The story is straightforward but has a lot of details to go with it, though i'll leave it simplistic to avoid spoilers. It begins with a teenage boy name Kurosaki Ichigo, though in my opinion he appears a bit older, and he meets a shinigami by the name of kuchiki Rukia. Through an incident that involves the lives of Ichigo's family, Ichigo gains shinigami powers and is subsequently forced to do Rukia's job as shinigami, becoming a subsitute shinigami.
From the awakening the his powers, Ichigo also inadvertently awakens the hidden powers of his friends, Inoue Orihime and Sado Yasutora, through several incidents during Ichigo's job as a substitute shinigami for Rukia. He also meets Ishida Uryuu, a archer of sorts, and all of them will eventually work together, though you'll have to watch to see how and why.
Soon after Rukia is forced back to her world, known as soul society, and Ichigo and company follow suit in order to help her out.
Compressing a lot events together, Ichigo manages to help out Rukia and finds out that there are more sinister things going on in soul society, and of course, Ichigo and the others are dragged into all of it.
The story of bleach is entertaining, and alternates between many fight scenes, and dialogue to push the story ahead. At many times the story can be tense but the occasional lightheartedness makes it much better. While the artwork of the characters and background are quality work, there are some animes that are much better (don't take it too seriously as i was being very critical about the art). The characters are exquisitely made, with each character having a unique and memorable personality, but also very deep and complex, which is for the better.
Overall, Bleach is one anime series that you should add to your watching list.
