#but still at least let uryu do it once. This whole arc is his arc c'mon

[neo-zone]

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined

[ichinoue]

Random question my friend is talking about the scene with orihime feeling jealous of rukia and explaining it to rangiku but has there ever been a specific scene where Ichigo ever felt jealous or insecure? My friend bought up Uryu and she thought he had a crush on Orihime and why didnt Ichigo feel insecure about that? I'm not to sure I'm new to the series but I an a ichihime shipper tho at least

I think you can see signs of Ichigo's romantic jealousy (although I would definitely say it's more protectiveness rather than jealousy) in the scenes where Shinji flirts with Orihime in front of Ichigo to get his attention, or when Tsukishima calls Orihime on the phone in front of Ichigo and speaks to her fondly to get Ichigo to snap. Both times, both guys were thrown up against a wall by an enraged Ichigo and Orihime was the trigger (and Shinji even accuses Ichigo of being jealous because "it's not like Orihime's your girlfriend!")

But again, I don't really see those moments as Ichigo being jealous that another guy is going to go out on a date with Orihime or something (although Kubo did drop that very implication with Shinji's girlfriend comment)...The allusion of Ichigo's jealousy is there, hinting at his feelings, but these moments have more to do with the fact that both of those guys were enemies at the time, getting way too close for comfort with the girl that Ichigo is super protective over. Which I actually prefer because it makes the whole thing a lot less toxic and keeps it from straying into unhealthy possession--because Ichigo doesn't see Orihime as an object that he's claimed as his own from other guys, but as a person he wants to protect from harm.

However, he IS still aware of other guys taking an interest in Orihime, as we see here:

The boys at school are whispering about Orihime, talking about how pretty she is, etc. One even took a picture of her without her consent. Stalker behavior, right?

…And then this happens, the very same day. The same day! Only four chapters later. Ichigo mentions that she’s likely to be followed/stalked (the ‘by guys’ is omitted). So let’s think about this. Ichigo, admittedly, has noticed the attention Orihime receives from other guys. He’s well aware of it. He pays attention to the guys—all these prospective males around her who want to date her? Ichigo pays attention to it. And he almost seems annoyed by it when he brings it up. His eyes being closed to deflect or hide the true meaning behind whatever reason he's bringing this up to her in the first place. And it makes Orihime blush. Kubo set the scenes up like this on purpose. Creepy guys whispering about Orihime and then Ichigo makes a comment like this only four chapter later? That’s not a coincidence.

As for Ichigo not feeling insecurity with regards to Orihime towards Uryu...I think what's more interesting is that it's actually the other way around: Kubo didn't have to write Ichigo feeling jealousy or insecurity towards Uryu, because he was already writing Uryu feeling that way about Ichigo.

Uryu's feelings for Orihime were never solidified in canon, but there were times throughout the manga where he was the one to give his own private insight on Orihime's feelings for Ichigo (his monologues from the Byakuya battle, and the lust arc). It could be said that he liked Orihime, but knew it was futile because she was already in love with Ichigo so he just stood back and kept his feelings to himself, in private monologues.

In which case, it wouldn't be necessary for Ichigo to show insecurity towards someone who had already conceded "defeat" and never once made their feelings known. If Kubo had done that, it could have ended up with a messy love-triangle of Ichigo and Uryu pitted against each other, both feeling jealous and insecure towards each other while vying for Orihime's heart, and I really don't think Kubo wanted that?? I don't think he wanted to bring any kind of overt-romance drama like that into the already established friendship-rivalry between Ichigo and Ishida (keep in mind that Kubo said romance was only supplementary to him). Having Uryu be the one to silently observe Orihime's feelings for Ichigo and the IchiHime dynamic was enough to get the point across.

However, I do think this moment is interesting:

Ichigo entrusting Orihime's safety to someone else. But not just anyone else--the same person that's been observing their dynamic, the same person whose feelings for Orihime were possibly being hinted at: Uryu. And Ichigo seems to struggle with it. Once again, his eyes/face are hidden, so as not to give away his emotions. He's reluctant to trust Orihime's safety with anyone else, tells Uryu to protect her with his own body, just like Ichigo himself does. And Uryu's just like "I didn't need you to tell me to do that, I would have anyway."

A very tense, very interesting moment.

[mistystar022100]

More Bleach x Tokyo Ghoul au

More Characters

Orihime

Orihime is a natural one-eyed ghoul with a Rinkaku kagune. Orihime in cannon has basically one offensive ability that is broken for a whole arc and then rarely used for the sake of defense and healing. Personally, I thought she could have done more so I’m fixing this myself. Her kagune has 2 tentacles that she can use for offensive. Her Shun Shun Rika will be for the healing and shield, the attacking fairy will not be used often unless she needs a long ranged attack.

