NnoiNel Manifesto
NnoiNel Manifesto:
brought to you by hpim
Months ago I posted a flimsy manifesto lacking a chapter of development. My friends, I present to you a manifesto I am truly proud of. This was meant to be posted at ship_manifesto, but for the time being I have been unable to post it there. I hope you will all take the time to read this, I'm very proud of it.
NOTE: This manifesto took a lot of time and thought, and it's exploring a lot about hollows no one seems to like to address. I am not saying that Kubo needs to expressively make this canon, I am saying in this manifesto that what is provided makes it likely they are as 'canon' as a hollow couple can ever be. I don't ask that you agree but that you listen. Kubo Tite has made his world a very complicated one and I intend to be as close to what he's showing us as a fan can be.
Credit: A huge special amazing thank you to Brandon, my handsome and brilliant C.C. moe-loving-comrade-in-arms, for his proofreading and revisions. ( xD) I would also like to thank Meg and Mao for giving me a reason to write it, and the whole fandom for loving NnoiNel as much as I do. :)
Warning!: PICTURE HEAVY because I like evidence not assumptions :D
Nnoitra Jiruga x Neliel Tu
Hatred is what defines us
A Manifesto
Contents:
I. Introduction
II. The Characters
III. The Reunion
IV. The Battle
V. The Past
VI. The Hollow Nature
VII. Nnoitra's Ego
VIII. The Compassionate Side of Nell
IX. A few problems you say?
X. The End
I. Introduction
When many of us note the Arrancar and their differences from other hollows the first thing we think of is the fact that they are more human. If anything, we love these characters because they are intriguing. Rather than be drawn to good like the shinigami we notice how they are drawn in the opposite direction. Hollows if anything are like The Organization from Kingdom Hearts (to give an analogy) they understand emotions, they comprehend loss, but rather than feel emotions they just pretend to so they can manipulate those around them. This is an assumption that is supported by the actions of Dordonii Alessandro Del Socacchio, in which he fools Ichigo so he will learn a lesson, he is too kindhearted and the evil kinds of creatures lurking in Las Noches will not take pity on him. He has to learn they are the same as the hollows he kills. The difference is that they have reasoning and they use it. This was stated by Nell herself, the Espada considered to be the most feeling and the only one who has shown the capacity for true compassion on a major level. One of the typical issues with NnoiNel is that Neliel is nice and Nnoitra is too vulgar, but as hollow characters we must really consider their characters and how they are supposed to function as hollows. This manifesto addresses Nnoitra and Neliel and all of their actions regarding one another and how they translate. It offers an explanation for some things not commonly answered in the fan community.
II. The Characters
A. Neliel Tu Oderschvank
Neliel is often thought of as the compassionate arrancar. She was previously ranked as the 3rd Espada in Aizen Sousuke's army. Nnoitra injured her and kicked her out of Las Noches, thus cracking her mask, and reducing her to a child. From this she gained a very great amount of compassion, as her child form was protected from several of the things in Las Noches threatening to harm her. Because of her reason despite her size, she lived a modest existence among the sands of Hueco Mundo. She later met Substitute Shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo and was brought back to Las Noches where she returned to her adult form and confronted Nnoitra.
B. Nnoitra Jiruga
Nnoitra Jiruga is a foulmouthed arrancar who is ranked 5th in Aizen Sousuke's army. He is well known in Bleach and the fandom itself for being sexist, pigheaded, 'self centered', and various other characteristics that over all combine to say one thing: He's scum. But Nnoitra is motivated by both a superficial goal and a more human one that many people overlook. He kicked Nell out of Las Noches some (estimation) 20 years ago. Before then he had been 8th in Aizen's army and constantly competed with Nell. He has a death wish and lusts for blood, but would we love him any other way? (Probably XD)
III. The Reunion
Unlike many peope in Bleach there had been no expected reunion for these two. In fact, Nell's past had always seemed as simple as she did. She was just a young arrancar with a knack for eating ceros, but as it turns out one of the most highlighted reunions in Las Noches was not the Ichigo love interest reunions, it was in fact the Nnoitra/Neliel reunion in which we learn several facts about the characters. The first thing we learn? Nel is really an Espada and our spoony headed villain had something to do with it. As notable as the first few things are, what we really need to look at first is how Neliel acts first. After all Neliel did not just lose her memories on a happy day, she lost them because her head was busted open.
So what happens? Nel has no memories and this makes Nnoitra uninterested (why, we'll get into later) but what he is interested in is breaking Ichigo's face. We can clearly see that he can't stand the way that Ichigo talks about Nell. This is one of his first truly 'thought provoking' glances which makes us wonder, geez, what's his problem?
We see that this look is not just a 'bored' rant because Nnoitra does several things. Not only does Nnoitra kick Ichigo in the face, but he soon becomes so angry with the hero that he goes into a tirade about how Neliel pissed him off and he couldn't stand it. Ichigo tells him to stop and he becomes so angry that he starts to break our hero's wrist. Nell had lived a protected life before this point. Not only did she have the pressure of her friend being hurt, but Dondochakka and Pesshe explain a little later themselves that they would protect Nell from anything that wanted to hurt her. Nell went through enough stress because of this to gulp down an entire cero for Dordonii, and being entirely powerless in this situation causes her to transform.
In another display of emotion we see Nnoitra display an emotion we have never seen before. Those aren't the eyebrows of someone afraid, those are the shocked eyebrows of someone who's seeing a ghost of someone. Nnoitra told himself for 20 some years Neliel was gone, and seeing her appear after he'd just seen her even more gone than he'd imagined? That's quite a shock for Nnoitra. Yet, he seems a lot less excited about getting the chance to fight Nell than he seemed he would be.
IV. The Battle
The most important thing is that we see how all of the things between Nnoitra and Neliel affect Neliel. Most girls don't exactly get overjoyed to see a man who sliced their face in half and destroyed their lives, threatening their friends and the people they love. So what we do notice is that Nnoitra and Neliel have a basic stand off, despite the fact that Neliel goes to the trouble of saving Ichigo. Rather than ask him if he's okay, she's in such a dead stare off with Nnoitra that she does not even notice Ichigo or his condition, so even hearing him speak surprises her a little. She's not worried about Ichigo, she's pissed like hell at Nnoitra.
Nel says to Ichigo that she wants to thank him for protecting her. The chapter title supports this, the character poem supports this. But there is one thing you can't deny, Nel is inspired by her anger at Nnoitra and she makes it obvious with how mad she gets at him. She fires a cero at Nnoitra, one with the power and intent to kill him. When it fails we see something: Nell underestimates Nnoitra. This isn't neccesarily her fault, the only indication that time had passed was his new rank and his grown hair, and she had no idea how powerful he had become. But this sets in stone how they had each viewed the relationship: Nnoitra was weaker and she was stronger. With her absolute power over him gone, this leaves Nnoitra to gloat and Nell being forced to take things seriously. Moreover, she has to contemplate the entire past rather than regret later. When remembering what happened to her because of him, she does what she had seldom given Nnoitra the pleasure of enjoying. She reacts to him and she gets pure damn sure mad over it.
