June 17, Memories in the Rain

The Kurosaki family climbs the hill to the cemetery, with Isshin's antics drawing kicks from Karin and embarrassing his daughters. Ichigo panics on spotting Rukia and drags her away, passing his sisters off with an excuse. In the forest, Rukia gently presses him about his mother's death, suggesting a Hollow may have been to blame, but a furious Ichigo declares that he himself killed her and storms off. At Karakura Town, Tatsuki recounts to Orihime the goofy, mother-loving boy she first met, and how his grief after Masaki's passing was unbearable to watch.

Through flashback, Ichigo relives the rainy afternoon by the river when he saw a girl at the water's edge, ran to save her, and woke beneath his mother's lifeless body. He understands now that Masaki died shielding him from something. Nearby, Rukia is tracked down by Eikichiro Saido of the Onmitsukido, sent to question why she has not returned to Soul Society, and he teases her about her attachment to Ichigo before threatening to drag her back by force.

Ichigo arrives and reveals himself as a Substitute Shinigami, provoking a fight with Saido that the tracker easily controls. The duel breaks off when Rukia's Denreishinki detects a powerful Hollow nearby, and Ichigo realizes his family may again be in danger. At Masaki's grave, Grand Fisher pins Karin and seizes Yuzu as bait, opening his mouth to devour her just as Ichigo and Rukia race toward the scene.

Ichigo insists to Rukia that he was responsible for his mother's death, and a flashback reveals Masaki died protecting him from Grand Fisher's lure. Eikichiro Saido arrives to interrogate Rukia over her prolonged stay and clashes with Ichigo. A Hollow alert cuts the fight short, and Grand Fisher attacks Karin and Yuzu at the graveyard to draw Ichigo in.

The episode adapts chapters 18 through 20 within the Agent of the Shinigami arc. It opens the Grand Fisher confrontation and lays out the trauma that drives Ichigo's need to protect. The anime reorders several beats, expands Saido's role as a comedic Onmitsukido agent, and softens the blood on Masaki's body from the manga. Asterisk provides the opening and Life is Like a Boat the ending.