soulmates [essay] (ichigo/orihime, renji/rukia)
I wanted to promote some discussion between Bleach fans, in particular Ichigo/Orihime and Ichigo/Rukia shippers. As someone who enthusiastically ships Ichigo/Orihime, but still loves Rukia to pieces, and Renji too while we’re here, I wanted to try to take a rational look at the relationship between the three, and also how Renji factors into it. Of course, there will be ship bias ahead, but I hope you guys will stick with me through it, whether you agree or disagree with my ships. In fact, it would probably mean infinitely more if you disagreed with the ships but still brought up some excellent discussion points. I’m always looking to broaden my perspective. =)
Please note, I am not going to run through every interaction between Ichigo and Orihime or Ichigo and Rukia, or any permutation of the four characters, because it is not my intent to force any pairing down anyone’s throat: this is not intended to be a ship manifesto at all, even though I believe some of you will see it that way. I am in no way trying to discredit the Ichigo/Rukia pairing and, any comment I make in this essay that you believe does so, is totally unintentional and, if I can, I will edit it accordingly because I don’t want to start wank, and I don’t want this essay to cause drama -- hey, a girl can dream, right?
With that out of the way, let’s begin!
Okay, so I’m going to address something that is prominent in practically every ship on the planet but, having wandered into the Bleach fandom, is most prominent in the Ichigo/Orihime and Ichigo/Rukia fandoms in my eyes. Speaking generally, there are some fans in every pairing who view a character that threatens their ship with distrust and something akin to loathing, or else they turn a blind eye to any interaction between the characters that can be construed as romantic when they believe it isn’t, or they note these interactions but merely label them as red herrings. Generally speaking, I feel the need to emphasise, it is not my intention to attack anyone or any ship more than the other.
Now, the reason I brought up that point in the last paragraph is because I cannot, nay, refuse to ignore any influence Rukia has on any development in the relationship between Ichigo and Orihime, whether you see the relationship as romantic or platonic. The reason for this is two-fold. It is inarguable that Rukia is the one who changed Ichigo’s fate with the accidental encounter and he, in turn, changed the fate of everybody else in the story. There is no way you can ignore the importance of this fact without ignoring the basis of the Bleach storyline. The other reason I see Rukia as being integral to their developing relationship, is because she is a metaphorical bridge between the two (for those who are concerned with the Tanabata myth, you could see her as the bridge linking Hikoboshi and Orihime, however I’m a little more reserved about the importance of Tanabata to Bleach, at least in an allegorical sense). Looking at Bleach at the beginning of the series, Ichigo and Orihime are not close by any stretch of the imagination. Even though, as a shipper, I see links between the two of them, which I believe are not coincidental, in terms of their actual relationship, they are really acquaintances at best, linked by Arisawa Tatsuki. Of course, that's no longer the case.
What else is inarguable is that Ichigo is the person Rukia is closest to in the human world. After Ichigo though, Rukia is probably closest to Orihime and their relationship is one of mutual respect. Orihime clearly admires Rukia for her personality traits, and envies her for her effortless bond with Ichigo, whilst Rukia is determined to make Orihime see her own value, in her personality and her powers, because she also respects her for these traits. If there appears to be any disparity between their respect levels, it is because Orihime lowers her own worth down because she sees herself as weak and useless. In my eyes, anyone who honestly, truly believes that Orihime respects Rukia more than Rukia respects her is insulting both characters, either by seeing Orihime as being so much weaker than Rukia that she deserves to be less respected, or by believing that Rukia is the type of person who cannot see the value in someone like Orihime.
Now, the reason I bring up Rukia’s strong links to these two characters is because she has managed to forge these links that appear to be stronger than the links that Ichigo and Orihime have made between each other (whether they actually are or not is entirely up to you). In this way, she has the unique position of connecting the two and I believe she takes this position very seriously. Why do I think this? Because she knows when either Ichigo or Orihime is upset and does her best to cheer them up, as any good friend would do. However, whenever she does this for these two in particular, she inherently understands that the main factor that is upsetting one is the other.
