General Plot Summary
Bleach is about a high school student named Ichigo Kurosaki. He seems like a mostly normal high school student aside from his naturally orange hair. However, he has a special skill: seeing and hearing ghosts. Although he shows a gruff exterior and can really beat people up, he's obviously a nice guy because he tries to help the ghosts he meets pass on to the next world. Aside from this point he leads a normal life at his father's clinic until he meets Rukia Kuchiki, a shinigami, which is basically like a grim reaper. It turns out she's there because a bad spirit is in the area and the bad spirit shows up at Ichigo's house and injures his family and Rukia. She ends up giving Ichigo her powers so he can save all of them. The rest of the story is Ichigo learning more about shinigami and growing in his shinigami abilities with the help of Rukia, some of his classmates, and others he meets along the way.
About Bleach
Bleach is a popular manga by Tite Kubo currently being serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine. There is also an anime series by Studio Pierrot which started in October 2004. The anime airs every Tuesday at 6:30PM Japan time on TV-Tokyo with an unknown final episode count. The manga is currently licensed for release in the United States by Viz. Although neither anime or manga are yet finished, portions of both are available for purchase. For up to date purchasing details, please see the purchasing information section.
About the Manga Author
Tite (pronounced like the word "Tight") Kubo (久保 帯人) was born Noriake Kubo (久保 宣章) on June 26, 1977 in Hiroshima. He debuted in 1996 with "Ultra Unholy Hearted Machine." Bleach is his second manga series. His first, Zombie Powder, was discontinued due to lack of popularity after its fourth volume. Little else is known about Tite Kubo, but he obviously has interests in music and English given the titles of his manga chapters and volumes.
Anime Staff
This is the list of staff and studios involved with the Bleach anime. For a list of voice actors and actresses, please see the separate voice actors and actresses page.
| Director: | Noriyuki Abe (阿部 記之) |
| Script: | Masashi Sogo (十川 誠志) |
| Music: | Shiro Sagisu (鷺巣 詩郎) |
| Character Designer: | Masashi Kudo (工藤 昌史) |
| Art Director: | Sawako Takagi (高木 佐和子) |
| Color Design: | Hideo Kamitani (上谷 秀夫) |
| Editing: | Junichi Uematsu (植松 淳一) |
| Film Director: | Toshiyuki Fukushima (福島 敏行) |
| Series Composition: | Masashi Sogo (十川 誠志) |
| Work: | Studio Pierrot |
| Art: | Studio Weiss |
| Photography: | T2 Studio |
| Recording Studio: | Seon Studio |
| Sound Work: | Zak Promotion |