The reason for her being a one-eyed ghoul is so she could still eat human food. Her weird food combinations are a part of her character and I thought it wouldn’t be right to take that from her. It also doesn’t hurt that Orihime constantly eating food is a good cover for when the ghoul group hangs out at school. The fact that her brother was a human makes for an interesting dynamic as well.

As a half ghoul she can eat human food as much as she wants. The genetic combination may have messed with her taste buds, resulting in the strange food. She can taste it but the human food gives her almost no nutritional value. She has to eat like a ghoul in order to sustain herself.

Her main ability is in her regeneration, which is high even for a Rinkaku. Even though her kagune is fairly weak and easy to cut off, they grow back very quickly. This also applies to any injuries she takes; for example getting completely flattened by a speeding car will only take her a few hours to completely regenerate from; as long as she’s feed.

Her father was a ghoul and her mother was a human. Her mother left Sora’s father, who was a human, for Orihime’s father, a ghoul. Sora and Orihime were half siblings. After her father was killed by the CCG and her mother became an alcoholic, Sora took her and moved to Karakura. Sora at first feed her dead homeless people who he would find until he was approached by Isshin and the other adult ghouls in town who took that responsibility out of his hands. After Sora’s death, Orihime became very close to the Ishida and Kurosaki families. The fathers would make sure she was feed and the kids would make sure she wasn’t lonely.

Uryu

Uryu is an Ukaku type ghoul. His kagune is used in tandem with his quincy arrows for more projectiles and the speed boast is helpful for him to avoid attacks. Since Ryuken is still unhelpful with training him as a quincy, he at least trains Uryu as a ghoul. They still have a horrible relationship but at least they see each other now.

Since all the ghouls in town are relatively close, he is well aware that he and the Kurosaki kids are basically cousins. (Are they really though cause the relations between Masaki and Ryuken have always confused me? No matter, cousins is close enough) Mostly Yuzu (Karin absolutely does not admit to helping), convinces Uryu to visit the Kurosaki household every once in a while. Yuzu calls him cousin, Karin does when she’s happy and Ichigo only calls him that when he needs Uryu to listen to him. Isshin tries to make Uryu call him Uncle but Uryu has picked up some things from Ichigo and smacks him around when he’s being annoying; he will call Isshin uncle on special occasions though.

Due to how tight knit the ghouls in town are, Uryu is friends with the Karakura teens long before the story begins. Him, Ichigo, Orihime, and Chad sit on the roof during lunch at school. He tolerates the presence of Tatsuki and Keigo but finds them both annoying.

Once Uryu learns how to sew, he becomes the mask maker in town. Considering the small ghoul population he doesn’t have to make or fix masks that often but he does get annoyed when someone tells him they broke the mask. (All the individual masks will be another post, mainly because some still haven’t been decided)

Ryuken

Like his son, Ryuken is an Ukaku type ghoul. He still despises being “the Last Quincy” but accepts that he is a ghoul. He makes sure Uryu is prepared for the hostile world against ghouls but otherwise is still distant. Later trains Yuzu in Quincy abilities but only because Masaki asked him to before her death. He later passes this on to Uryu because he is not the best teacher.

Since he works at the hospital he needed a way to keep his kakugan from activating. Through the efforts of both him and Isshin, they annoyed Urahara so much that he made them an oral medication that prevents the kakugan from activating for a time. This is why the fathers can both work in hospitals and smell blood without people suspecting them. After all no one is going to suspect a ghoul is working at a hospital.

He provides the ghouls main source of food. When a body is in the morgue of his hospital, he contacts Urahara who replaces it with a cheap inflatable Gigai. This Gigai lasts just long enough for the funeral so the stolen bodies are never discovered. He first makes sure Uryu is feed, then Orihime and then gives the rest to the Kurosaki’s. If not enough dead bodies come in for the month then Isshin leaves town and hunts while telling others he’s at a medical conference.

Ryuken’s ghoul identity is “Plague Doctor” due to his mask. He is the second ghoul being suspected of owning Karakura town. An A ranked ghoul due to his speed and projectile weapons, he is SS ranked when working with Isshin “Flame Oni”. He hates how in sync they are but tolerates it for the safely of the town.

Occasionally joins Uryu in visiting the Kurosaki’s. He only stays for a short while to talk to Isshin about whatever important things are going on, such as taking care of all the kids. Yuzu is happy her Uncle is visiting, Karin doesn’t really care and Ichigo likes to call him out on being an emotionally distant father. Uryu proceeds to tell him to shut up, sometimes leading to brawls in the living room.