For example, when Rukia comes back after Ulquiorra and Yammy attack and she yells him out of his funk, she takes him to Orihime to apologise. Not just to apologise actually, but to swear to protect her. During her impassioned speech to Ichigo, she says, ‘If you’re afraid of not being able to protect your friends, swear to get stronger until you can protect them.’ And Rukia, being the awesome person she is, understood that the person that Ichigo needed to make that promise to was Orihime, whether he was conscious of this fact or not. After all, even though Chad was hurt badly as well, Rukia understood that it was Ichigo’s inability to protect Orihime in particular (or, for those of you who don’t ship Ichigo/Orihime, Ichigo’s Hollow inadvertently causing Orihime’s injuries by putting her in the firing line) that was causing his anguish. An example for Rukia understanding Orihime’s pain is after Urahara tells her he doesn’t want her on the battlelines and, furthermore, attempting to improve Orihime’s self-image by training with her, which is done primarily for the reasons that Orihime no longer wanted to rely on Ichigo, and also because she wanted to fight side by side with the others. Rukia wants to increase Orihime’s self-worth, in much the same vein as she did with Ichigo at the beginning of the series. Kubo Tite also illustrates her looks of understanding when Orihime is overcome with her emotions for Ichigo, including after Ichigo apologises to her, when they found him alive after the Deicide arc, and when he awoke and his powers were disappearing.
Now the way I see the relationship between them is something akin to soulmates, but slightly different to the usual definition I guess. To me, there may not be just one type of soulmate and the way I’m going to put it here is that someone can have both a platonic soulmate and a romantic soulmate (for lack of better words, I hope you all understand what I mean by these terms). After all, someone can be so in tune with a friend that you are, for all intents and purposes, soulmates with that person, but you don’t necessarily have to have romantic feelings for that person. For example, in my mind, someone like Tatsuki would be Orihime’s platonic soulmate whilst Ichigo is her romantic soulmate (or substitute your own example here if you’re not an Ichigo/Orihime shipper). Of course, it stands to reason that you could have just one soulmate, who embodies all the qualities of both in the one person, for example, I see Rukia as Renji’s soulmate as she is the main reason for his growth and development, while also piquing his romantic interest.
So what do I think when it comes to Ichigo and Rukia? I honestly believe that Ichigo and Rukia are soulmates, but I believe that they are platonic soulmates, people who have impacted on one another’s lives so inexplicably that their lives would not be the same without the other. What else can you say about someone who gives you the power to protect your loved ones? What else can you say about the person who, when you think you are someone not worth saving, proves to you otherwise? And this is not including the natural affinity they have for each other. However, they are also able to move their lives forward without one another, having already had their life-changing impact in the past. When Rukia decided she wanted to stay in Soul Society, Ichigo was totally at peace with her decision, even though she could’ve easily gone back with him and, had their bond been romantic, I believe she would’ve done.
One of the most common points I have seen in both Ichigo/Orihime and Ichigo/Rukia discussions (and yes, I did my research and read essays from both pairings) is who is more important to Ichigo? To me, it’s almost like asking who is more important to Ichigo, Karin or Yuzu? How can you pick? Of course, I would assume that the majority of Ichigo/Rukia fans see her as being more important than Orihime, full stop, and her importance to Ichigo varies from being pretty important to not important at all (generalisation!). Likewise, there are Ichigo/Orihime fans who see Orihime as being more important because they see her as a romantic interest, while others see Rukia as being more important because she shaped the person he would become, and others may see Rukia as not being important at all. There are also others who see them as equally important, myself included. I believe that neither is more important to Ichigo in the long run, because they both have a place in his life and, arguably, in his heart. Of course, that is not to say that one would not override the other in particular circumstances. For instance, if one is being attacked and the other isn’t, of course in that moment one will be more important to the other. Anyway, the reason I think it’s important to point out that, in my head, they are equal is because I believe that, although Rukia shaped who he would become in the past, I believe that Orihime will shape the person he will become in the future.
If I may go off on a fandom tangent, I suppose I see their relationship as something akin to the relationship that exists between Yuki, Tohru and Kyou in Fruits Basket. The link between Yuki and Tohru is platonic, it is only romantic when Yuki attempts to make it romantic, however it is undeniable that their impact on each other’s lives shaped their future. Yuki needed someone like Tohru to be his mother figure and admitted that her influence made him a man. For Tohru, Yuki was the one who pulled Tohru into their lives by inviting her into their home and, by extension, introduced her to her future partner Kyou. Now Kyou and Tohru went through chapters and chapters of self-doubt and loathing before finally reaching the conclusion that their love could withstand any perceived weakness they had. Furthermore, I believe that them being together made them both realise that the other did not see these weaknesses. In particular for Kyou, who spent his whole life feeling like a monster, Tohru’s acceptance of his true form and weakness was a turning point in his personal journey. To me, this is much like the scene where Orihime accepts that Ichigo is not his hollow, but you guys know the story well enough to come up with your own conclusions for that scene, whether you see it the same way the scene between Kyou and Tohru played out, or whether you see it as a purely platonic realisation is up to you. Tangent over, let me circle back to the point.