But even before this Neliel wavers. It seems the only time she could kill him was when she did not have the issue of thinking about the past. Even though she should be growing more angry with him as time passes, she doesn't. This is one of the first real emotions to spring up from Neliel herself. We will see Neliel prove something, a big counter to some previous 'doubts'. Neliel is in a situation in which she has every reason to kill Nnoitra, If not for revenge then for her friend as she promised. Neliel's own morality would not call for her to be upset at all for killing Nnoitra. He may not be a warrior, but he is certainly threatening her life and Ichigo's. Yet despite having every reason to kill Nnoitra she does not. This is no longer an issue of her beliefs, it's an issue of her own desire to kill him personally.
Despite that moments later she will be angry at him, despite that they're still in danger if she leaves him alive, it is one of the many times she has stopped her sword. Nell cannot kill him because she does not want to, and this is not the first time it happens. As their fight continues we see Nell and Nnoitra recall the events leading up to Nnoitra's attack. Neliel is outraged, as we saw from the pictures above, and Nnoitra is loving that for once she can't do a damn thing about it. But Neliel cannot stave him off much longer and she realizes this. So, despite her own wishes, she releases.
Nell transforms and this scares the DUCK out of Nnoitra. We see him get that scared once before, in response to her pulling the double cero (which if you look at, he took that very well. No one in Bleach usually gets hit head on with a cero, they dodge. He was scared shitless and got full on blasted by it). Nnoitra knows when to be afraid, and he's VERY afraid. But when Nnoitra is afraid like this we know what he says after is usually the truth. He doesn't grin and he doesn't get excited when he's about to lose, so when we see beat up Nnoitra pull out a little bit of sweat but still keep that grin? He has no reason to- he enjoys the fight right? He hasn't released yet, right?
But all Nell will say to him is the usual, something that Nnoitra himself does not deserve. "I will spare your life" and we see that same peak of irrationality we saw in Nell before. Nnoitra acknowledges her power after the fight and during it with his demeaner lacking in the boyish ego he always has. But Nnoitra would never give up, and he had yet to release his most powerful attack. He had yet to release his sword, which we see would have given him a serious trump card. He would be completely healed and she was stressed. With her defeat would mean the death of Ichigo and her own death, and it would mean letting down a friend she had promised to thank.
So we see again that Neliel pointlessly spares his life when logic dictates she should kill him. It's all a personal issue, not even one linked to her morality. If that was all Neliel was going by then she would not hesitate to kill him.
Another point we must look at is without a doubt, their past. True be told there is a lot more proof that Nell is doing all her 'benevolent' actions simply out of emotional preference for Nnoitra. Although there is no control or comparison, we see that this benevolent yet strict arrancar does many things that would seem*unusual for her.
Let's establish a few things before we get to the final evidence supporting that. Neliel and Nnoitra establish a very love/hate relationship: he follows her, she follows him. There are several instances in which we see Nnoitra contradict himself over that (again, a later point) and many more with Nell. Nell constantly states at the beginning of their flashbacks that he is beneath her, even later stating that she 'won't be dragged into that demented world' that Nnoitra is constantly dragging her into. She at one point even calls him a child. Why is this a contradiction? Because even Nnoitra has to ask, why does she insistantly follow him despite him disliking her and her apparent dislike of him.
In the biggest contradiction ever made by a Bleach character, Nell states “It is because you are weaker than I. And poor Nnoitra, being slower than most people, doesn't see that everything she had said up to that point--about how she doesn't want to be like him, about how she doesn't approve of his actions, and about how she wants him to grow up and find a purpose--makes her benevolent enough to protect the man she constantly scolds. She says, 'What you are doing goes against Aizen,' and then says, 'Because you are weak, I'll protect you, so that Aizen will not lose you.
To be even more precise, here are three things she says:
“You are disobeying Aizen”
“I protected you so Aizen wouldn't lose an Espada”
“You are weaker than me”
The first and second are complete contradictions. As a loyal Espada she had every right to report to Aizen that he had caused his own death. She even says he's weaker, and lacks loyalty. If that's so, then her reasons for protecting him (Statement 2) are completely and utterly contradicted by the things she's said to him. (Statement 1 and 3). Nell even pauses for a minute on her third statement. Sure, we could pretend it's to hurt his ego, but again, this makes for another contradiction. If Nell said it to hurt him and not as an excuse, why would she save him? He's not loyal to Aizen, he's hurting the Espada, he's weak, and she hates him so she'll save him?
As you can see, that makes no sense. So logically, what would make sense here? Our valiant Nell has a reason to lie. As a person who is usually right there with her feelings, there is actually a logical reason for her to do what she does. It all boils down to what she is as a hollow. Time to start answering the questions I've undoubtedly posed: Why does Nell need to lie? Nnoitra is below her and she's said that.
Everyone has undoubtedly noticed the nature of a hollow. Hollows eat souls, hollows eat each other. Hollows eventually evolve, and even as evolved beings form a contrast with the Shinigami. The hollows are clad in white, and they do bad instead of good. In a simple observation of the differences, we should look to the Shinigami. Even the Shinigami who are unstable or outright evil have a tendency to bring out some latent good by their actions. Kenpachi has his honor, Mayuri decides not to make Uryu his bitch, and half of Soul Society rebels against the decision to execute Rukia. Those are things we all know, but the tough part is proving that the kind and generous exceptions to the hollow rule are actually drawn to their darker sides.
Let's start off with Dordonii.
Dordonii is an arrancar we meet as Ichigo is trying to save Orihime in the Hueco Mundo arc. Dordonii strikes us as an exception because he does do two nice things: He tries to teach Ichigo a lesson he needs to learn and he tries to save Ichigo from the Exequis. These are very nice things. We see that arrancar are capable of compassion (just like Shinigami are capable of cruelty). But the whole point of Dordonii's existence is to tell us how desperate the arrancar are to be in Aizen's light. Aizen, the man who threatens to destroy an entire city, the balance of SS, and become God. We see how desperate Dordonii is to earn this when he threatens to hurt Nell (who is a child at that point) and nearly does just to incite Ichigo's wrath. He shows compassion only when his selfish desires are no longer possible.
