IT'S A BLEACH WORLD

There are several planes of existence in the Bleach universe. These broadly correspond to the life and afterlife of human belief systems. The living humans of Bleach reside in a world resembling the present day; buried souls live in a kind of Heaven called Soul Society; neglected spirits passed over by the Shinigami reside in a purgatory called Hueco Mundo; evil souls are sent to Hell. Once in Soul Society, a spirit is able to live much longer than humans in the living world, with many aging into the thousands. Once a spirit dies in Soul Society, its soul is sent back to the living world and reborn as a new human. This provides the two worlds with balance.

Human world: The human world of Bleach is modern Japan and/or America or which ever place you are...

Soul Society: Soul Society consists of a giant walled city in the center, known as the Seireitei (Court of Pure Souls), and four regions (north, south, east, and west), each with 80 districts, outside of it. The districts outside of the Seireitei are known as the Rukongai (Town of Wandering Spirits) and are the place where non-shinigami and non-nobles live. The district number of the Rukongai (ranging from 1 to 80) also describes its conditions. District 1 is peaceful and orderly, while District 80 is filled with criminals and has the poorest living conditions. A king resides in another realm within Soul Society, but very few details about him have surfaced.

Hueco Mundo: Hueco Mundo is the area between the human world and Soul Society. Literally meaning "hollow world" it is where hollows reside when not hunting in the human world or Soul Society, and where they are nigh undetectable. The entrance to Hueco Mundo is a rip in the fabric of the human world or Soul Society.

Hell: Hell is the destination of those who committed unforgivably evil acts during their lives in the human world. When a hollow whose mortal soul is too wicked to enter Soul Society has its mask split by a zanpakutō, the gates of hell (giant doors held by skeletons) appear and begin to open. A giant, laughing spiritual being with a blade spears the wicked spirit and drags it down into hell.

Bleach characters move from world to world by several means. Human souls usually cross between planes through birth into the human world or soul burial by shinigami. However, living humans can also use special portals to move between worlds. Shinigami open passages between worlds by means of their zanpakutō. Moths created during soul burial, called hell butterflies, make these routes safe. While hollows are portrayed as able to move between planes at will by opening rifts in space, they usually remain in Hueco Mundo due to the risk of discovery in Soul Society or the human world. Encounters between roaming and displaced characters are a driving plot force in Bleach.