Chad

Chad is a human with a Kokaku type quinque. It’s 2 gauntlets that connect through a long chain in the middle which goes over his arms and back. It makes his fullbring even stronger when using it. It was made from his abuelo’s greatest kill as a CCG Dove (a S ranked ghoul).

He carries the quinque case in a disguise bag for 2 reasons. The first is that owning a quinque outside the CCG is illegal and he won’t let anyone take his abuelo’s gift to him. The second reason is that the quinque makes his friends very uncomfortable so he disguises it out of respect for them. He uses a larger version of his high school bag to disguise it and carries it or uses the straps to wear it like a backpack.

When he moved to Karakura he saw Ichigo in the original thug beat down at the bridge. After that day, Chad was attacked by a passing ghoul who thought he looked tasty (Ichigo was preoccupied in a store). Chad got out his quinque despite never being thought how to use it but was loosing and had heavy wounds from his enemies kagune. Ichigo came back to the sounds of fighting and attacked the ghoul with his kagune. After the fight Ichigo only then realized Chad had a quinque and froze in place out of panic. Chad put the weapons away and limped over to Ichigo to help clean the blood off him. Chad really didn’t care that his friend was a ghoul, especially since said friend just saved his life.

Ichigo took Chad home and after getting patched up by Isshin, Chad became an honorary member of the ghouls. He joined them for monthly training considering he had no idea how to use his quinque and the adults would not have this rarely kind human die. He got a mask so he could use his quinque and not get recognized. He also has a costume that covers most of his body considering a half-Mexican and half-Japanese man is very easy to recognize, especially outside of a big city.

He is just the best ghoul ally. He is a very quiet individual but he will not stay silent when someone (mainly Tatsuki) is insulting ghouls in front of him or his friends. For a man of few words his words can sure pack a punch.

Tatsuki

Tatsuki is a human and doesn’t have the best image of ghouls. After Masaki’s death and Isshin being lost in his grief, a ghoul came into town and killed Tatsuki’s father. Ryuken “took care of” the offender and was the reason Isshin got off his ass.

Since beginning high school, Tatsuki has been in a CCG program over the weekends. She adds on to her pre-existing martial arts skills and is working her way up to learning quinque combat. Her quinque would be a bikaku that is a serrated edge sword and can stretch into a whip when needed. The whip is used to hold ghouls in place as the hooked spikes cause more damage when being taken out.

Tatsuki is still friends with Orihime and Ichigo. Orihime is her best friend and they share dinner quite often. When Tatsuki starts with the ghoul hate speech, Ichigo tells her to talk about something else or he’s leaving. Orihime kinds shuts down and starts doing something else to distract herself. Tatsuki is so caught up in her rage and grief that she normally doesn’t notice when Orihime does this. She gets frustrated with Ichigo but doesn’t stay mad at him.

Urahara

Urahara is a “human” with a vast knowledge of ghouls. He is the reason the CCG ignores Karakura for as long as it does. He hacks into the data base whenever something that might be important occurs (someone having to use their kagune and there’s a security camera nearby) and deletes the data. The CCG eventually figured out that someone is wiping the data and sends Doves to investigate the town. But that’s a whole other story arc.

Jinta and Ururu are failed half ghoul experiments that he may or may not have liberated from the CCG as kids. At first he took them to examine their DNA but he grew to love them. The weird genetics has taken a toll on the kid’s bodies; Jinta needs hearing aids and Ururu wears glasses. Urahara however does him best to keep the kids healthy.

As a man of science, he has taken the liberty of getting DNA samples of all the ghouls in town as the data on ghouls is limited to the CCG’s propaganda. He may or may not want to make his own half ghoul some day (or do it to himself); all in the name of science.

His shop sells all sorts of items that the ghouls may need. It is also the place where the ghouls have their monthly meetings. Most of the kids are suspicious of Urahara since he is clearly “human”. Ryuken and Isshin trust him though so that’s good enough for the kids, at least for now.

[shi-daisy]

I've noticed that you're not very fond of Renji or the Kuchiki characters in general. Can I ask why? (No offense, just curious)

No offense here, anon. I'm more than happy to answer.

