Ukitake and Kyoraku destroy the sokyoku and Ichigo straight up throws Rukia and Renji catches her. They start to run while Ichigo defeats the pursuing Lieutenants with his BARE hands.
He heads towards Byakuya to take care of some unfinished business. Multiple battles ensue at the same time, the twin Zanpakuto-owning captains fight the Headmaster, while Sui Feng takes on Yoruichi.
Yumichika returns to his captain after defeating Hisagi and Komamura flees from the fight. Sui Feng activates a technique that greatly increases her powers and Yoruichi activates the same power and calls it Shunko.
Ichigo uses Getsuga Tenshou to defeat his Shikai and asks him to use his bankai. When Byakuya overpowers Ichigo, he finally reveals his bankai, and Byakuya thinks it’s a joke since the entire purpose of Bankai is to be grand whereas Ichigo’s bankai looks smaller than his Shikai.
A Thousand blades attack Ichigo and he cuts through them with ease, The older Kuchiki realizes that Ichigo’s Bankai revolves around speed and allows him to respond to attacks in a much more efficient way.
Byakuya then uses the second form of bankai which makes Ichigo much weaker and his inner Hollow takes over and completely wrecks Byakuya. Ichigo manages to regain control and they put their all into the final attack and Ichigo emerges victorious.
Elsewhere Toshiro and Rangiku go towards Central 46 and find it completely deserted and this puts them at loss for words.
The biggest twist of Bleach is revealed and it turns out that Aizen was the villain all this time and surprisingly not dead. He stabs Hinamori and injures Komamura.
He tells about his master plan and reveals how he planned this execution solely to gain Hogyoku which was hidden in Rukia’s body by Urahara.
He tells them they have been under the hypnosis of his Zanpakuto and Ichimaru along with Tosen are his accomplices, he extracts the Hogyoku from Rukia’s body and the trio leaves for Hueco Mundo.
I. Scene of the Season
The best scene hands down has to be the entrance of Ichigo, the shock on everyone’s face when he stops Sokyoku and slides through 3 Lieutenants with the soundtrack playing. Pure nostalgia!!
5. Season 4: The Bount Arc
Bount’s arc follows the adventures of Kurosaki and his friends, but instead of adapting from the original manga, it features an original, self-contained filler arc. It is covered from episodes 64 to 91.
The Bount Arc begins after Kurosaki and his friends return from Soul Society after rescuing Rukia. They start their school year when they are ambushed by three Mod souls.
They are forced to participate in a series of games while holding their friends’ hostage. Eventually, we get to know that this is a preparation stage that Urahara orchestrated to prepare for a new enemy called Bount.
The Bounts make an appearance in Karakura Town and kidnap Uryu. Ichigo goes to rescue Ishida along with his friends but soon discovers that Kariya is much more powerful than them
Kariya proceeds to sacrifice Soma to create the Bitto, a doll which drains the Souls of Humans and concentrates them for Bounts to consume.
This grants them a huge boost in power and ability to manage space. At the same time, Uryu gets a Quincy Bangle which allows him to restore his Quincy powers which he uses to help the Bount enter Soul Society.
6. Season 5: Bount Assault on Soul Society
This is the continuation of the Bount arc where they enter Soul Society and are further strengthened by using the Reishi to heal and empower themselves.
However, the Bounts are unmatched by the Soul Reapers and are eventually killed by the captains and Ishida.
Kariya then absorbs the power of Jokaisho and tries to obliterate Soul Society but Ichigo stops him before he can do so and eventually kills him.
7. Season 6: Arrancar Arrival Arc
The Arrancar arrival arc adapts the 21st to 26th volume of the manga and spans over 22 episodes. The episodes mainly centre around the start of the war between Soul Reapers and the arrancars led by Aizen Sousuke.
The season starts with Hollow Grand Fisher who transforms into an imperfect Arrancar and enters the world of the living. A transfer student named Hirako enrols at Ichigo’s school.
Shinji soon confronts Ichigo and shows that he can willingly produce a hollow mask similar to what Ichigo does unconsciously. Shinji asks Ichigo to join his crew, called Vizards.
At the same time Kon, in Ichigo’s body is attacked by the Grand fisher who is now an incomplete Arrancar and is rescued by Isshin Kurosaki, who is revealed to be a soul reaper.
