Quarantine has hit many households alike , leaving people stuck at home desperate for a new form of entertainment as they wait for regular life to return. It’s been even harder without any sports to watch, so anime has been my safety blanket from the world of boredom. 

The anime series Bleach is based off a shounen manga with the same title, which was originally published by author Tite Kubo. Bleach reported they had sold over 120 millions copies worldwide in 2018, and have been nominated for multiple awards by the American Anime Awards. It follows the main protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki’s journey from becoming a regular human to becoming one of the world’s most powerful Soul Reapers. 

Ichigo is a bright orange- haired, hot-head of a kid who has always had the ability to see ghosts. This allows him to meet a girl named Rukia Kuchki, who happens to be a Soul Reaper from a supernatural world. A Soul Reaper’s job is to ensure the safe crossing of souls into the afterlife and to purify Hollows, a monster that does evil in the world, which allows their souls to peacefully enter the afterlife as well. Since Ichigo can see ghosts, he can also see Hollows, and after Rukia and Ichigo run into one, Rukia is defeated trying to protect Ichigo. Fearing the worst, she transfers her powers to Ichigo making him a Soul Reaper and making her human. After Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper, they discover he was born with an immense natural strength, and he defeats the Hollow to save them both. After becoming a regular human, Rukia begins attending Ichigo’s high school helping him understand the power while also balancing his regular life. They begin to become really close and she even makes more friends at the school, who also happen to have some form of spirit energy later on in this story.

Everything seemed to be going well for Rumia and Ichigo, but all their good fortunes were soon gone after Rukia’s older brother and childhood friend came in search of her. After finding Rukia and discovering her actions, her brother, who happens to be a captain, tells Rukia she has broken one of the commandments and must be arrested. Not letting her leave without a fight, Ichigo fights the duo using his newly acquired abilities even against Rukia’s wishes and manages to defeat her childhood friend Renji. That’s when the vast difference in power between Ichigo and Rukia’s brother, Byakuya, was shown. With little to no effort, he punctured the two vital points in Ichigo that controlled his power, and took Rukia back to the world they’re from known as the Soul Society, where she will be prosecuted for her crimes and put to death.

Ichigo, left on the brink of death, is met by an old man that treats his wounds. He fills Ichigo in on a lot of information about where Rukia is from and what they plan to do with her, he also tells Ichigo that he can help him get his Soul Reaper power back and can train him to become strong enough to save her. 

The journey to save Rukia is an epic adventure and has widely been claimed as one of the five best Anime arcs in history, even ranking at number two on “TheTopTens.com” list. It introduces many more characters in a world, including the 13 captains of the Soul Society, as well as some of the best animated fights put on a screen.The story has a great plot with a great pacing and even has one of the biggest twist endings in the genre(you’ll have to watch it to find out.) Bleach has more to the story after this, but Ichigo’s journey to save his friend is what made the series what it is today, and if you choose to watch the Soul Society arc you won’t regret it.