I'll start with Rukia since she's the easiest to explain. Rukia was one of my favorite characters up until the Hueco Mundo Arc. You see at first she was a dynamic girl, a little helpless but that was understandable since she had no powers, she was funny, kind and I really felt for her during the first arcs. Then Kubo just replaced her with another character. Rukia got more closed off, agressive, punch happy and tried to make Ichigo apologize about something that wasn't his fault. I didn't hate her, as she still had some of her best traits but this shift made her go from one of my faves to a neutral character. Worst off it's when she marries Renji after he left her for years and almost slashed her to bits, and the novel, oh that damn post canon novel gave me rabies. She's embarrassed by being called Abarai? I could buy this from Orihime, or Momo, hell I'd even buy it from Riruka, but Rukia? No, that's not her. Instead of forgiving Byakuya and Renji in a heartbeat, Rukia's character would've been better off if she told them both to sit on a prickly cactus and stay the hell away from her, then left with Ichigo and Co. to the human world at the end of the Rescue arc. Instead she forgives those two, who have been nothing but shitty to her and takes to hero worshipping Byakuya. No, that's the worst thing she could've done and to top it off she marries one of them and has his kid. That dude hit you once and you not only marry him but have his kid?! Gurl, that literally begging for trouble right there. I just felt disgusted with the way Kubo handled Rukia. I don't hate her but I don't love her as much as everyone else in the fandom does.

Renji And Byakuya though? Those two I absolutely despise.

During the first arc these two come to the human world to arrest Rukia, who need I remind you was completely powerless, and what's the first thing Renji does? Swing a goddamn sword at her. He literally just tried to slash her with his sword. Does Byakuya interfiere? Tells him to maybe tone it down a bit? Nope, he does fucking nothing. Renji keeps trying to hit her, with a grin on his face, and later on even chokes her. It's not until Uryu, who's a freaking Quincy, steps in that the whole aggression stops.

I know people defend this with 'oh Kubo meant for them to seem as villians at the time' but I think you can't come back from trying to slash your bestie/future wife or from letting my sister be slashed to bits.

But ok, if it was just that, I'd be willing to let it slide so as long as the two apologize and Rukia gave em a 'reason you suck speech' or something similar. Well next time we see Renji he's taunting Rukia in prison. He backs out and says it's a joke later but it was still scumy of him to do that. During that same scene Rukia says she knows she'll get killed and pinnapple dumbass tells her Byakuya would intervine, but she shoots him down by saying that he'd likely just kill her himself and has never once cared for her from the moment he adopted her. Like, what? This asshat hasn't even looked her in the eye in 40 years? I know in shinigami time that's like 4 years maybe but it's still a long time to be emotionality neglected.

After his fight with Ichigo we get Renji And Rukia's backstory and instead of growing sympathetic towards him, I hated him more. So he and Rukia grow up together with some friends in the poorest place in Soul Society, and after their friends death they join the academy to get better housing and food. That's good so far, only the two are separate because Renji has more potential and Rukia is average at best. He gets new friends and keeps moving forward. Rukia was alone and stuck. Sad but ok maybe they'll make up after graduation. Nope, because the Kuchiki clan wants to adopt Rukia, remove her from the academy and now she'll live as a Noble. It's clear in that scene that Rukia does not want this, that she'll take any excuse to not accept, does Renji tell her to stay with him, or to choose what she wants? Of course not, the idiot congratulates her, makes a light-hearted joke about it and then sulks when Rukia sadly thanks him and leaves. Then he suddenly decides to stay away from Rukia for... bullshit reasons. Like I get Kubo tried to paint it as a I have to stay away so the Kuchiki won't get mad at her, but Rukia didn't ask for that, she was lonely, even more so without Renji, and he didn't even attempt to communicate with her or just check in? She obviously didn't want that and he didn't either, but no, I'm apparently supposed to be heartbroken that they were speareted. Then when he sees her again, his childhood bestie, the woman he loves, his future wife and mother of his child, what happens? He tried to slash her with a sword when she was depowered. See how his backstory made the previous scene worst. Honestly I was glad he chose to help Ichigo not let Rukia get killed but damn, it shouldn't have taken this long!

After that we get the whole Renji vs Byakuya thing. Renji goes down like a chump, assists in the final battle for a bit and that's it. No apologies for the past, or for what he did when he arrested her, or the things he said to her in prison, zero apologies from Renji Abarai. This doesn't work, especially if Kubo wanted to marry these two off by the end of the series. Renji needed to apologize directly, we needed to see it play out, not just be told he did it offscreen. This left me hating Renji for the reminder of the show. He was now more friendly and even a bit of a comic relief but his first impression muddled that for me. On the Fullbringer Arc he refused to fight Jackie because a man who hits a woman is trash but... didn't you just do that to the chick you're in love with like two years prior? Did he forget? Was that an admission of guilt or something? I dunno. It felt like a last ditch attempt from Kubo to make him more likeable but to me it fell flat. By the end I was fully disinterested in Renji, wheather he lived, died, married Rukia, Byakuya, whoever the hell, I just didn't care for him at all. It did bug me that he took Uryu's spot in the final chapter cover. Uryu deserved better than Mr hypocrite taking his limelight. Renji would've been better as one off villian, Kubo should've given his backstory to another character and have them with Rukia instead. I'll never get over the fact that this dude spent his first appearance being the most unlikeable jerk, physically assaulting the woman he loves, talking shit like a cocky dumbass, almost killing two of the main characters, and taking the girl he loved to her death; only to be married to said girl in the end, with a daughter and on best terms with the people he fucked over. I ain't a fan of him.