Upon realising that Grand Fisher was the one responsible for his beloved wife’s death he kills the Arrancar and avenges his wife.
Elsewhere, Uryu is attacked by a bunch of hollows and is saved by his father who reveals himself to be a Quincy. He offers to restore Uryu’s lost power on the condition that he will never associate with soul reapers.
We see Urahara Kisuke conversing with Isshin and they discuss the threat arrancars possess. Shinji continuously tries to recruit Ichigo but to no avail.
Hirako, another Vizard explains to him the consequences of not getting his inner Hollow under control. Ichigo slowly grows paranoid as he hears his inner Hollow trying to take over.
When Yammy and Ulquiorra arrive in Karakura Town, Yammy immediately starts to consume the souls of the town’s residents. Chad and Inoue appear but are completely overwhelmed by the strength of these arrancars.
Before they can do further damage, Ichigo arrives and cuts off Yammy’s right arm. However, when his inner Hollow interferes his reiatsu begins to fluctuate as noted by Ulquiorra.
Soon, he is completely overwhelmed by Yammy, thankfully Yoruichi and Urahara come to the rescue and beat Yammy. The duo cease the attack and go back to Hueco Mundo.
Ichigo looks depressed while a team of well-known Soul reapers arrive at Ichigo’s school as students. The team includes Abarai Renji, Kuchiki Rukia, Hitsugaya Toshiro, Ayasegawa Yumichika, Madarame Ikkaku and Matsumoto Rangiku. They are dispatched to help Ichigo fight against arrancars.
Rukia beats some sense into Ichigo and he starts to become lively. Briefly after, Aizen is notified of the situation and tells him that Ichigo is not worthy to be disposed of.
However, Grimmjow Jaeger, another Espada, seems to disagree and takes a team of 5 arrancars to Karakura. The soul reapers barely manage to defeat the Arrancar after lifting Gentei Ren.
Ichigo battles Grimmjow and gets badly beaten, but at the same time, Tosen comes to retrieve Yaegar. In Hueco Mundo, Tosen cuts Grimmijow’s arm for his disobedience.
Ichigo realizes he needs the training from the Visoreds and visits them. He starts his training and is now able to maintain his mask for 3 seconds.
Elsewhere, they find out Aizen’s motive to make an Ouken, which is a key to Soul Palace where the king resides. This requires sacrificing the 100,000 souls in Karakura Town.
Urahara tells Orihime not to participate in the upcoming battle, as she lost her only attack option during Yammy’s attack which greatly upsets her. Orihime tracks down Ichigo to tell him about Aizen’s plans.
Hachi, a Visored who has similar powers to Orihime offers to fix Tsubaki for which she looks immensely grateful. Meanwhile, Aizen becomes interested in Orihime’s powers.
I. Scene of The Season
Hands down, the best part is the reveal of Madarame Ikkaku’s bankai. It was epic in every way. It was flashy, and strong and astonished everyone. Ikkaku is one of the most badass characters we see in Bleach, so of course, his Bankai is gonna be epic as well.
8. Season 7: Hueco Mundo Sneak Entry Arc
The seventh season of Bleach was adapted from the 26th to 28th volume in the manga. It spans over 20 episodes and mainly concentrates on Ichigo’s journey to rescue Inoue who was kidnapped by Aizen.
In Hueco Mundo, Aizen creates an Arrancar named Wonderweiss Margera with the Hogyoku and assigns a task to Ulquiorra and other arrancars. Meanwhile, Ichigo’s training allows him to use the mask for 11 seconds.
Rukia and Orihime are seen training in Soul Society to get stronger. During this time, the world of the living is attacked by Luppi Antenor, Grimmjow Jaeger, Yammy and Wonderweiss.
This information soon reaches soul society and Rukia immediately starts her journey instructing Orihime to come after the currents have stabilized.
In Karakura, Ichigo encounters Grimmjow and fights with his enhanced powers. Luppi fights with Hitsugaya, Rangiku, Ikkaku and Yumichika but they are soon overpowered.
It’s Urahara to rescue again when he cuts Luppi’s tentacles. He soon begins to fight with Yammy and almost defeats him.
