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- Ichigo and his family visit their mother's grave on the anniversary of her death. While there, the Soul Reaper sent for Rukia attacks them because she broke Soul Society law by giving him her powers. The battle halts when Ichigo's sisters Karin and Yuzu are attacked by a huge hollow.
- While fighting Urahara, Ichigo learns the name of his zanpakutō, Zangetsu. Upon learning the name, the sword transforms into a much more powerful version and he unleashes an energy blast which knocks off Urahara's hat, completing the third stage in his training. Orihime and Chad, meanwhile, finish their training with Yoruichi. The entire group, including Uryū, who has been training alone, set out for Soul Society using a gate Yoruichi and Urahara made.
- With Rukia's help, Chad fights the hollow despite not being able to see it. Ichigo eventually arrives and defeats the hollow, but unlike the previous hollows that simply dissolved and went to Soul Society, the gates of Hell appear and capture the hollow. The spirit that inhabited the cockatiel is released to move on to Soul Society.
- When popular TV star/spirit medium Don Kanonji transforms a spirit into a hollow during an exorcism, Ichigo is forced to clean up the mess. Upon the hollow's defeat, Don Kanonji is shocked to realize what he has done. With a little cheer-up from Ichigo, Don Kanonji is back to his old self again, and calls Ichigo, despite Ichigo's objections, his new apprentice.
- While on another hollow fighting mission, Ichigo encounters Uryū Ishida, a fellow classmate belonging to a clan known as the Quincy, humans that can use spiritual power to manifest a bow to fight hollows. Uryū declares himself an enemy of all Soul Reapers and challenges Ichigo to a hollow-hunting competition.
- Ichigo confronts the modified soul possessing his body, but is then distracted by an emerging hollow. Together, they defeat the hollow. When Kisuke Urahara comes for the "defective" merchandise, Ichigo takes the modified soul back. He places the modified soul into a stuffed lion plushie and names it "Kon". Meanwhile in Soul Society, another Soul Reaper is sent to track down Rukia, who has spent too much time in the living world and needs retrieving.
- The situation worsens as more hollows appear in the human world, attacking the school where Orihime and her friends are. While defending them, Orihime develops her own power, the Shun Shun Rikka, a group of fairy-like creatures coming from the hairpins given to her by her brother, and defeats the hollow. Afterward, Kisuke Urahara takes in Orihime and Chad to help them with their new powers while Rukia and Ichigo confront Uryū.
- Ichigo discovers that one of his classmates, Orihime Inoue, is stalked by her older brother's spirit turned hollow which makes him hesitate to fulfill his duty. As he is forced to use his power again, his qualms of killing hollows are rested and he finally submits to his purpose as a substitute Soul Reaper.
- Ichigo makes a comeback against Renji, overwhelming him. Just when Renji is about to fall, Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia's brother, steps in and defeats Ichigo with overwhelming pace. Rukia returns to Soul Society so that Ichigo can be spared death, and Ichigo is left dying, with his power stripped from him. He is then saved by Kisuke Urahara, who agrees to help him rescue Rukia, who faces the death penalty in Soul Society. Ichigo, however, must agree to train with Kisuke to regain his powers.
- Ichigo faces off against the Soul Reaper Renji Abarai, who has come to capture Rukia. Renji triggers his initial release, gaining the advantage by releasing his zanpakuto, and Ichigo finds himself overwhelmed fighting a fully trained Soul Reaper.
- The hollow-hunting contest between Ichigo and Uryū has lured hundreds of hollows to Karakura Town, endangering many of Ichigo's friends. Chad is forced to fight a hollow in order to save Karin. During the battle he is finally able to see the hollow clearly, and develops a new ability, an armored right arm capable of firing energy blasts.
- In order for Ichigo to transform into a Soul Reaper when Rukia is not around, she purchases some soul candy from the Urahara Shop for him. However, the candy is actually a modified soul, an artificial warrior from Soul Society created to destroy hollows. Once inside Ichigo's body the modified soul goes on a rampage, ruining Ichigo's social image.
- After discovering Rukia has enrolled in his class, Ichigo learns that she has lost her power and that he must pose as her substitute, until her powers can recover. Although he refuses this responsibility at first, Ichigo eventually accepts after realizing he cannot just turn a blind eye if he encounters a hollow again.
- Tired of mistreatment from Ichigo, Kon runs away to find a better owner. But he finds his abuse continuing from girls due to his freaky nature. Ichigo makes an effort to befriend Uryū but is rebuffed. Rukia becomes conflicted with her attachment with humans. Rather than endanger Ichigo, she runs away to face the newly-arrived hunters from Soul Society.
- Ichigo confronts the hollow, who is revealed as the Grand Fisher, the hollow who killed Ichigo's mother. In a fit of rage, Ichigo defeats the hollow, but does not manage to kill it. The Soul Reaper sent after Rukia leaves with a warning when he witnesses Ichigo's strength.
- The legion of hollows force Ichigo and Uryū to team up in combat while the others watch. A giant hollow called a Menos Grande arrives on the scene, and is driven away after Ichigo inflicts a wound assisted by power from Uryu. However, he releases too much spiritual power in the process. The strain of his powers causes Ichigo to lose consciousness, and Uryū saves him by releasing the excess energy through his bow.
- Ichigo’s friend Yasutora "Chad" Sado comes into possession of a cursed cockatiel that is inhabited by the soul of a small boy. The curse, which brings misfortune to anyone who possesses it, is really due to the acts of a hollow that has been stalking the boy's soul. Chad is attacked by the hollow, but with Rukia's help, they face off against the hollow.
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abstract | - The arc initially ran from October 2004 until February 2005 in Japan on TV Tokyo. The first English airing of the series was from September 2006 until January 2007. It was shown on both YTV's Bionix and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming blocks, with Bionix airing the show one day sooner. The arc started airing in the UK starting in September 2007 on AnimeCentral. The episodes use three pieces of theme music: one opening theme and two ending themes. The opening theme is Orange Range's single "Asterisk". The ending theme for the first thirteen episodes is "Life is Like a Boat" by Rie Fu, while the remaining seven used "Thank You!!" by Home Made Kazoku. The arc was released on five DVD compilations, each containing four episodes of the show. They were released in Japan from February 2, 2005 to June 1, 2005. The first of these compilations, with art featuring the series main character Ichigo Kurosaki, was nominated at the American Anime Awards in 2007 for best DVD package design. A DVD collection box, containing all twenty episodes of the arc, was released by Viz Media on October 30, 2007. In addition to the television episodes listed below, the first of the two Bleach original video animations, "Memories in the Rain", falls into the Agent of the Shinigami arc, being an alternate version of episodes eight and nine that was shown at the 2004 Jump Festa. __TOC__
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