Byakuya it's another character who I wanted to smack against the concrete, repeatedly. First appearance? Lets his lieutenant throw his sister around like a ragdoll, almost kills an innocent human, and basically acts like everyone's beneath him? Good, I already hate him. Next time we see him, he shows no emotion towards Rukia's sentence, he's still hell-bent on stopping the human squad from rescuing her, almost lets Renji die after he loses to Ichigo (honestly I was down for Renji bitting it but c'mon this dude is your employee and you don't care if he dies? Big yikes) Keeps messing up every attempt from the others to rescue Rukia. Almost kills Renji in a fight, then goes to fight Ichigo and here's where he became irredeemable for me. During his fight with Ichigo, he says he'll beat Ichigo and then kill Rukia himself. That's when I wanted Ichigo to chop him into sashimi. You can't say something like that and expect anyone to forgive you. He loses against Ichigo and at the very least honors his word to not kill Rukia. Okay then he defends Rukia from the real baddies. Nice, I still hate him. When he's being healed he tells Rukia that he adopted her because his wife was Rukia's actual sister, and he promised he'd keep Rukia safe if he ever found her.

All throughout the flashback I only felt sympathy for Hisana. Being put in the poorest place in Rukon, having to leave your baby sister to survive, marrying a guy who you love only for his family to hate you because you're not Noble, then getting terminally ill and not being able to help your lost sibling, all of that is horrible and broke my heart. More so when you realize that Byakuya didn't keep his promise to protect Rukia because it would break the law. He can stick his laws where the sun don't shine Rukia almost got killed unfairly because of him, Ichigo and his friends would've died unfairly because of him, he doesn't deserve any forgiveness. At least the dude had the spine to apologize on screen but that still just the bare minimum. I wanted to see him make up for all the shit he caused, maybe try and help change the law so a mistake like this dosen't happen again, just something productive. Well no, he's still the same cold and unlikable jerk we first met, only now he seems to treat Rukia better. This should've been a start, not the default. When he almost died in the final arc I thought it was a fitting end, he's humbled down, he apologizes to Rukia and Renji for losing, he leaves everything in Ichigo's hands, which mirrors how he was opposing him on the first arc but it's now fully on his side, it was the best way to salvage this unlikeable prick. But no, he dosen't die. He lives and its back to the grind again. Worst of all it's how he appears during Rukia's big fight and she uses her Bankai, he's there to mansplain and sour the fight and ugh I hated that chapter. Then he says he's proud of Rukia and it's meant to be a heartwarming moment, to me however it was vomit inducing. You're proud now? Two years ago you almost killed her! You ignored her and neglected her for decades and this is supposed to be cute?! No, his pride is worth less than dirt when he treated her this badly before. Heck if he had won back at the beginning Rukia wouldn't even be there. You almost killed her two years before, and now you're proud? Miss me with that nonsense.

The ending was especially jarring for me not just because Renji got with Rukia but also because they, along with Byakuya did nothing to fix the system that almost led to Rukia's unfair death. None of them did anything and if there's one thing I would love to see if Bleach ever got a sequel,would be Ichika yelling at the three of them for their ineptitude. They let the Sokyoku get rebuilt, they didn't do a smidge to change the system even though they're two captains and a lieutenant, and still live in prefect rich peep paradise when Rukon is still as shitty as it was when Renji and Rukia lived there.

Sorry for the long answer, I just wanted to let everything out as in most discussions people are baffled by the fact that I don't like these three characters all that much. Hope this answers your question anon!

[hezuart]

@socialjusticeichigo

Hi! Um... short answer, yes I do! 

Unnecessary Long Answer: 

Ichiruki has always been the main canon-material pairing in BLEACH for me, but as BLEACH was an action genre, I was very happy it didn’t get into any romance that would get in the way of the series. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t like Orihime's position in the franchise, because that’s all she was demoted to in the end. 