Second:
Grimmjow JaegerJacques
Often noted as being an arrancar with pride, he doesn't have near as much of one as Kenpachi. Kenpachi says he won't fight a man while he's down. Our Grimmjow beats the fuck out of Ichigo, nearly kills Rukia, and once he pays back his debt to Orihime he treats her rudely. His one line to Nell, in child form, is to shut up. He demands Ichigo be healed, but obviously doesn't care that he can't fight at the moment earlier on. He cared about his fraccion enough not to eat them all as hollows, yet when they died his showed less remorse or guilt over it than any other character over the injury of their friends. He's in a fight for the thrill. But even he is willing to stoop to extremely low levels. He aims shots at Orihime and Nell, he uses an extremely powerful cero in attempt to make Ichigo come out as a hollow. For being a good guy in most peoples eyes, he's a jerk. He stoops to Nnoitra's level almost consistently, only shaping up in regards to a totally butchered enemy.
Overall:
Every single arrancar.
No seriously.
All the arrancar are said to have reason. Yet even Nnoitra says there is no salvation, Aizen did not provide them with one. Yet all of the Espada, arrancar, and etc, choose to follow Aizen. They show they are capable of compassion, every single one of them with more than a fight chapter is shown with regret and remorse and kindness. Yet why is it that every single one of them choose to follow a man they are aware is attempting to slaughter the weak humans who did nothing, fight the Shinigami and further their own bad reputations, and over all control them in every way as tools with no real reward except his regards. This shows the biggest flaw in every arrancar, especially Neliel.
So what do all of these examples amount to? Arrancars are capable of emotion, but they are drawn to do evil things. The contrasts are specific, displayed in full and living color. So how does Nell show this, and how does it answer the question? The question is the answer. Why does she hang around Nnoitra, and have to lie about it? The question has almost been answered for us.
The final thing we have to look at is that while Nell never talks down to a single other person, she is cold and disrespectful to Nnoitra. This is weird and makes us want the answer to the question even more: Why would Nell want to be Nnoitra when he's not only a nuisance but just plain unpleasant. She chooses to be around a person whom she retorts coldly, who is dangerous, and she even calls a beast.
The answer is simple. Nnoitra Jiruga is Neliel's hollow flaw, she is drawn to him because he allows her to be the cold uncaring hollow she is. In a sick and twisted way, Neliel needs Nnoitra to be who she really is. Egotistical and cold? She's not that? It's the only real explanation. Neliel makes the conscious choice to be around Nnoitra. She spits off endless rounds of reasoning, and when she is finally asked a question she didn't expect? She contradicts herself in a really damaging way. With Nnoitra, she is proven to be a hollow character and we see the reason why she cannot kill him. Nell needs Nnoitra, more than she needs any other character.
So what about Nnoitra?
There are several instances in the manga in which we go “That's peculiar of Nnoitra”. The most striking one is in Chapter 312 where he's dying, and his eyes show a flicker of emotion. That makes us wonder, is our cold and uncaring Nnoitra more than he seems? The answer is a heartfelt yes, Nnoitra is a lot more than what he seems. But it's not because of one look, it's because of many. Let's finally analyze the fight scene from Nnoitra's perspective.
We see in the beginning of Nnoitra and Neliel's reunion that he really really wants her to notice him. That's how Nnoitra is, isn't it? He likes bragging, he likes showing off. Oddly enough this is a situation unlike Nnoitra. He declares to Tesla that he is the greatest, he talks down to Halibel, he talks trash to Ulquiorra as if it meant nothing. So why does the great and unmoved Nnoitra Jiruga show his first glimpse of emotion in response to Nell's inability to acknowledge him? He's never once needed it before, from anyone.
When Nell cannot give him acknowledgment, he tries to kick her. When she's defended by Ichigo he gets so mad until he finally snaps, and goes on a tirade about how made and angry she used to make him. He explains Ichigo is pissing him off like that, and they proceed to fight. Ichigo gets his ass beat and this causes Nell to transform. We learn a lot from Nell's transformation, and the first thing we learn is that, instinctively, Nnoitra does not fear Nell, but something else. To compare the situations, I'll show you Nnoitra's reaction to her transformation and his reaction to her Double Cero technique
I gotta tell you, the difference is uncanny. He knows he's about to get his ass kicked in the second one, but the first one? Not so much. It's one of his less fearful looks in the whole manga. It's almost on par with his blank look as he scans the sands for a strong fighter, unable to kill Chad (much on par with Nell's 'teachings' )
We go on to another scene. During there whole fight he shows the most emotion when they stop their blades, but he is unwilling to let up just yet. The most peculiar thing about this fight is the aftermath. Despite Nnoitra's willingness to declare his own victory, his look in response to Ichigo's “OMGNELLWTFNOSHIT” attitude is that of someone who is not happy, a victor, or anything much on that same level. If anything, Nnoitra is disappointed.
This is not the look the overconfident man makes when he hurts people. He had a huge grin on his face as he cut down the weakling Chad, and he was grinning brightly as he approached Ichigo after slicing and dicing Grimmjow. He is not basking in his victory, he's telling them that Nell was their last hope. So we see how her mere acknowledgment affects him, what about her criticism?
Earlier, I touched on how he had been affected by Nell's words. If anything, Nnoitra never acts pleasant while he's going on those tirades. He's being mean to poor Tesla as he goes on a rant about how “If I kill 1000 weaklings, how will I become any stronger!”. Nnoitra never once thought like this before. The Nnoitra of now would not kill Chad, but we see him slaughter Mario!Arrancar who conceded. Nnoitra's actions change over time as a direct result of Nell's words.
Nell tells him he needs a reason, that there's no point in slaughter--she scolds him, taunts him, and speaks down to him, and we see that after the long time they've spent apart, Nnoitra not only can't stand that criticism, but any reminder of it kills him. What does this tell us? Our untouchable Number 1 Nnoitra Jiruga cares about what Neliel says. He 'hates her' so much, yet he's affected by her whims. In further support of this idea? The only time he shows any emotion outside of his relationship with Nell, is when Kenpachi downplays him in the way Nell did. Any reminder of how she refused to acknowledge, no, accept him makes him upset and infuriated. He even tells us this himself by recalling a similar look and pain from what Nell said, right after Kenpachi had angered him.
So what am I proposing here? If Nnoitra needs Nell's acknowledgment so much, why didn't he become a model citizen arrancar and follow in her footsteps? Why thank you my friend, you've just proved a point. Nnoitra doesn't want the kind of acceptance you get from a mommy or a sister. He doesn't want God's acceptance (he even shuns the word of the 'God' of Las Noches) but instead he wants the acceptance of a lover. Instead of fighting all the time, Nnoitra actually listens to her. It's obvious from some of his changes in opinion. Rather than telling her to just fight him all the time, he honestly does wonder why she saves him. He wonders why she won't stop following him. Now tell me, would a man who honestly hates a woman give two shits about her opinion? Further more, when he had been called a child, when he had been shunned, would he ask her why she had done everything she'd done and then, when he gets shot down, honestly look hurt and remember it in one of his last moments? If Nnoitra doesn't care about Neliel, he would never react to her in a way he refuses to do to others.
