Ichigo Kurosaki is a fifteen-year-old high school student with orange hair, brown eyes, and the ability to see spirits. As he tries to protect the spirit of a little girl from a hollow, he witnesses a clash between the malevolent spirit and a female Soul Reaper. Later, Ichigo is met by the same woman again in his room. She introduces herself as Rukia Kuchiki, and explains to Ichigo the basic duty of the Soul Reapers is the act of soul cleansing. The hollow, named Fishbone D, returns to absorb Ic
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.
Ichigo discovers that one of his schoolmates, Orihime Inoue, is being stalked by her older brother's spirit who turned into the hollow Acidwire due to Orihime stopping her prayers for him, which makes him hesitate to fulfill his duty. As Ichigo 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, killing Acidwire. Before he does so however, Orihime's older brother was able to revert to his kind and gentle na
Ichigo’s friend Yasutora "Chad" Sado comes into possession of a cursed cockatiel that is inhabited by the soul of a small boy, Yui'ichi Shibata, but supposed misfortune to anyone who possesses the cockatiel is due to a hollow named Shrieker who has been stalking the boy's soul. Chad is attacked by Shrieker before Rukia arrives to aid him.
With Rukia's help, Chad fights Shrieker despite not being able to see him. Ichigo eventually arrives and defeats the Shrieker. But as Shrieker was originally a murderer in life, he is dragged through the Gates of Hell instead of dissolving into the Soul Society. The spirit that inhabited the cockatiel is released to move on to the Soul Society.
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 modsoul, an artificial warrior from the Soul Society created to destroy hollows. Once inside Ichigo's body, the modsoul goes on a rampage while ruining Ichigo's social image and turning pevert.
Ichigo confronts the mad modsoul possessing his body, but is then distracted by an emerging hollow. Together, they defeat the hollow. When Kisuke Urahara, the merchant who sold Rukia her gigai, comes for the "defective" merchandise, Ichigo takes the modsoul back and places him into a stuffed lion plushie while naming him "Kon" to get even with him wounding his shoulder. Meanwhile in the Soul Society, a Soul Reaper is sent to track down Rukia for retrieval.
Ichigo and his family visit their mother's grave on the anniversary of her death. While there, the Soul Reaper sent to retrieve Rukia attacks them because she broke the Soul Society's laws by giving Ichigo her powers. The battle halts when Ichigo's sisters Karin and Yuzu are attacked by a huge hollow.
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 as he escapes before he is killed. The Soul Reaper sent after Rukia leaves with a warning when he witnesses Ichigo's strength.
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, Kanonji is shocked to realize what he has done. With a little cheering-up from Ichigo, Kanonji is back to his old self again, and calls Ichigo, despite Ichigo's objections, his new apprentice.