While travelling from Soul Society, Ulquiorra injures her escorts and tells her that her friends are in danger, she can either comply or die.
Orihime chooses her friends over her life and is offered 12 hours, but can say goodbye to only one person.
Ichigo is almost killed by Grimmjow but is saved by Rukia. Ichigo manages to overpower Grimmjow enough and he decides to release his Zanpakuto when Ulquiorra arrives asking him to retreat.
Orihime roams around the town and bids goodbye to severely injured Ichigo by healing his arm. Upon being brought before Aizen, she demonstrates her powers by healing Grimmjow’s arm which shocks everyone.
Orihime’s power is revealed to be her power of refusal, that is she rejects whatever has happened to the object and reverts it to its original state.
Orihime is soon found to be missing, and Soul Society decides that Inoue is guilty and she went along with arrancars of her own accord because she had the time to heal Ichigo’s arm.
Ichigo makes his decision to rescue Inoue, while Chad and Uryu accompany him. They arrive in Hueco Mundo and defeat Demora and Iceringer causing the room to collapse.
They escape outside and meet Nelliel Tu Oderschvanck and her brothers Pesche and Dondachakka along with their pet Bawabawa. Rukia and Renji join them and they finally manage to break into Las Noches.
In Las Noches, they find themselves at a five-way fork and decide to split up. Nel follows Ichigo, and Pesche and Dondachakka, unaware of the path Nel took, go down different paths.
Ulquiorra informs Inoue of her friend’s arrival and is taken to Aizen to swear her loyalty. Ichigo and Nel encounter Privaron Espada Dordonii. Uryu and Chad encounter arrancars as well while Gin and Tosen observe the battles through surveillance systems.
9. Season 8: Arrancar The Fierce Fight Arc
Bleach Season 8 adapts the manga series from 29th volume to 32nd volume and spans over 16 episodes. It mainly centres around Ichigo and his friends’ battle against Espada.
Ichigo continues his fight against Dordonii and gets easily overpowered. Dordonii asks Ichigo to use his bankai against him, and when Ichigo refuses he uses a cero which Nel swallows and fires back at Dordonii.
Ichigo uses bankai to save nel and also uses the Hollow mask as per Dordonii’s request and easily defeats him. Nel heals Dordonii and he fights a group of arrancars to allow Ichigo to retreat.
We see Ishida fighting Privaron Espada Cirucci and Rukia encounters Aaroniero Arrurueire. Aaroniero removes his mask and reveals his face to be of Kaein.
While she is initially fooled that he is the real Shiba, she, later on, gives her best and defeats Aaroniero but suffers a fatal injury.
Uryu also defeats Cirucci after the resurrection and meets Renji who seems to be in a pinch as he cannot use his bankai in the presence of Szayelaporro, who reveals that he has gathered all the data.
Chad fights Gantenbainne Mosqueda after transforming his left arm but soon encounters Nnoitora Gilga, who defeats Chad with one blow.
This apparent death is felt by everyone in Hueco Mundo and Ulquiorra informs the same to Orihime who refuses to believe that her friend has passed away which compels Ulquiorra to tell her that everyone is doomed to the same fate.
This prompts Orihime to slap him and breaks down later on. Ulquiorra then meets Ichigo and tells him about Rukia’s injury which makes Ichigo try to leave the place and save her, but Ulquiorra being the manipulative person, goads him into fighting.
He informs Ichigo that he was the one who forced Orihime to come with him which makes Ichigo furious, and Ulquiorra is revealed to be the 4th strongest and easily overpowers Ichigo.
Meanwhile, Loly and Menoly confront Orihime but she is saved by Grimmjow who tells her that this is him returning the favour for healing his hand. He brings Orihime to Ichigo and asks her to heal him so he can fight him again.
However, when Ulquiorra appears he traps him in another dimension and the fight between Grimmjow and Ichigo ensues.
Grimmjow releases his Zanpakuto and forces Ichigo back, he uses his strongest attack but Ichigo overcomes it and deals the final blow after leaving Grimmjow on the ground, he plans to take Orihime away.
I. Best Scene of the Season
Honestly speaking, it’s not a cool or badass fight but I truly enjoyed the fight between Dordonii and Ichigo, it was great, the antics of Dordonii and the way he offers himself to fight for Ichigo. It’s pretty amazing.