So, to me at least, Rukia and Orihime are equally important to Ichigo, albeit in different ways. And I also think that he loves them both (people, feel free to disagree) but, again, in different ways. Although I believe that Ichigo loves Rukia, I don’t believe he is in love with her. At this point, Ichigo may not be in love with Orihime either (even though I believe on some subconscious level that he is), he loves her too, even if it is just as a friend and comrade (and as long as he remains dense does not say either which way who he is in love with, this whole love argument is up in the air anyway).
Now, seeing as a lot of people see the Hueco Mundo arc as a recycling of the Soul Society arc, what did Kubo Tite bother trying to make different about it, besides the person being rescued? To me, Soul Society was about developing power, about a physical journey to become someone able to protect loved ones. Hueco Mundo, on the other hand, is about overcoming weaknesses, about becoming someone who is emotionally able to handle saving someone. After all, Ichigo develops his own strength in Soul Society, whilst in Hueco Mundo, he is concerned with controlling his Hollow’s power, something he views as a weakness and he has to deal with the emotional consequences of this inner battle. Of course, this extends to Orihime as well, as her powers were still developing in Soul Society, whilst she has to overcome her perceived personal weaknesses in Hueco Mundo, which actually not only come from within herself, but also from her captors who regularly attempt to break her resolve.
Okay, so let me now introduce Renji into the mix (I felt the need to emphasise the importance of Rukia to Ichigo and Orihime’s relationship first). As I said previously, I believe Rukia is Renji’s soulmate, whilst Renji is Rukia’s romantic soulmate and Ichigo is her platonic soulmate. After all, Ichigo is the one who proves to Rukia that she is someone worth saving through his actions (him in particular, because Orihime, Chad, Ishida, Hanatarou, Ganjuu, Yoruichi and Renji also demonstrate this fact). However, Renji is the one who demonstrates this through his actions and his words, when he says to Rukia, ‘Stop blaming yourself for everything that happens. You’ll crack eventually. Got that? Depend on me or Ichigo. Then take your time to get stronger and stand on your own. That’s what we became strong for.’ To me, it is almost like a love confession from Renji to Rukia (although I understand why other people might not see it that way) because it is dealing with Rukia’s emotions, not just the fact that she needed to be saved. Why do I bring up this point? Because when Ichigo and Rukia finally reunited outside the Shrine of Penitence, he said he was going to reject all of her opinions. Granted, he said it because he knew that any of her opinions would be out of concern for his welfare, but I still find that Renji’s speech to her illustrates his greater understanding of her thought processes (he has known her longer as well, after all).
This next part will probably be shippy, so feel free to skip if you don’t want to read.
Why is it that I believe so strongly that Ichigo/Orihime and Renji/Rukia will end up being canon? Because so much of the character development within this quartet has relied on the implications of the romantic feelings they may have for one another. For instance, Orihime and Renji both want to be come stronger for Ichigo and Rukia respectively. To me, it just doesn’t make sense for Kubo Tite to invest so much in their feelings just for Ichigo and Rukia to end up together, leaving both Orihime and Renji heartbroken. After all, their respective feelings for Ichigo and Rukia are canon -- why bother doing that in a shounen manga just for it to fall flat and not develop it? Why bother developing Orihime’s feelings from a girly crush into a full-blown love confession? Why bother developing her image of Ichigo from a prince to a suave spy-like guy in a suit, who is decidedly more sexualised? Why bother having Orihime still in love with Ichigo after seventeen months if he wasn’t going to do something with it? After all, her feelings could’ve easily faded, but they haven’t and, in fact, I believe Orihime has truly found the strength to stand up and attempt to be Ichigo’s equal, and see herself as such in her own eyes. I also see parallels in Renji’s rescue of Rukia and Ichigo’s rescue of Orihime. When Renji attempts to save Rukia, he turns against his allies to save her while, for Ichigo, they are purely the enemy for as long as they want to execute her, putting much more on the line for Renji than Ichigo. Likewise, during Hueco Mundo, Ichigo unhesitatingly tosses aside his alliance with Soul Society to save Orihime.
Okay, my inner shipper has finished her rant now.
