Amidst the shadows and monsters, a girl stands atop a telephone pole.
Kurosaki Ichigo, a fifteen year old high school freshman living in Karakura City, sees a group of boys carelessly knock over a vase of flowers set in honor of a deceased loved one. He chases them off and promises to bring back fresh flowers as replacements. A ghost girl appears and thanks him for chasing away those that disturbed her grave. Now she can rest peacefully.
Ichigo arrives home and he and his father have a father/son battle before dinner. His sisters, Yuza and Karin, eat as the males of the family fist fight. Their father is the only one of the four that can't sense or see ghosts. Karin proclaims she doesn't believe in them though she can see them, while Yuza can't see them but can sense them. Their father thinks they are full of it.
On the news the next morning, a earthquake destroyed a number of buildings in downtown Karakura City.
As Ichigo walks to the ghost girl's grave from the previous day, another building explodes before him. He runs over to see a monstrous ant attacking and a small samurai girl putting up a good fight. She manages to slice the monster open from the gut with her sword, killing it.
Later that night, Ichigo runs through the events of that day when suddenly the samurai girl appears with her sword drawn. He demands to know what she's doing in his room. She is startled that not only is he able to see her, but that he actually can make physical contact with her.
As another monster baddie makes his way towards Ichigo's house, the samurai girl (Rukia) explains that she's a Soul Reaper from a place called the Soul Society. She vanquishes evil spirits. Ichigo isn't impressed with her story and demands she leaves, pissing her off in the process. She retaliates by casting a binding spell called Kidoh on him, leaving him paralyzed on the floor. She then chides him - she's lived 10 times longer than her appearance might lead him to believe. If she wasn't forbidden to carry out unauthorized executions, he'd be her next kill.
A ghost passes by and she quickly sends it to the netherworld and continues to explain her duties. There are two types of souls in this world. Normal spirits are called the Pluses. The baddies are called Hollows. These demons will attack living and dead to devour souls.
Her job as Soul Reaper is twofold. She is to lead the Pluses to the Soul Society by means of Konsoh, the soul funeral she just performed for that lost ghost. And she is to kill Hollows. Why Hollows are after Pluses is a mystery to her.
Meanwhile a baddie senses a Soul Reaper is near and makes his way to Ichigo's house to attack Yuzu and Karin. Ichigo anxiously defends his sisters, but his attacks are basically futile. Rukia quickly jumps between Ichigo and the Hollow and staves off the baddie for the time being while taking a beating herself. As she lies wounded, she reprimands Ichigo for butting in - he's too weak to fight.
Still, now that she's hurt, he must take some of her powers and successfully kill the baddie before he devours the both of their souls. She hands him her soul and invites him to become a Shinigami (God of Death). He places the point of her sword, Zanpakutoh, over his heart, while she gives him some of her powers.
The Hollow again charges, but now, instilled with Rukia's powers, Ichigo's clothes change into a jet black gi and he draws his sword. He attacks, destroying the monster.
"These episode summaries are provided by animetique.com and used under the Creative Commons License."
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