10. Season 9: The New Captain Shusuke Amagai Arc
Season 9 is not adapted from the original manga and is a self-contained filler story that focuses on the introduction of a new captain, Shusuke Amagai and spans over 22 episodes.
The new captain of Squad 3, Shusuke Amagai arrives. He wants to make Squad 3 better by improving their teamwork, however, they face some problems.
Rurichiyo, a Soul Society princess flees to Karakura to avoid assassination attempts. The assassins also follow and arrive at the same place, Ichigo and Rukia defend the young princess.
Gyotaku Kumoi is revealed to be the one who plotted these attempts to take over the power. Ichigo decides to protect Rurichiyo.
In the end, it is revealed that Amagai’s father was killed as he was sent to gather information on the Kasumioji clan and wants to kill Yamamoto for revenge. However, he realizes that Yamamoto made the right choice and kills himself for the trouble he caused.
11. Season 10: Arrancar vs. Shinigami Arc
Season 10 adapts the manga from volumes 32 to 35 and spans over 16 episodes. The season continues with Ichigo and his friend’s battle with the Espada, and the Soul Reaper captains are sent as reinforcements.
After finishing Grimmjow, Orihime and Ichigo attempt to leave but are confronted by Nnoitora, who is revealed to be the 5th Espada and therefore stronger than Grimmjow.
Nnoitora’s subordinate, Tesla, captures Orihime and Ichigo fights against Nnoitora. However, he is not able to do much as the exhaustion from the previous match catches up with Ichigo.
Nnoitora recognizes Nel and tells him that she is a former Espada. Nnoitora uses Nel as a shield and tries to break Ichigo’s arm which causes an outburst of emotions in Nel, which changes her back to her adult form.
It is revealed that Nel is number 3, and continues to fight Nnoitora and fires a Cero Doble which doesn’t cause much damage. Nnoitora reveals that Espada has become much stronger in her absence.
Nel then decides to release her Zanpakuto which completely overwhelms Nnoitora, however, when she is about to deliver the finishing blow, she transforms back into a child.
Ishida, Renji, Dondachakka and Pesche seem to be facing difficulty with the mad scientist and he starts to crush their internal organs.
During this critical time, we see the reinforcements come in, Kenpachi reaches Ichigo, Byakuya comes to the rescue of Rukia, and Kurotsuchi is ready for a battle of mad scientists.
The fights continue and are eventually won by the captains. After Kenpachi defeats Nnoitora, Espada Stark carries Orihime to Aizen.
In Las Noches, Aizen reveals that he got her to trap the captains and leaves for Karakura while leaving Ulquiorra to protect Las Noches. Ichigo flies to protect Orihime.
I. Scene of the Season
Kurotsuchi takes this season as he defeats another mad scientist. The craziness is too much, it’s almost like he had a backup for his backup plan, which is pretty cool.
12. Season 11: The Past Arc
Season 11 is the smallest Bleach Season and is only 7 episodes long. The plot mainly focuses on the past of the Vizards, who were all high-ranking officials in Seireitei.
This season mainly focused on the happenings of hollowfication 110 years before the start of the events of Bleach.
Urahara is newly appointed as the 12th squad captain, Hiyori is his Lieutenant while Hirako is the 5th division captain and Aizen his Lieutenant.
There are cases of suspicious hollowification along with the disappearance of Rukon district souls. Hiyori seems to be in trouble and to deal with the situation, Love Aikawa, Rose Otoribashi, Yadomaru Lisa and Hachigen Ushoda along with Shinji Hirako are deployed.
Urahara also wants to join the search, but when restricted, hides his presence and goes to save Hiyori. Elsewhere, we see all the people deployed undergoing Hollowification and Aizen is revealed to be a betrayer.
Before he can deliver the final blow over these soul reapers, Urahara arrives but Aizen was expecting his arrival. Urahara reveals that he has been studying Hogyoku which can bring them to normal.
The next morning, Urahara and Tessai are arrested but Yoruichi breaks them out and Urahara vows to return the Visoreds to normal.
13. Season 12: Decisive Battle of Karakura Arc
Season 12 spans over 17 episodes and the plot mainly revolves around the battle between Soul Reapers and Arrancars in the Fake Karakura arc. The arc continues with auto-conclusive filler stories from episode 227.