Ichigo and Rukia had amazing chemistry in the first and best arc of BLEACH. But when the Hueco Mundo arc came around, Kubo kinda destroyed Rukia’s personality. She did hit Ichigo now and then in the first arc when he’d make fun of her, not for just the sake of beating Ichigo up. Ichigo was extremely depressed, injured, and misinformed about the hollow attack. She shows up and beats the crap out of him. She brings him to his senses, but after the Hueco Mundo arc, Kubo butchered Rukia’s caring side towards Ichigo, which I was extremely unhappy about. You’d think considered Kaien’s death she’s be far more caring and considerate...... but no. Just down the gutter. ESPECIALLY when Rukia forced Ichigo to apologize to Orihime. That was not acceptable. Orihime and Chad ran into the fight of their own will, its not Ichigo’s fault they got hurt and he should not take blame for that. Orihime did try to reason with Ichigo that she ran in of her own accord and that he shouldn’t have to be there to protect her all the time. This set up the whole gary-sue trope for Ichigo, and ever since then he was the only one to ever actually progress the BLEACH series and things just got sickeningly repetitive. 

Now...I apologize if I’m side tracking but I have to talk about my stance on these pairings again: 

Ichihime: 

....Orihime was shown to have a crush on Ichigo throughout the entire manga, but never had any real reason or explanation behind it. 

Seriously? Why????? She literally would give up her life for a mere highschool crush.. who does that? Its been stated she didn’t develop a crush for Ichigo until she saw him in Highschool. She stalks him and constantly gets in his way. 

Ichigo has never once shown any interest in her at all, he’s brushed her off and ignored her everytime she approached him, and yet Kubo has the audacity to co-author a book and release it about Ichigo saying he knew about Orihime’s crush this entire time and even asks her out? I’ve never heard something so ridiculous in my entire life. 

I saw a video released recently about one of the BLEACH editors saying Orihime was the heroine of the series which is entirely false. Out of the entire series (besides filler arcs), Orihime has only defeated ONE enemy. Which was a weakling hollow in the first arc. That’s literally it. I don’t think heroines are defined by the amount of people they’ve healed, but regarding that, her healing abilities could be replaced easily by Hachigen or Unohana. Hachigen told her she had the ability to bring things back to life without needing a body, and yet her power couldn’t even HEAL a body like Ichigo’s in the Ulquiorra fight. She’s no heroine. She was demoted to a side-character. 

Back to her crush on Ichigo, remember the ONE time she actually defeated an enemy? That was for TATSUKI. TATSUKI WAS THE ONE WHO AWOKE HER POWER, AND THAT’S WHEN ORIHIME GAINED INDEPENDENCE TO FIGHT. But when going to rescue Rukia, she was really only there to “protect” Ichigo for no real reason as to why besides her crush that she doesn’t even know if its requited. 

Orihime had the ability to reverse time. She was given many opportunities to actually make a difference in the series that only she could make. But none were taken. She didn’t reverse the Hougyoku, she couldn’t stop Tsukishima, and despite having “god like powers” her power does jack-shit to the soul kings. As to how she wasn’t killed in the Yhwach vs Ichigo battle, and as to why Ichigo and CO. even let her come along on this mission will forever be a mystery to me. She’s the weakest character out of the original team of 5, by all means, she should have been killed. Even Renji knew she wasn’t a warrior, so why was she there? Her only significance in the final battle was fixing Yoruichi’s arm, that’s it. (and giving birth to Yhwach Jr. but that’s a cluster fuck to analyze for another time) 

Orihime was reduced to pure fanservice waifu-material. Her breasts were 4X the size of her head in the quincy arc, and her power has been completely useless overall the entire series, especially if others can replicate her abilities to an even better extent than her own. (Like Hachigen.) 

The fact that there’s no soul king and Ichigo wasn’t allowed at home due to his power issues, and the fact that they’re even allowed to have children in the world of the living, this is the most baffling, false, and culture shocking ending to a series I have ever seen. I feel like this ending is legit a dream world that Ichigo is having as the new soul king considering this ending is literally not possible reflecting on all the information we’ve been given this past arc. Yikes. 

RenRuki: 

“Knowing eachother for a long time” is weird in itself considering time passes differently in Soul Society than in the human world... which Kubo seems to have forgotten. As to why they’d have a child that is somehow the same-looking age as Kazui perhaps around the same time as Ichigo and Orihime is a bundle of confusion already. But these two didn’t talk for 40 years, then Renji shows up and beats her up and slices her, threatening to KILL her, where URYU HAS TO STEP IN. HOW BAD DOES THAT LOOK WHEN A QUINCY STEPS IN-BETWEEN A SHINIGAMI QUARREL. Renji and Rukia have had absolutely zero romantic interest the entire series. The only one time Renji ever seems to actually like her was when they were children. But RenRuki has never had any one-sided love confessions like Orihime. THis is the least developed pairing out of the two. 

