(no subject)
Pre-SS arc, condensed
*Rukia the shinigami shows up at the house of ghost-seeing kid Ichigo while searching for a Hollow, he gets in the way, and she gives him her powers in a risky bid for survival (Chapter 1, page 12 to Chapter 1, page 56 aka the rest of the chapter. This the longest link segment just for the series setup.
*Six volumes of lulzy partnership ensues, during which time she secretly lives in his closet, they encounter a real ghostbuster, fail at locating a dead cat to stick a fake soul into, meet a possessed parakeet, discover that Ichigo's Hollow was actually killed by a Hollow, and have a bonding moment (Chapter 24, page 19 to Chapter 25, page 3) or few.
*WHOOPS, TURNS OUT THAT POWER TRANSFER THING IS DEEPLY ILLEGAL. Oh shit, childhood-friend Renji and adopted-brother Byakuya show up to take her and her powers back.
*But wait! Ichigo's here to save her from arrest! Except Byakuya kicks his ass and Rukia is then a total bitch about this rescue thing. (Chapter 56, page 13 to Chapter 56, page 19)
Shock and surprise, Ichigo lives. He also has his own shinigami powers that just need to be awakened, how about that? (Spoiler: it's genetic.) Humble shopkeeper/former shinigami captain/sneaky bastard Urahara trains Ichigo to get his powers going, pushing him to the brink of becoming a Hollow himself, and Ichigo and some supernaturally-powered friends go off to save Rukia from execution. They could really use a trusted adult to guide them, but a cat is fine, too.
Of course, they all get separated as soon as they break into Soul Society, the afterlife and where Rukia is being held. Natch. Meanwhile, Renji is acting as a jailer (Chapter 59, page 4 to Chapter 59, page 9 and Chapter 79, page 1 to Chapter 79, page 6) but seems to be worrying as he realizes no, seriously, they're going to execute her.
Fights fights fights, and with help, Ichigo makes it closer to Rukia's prison, where he meets Renji. They beat the hell out of each other, but he wins. Kinda. Renji realizes he can't save Rukia by himself, but maybe this punk kid can, and asks him to do so. (Chapter 97, page 1 to Chapter 98, page 19.) Conveniently, these two chapters spell out why exactly Renji has such a bug up his ass about Rukia's safety but can't, y'know, actually talk to her about it.
Ichigo and Renji bleed and get taken care of (separately); meanwhile, nice-guy Captain Aizen Sousuke gets murdered offscreen. This is important later.
Once Ichigo and pals get going again, scary-ass Zaraki Kenpachi of the 11th division (and adorable vice-captain Yachiru) shows up because he wants to enjoy a fight, and most of Soul Society is boring for him, because he is a total badass.
Meanwhile, Ichigo's friend Chad runs into Captain Kyouraku aka Pink-Coat Man, who knows how to make an entrance and would rather share a drink than fight, but alas, fight they must. Chad loses.
Ichigo and Kenpachi have the most badass fight ever. Read through it yourself, because if I linked every instance of Kenpachi's awesomeness, I'd be doing this for months. After getting cocky, Ichigo ends up stabbed and holding a broken sword; he proceeds to get sucked into the "inner world" of his soul where he has a not-at-all symbolic battle with a reverse-image version of himself in order to win the trust of his sword and beat Kenpachi. (It's more of a draw.) We also see how Kenpachi met Yachiru; it's both cute and disturbing. (Chapter 114, page 4 to 6.)
Meanwhile, Ichigo's wimpier pals get to Rukia and find that they've met before, oh shit. Rukia's brother shows up to kick their asses, even more oh shit.
We meet Captain Ukitake! And Ichigo meets the real Yoruichi. Ukitake stops Byakuya from issuing a vicious beatdown just in time for Ichigo to arrive on a pair of magic wings for a temporary reunion as Ukitake goes o_O.
Yoruichi spirits Ichigo off to do some shonen training for bankai, the "complete release" of one's sword. *cough*. He is shortly joined by Renji, who has been doing the same training for years and is on the verge of success. They have manly bonding. As she awaits her execution, Rukia recalls what happened to put her so in need of therapy and make her kind of okay with the idea of paying 'penance' by dying. (Chapter 133 through Chapter 126.) It explains a LOT; Ukitake gets a fair amount of face time as well.
Renji quits the manly bonding and goes to face Byakuya, revealing he has in fact reached bankai. It is awesome. Unfortunately, because Renji is the manga's buttmonkey, he loses anyway but wins Byakuya's grudging respect, which looks a lot like callous disdain.
Rukia goes up on the execution stand. It's very touching. (Just read these next two chapters, okay.) Ichigo halts the proceedings, with assistance from Ukitake, Kyouraku, and Renji, who survived by the power of his pretty hair.
Yoruichi fights Soi Fong. It is fierce.
Ichigo and Byakuya have pretty much the best fight in the manga, which is briefly and creepily interrupted by that anti-Ichigo from before. Ichigo wins, and Byakuya finally shares part of why he's being such an asshole brother.
Hooray! Except not, because a very not-dead Aizen reveals that he faked his death and the entire damn execution conspiracy is one big Xanatos gambit. Ichigo and Renji try to team up and get stomped; Aizen reveals why Rukia's important and just ow damn shady Urahara is before scampering off to Hollowville to further his nefarious plans. Byakuya redeems himself somewhat.
At this point you might as well just read the last three chapters of the Soul Society arc; it ends with the promise of more battles to come, but a momentary peace.
Also we get a shot of Kon the mod soul beating off in Ichigo's body. Yay.