So please feel free to discuss any points already brought up, or bring up new points of your own, but if you choose to discuss in the comments, please keep this in mind: if you don’t have anything nice to say, please don’t say it. I don’t mean I want people to say, ‘OMG, you’re awesome, you read my mind!’ By all means, disagree and challenge, in fact, I invite it, but please do it in a polite and mature manner. Any wank or drama will not be tolerated. That said, have at it!
Please note, I am not going to run through every interaction between Ichigo and Orihime or Ichigo and Rukia, or any permutation of the four characters, because it is not my intent to force any pairing down anyone’s throat: this is not intended to be a ship manifesto at all, even though I believe some of you will see it that way. I am in no way trying to discredit the Ichigo/Rukia pairing and, any comment I make in this essay that you believe does so, is totally unintentional and, if I can, I will edit it accordingly because I don’t want to start wank, and I don’t want this essay to cause drama -- hey, a girl can dream, right?
With that out of the way, let’s begin!
Okay, so I’m going to address something that is prominent in practically every ship on the planet but, having wandered into the Bleach fandom, is most prominent in the Ichigo/Orihime and Ichigo/Rukia fandoms in my eyes. Speaking generally, there are some fans in every pairing who view a character that threatens their ship with distrust and something akin to loathing, or else they turn a blind eye to any interaction between the characters that can be construed as romantic when they believe it isn’t, or they note these interactions but merely label them as red herrings. Generally speaking, I feel the need to emphasise, it is not my intention to attack anyone or any ship more than the other.
Now, the reason I brought up that point in the last paragraph is because I cannot, nay, refuse to ignore any influence Rukia has on any development in the relationship between Ichigo and Orihime, whether you see the relationship as romantic or platonic. The reason for this is two-fold. It is inarguable that Rukia is the one who changed Ichigo’s fate with the accidental encounter and he, in turn, changed the fate of everybody else in the story. There is no way you can ignore the importance of this fact without ignoring the basis of the Bleach storyline. The other reason I see Rukia as being integral to their developing relationship, is because she is a metaphorical bridge between the two (for those who are concerned with the Tanabata myth, you could see her as the bridge linking Hikoboshi and Orihime, however I’m a little more reserved about the importance of Tanabata to Bleach, at least in an allegorical sense). Looking at Bleach at the beginning of the series, Ichigo and Orihime are not close by any stretch of the imagination. Even though, as a shipper, I see links between the two of them, which I believe are not coincidental, in terms of their actual relationship, they are really acquaintances at best, linked by Arisawa Tatsuki. Of course, that's no longer the case.
What else is inarguable is that Ichigo is the person Rukia is closest to in the human world. After Ichigo though, Rukia is probably closest to Orihime and their relationship is one of mutual respect. Orihime clearly admires Rukia for her personality traits, and envies her for her effortless bond with Ichigo, whilst Rukia is determined to make Orihime see her own value, in her personality and her powers, because she also respects her for these traits. If there appears to be any disparity between their respect levels, it is because Orihime lowers her own worth down because she sees herself as weak and useless. In my eyes, anyone who honestly, truly believes that Orihime respects Rukia more than Rukia respects her is insulting both characters, either by seeing Orihime as being so much weaker than Rukia that she deserves to be less respected, or by believing that Rukia is the type of person who cannot see the value in someone like Orihime.
Now, the reason I bring up Rukia’s strong links to these two characters is because she has managed to forge these links that appear to be stronger than the links that Ichigo and Orihime have made between each other (whether they actually are or not is entirely up to you). In this way, she has the unique position of connecting the two and I believe she takes this position very seriously. Why do I think this? Because she knows when either Ichigo or Orihime is upset and does her best to cheer them up, as any good friend would do. However, whenever she does this for these two in particular, she inherently understands that the main factor that is upsetting one is the other.
For example, when Rukia comes back after Ulquiorra and Yammy attack and she yells him out of his funk, she takes him to Orihime to apologise. Not just to apologise actually, but to swear to protect her. During her impassioned speech to Ichigo, she says, ‘If you’re afraid of not being able to protect your friends, swear to get stronger until you can protect them.’ And Rukia, being the awesome person she is, understood that the person that Ichigo needed to make that promise to was Orihime, whether he was conscious of this fact or not. After all, even though Chad was hurt badly as well, Rukia understood that it was Ichigo’s inability to protect Orihime in particular (or, for those of you who don’t ship Ichigo/Orihime, Ichigo’s Hollow inadvertently causing Orihime’s injuries by putting her in the firing line) that was causing his anguish. An example for Rukia understanding Orihime’s pain is after Urahara tells her he doesn’t want her on the battlelines and, furthermore, attempting to improve Orihime’s self-image by training with her, which is done primarily for the reasons that Orihime no longer wanted to rely on Ichigo, and also because she wanted to fight side by side with the others. Rukia wants to increase Orihime’s self-worth, in much the same vein as she did with Ichigo at the beginning of the series. Kubo Tite also illustrates her looks of understanding when Orihime is overcome with her emotions for Ichigo, including after Ichigo apologises to her, when they found him alive after the Deicide arc, and when he awoke and his powers were disappearing.