(and also for Orihime to make Rukia a wedding veil out of strawberry flowers... REALLY? I MEAN.... no wonder there’s Ichiruki/Ishihime cheating AU’s going around right now! I mean can you imagine Renji seeing his to be wife marching down the aisle with strawberry flowers? Considering this anime has heavily implied name association (Princess Orihime, Sado Yasutora the Tiger, Yuzu-Ichigo-and Karin being named with homonyms for fruits, Ichigo addressing his name with the number 15 on his door, Kon being direct from Konpaku..) For Renji not to pick up on that, especially with Ichigo probably attending their wedding....he’s gotta know something is up. I mean how did Renji even know about Orihime’s crush on Ichigo let alone “know” Ichigo has a “crush on” Orihime too? Zero context for that too. Lot of plot hole issues with these pairings. )) 

Ishihime: 

now Uryu. Precious Uryu. He deserved the world and got nothing. An anti-social who ends up making friends only for them all to become distant from him once more. The original quincy who gets nearly zero spotlight in an arc dedicated to quincy. A man who stood up for ex-shinigami Rukia when she was getting sliced up by her “future husband” Renji. A man who noticed, reassured, encouraged, and was amazed by Orihime’s abilities and kindness. A man who would lay his life down for her after spending nearly the entire Soul Society arc with her. Orihime was the closest person in the group with Uryu, they even shared the same aspirations. They were both top in their sewing class, had quirky designs and tastes, and in the end were both interested in the medical field. They even had a close relative they adored die before their eyes when they were young. For this pairing not to be canon is a crime to me. These two deserved so... so much better. 

CONCLUSION: 

I honestly could live with Renruki. That’s a whatever for me for it to be canon. But Ichihime makes zero sense with the plot. That’s my main issue with the pairings. For Ichihime to be real, Ichigo and Orihime have to be in soul society. But even so, if Ichigo was in soul society, that means more time with Rukia, so at that point, who knows which way the pairings would go? 

That being said, I would not want a forced Ichiruki BLEACH ending if it meant there’d be no soul king and massive gun-shot plot holes and contradictory storyline like Ichihime left.  

I completely shipped Ichiruki in the first arc, but as I said, Kubo changed Rukia’s personality (and her friggen backstory? He made her out to be one of the weakest shinigami and yet she had a shikai like... when did she obtain this? If this was before she lost her powers then I’m at a loss as to how she couldn’t defeat a simple hollow, Kubo is a complete liar he legit had no idea where he was going with the story.)Maybe her desire to get rid of her powers and die because of the Kaien incident would make sense at the time, but other than that her being weak was weird, especially now since she’s defeated one of the most powerful underling quincy and obtained a bankai. How can that BLEACH editor say she’s not the true heroine of the series? She can fight and heal injuries, she’s got the training for it. 

So I absolutely love Ichiruki. As an AU. Because with the way Kubo set Ichigo up to really be the only soul king option besides Aizen, Ichiruki couldn’t be canon along with Ichihime. If the quincy arc diverged away from that where there was no desperate need for a soul king, Ichiruki should have totally become canon because of Ichigo’s bounds to Soul Society and given their chemistry. 

Orihime was jealous of Rukia because Rukia was always the one who could reach through to Ichigo no matter what. Orihime was never able to do that (besides that time in the Grimmjow fight, but the reason Ichigo was upset was because of her in the first place so it makes sense as to why he’d only listen to her that one time.)  For Orihime to still hold such good ties with Rukia all the while hating her on the inside for being closer with Ichigo is a surprise to me. She’s strong with her kindness, I’ll give her that. But regardless, she was helpless to save Ichigo, even with her powers. The only time she successfully healed him was during the first arc up to Grimmjow’s fight. After that, she just couldn’t seem to heal him anymore because her power is “no match” against the reiatsu inflicted wounds. 

Renji said Rukia’s faced never looked so alive when he mentioned traces of Ichigo sightings in Soul Society. Ichigo, a guy Rukia only knew for a little while, rushed in with little to no shinigami experience to save her, while Renji sat back hopeless knowing he could do nothing despite her being his only friend for so many years. He BEGGED Ichigo to save her because he couldn’t. 

Orihime and Renji could not once reach out to the ones they “loved” this whole series. They both held a jealously towards their “spouses’” significant other because they knew they couldn’t do the same. That says a lot about this entire situation. 