So the final question in Nnoitra's analysis is why then? Why did Nnoitra throw Neliel off a building and revert her to a child, leave a permanent scar, and try to get stronger? Well first off, even his thoughts at the time play into that. He needs her to accept him as the strongest warrior. He regrets they'll never be able to fight. Yet oddly enough Nnoitra can't even remember her signature move. He gets hit full on with it in battle. The woman he's supposedly maimed for life just to beat gets the jump on him because he forgets her signature move.
Over all? This explains every single thing that Nnoitra does. It explains why he hurts her, it explains why he changes some of his ways, and most of all? This proves that the baby eater Nnoitra is probably the most believable of Arrancar. But I will admit- Nnoitra likely had one more motive. The same motive that made Nell follow around Nnoitra compelled him to get rid of Nell. There were two things Nnoitra gained from getting rid of her. Nnoitra could get stronger and hopefully gain her acceptance, and he could escape the human emotions she gave him. As the only one who ever made him need acceptance, Nell threatened the hollow he was. She was a burden on him as a person for not accepting him, and him as a hollow for making him care about her and what she thought about him. This fills in all the blanks, it really honestly does. Nnoitra simply hating Nell makes half the sense, but why then did he forget her signature move? (And for kicks, recall that his last thought is a memory of her. He remembers their conversations but never their fights?)
So her hollow side cares and he cares all around, but that's not all there is to it!
We've established a few things. One, Neliel could be her hollow self around Nnoitra. This was one of the reasons she spared him. (You thought I was done? Shame on you) But what about the side that everyone notices? The Nell most people notice is the bubbly bouncy yet serious and respectful hollow that used to be 3rd in Aizen's army. Surely Nnoitra was just an evil that she could discard even had he lived?
..Not exactly.
You see the many years have left our serious and high ranking Neliel in a different place in the world. She experienced a sheltered life. Most likely this means that Nell is now even more capable of compassion. This is not to say she has lost her hollow identity entirely, but it means that we get to see how she'll treat Nnoitra now that she has been humbled in a big new way. Neliel does not dissapoint. As I addressed earlier, we see several things here specifically from the fight scene. We see that Nell is more merciful than most would be. Though her initial thought to kill him stands strong at the beginning, she quickly shows mercy. You'd think all the anger pent up over 20 odd years(don't ask how I got that, it's long and has to do with jar head) would do some damage. (The whole point is that since she forgot, it's like she just got her head opened. That's a lot of rage.)
She stops her sword, he asks why. He's setting himself up for a failure she could easily give, but instead, Nell does something she had never done before.
Nell says to him “I could ask you the same” and she gives him a half hearted smile. For someone angry, she's showing him a lot of compassion. But that's not what Nnoitra wants, he wants her to admit defeat. He says she hasn't changed, because she's not yet willing to admit defeat. (AKA: She won't accept him.)
For a minute, we see that she's back to belittling him. We see that even after all that time he does that one thing for him, and then we see her transform. Nnoitra says he's the winner (though probably partially true, he was glad she couldn't belittle him but upset she couldn't accept him once again, thus the sad face way up there) and blah blah. So what do we have? A half smile, that's it? No, we see something a little more in one of Nnoitra's final chapters.
Noted by fans everywhere as a peculiar scene (simply because they think Nnoitra and Nell simply do hate each other) this is the instance where we see that Nell's best known side cares for Nnoitra too. After all, if it was just her hollow side, wouldn't she want to attempt to kick the habit by letting him die? She had every reason to, she had every right to. The reason is that not only does she need him to be more like a hollow, but her human side that feels compassion cares for him. She meets eyes with him, she's sad. That is not the reaction of a woman to a man she hates, one she despises and wants to be gone forever. Her happy laughing side, it cares too, it's just used to tough love.
Several things are still there to worry about. What about Nnoitra's sexism! Wouldn't it counteract everything you've said, it fits perfectly! That's not exactly true either, my friend. Nnoitra being sexist would in fact help my case. As a man and a hollow needing her acceptance is a painful thing to admit, so getting rid of her would help him in both ways. However, I'm going to defend my essay as is and explain to you why I doubt Nnoitra's sexism.
There are two situations which come to mind when I think about Nnoitra truly being sexist. The first would seemingly support it, but it also hurts it. I'm sure you're all familiar with the scene where Nnoitra makes his way to Orihime's room. In a disgusting notion he asks Ulquiorra how her training has gone, and Ulquiorra says that that's disgusting.
Had Nnoitra taken this in a different direction, I might agree more that he is in fact sexist. But the fact is? Rather than belittle Orihime, he attacks Ulquiorra's persona for being such a wuss. He doesn't once bring it up again, almost as if it had been a...*gasp* joke! Funny how things people say sometimes turn out to be you know, jokes. Because Nnoitra rags on Ulquiorra, says he's a wuss, no fun, doesn't that sound like what you'd tell your friends when they messed up a joke? Even more when they messed up a joke about sexuality, and you were someone with a seeming hyper sexuality? Yeah, I thought so.
The other instance is his conversation with Halibel during the meeting. Rather than pick at her, as he did with Ulquiorra, he just makes an offhanded comment. Halibel calls him out on it and rather than get that unpleasant frown or etc, he does to her exactly what he did to Ulquiorra. He asks her if she's scared. Picking all the same, it's not better or worse than what he did to Ulquiorra.
So what would explain this even more? Maybe, just maybe, when Tesla asked him why he picked Neliel, he was a little reluctant to admit that he in all his greatness needed her to tell him how strong he was. Maybe, just maybe, he didn't exactly want to cry on Tesla's shoulder about what he was. He dealt with it himself, like men do. It's not in Nnoitra's personality to be as sexist as we expect, but it is in his personality to be a macho man. What, Nnoitra's not that smart you say?
Then let's assume I've been wrong all along. Why did this man who hates Neliel not say to her face when she said “you have no reason” that he thinks women are beneath him. That's a reason for some people, but he doesn't want to say it to her. He tries to fight her constantly yet he refuses to tell her this big bad secret? Let's recall I've suggested he values Nell's opinion, not quite so much for Tesla's. (Poor Tesla, he's just a poor boy and nobody loves him )
Oh, and let's consult the sibling theory for just a moment. Some people like to propose that perhaps Nell and Nnoitra are siblings. For a moment, let's recall Il Forte and Szayel. These two are canon brothers, yet they don't give a shit about each other. If by chance Nnoitra and Nell are siblings, this means that Kubo ships incest. Siblings as hollows are not the same as humans. If you want my real counter? Go read my old old manifesto, but this sums it up.
