The story begins in Feudal Japan, when the half-demon InuYasha steals the Jewel of Four Souls-a magical jewel that enhances the power of and can grant a single wish to the one who wields it-from a village. InuYasha desires the gem in order to turn himself into a full blooded demon. InuYasha does not get far before Kikyo, the young miko of the village, shoots him with a sacred arrow that indefinitely seals him onto Goshinboku, a sacred tree in the nearby forest. After being mortally wounded, Kikyo tells her younger sister, Kaede, to burn the jewel with her body to prevent it from falling into the hands of evil.
In modern Tokyo, a junior high school girl named Kagome Higurashi is on her way to school. She stops in the well house of her family's Shinto shrine to retrieve her cat, Buyo, when a centipede demon emerges from the well and pulls her into the Sengoku period of Japan.
Not knowing where she is, Kagome wanders around a forest near the Bone Eater's Well. She spots Goshinboku off in the distance and proceeds towards it. On the tree, she finds InuYasha, who is still sealed in an enchanted sleep. Villagers seize her and take her to the old priestess, Kaede. Recognizing that Kagome is the reincarnation of her sister Kikyo, Kaede tells her the story of Kikyo and InuYasha.
The centipede attacks again, and Kagome is forced to release InuYasha from his enchantment so he can kill it. After defeating the centipede, InuYasha tries to take the Jewel of Four Souls from Kagome. In order to thwart InuYasha and to save Kagome's life, Kaede places magical prayer beads around InuYasha's neck so that Kagome can subdue him.
The Jewel of Four Souls attracts more demons, and in a battle against a carrion crow demon, the jewel is shattered into numerous shards that spread all across Japan. As the individual shards are capable of granting those who embed it in their bodies with great power, it is sought after by many demons as well as some humans.
Kagome and InuYasha set out to collect the shards and restore the Jewel of Four Souls. Along the way, they befriend Shippo, a fox demon; Miroku, a cursed monk; and Sango, a demon-slayer whose brother was possessed and forced to slaughter their father and the other demon slayers. The group encounters many friends and foes during the adventure, including InuYasha's older half-brother Sesshomaru; Kikyo, who died 50 years ago but, was resurrected with part of Kagome's soul; Naraku, who tricked Kikyo and InuYasha into turning against each other; and a wolf demon named Koga, who is in love with Kagome and whenever he and InuYasha meet they constantly bicker.
Eventually, the Shikon jewel is reassembled by Naraku, who is then defeated by InuYasha. Before he dies, Naraku makes a wish on the jewel that Kagome would replace the soul of Midoriko, the jewel's original creator, within the jewel and that his soul would also enter the jewel so he could survive inside as her enemy. This would only work if Kagome made a selfish wish, which Naraku tries to trick her into doing, but confident that InuYasha would rescue her, she refuses to do so. InuYasha rescues her and Kagome wishes for the jewel to disappear forever.
Kagome is thrown back into her own time, and InuYasha is no longer able to see her. However, after three years when Kagome has graduated high school, a portal opens allowing her to return to InuYasha's time. They acknowledge their love for one another and she chooses to remain in the past with him.
Naruto: Shippuden is the ongoing sequel to the original Naruto anime and covers the Naruto manga from volume twenty-eight on. After training for two and a half years with Jiraiya, Naruto returns to Konohagakure, reunites with the friends he left behind, and reforms Team 7, now called Team Kakashi, with Sai replacing Sasuke. All of Naruto's classmates have matured and improved in the ranks. Unlike the original series where they only played a minor role, the Akatsuki organization takes on the main antagonistic role in their attempts at world domination.
The story opens with the sudden appearance of Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki in Ichigo Kurosaki's bedroom. She is surprised at his ability to see her, but their conversation is interrupted by the appearance of a "hollow", an evil spirit. After Rukia is severely wounded while trying to protect Ichigo, she attempts to transfer half her powers to Ichigo in order to let him face the hollow on equal footing. Ichigo instead unintentionally absorbs almost all her energy, allowing him to defeat the hollow with ease. The next day Rukia appears in Ichigo's classroom as a seemingly normal human, and informs Ichigo that his absorption of her powers has left her stranded in the human world until she recovers her strength. In the meantime Ichigo shelters Rukia in his home and takes over her job as a Soul Reaper, battling hollows and guiding lost souls to the afterlife realm known as Soul Society.
After a few months of this arrangement, in the sixth volume of the series, Rukia's Soul Reaper superiors find out about her giving her powers away (which is illegal in Soul Society) and send a detachment to arrest her, and sentence her to death. Ichigo is unable to stop Rukia's capture, but with the help of several of his classmates who also possess spiritual abilities and ex-Soul Reaper and captain Kisuke Urahara, he sets off for the Soul Reaper base, located in Soul Society. Once there, Ichigo and company battle against the elites of the Soul Reaper military, and are ultimately successful in halting Rukia's execution.
It is then revealed that Rukia's execution and Ichigo's rescue attempt were both manipulated by Ssuke Aizen, a high ranking Soul Reaper previously believed to be murdered, as part of a far-reaching plot to take control of Soul Society. Aizen betrays his fellow Soul Reapers and allies himself with the hollows, becoming the main antagonist of the series, and Ichigo teams up with his former enemies in Soul Society after learning that the next step in Aizen's plan involves the destruction of his hometown. At this point, Bleach chronicles the war between Aizen and the Soul Society, a plotline which has not yet been resolved.