Sosuke Aizen, Kaname Tōsen, and Gin Ichimaru arrive in Fake Karakura Town and are confronted by the head captain along with the remaining captains.
Aizen declares that he is going to make Ouken out of the souls in Karakura Town unaware that the place they are standing is fake. Yamamoto traps the three using his Shikai.
Now that the trio is trapped, Baraggan, the second Espada takes control and sends his troop to destroy the pillars which will bring the real Karakura back.
Each of the Soul Reapers decides to Guard one pillar and the fight between the arrancars and Soul Reapers ensues.
Yumichika defeats Charlotte who has released her Zanpakuto but releases his own Kido Type Zanpakuto. It is revealed that Yumichika uses the wrong name to avoid using the Kido abilities of his Zanpakuto to fit into the 11th squad. He easily defeats Charlotte after the release.
Hisagi is fighting Findor, with Findor overpowering Hisagi but as soon as Hisagi releases his Zanpakuto he easily overpowers Findor and kills him.
On the other hand, Kira fights and defeats Avirama whose resurrection turns him into a bird. Kira makes his wings difficult to fly and eventually defeats him.
However, we see that Ikkaku has lost the fight against Poww, Sajin Komamura takes over and defeats him. The remaining two Fracciones of Barragan end up facing Sui Feng and Omaeda who win the fight and go on to face Baraggan.
In the other place, we see Ukitake and Kyoraku facing Stark while Hitsugaya faces Halibel. Rangiku takes upon Halibel’s three Fracciones.
She is joined by Hinamori but the three Fracciones fuse to form a creature called Ayon which severely injures the duo. Hisagi intervenes but is defeated as well and the creature heads towards Kira who is healing the ones injured.
Yamamoto steps in and defeats the creature without even moving from his place. Elsewhere we see Ichigo head towards Ulquiorra and Orihime after Renji, Chad and Rukia battle Exequias. The battle between Ulquiorra and Ichigo begins.
I. Scene of the Season
Yumichika takes this season, we don’t see much of him fighting but in this fight, we truly see his potential when he defeats the Arrancar with little to no effort.
14. Season 13: Zanpakuto The Alternate Tale Arc
Season 13 of Bleach does not follow the original material but is rather a filler arc and spans over 36 episodes. This arc mainly focuses on the Zanpakuto who take human forms and rebel against their masters.
The Zanpakuto Rebellion is an arc in which Muramasa, a Zanpakuto spirit, frees many other Zanpakutos from their masters. He starts a rebellion and pretends that he aims to free every Zanpakuto from the Shinigami.
In reality, he only wants to free his master Kuchiki Koga who has sealed long ago. This arc begins when Muramasa appears and the Soul Reapers lose their ability to contact the Zanpakuto spirits.
The Soul Reapers are left with no Shikai and Bankai and are unable to deal with their former Zanpakuto, which throws the Soul Society into chaos.
The rebellion ends when Ichigo enters a dome which Muramasa creates and a fierce battle ensues. Ichigo manages to defeat him, freeing the Zanpakuto spirits and ending the rebellion.
15. Season 14: Arrancar Downfall Arc
Season 14 is one of the longest seasons spanning over 51 episodes and mainly concentrates on the fight between Aizen and Soul Reapers with Ichigo’s efforts to save Orihime from Ulquiorra.
Ichigo is seen battling Ulquiorra who moves the fight to the terrace of Las Noches and reveals that it is for the resurrection of any Espada above rank 4. Elsewhere, Uryu defeats Yammy and pushes him down.
He easily defeats Kurosaki after undergoing a second release and blows a hole through him. Uryu and Ishida reach the place and Orihime, devastated, asks Ichigo to save her.
This triggers the inner Hollow and Ichigo undergoes a complete Hollowification and completely rips Ulquiorra apart. Ichigo is not in control and when he injures Uryu, Ulquiorra cuts off his horns using his last attack.
Ulquiorra disappears having said that he finally understood what Orihime meant by heart and bonds between the people.
Ichigo then reaches to help Rukia, Renji and Chad but is quickly overpowered prompting Kenpachi and Byakuya to take care of the situation.