So after all this we've finally come to a serious conclusion. Nell follows Nnoitra due to her hollow nature, but she feels compassion for him too. Her own unwillingness to accept him, as dictated by her hollow nature (high and mighty, etc), is what makes him feel emotions. Unwilling to deal with her not accepting him and the feeling of emotions, he gets rid of her. When they meet again, he's changed a lot of his ideals because he remembers her. She can't bring herself to kill him, he can't either. In truth, they're the only people that can truly appeal to the hollow nature of the other as well as the human nature of the other.
As big as a couple of misfits they seem to be, in human terms they could actually function. Unfortunately they are hollows and thus have dealt with that in the ways we've already seen. But even as hollows, they still felt emotions and were able to experience things that without each other they'd lack, serious characterization moments and serious thoughts and experiences and over all? They'd never have become so deep.
Here's some fun links!
Fanart Sites:
http://m-pe.tv/u/page.php?uid=boroon&id=1
http://www10.oekakibbs.com/bbs/yayoi-_-i/oekakibbs.cgi
http://gogonokaze.ciao.jp/frameset.html
Fanfiction.net C2
http://www.fanfiction.net/community/Hate_is_Love_for_Hollows/56419/
Have fun :Db
brought to you by hpim
Months ago I posted a flimsy manifesto lacking a chapter of development. My friends, I present to you a manifesto I am truly proud of. This was meant to be posted at ship_manifesto, but for the time being I have been unable to post it there. I hope you will all take the time to read this, I'm very proud of it.
NOTE: This manifesto took a lot of time and thought, and it's exploring a lot about hollows no one seems to like to address. I am not saying that Kubo needs to expressively make this canon, I am saying in this manifesto that what is provided makes it likely they are as 'canon' as a hollow couple can ever be. I don't ask that you agree but that you listen. Kubo Tite has made his world a very complicated one and I intend to be as close to what he's showing us as a fan can be.
Credit: A huge special amazing thank you to Brandon, my handsome and brilliant C.C. moe-loving-comrade-in-arms, for his proofreading and revisions. ( xD) I would also like to thank Meg and Mao for giving me a reason to write it, and the whole fandom for loving NnoiNel as much as I do. :)
Warning!: PICTURE HEAVY because I like evidence not assumptions :D
Nnoitra Jiruga x Neliel Tu
Hatred is what defines us
A Manifesto
Contents:
I. Introduction
II. The Characters
III. The Reunion
IV. The Battle
V. The Past
VI. The Hollow Nature
VII. Nnoitra's Ego
VIII. The Compassionate Side of Nell
IX. A few problems you say?
X. The End
I. Introduction
When many of us note the Arrancar and their differences from other hollows the first thing we think of is the fact that they are more human. If anything, we love these characters because they are intriguing. Rather than be drawn to good like the shinigami we notice how they are drawn in the opposite direction. Hollows if anything are like The Organization from Kingdom Hearts (to give an analogy) they understand emotions, they comprehend loss, but rather than feel emotions they just pretend to so they can manipulate those around them. This is an assumption that is supported by the actions of Dordonii Alessandro Del Socacchio, in which he fools Ichigo so he will learn a lesson, he is too kindhearted and the evil kinds of creatures lurking in Las Noches will not take pity on him. He has to learn they are the same as the hollows he kills. The difference is that they have reasoning and they use it. This was stated by Nell herself, the Espada considered to be the most feeling and the only one who has shown the capacity for true compassion on a major level. One of the typical issues with NnoiNel is that Neliel is nice and Nnoitra is too vulgar, but as hollow characters we must really consider their characters and how they are supposed to function as hollows. This manifesto addresses Nnoitra and Neliel and all of their actions regarding one another and how they translate. It offers an explanation for some things not commonly answered in the fan community.
II. The Characters
A. Neliel Tu Oderschvank
Neliel is often thought of as the compassionate arrancar. She was previously ranked as the 3rd Espada in Aizen Sousuke's army. Nnoitra injured her and kicked her out of Las Noches, thus cracking her mask, and reducing her to a child. From this she gained a very great amount of compassion, as her child form was protected from several of the things in Las Noches threatening to harm her. Because of her reason despite her size, she lived a modest existence among the sands of Hueco Mundo. She later met Substitute Shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo and was brought back to Las Noches where she returned to her adult form and confronted Nnoitra.
B. Nnoitra Jiruga
Nnoitra Jiruga is a foulmouthed arrancar who is ranked 5th in Aizen Sousuke's army. He is well known in Bleach and the fandom itself for being sexist, pigheaded, 'self centered', and various other characteristics that over all combine to say one thing: He's scum. But Nnoitra is motivated by both a superficial goal and a more human one that many people overlook. He kicked Nell out of Las Noches some (estimation) 20 years ago. Before then he had been 8th in Aizen's army and constantly competed with Nell. He has a death wish and lusts for blood, but would we love him any other way? (Probably XD)
III. The Reunion
Unlike many peope in Bleach there had been no expected reunion for these two. In fact, Nell's past had always seemed as simple as she did. She was just a young arrancar with a knack for eating ceros, but as it turns out one of the most highlighted reunions in Las Noches was not the Ichigo love interest reunions, it was in fact the Nnoitra/Neliel reunion in which we learn several facts about the characters. The first thing we learn? Nel is really an Espada and our spoony headed villain had something to do with it. As notable as the first few things are, what we really need to look at first is how Neliel acts first. After all Neliel did not just lose her memories on a happy day, she lost them because her head was busted open.
So what happens? Nel has no memories and this makes Nnoitra uninterested (why, we'll get into later) but what he is interested in is breaking Ichigo's face. We can clearly see that he can't stand the way that Ichigo talks about Nell. This is one of his first truly 'thought provoking' glances which makes us wonder, geez, what's his problem?
We see that this look is not just a 'bored' rant because Nnoitra does several things. Not only does Nnoitra kick Ichigo in the face, but he soon becomes so angry with the hero that he goes into a tirade about how Neliel pissed him off and he couldn't stand it. Ichigo tells him to stop and he becomes so angry that he starts to break our hero's wrist. Nell had lived a protected life before this point. Not only did she have the pressure of her friend being hurt, but Dondochakka and Pesshe explain a little later themselves that they would protect Nell from anything that wanted to hurt her. Nell went through enough stress because of this to gulp down an entire cero for Dordonii, and being entirely powerless in this situation causes her to transform.