Ichiruki: 

To have two main characters: male and female... have such a great start off friendship.... to have the female character have a back story involving a guy who she loved who was so similar to Ichigo its uncanny, to have Ichigo quote something he heard from Rukia an entire arc ago when addressing his father’s shinigami powers, to have Orihime fear Ichigo turning hollow when Rukia fears FOR Ichigo as a hollow, to have ichigo constantly be concerned for Rukia’s well being during the Orihime Rescue mission ready to drop everything to go save her first if she was in trouble, to continuously joke about Ichigo and Rukia’s close “romantic” relationship in canon and filler arc along with rumors being spread that the two are dating within the highschool in the first arc, to have an entire movie dedicated to Ichigo and Rukia’s relationship where Ichigo remembered Rukia so quickly, while her future HUSBAND RENJI FORGOT HER COMPLETELY, to have multiple parallels of “sun and moon” yin/yang - clad-type finale white and black bankai moves -  similar Masaki-Isshin forbidden meeting parallel not to mention the parallel of Ichigo/Isshin saving Rukia/Masaki savior scene nearly laid out the same way, to have a PTSD rain significance with Ichigo’s memories of his mother dying- and when he saves Rukia he says the rain stopped because of her, to have Isshin and Ichigo’s family accept Rukia as a third daughter/sister and have her sleep in their house treating her as part of the family while Isshin and Yuzu listen in on Rukia and Ichigo’s conversations in the bedroom along with Yuzu being concerned because Rukia seems more girly and romance material to Ichigo than Tatsuki was, to have ichigo miss his power that he dreams about Rukia, to have Ichigo think of Rukia as the last and strongest pride he had as a shinigami when trying to gain his fullbring, to have Rukia swoop in and save him when he’s crying his eyes out to help him regain his power- to be the only one in Soul Society to be against the idea of Ichigo becoming Soul Society’s enemy and spying on him, when Ichigo ends up seeing Rukia’s butt in the hot springs and he and the other guy think of peaches....., when Renji forcibly picks a bloody defeated Ichigo off the ground Rukia tells him to wait and  that Ichigo might not be in good shape for a lecture despite that being her job the past few arcs, to have Yhwach say he’ll show up when Ichigo and his friends are at their happiest and he chooses to show up during Ichigo and Rukia’s 10 year reunion and not their weddings or baby-showers, to have Ichihime and Renruki become the “canon” pairing and having their children be the focus of the final chapter and yet the finale book cover is Ichiruki, to have a co-author novel with the suspicious title “We do KNOT always love you” featuring Renji and Rukia’s wedding and Ichihime confession, to have Ichiruki be voted the most popular BLEACH pairing and to be promoting the final BLEACH manga with Ichiruki advertisement bait..... to have the last image we see of the main group be of Ichigo and Rukia who hardly acknowledge their spouses the whole chapter?  

and Tite Kubo FRIENDZONED these two? 

Bye... 

I’m glad Ichiruki didn’t get in the way of the story like Ichihime did, so at least that’s a positive. 

Mitsuro Kubo, the creator of Yuri on Ice did in 12 anime episodes what Tite Kubo couldn’t do in 10 years. 

Create a believable, developed, romantic relationship with a good plot to back it up. 

and the best part is, Mitsuro Kubo did it with non-heterosexual characters. 

For Kubo to rush in with this light novel to try and force in “romantic development” to try and explain pairings he literally only splooshed together for the sake of children.. and to attempt to explain it in a single light novel when he had wasted a ton of plotline set ups that went no where that he could have spent developing said relationships in 10 years time? To have him claim this is an action genre only for him to approve of a light novel based around forced romance and not filling up the hundreds of plot holes he made in the series? Sure we get insight on a couple character’s status and whereabouts but uM WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED... TO THE SOUL KING? THE ZERO SQUAD? Y’KNOW... THE MOST IMPORTANT KEY TO THE WORLD BEING ABLE TO LIVE? HE DEEMED PAIRINGS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT?

If Kaien Shiba claims our hearts are in our fists, I think there’s a lot of bleach fans out there who would love to introduce their “hearts” to Kubo’s face... as harsh as that sounds. He and his entire editor team just continue to ship bait and lie to their fans. It’s very disrespectful, kinda giving fans a reason to be upset with them aside from their other choices. Still don’t approve of the harassment going on though. Nothing is gonna change it now besides us. Its up to us to patch up what’s left of BLEACH’S dignity by continuing to improve and create better plot lines that Kubo pulled out of his garbage can. 

So yeah. Ishihime and Ichiruki were, without a doubt in my mind, canon in the first arc. The amount of time and care each exhibited toward eachother throughout the arc says it all. The end game pairings were DEFINITELY not planned from the beginning. Kubo never had a hold that good on the plot of his series past the first arc. Its just... its not believable. Can’t buy it no matter how hard I try...