Mayuri tells them that he found a way to reach Karakura. Everyone leaves, except Kenpachi and Byakuya who battle Yammy and easily defeat him.
In Karakura Town, Barragan is defeated by Hachi, Sui Feng and Omaeda, while Stark by Kyoraku. Halibel is seen stabbing Aizen as she never wanted to be an Espada in the first place.
The Aizen she stabbed is revealed to be an illusion and she is eventually injured fatally by Aizen. Tosen is also killed by the internal impact.
All the shinigami attack Aizen but to no avail, he tells Ichigo that his entire life was planned by him which completely overwhelms Ichigo. Isshin comes and takes him into Garganta, to undergo training.
Meanwhile, Aizen fuses with Hogyoku and Gin finally makes his move and steals the Hogyoku but is eventually killed by Aizen. Rangiku mourns his death.
Ichigo is finally back after his training and the time moves differently in Garganta, we see that Ichigo is taller and has longer hair.
He forces Aizen to a faraway place and uses his Final Getsuga Tenshou to take care of him. This means that Ichigo can no longer use his Shinigami powers and his form disappears.
When Aizen is seen trying to resurrect once more after Ichigo’s powers disappear, he starts undergoing a sealing process. This is revealed to be a great plot by Urahara who laid traps for this to happen.
Ichigo permanently loses his powers and bids his farewell to Rukia.
I. Scene of the Season
The entire season is great with epic battles and fights, however, Ichigo dragging Aizen by his face and Aizen’s shocked look take the season for me. The final Getsuga Tenshou is my all-time favourite.
16. Season 15: Gotei 13 Invading Army arc
Gotei 13 arc does not follow the original plot line and spans over 26 episodes. This arc deals with several disappearances of numerous Soul Reapers and Ichigo and his friends try to investigate the conspiracy at work.
Ichigo and his friends rest after the battle with Aizen. However the imposters of the Gotei 13 slip and attack their counterparts.
The originals find themselves on guard as they cannot tell who is real and who is not. Amid all this Kon finds a strange girl who might have a connection with these attacks.
Inaba is revealed to be the mastermind behind these attacks and the girl is revealed to be Nozomi, the first mod soul. Inaba and Nozomi are revealed to be the parts of the comatose captain Yushima.
Inaba is the darker half and Nozomi the lighter, Inaba wants to fuse with Nozomi and succeeds, and Yushima is born again. During the battle, Nozomi takes control and stabs Yushima and they fade away.
17. Season 16: Lost Agent Arc
The sixteenth season of Bleach spans over 24 episodes and deals with Ichigo who loses his Shinigami powers and Ginjo seems to know a way to restore them.
Ichigo loses all his powers after the battle with Aizen and tries to live a normal life. Ichigo meets Gingo who offers to teach him an ability called Full Bring.
The source of Chad’s powers is the same ability, this is due to the residual spiritual energy from the mothers who were attacked by Hollows when they were pregnant.
Ichigo initially declines but is forced to learn when he realises he cannot protect his family in his current state. Ichigo achieves the Full Bring but it is revealed that Ginjo was not the good guy all along.
He steals Ichigo’s ability and Ichigo can only beg him to return the powers. He is stabbed by Rukia who gives him the soul reaper powers of all the captains.
A fight ensues between Gingo and Ichigo, where Gingo tells Ichigo that he was the substitute Shinigami as well and Soul Society uses the batch to monitor the actions of the Substitutes.
Ichigo tells Ginjo that he is already aware of this but will still support Soul Society. The other soul reapers quickly take care of the Fullbringers and Ginjo is killed.
Ginjo is buried in the human world and Ichigo continues being the Soul Reaper and returns to his town where he is greeted by his friends and family.
18. About Bleach
Bleach is a Japanese anime television series based on Tite Kubo’s manga of the same name. The anime series adapts Kubo’s manga but also introduces some new, original, self-contained story arcs.
It is based in Karakura Town on a 15-year-old high school student Ichigo Kurosaki who becomes a substitute Soul Reaper when Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper, puts Soul Reaper powers in Ichigo. They barely manage to kill the hollow.
Although initially reluctant to accept the heavy responsibility, he begins eliminating some more hollows and also discovers that several of his friends and classmates are spiritually aware and have powers of their own.
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