In another display of emotion we see Nnoitra display an emotion we have never seen before. Those aren't the eyebrows of someone afraid, those are the shocked eyebrows of someone who's seeing a ghost of someone. Nnoitra told himself for 20 some years Neliel was gone, and seeing her appear after he'd just seen her even more gone than he'd imagined? That's quite a shock for Nnoitra. Yet, he seems a lot less excited about getting the chance to fight Nell than he seemed he would be.
IV. The Battle
The most important thing is that we see how all of the things between Nnoitra and Neliel affect Neliel. Most girls don't exactly get overjoyed to see a man who sliced their face in half and destroyed their lives, threatening their friends and the people they love. So what we do notice is that Nnoitra and Neliel have a basic stand off, despite the fact that Neliel goes to the trouble of saving Ichigo. Rather than ask him if he's okay, she's in such a dead stare off with Nnoitra that she does not even notice Ichigo or his condition, so even hearing him speak surprises her a little. She's not worried about Ichigo, she's pissed like hell at Nnoitra.
Nel says to Ichigo that she wants to thank him for protecting her. The chapter title supports this, the character poem supports this. But there is one thing you can't deny, Nel is inspired by her anger at Nnoitra and she makes it obvious with how mad she gets at him. She fires a cero at Nnoitra, one with the power and intent to kill him. When it fails we see something: Nell underestimates Nnoitra. This isn't neccesarily her fault, the only indication that time had passed was his new rank and his grown hair, and she had no idea how powerful he had become. But this sets in stone how they had each viewed the relationship: Nnoitra was weaker and she was stronger. With her absolute power over him gone, this leaves Nnoitra to gloat and Nell being forced to take things seriously. Moreover, she has to contemplate the entire past rather than regret later. When remembering what happened to her because of him, she does what she had seldom given Nnoitra the pleasure of enjoying. She reacts to him and she gets pure damn sure mad over it.
But even before this Neliel wavers. It seems the only time she could kill him was when she did not have the issue of thinking about the past. Even though she should be growing more angry with him as time passes, she doesn't. This is one of the first real emotions to spring up from Neliel herself. We will see Neliel prove something, a big counter to some previous 'doubts'. Neliel is in a situation in which she has every reason to kill Nnoitra, If not for revenge then for her friend as she promised. Neliel's own morality would not call for her to be upset at all for killing Nnoitra. He may not be a warrior, but he is certainly threatening her life and Ichigo's. Yet despite having every reason to kill Nnoitra she does not. This is no longer an issue of her beliefs, it's an issue of her own desire to kill him personally.
Despite that moments later she will be angry at him, despite that they're still in danger if she leaves him alive, it is one of the many times she has stopped her sword. Nell cannot kill him because she does not want to, and this is not the first time it happens. As their fight continues we see Nell and Nnoitra recall the events leading up to Nnoitra's attack. Neliel is outraged, as we saw from the pictures above, and Nnoitra is loving that for once she can't do a damn thing about it. But Neliel cannot stave him off much longer and she realizes this. So, despite her own wishes, she releases.
Nell transforms and this scares the DUCK out of Nnoitra. We see him get that scared once before, in response to her pulling the double cero (which if you look at, he took that very well. No one in Bleach usually gets hit head on with a cero, they dodge. He was scared shitless and got full on blasted by it). Nnoitra knows when to be afraid, and he's VERY afraid. But when Nnoitra is afraid like this we know what he says after is usually the truth. He doesn't grin and he doesn't get excited when he's about to lose, so when we see beat up Nnoitra pull out a little bit of sweat but still keep that grin? He has no reason to- he enjoys the fight right? He hasn't released yet, right?
But all Nell will say to him is the usual, something that Nnoitra himself does not deserve. "I will spare your life" and we see that same peak of irrationality we saw in Nell before. Nnoitra acknowledges her power after the fight and during it with his demeaner lacking in the boyish ego he always has. But Nnoitra would never give up, and he had yet to release his most powerful attack. He had yet to release his sword, which we see would have given him a serious trump card. He would be completely healed and she was stressed. With her defeat would mean the death of Ichigo and her own death, and it would mean letting down a friend she had promised to thank.
So we see again that Neliel pointlessly spares his life when logic dictates she should kill him. It's all a personal issue, not even one linked to her morality. If that was all Neliel was going by then she would not hesitate to kill him.
The Past
Another point we must look at is without a doubt, their past. True be told there is a lot more proof that Nell is doing all her 'benevolent' actions simply out of emotional preference for Nnoitra. Although there is no control or comparison, we see that this benevolent yet strict arrancar does many things that would seem*unusual for her.
Let's establish a few things before we get to the final evidence supporting that. Neliel and Nnoitra establish a very love/hate relationship: he follows her, she follows him. There are several instances in which we see Nnoitra contradict himself over that (again, a later point) and many more with Nell. Nell constantly states at the beginning of their flashbacks that he is beneath her, even later stating that she 'won't be dragged into that demented world' that Nnoitra is constantly dragging her into. She at one point even calls him a child. Why is this a contradiction? Because even Nnoitra has to ask, why does she insistantly follow him despite him disliking her and her apparent dislike of him.
In the biggest contradiction ever made by a Bleach character, Nell states “It is because you are weaker than I. And poor Nnoitra, being slower than most people, doesn't see that everything she had said up to that point--about how she doesn't want to be like him, about how she doesn't approve of his actions, and about how she wants him to grow up and find a purpose--makes her benevolent enough to protect the man she constantly scolds. She says, 'What you are doing goes against Aizen,' and then says, 'Because you are weak, I'll protect you, so that Aizen will not lose you.
To be even more precise, here are three things she says:
“You are disobeying Aizen”
“I protected you so Aizen wouldn't lose an Espada”
“You are weaker than me”
The first and second are complete contradictions. As a loyal Espada she had every right to report to Aizen that he had caused his own death. She even says he's weaker, and lacks loyalty. If that's so, then her reasons for protecting him (Statement 2) are completely and utterly contradicted by the things she's said to him. (Statement 1 and 3). Nell even pauses for a minute on her third statement. Sure, we could pretend it's to hurt his ego, but again, this makes for another contradiction. If Nell said it to hurt him and not as an excuse, why would she save him? He's not loyal to Aizen, he's hurting the Espada, he's weak, and she hates him so she'll save him?
As you can see, that makes no sense. So logically, what would make sense here? Our valiant Nell has a reason to lie. As a person who is usually right there with her feelings, there is actually a logical reason for her to do what she does. It all boils down to what she is as a hollow. Time to start answering the questions I've undoubtedly posed: Why does Nell need to lie? Nnoitra is below her and she's said that.