Now the way I see the relationship between them is something akin to soulmates, but slightly different to the usual definition I guess. To me, there may not be just one type of soulmate and the way I’m going to put it here is that someone can have both a platonic soulmate and a romantic soulmate (for lack of better words, I hope you all understand what I mean by these terms). After all, someone can be so in tune with a friend that you are, for all intents and purposes, soulmates with that person, but you don’t necessarily have to have romantic feelings for that person. For example, in my mind, someone like Tatsuki would be Orihime’s platonic soulmate whilst Ichigo is her romantic soulmate (or substitute your own example here if you’re not an Ichigo/Orihime shipper). Of course, it stands to reason that you could have just one soulmate, who embodies all the qualities of both in the one person, for example, I see Rukia as Renji’s soulmate as she is the main reason for his growth and development, while also piquing his romantic interest.
So what do I think when it comes to Ichigo and Rukia? I honestly believe that Ichigo and Rukia are soulmates, but I believe that they are platonic soulmates, people who have impacted on one another’s lives so inexplicably that their lives would not be the same without the other. What else can you say about someone who gives you the power to protect your loved ones? What else can you say about the person who, when you think you are someone not worth saving, proves to you otherwise? And this is not including the natural affinity they have for each other. However, they are also able to move their lives forward without one another, having already had their life-changing impact in the past. When Rukia decided she wanted to stay in Soul Society, Ichigo was totally at peace with her decision, even though she could’ve easily gone back with him and, had their bond been romantic, I believe she would’ve done.
One of the most common points I have seen in both Ichigo/Orihime and Ichigo/Rukia discussions (and yes, I did my research and read essays from both pairings) is who is more important to Ichigo? To me, it’s almost like asking who is more important to Ichigo, Karin or Yuzu? How can you pick? Of course, I would assume that the majority of Ichigo/Rukia fans see her as being more important than Orihime, full stop, and her importance to Ichigo varies from being pretty important to not important at all (generalisation!). Likewise, there are Ichigo/Orihime fans who see Orihime as being more important because they see her as a romantic interest, while others see Rukia as being more important because she shaped the person he would become, and others may see Rukia as not being important at all. There are also others who see them as equally important, myself included. I believe that neither is more important to Ichigo in the long run, because they both have a place in his life and, arguably, in his heart. Of course, that is not to say that one would not override the other in particular circumstances. For instance, if one is being attacked and the other isn’t, of course in that moment one will be more important to the other. Anyway, the reason I think it’s important to point out that, in my head, they are equal is because I believe that, although Rukia shaped who he would become in the past, I believe that Orihime will shape the person he will become in the future.
If I may go off on a fandom tangent, I suppose I see their relationship as something akin to the relationship that exists between Yuki, Tohru and Kyou in Fruits Basket. The link between Yuki and Tohru is platonic, it is only romantic when Yuki attempts to make it romantic, however it is undeniable that their impact on each other’s lives shaped their future. Yuki needed someone like Tohru to be his mother figure and admitted that her influence made him a man. For Tohru, Yuki was the one who pulled Tohru into their lives by inviting her into their home and, by extension, introduced her to her future partner Kyou. Now Kyou and Tohru went through chapters and chapters of self-doubt and loathing before finally reaching the conclusion that their love could withstand any perceived weakness they had. Furthermore, I believe that them being together made them both realise that the other did not see these weaknesses. In particular for Kyou, who spent his whole life feeling like a monster, Tohru’s acceptance of his true form and weakness was a turning point in his personal journey. To me, this is much like the scene where Orihime accepts that Ichigo is not his hollow, but you guys know the story well enough to come up with your own conclusions for that scene, whether you see it the same way the scene between Kyou and Tohru played out, or whether you see it as a purely platonic realisation is up to you. Tangent over, let me circle back to the point.