The end!
*Rukia the shinigami shows up at the house of ghost-seeing kid Ichigo while searching for a Hollow, he gets in the way, and she gives him her powers in a risky bid for survival (Chapter 1, page 12 to Chapter 1, page 56 aka the rest of the chapter. This the longest link segment just for the series setup.
*Six volumes of lulzy partnership ensues, during which time she secretly lives in his closet, they encounter a real ghostbuster, fail at locating a dead cat to stick a fake soul into, meet a possessed parakeet, discover that Ichigo's Hollow was actually killed by a Hollow, and have a bonding moment (Chapter 24, page 19 to Chapter 25, page 3) or few.
*WHOOPS, TURNS OUT THAT POWER TRANSFER THING IS DEEPLY ILLEGAL. Oh shit, childhood-friend Renji and adopted-brother Byakuya show up to take her and her powers back.
*But wait! Ichigo's here to save her from arrest! Except Byakuya kicks his ass and Rukia is then a total bitch about this rescue thing. (Chapter 56, page 13 to Chapter 56, page 19)
Shock and surprise, Ichigo lives. He also has his own shinigami powers that just need to be awakened, how about that? (Spoiler: it's genetic.) Humble shopkeeper/former shinigami captain/sneaky bastard Urahara trains Ichigo to get his powers going, pushing him to the brink of becoming a Hollow himself, and Ichigo and some supernaturally-powered friends go off to save Rukia from execution. They could really use a trusted adult to guide them, but a cat is fine, too.
Of course, they all get separated as soon as they break into Soul Society, the afterlife and where Rukia is being held. Natch. Meanwhile, Renji is acting as a jailer (Chapter 59, page 4 to Chapter 59, page 9 and Chapter 79, page 1 to Chapter 79, page 6) but seems to be worrying as he realizes no, seriously, they're going to execute her.
Fights fights fights, and with help, Ichigo makes it closer to Rukia's prison, where he meets Renji. They beat the hell out of each other, but he wins. Kinda. Renji realizes he can't save Rukia by himself, but maybe this punk kid can, and asks him to do so. (Chapter 97, page 1 to Chapter 98, page 19.) Conveniently, these two chapters spell out why exactly Renji has such a bug up his ass about Rukia's safety but can't, y'know, actually talk to her about it.
Ichigo and Renji bleed and get taken care of (separately); meanwhile, nice-guy Captain Aizen Sousuke gets murdered offscreen. This is important later.
Once Ichigo and pals get going again, scary-ass Zaraki Kenpachi of the 11th division (and adorable vice-captain Yachiru) shows up because he wants to enjoy a fight, and most of Soul Society is boring for him, because he is a total badass.
Meanwhile, Ichigo's friend Chad runs into Captain Kyouraku aka Pink-Coat Man, who knows how to make an entrance and would rather share a drink than fight, but alas, fight they must. Chad loses.
Ichigo and Kenpachi have the most badass fight ever. Read through it yourself, because if I linked every instance of Kenpachi's awesomeness, I'd be doing this for months. After getting cocky, Ichigo ends up stabbed and holding a broken sword; he proceeds to get sucked into the "inner world" of his soul where he has a not-at-all symbolic battle with a reverse-image version of himself in order to win the trust of his sword and beat Kenpachi. (It's more of a draw.) We also see how Kenpachi met Yachiru; it's both cute and disturbing. (Chapter 114, page 4 to 6.)
Meanwhile, Ichigo's wimpier pals get to Rukia and find that they've met before, oh shit. Rukia's brother shows up to kick their asses, even more oh shit.
We meet Captain Ukitake! And Ichigo meets the real Yoruichi. Ukitake stops Byakuya from issuing a vicious beatdown just in time for Ichigo to arrive on a pair of magic wings for a temporary reunion as Ukitake goes o_O.
Yoruichi spirits Ichigo off to do some shonen training for bankai, the "complete release" of one's sword. *cough*. He is shortly joined by Renji, who has been doing the same training for years and is on the verge of success. They have manly bonding. As she awaits her execution, Rukia recalls what happened to put her so in need of therapy and make her kind of okay with the idea of paying 'penance' by dying. (Chapter 133 through Chapter 126.) It explains a LOT; Ukitake gets a fair amount of face time as well.
Renji quits the manly bonding and goes to face Byakuya, revealing he has in fact reached bankai. It is awesome. Unfortunately, because Renji is the manga's buttmonkey, he loses anyway but wins Byakuya's grudging respect, which looks a lot like callous disdain.
Rukia goes up on the execution stand. It's very touching. (Just read these next two chapters, okay.) Ichigo halts the proceedings, with assistance from Ukitake, Kyouraku, and Renji, who survived by the power of his pretty hair.
Yoruichi fights Soi Fong. It is fierce.
Ichigo and Byakuya have pretty much the best fight in the manga, which is briefly and creepily interrupted by that anti-Ichigo from before. Ichigo wins, and Byakuya finally shares part of why he's being such an asshole brother.
Hooray! Except not, because a very not-dead Aizen reveals that he faked his death and the entire damn execution conspiracy is one big Xanatos gambit. Ichigo and Renji try to team up and get stomped; Aizen reveals why Rukia's important and just ow damn shady Urahara is before scampering off to Hollowville to further his nefarious plans. Byakuya redeems himself somewhat.
At this point you might as well just read the last three chapters of the Soul Society arc; it ends with the promise of more battles to come, but a momentary peace.
Also we get a shot of Kon the mod soul beating off in Ichigo's body. Yay.
The end!