The Hollow Nature
Everyone has undoubtedly noticed the nature of a hollow. Hollows eat souls, hollows eat each other. Hollows eventually evolve, and even as evolved beings form a contrast with the Shinigami. The hollows are clad in white, and they do bad instead of good. In a simple observation of the differences, we should look to the Shinigami. Even the Shinigami who are unstable or outright evil have a tendency to bring out some latent good by their actions. Kenpachi has his honor, Mayuri decides not to make Uryu his bitch, and half of Soul Society rebels against the decision to execute Rukia. Those are things we all know, but the tough part is proving that the kind and generous exceptions to the hollow rule are actually drawn to their darker sides.
Let's start off with Dordonii.
Dordonii is an arrancar we meet as Ichigo is trying to save Orihime in the Hueco Mundo arc. Dordonii strikes us as an exception because he does do two nice things: He tries to teach Ichigo a lesson he needs to learn and he tries to save Ichigo from the Exequis. These are very nice things. We see that arrancar are capable of compassion (just like Shinigami are capable of cruelty). But the whole point of Dordonii's existence is to tell us how desperate the arrancar are to be in Aizen's light. Aizen, the man who threatens to destroy an entire city, the balance of SS, and become God. We see how desperate Dordonii is to earn this when he threatens to hurt Nell (who is a child at that point) and nearly does just to incite Ichigo's wrath. He shows compassion only when his selfish desires are no longer possible.
Second:
Grimmjow JaegerJacques
Often noted as being an arrancar with pride, he doesn't have near as much of one as Kenpachi. Kenpachi says he won't fight a man while he's down. Our Grimmjow beats the fuck out of Ichigo, nearly kills Rukia, and once he pays back his debt to Orihime he treats her rudely. His one line to Nell, in child form, is to shut up. He demands Ichigo be healed, but obviously doesn't care that he can't fight at the moment earlier on. He cared about his fraccion enough not to eat them all as hollows, yet when they died his showed less remorse or guilt over it than any other character over the injury of their friends. He's in a fight for the thrill. But even he is willing to stoop to extremely low levels. He aims shots at Orihime and Nell, he uses an extremely powerful cero in attempt to make Ichigo come out as a hollow. For being a good guy in most peoples eyes, he's a jerk. He stoops to Nnoitra's level almost consistently, only shaping up in regards to a totally butchered enemy.
Overall:
Every single arrancar.
No seriously.
All the arrancar are said to have reason. Yet even Nnoitra says there is no salvation, Aizen did not provide them with one. Yet all of the Espada, arrancar, and etc, choose to follow Aizen. They show they are capable of compassion, every single one of them with more than a fight chapter is shown with regret and remorse and kindness. Yet why is it that every single one of them choose to follow a man they are aware is attempting to slaughter the weak humans who did nothing, fight the Shinigami and further their own bad reputations, and over all control them in every way as tools with no real reward except his regards. This shows the biggest flaw in every arrancar, especially Neliel.
So what do all of these examples amount to? Arrancars are capable of emotion, but they are drawn to do evil things. The contrasts are specific, displayed in full and living color. So how does Nell show this, and how does it answer the question? The question is the answer. Why does she hang around Nnoitra, and have to lie about it? The question has almost been answered for us.
The final thing we have to look at is that while Nell never talks down to a single other person, she is cold and disrespectful to Nnoitra. This is weird and makes us want the answer to the question even more: Why would Nell want to be Nnoitra when he's not only a nuisance but just plain unpleasant. She chooses to be around a person whom she retorts coldly, who is dangerous, and she even calls a beast.
The answer is simple. Nnoitra Jiruga is Neliel's hollow flaw, she is drawn to him because he allows her to be the cold uncaring hollow she is. In a sick and twisted way, Neliel needs Nnoitra to be who she really is. Egotistical and cold? She's not that? It's the only real explanation. Neliel makes the conscious choice to be around Nnoitra. She spits off endless rounds of reasoning, and when she is finally asked a question she didn't expect? She contradicts herself in a really damaging way. With Nnoitra, she is proven to be a hollow character and we see the reason why she cannot kill him. Nell needs Nnoitra, more than she needs any other character.
So what about Nnoitra?
Nnoitra's Ego
There are several instances in the manga in which we go “That's peculiar of Nnoitra”. The most striking one is in Chapter 312 where he's dying, and his eyes show a flicker of emotion. That makes us wonder, is our cold and uncaring Nnoitra more than he seems? The answer is a heartfelt yes, Nnoitra is a lot more than what he seems. But it's not because of one look, it's because of many. Let's finally analyze the fight scene from Nnoitra's perspective.
We see in the beginning of Nnoitra and Neliel's reunion that he really really wants her to notice him. That's how Nnoitra is, isn't it? He likes bragging, he likes showing off. Oddly enough this is a situation unlike Nnoitra. He declares to Tesla that he is the greatest, he talks down to Halibel, he talks trash to Ulquiorra as if it meant nothing. So why does the great and unmoved Nnoitra Jiruga show his first glimpse of emotion in response to Nell's inability to acknowledge him? He's never once needed it before, from anyone.
When Nell cannot give him acknowledgment, he tries to kick her. When she's defended by Ichigo he gets so mad until he finally snaps, and goes on a tirade about how made and angry she used to make him. He explains Ichigo is pissing him off like that, and they proceed to fight. Ichigo gets his ass beat and this causes Nell to transform. We learn a lot from Nell's transformation, and the first thing we learn is that, instinctively, Nnoitra does not fear Nell, but something else. To compare the situations, I'll show you Nnoitra's reaction to her transformation and his reaction to her Double Cero technique
I gotta tell you, the difference is uncanny. He knows he's about to get his ass kicked in the second one, but the first one? Not so much. It's one of his less fearful looks in the whole manga. It's almost on par with his blank look as he scans the sands for a strong fighter, unable to kill Chad (much on par with Nell's 'teachings' )
We go on to another scene. During there whole fight he shows the most emotion when they stop their blades, but he is unwilling to let up just yet. The most peculiar thing about this fight is the aftermath. Despite Nnoitra's willingness to declare his own victory, his look in response to Ichigo's “OMGNELLWTFNOSHIT” attitude is that of someone who is not happy, a victor, or anything much on that same level. If anything, Nnoitra is disappointed.
This is not the look the overconfident man makes when he hurts people. He had a huge grin on his face as he cut down the weakling Chad, and he was grinning brightly as he approached Ichigo after slicing and dicing Grimmjow. He is not basking in his victory, he's telling them that Nell was their last hope. So we see how her mere acknowledgment affects him, what about her criticism?
Earlier, I touched on how he had been affected by Nell's words. If anything, Nnoitra never acts pleasant while he's going on those tirades. He's being mean to poor Tesla as he goes on a rant about how “If I kill 1000 weaklings, how will I become any stronger!”. Nnoitra never once thought like this before. The Nnoitra of now would not kill Chad, but we see him slaughter Mario!Arrancar who conceded. Nnoitra's actions change over time as a direct result of Nell's words.