So, to me at least, Rukia and Orihime are equally important to Ichigo, albeit in different ways. And I also think that he loves them both (people, feel free to disagree) but, again, in different ways. Although I believe that Ichigo loves Rukia, I don’t believe he is in love with her. At this point, Ichigo may not be in love with Orihime either (even though I believe on some subconscious level that he is), he loves her too, even if it is just as a friend and comrade (and as long as he remains dense does not say either which way who he is in love with, this whole love argument is up in the air anyway).
Now, seeing as a lot of people see the Hueco Mundo arc as a recycling of the Soul Society arc, what did Kubo Tite bother trying to make different about it, besides the person being rescued? To me, Soul Society was about developing power, about a physical journey to become someone able to protect loved ones. Hueco Mundo, on the other hand, is about overcoming weaknesses, about becoming someone who is emotionally able to handle saving someone. After all, Ichigo develops his own strength in Soul Society, whilst in Hueco Mundo, he is concerned with controlling his Hollow’s power, something he views as a weakness and he has to deal with the emotional consequences of this inner battle. Of course, this extends to Orihime as well, as her powers were still developing in Soul Society, whilst she has to overcome her perceived personal weaknesses in Hueco Mundo, which actually not only come from within herself, but also from her captors who regularly attempt to break her resolve.
Okay, so let me now introduce Renji into the mix (I felt the need to emphasise the importance of Rukia to Ichigo and Orihime’s relationship first). As I said previously, I believe Rukia is Renji’s soulmate, whilst Renji is Rukia’s romantic soulmate and Ichigo is her platonic soulmate. After all, Ichigo is the one who proves to Rukia that she is someone worth saving through his actions (him in particular, because Orihime, Chad, Ishida, Hanatarou, Ganjuu, Yoruichi and Renji also demonstrate this fact). However, Renji is the one who demonstrates this through his actions and his words, when he says to Rukia, ‘Stop blaming yourself for everything that happens. You’ll crack eventually. Got that? Depend on me or Ichigo. Then take your time to get stronger and stand on your own. That’s what we became strong for.’ To me, it is almost like a love confession from Renji to Rukia (although I understand why other people might not see it that way) because it is dealing with Rukia’s emotions, not just the fact that she needed to be saved. Why do I bring up this point? Because when Ichigo and Rukia finally reunited outside the Shrine of Penitence, he said he was going to reject all of her opinions. Granted, he said it because he knew that any of her opinions would be out of concern for his welfare, but I still find that Renji’s speech to her illustrates his greater understanding of her thought processes (he has known her longer as well, after all).
This next part will probably be shippy, so feel free to skip if you don’t want to read.
Why is it that I believe so strongly that Ichigo/Orihime and Renji/Rukia will end up being canon? Because so much of the character development within this quartet has relied on the implications of the romantic feelings they may have for one another. For instance, Orihime and Renji both want to be come stronger for Ichigo and Rukia respectively. To me, it just doesn’t make sense for Kubo Tite to invest so much in their feelings just for Ichigo and Rukia to end up together, leaving both Orihime and Renji heartbroken. After all, their respective feelings for Ichigo and Rukia are canon -- why bother doing that in a shounen manga just for it to fall flat and not develop it? Why bother developing Orihime’s feelings from a girly crush into a full-blown love confession? Why bother developing her image of Ichigo from a prince to a suave spy-like guy in a suit, who is decidedly more sexualised? Why bother having Orihime still in love with Ichigo after seventeen months if he wasn’t going to do something with it? After all, her feelings could’ve easily faded, but they haven’t and, in fact, I believe Orihime has truly found the strength to stand up and attempt to be Ichigo’s equal, and see herself as such in her own eyes. I also see parallels in Renji’s rescue of Rukia and Ichigo’s rescue of Orihime. When Renji attempts to save Rukia, he turns against his allies to save her while, for Ichigo, they are purely the enemy for as long as they want to execute her, putting much more on the line for Renji than Ichigo. Likewise, during Hueco Mundo, Ichigo unhesitatingly tosses aside his alliance with Soul Society to save Orihime.
Okay, my inner shipper has finished her rant now.
So please feel free to discuss any points already brought up, or bring up new points of your own, but if you choose to discuss in the comments, please keep this in mind: if you don’t have anything nice to say, please don’t say it. I don’t mean I want people to say, ‘OMG, you’re awesome, you read my mind!’ By all means, disagree and challenge, in fact, I invite it, but please do it in a polite and mature manner. Any wank or drama will not be tolerated. That said, have at it!