Nell tells him he needs a reason, that there's no point in slaughter--she scolds him, taunts him, and speaks down to him, and we see that after the long time they've spent apart, Nnoitra not only can't stand that criticism, but any reminder of it kills him. What does this tell us? Our untouchable Number 1 Nnoitra Jiruga cares about what Neliel says. He 'hates her' so much, yet he's affected by her whims. In further support of this idea? The only time he shows any emotion outside of his relationship with Nell, is when Kenpachi downplays him in the way Nell did. Any reminder of how she refused to acknowledge, no, accept him makes him upset and infuriated. He even tells us this himself by recalling a similar look and pain from what Nell said, right after Kenpachi had angered him.
So what am I proposing here? If Nnoitra needs Nell's acknowledgment so much, why didn't he become a model citizen arrancar and follow in her footsteps? Why thank you my friend, you've just proved a point. Nnoitra doesn't want the kind of acceptance you get from a mommy or a sister. He doesn't want God's acceptance (he even shuns the word of the 'God' of Las Noches) but instead he wants the acceptance of a lover. Instead of fighting all the time, Nnoitra actually listens to her. It's obvious from some of his changes in opinion. Rather than telling her to just fight him all the time, he honestly does wonder why she saves him. He wonders why she won't stop following him. Now tell me, would a man who honestly hates a woman give two shits about her opinion? Further more, when he had been called a child, when he had been shunned, would he ask her why she had done everything she'd done and then, when he gets shot down, honestly look hurt and remember it in one of his last moments? If Nnoitra doesn't care about Neliel, he would never react to her in a way he refuses to do to others.
So the final question in Nnoitra's analysis is why then? Why did Nnoitra throw Neliel off a building and revert her to a child, leave a permanent scar, and try to get stronger? Well first off, even his thoughts at the time play into that. He needs her to accept him as the strongest warrior. He regrets they'll never be able to fight. Yet oddly enough Nnoitra can't even remember her signature move. He gets hit full on with it in battle. The woman he's supposedly maimed for life just to beat gets the jump on him because he forgets her signature move.
Over all? This explains every single thing that Nnoitra does. It explains why he hurts her, it explains why he changes some of his ways, and most of all? This proves that the baby eater Nnoitra is probably the most believable of Arrancar. But I will admit- Nnoitra likely had one more motive. The same motive that made Nell follow around Nnoitra compelled him to get rid of Nell. There were two things Nnoitra gained from getting rid of her. Nnoitra could get stronger and hopefully gain her acceptance, and he could escape the human emotions she gave him. As the only one who ever made him need acceptance, Nell threatened the hollow he was. She was a burden on him as a person for not accepting him, and him as a hollow for making him care about her and what she thought about him. This fills in all the blanks, it really honestly does. Nnoitra simply hating Nell makes half the sense, but why then did he forget her signature move? (And for kicks, recall that his last thought is a memory of her. He remembers their conversations but never their fights?)
So her hollow side cares and he cares all around, but that's not all there is to it!
The Compassionate Side of Nell
We've established a few things. One, Neliel could be her hollow self around Nnoitra. This was one of the reasons she spared him. (You thought I was done? Shame on you) But what about the side that everyone notices? The Nell most people notice is the bubbly bouncy yet serious and respectful hollow that used to be 3rd in Aizen's army. Surely Nnoitra was just an evil that she could discard even had he lived?
..Not exactly.
You see the many years have left our serious and high ranking Neliel in a different place in the world. She experienced a sheltered life. Most likely this means that Nell is now even more capable of compassion. This is not to say she has lost her hollow identity entirely, but it means that we get to see how she'll treat Nnoitra now that she has been humbled in a big new way. Neliel does not dissapoint. As I addressed earlier, we see several things here specifically from the fight scene. We see that Nell is more merciful than most would be. Though her initial thought to kill him stands strong at the beginning, she quickly shows mercy. You'd think all the anger pent up over 20 odd years(don't ask how I got that, it's long and has to do with jar head) would do some damage. (The whole point is that since she forgot, it's like she just got her head opened. That's a lot of rage.)
She stops her sword, he asks why. He's setting himself up for a failure she could easily give, but instead, Nell does something she had never done before.
Nell says to him “I could ask you the same” and she gives him a half hearted smile. For someone angry, she's showing him a lot of compassion. But that's not what Nnoitra wants, he wants her to admit defeat. He says she hasn't changed, because she's not yet willing to admit defeat. (AKA: She won't accept him.)
For a minute, we see that she's back to belittling him. We see that even after all that time he does that one thing for him, and then we see her transform. Nnoitra says he's the winner (though probably partially true, he was glad she couldn't belittle him but upset she couldn't accept him once again, thus the sad face way up there) and blah blah. So what do we have? A half smile, that's it? No, we see something a little more in one of Nnoitra's final chapters.
Noted by fans everywhere as a peculiar scene (simply because they think Nnoitra and Nell simply do hate each other) this is the instance where we see that Nell's best known side cares for Nnoitra too. After all, if it was just her hollow side, wouldn't she want to attempt to kick the habit by letting him die? She had every reason to, she had every right to. The reason is that not only does she need him to be more like a hollow, but her human side that feels compassion cares for him. She meets eyes with him, she's sad. That is not the reaction of a woman to a man she hates, one she despises and wants to be gone forever. Her happy laughing side, it cares too, it's just used to tough love.
A Few Problems you say?
Several things are still there to worry about. What about Nnoitra's sexism! Wouldn't it counteract everything you've said, it fits perfectly! That's not exactly true either, my friend. Nnoitra being sexist would in fact help my case. As a man and a hollow needing her acceptance is a painful thing to admit, so getting rid of her would help him in both ways. However, I'm going to defend my essay as is and explain to you why I doubt Nnoitra's sexism.
There are two situations which come to mind when I think about Nnoitra truly being sexist. The first would seemingly support it, but it also hurts it. I'm sure you're all familiar with the scene where Nnoitra makes his way to Orihime's room. In a disgusting notion he asks Ulquiorra how her training has gone, and Ulquiorra says that that's disgusting.
Had Nnoitra taken this in a different direction, I might agree more that he is in fact sexist. But the fact is? Rather than belittle Orihime, he attacks Ulquiorra's persona for being such a wuss. He doesn't once bring it up again, almost as if it had been a...*gasp* joke! Funny how things people say sometimes turn out to be you know, jokes. Because Nnoitra rags on Ulquiorra, says he's a wuss, no fun, doesn't that sound like what you'd tell your friends when they messed up a joke? Even more when they messed up a joke about sexuality, and you were someone with a seeming hyper sexuality? Yeah, I thought so.
The other instance is his conversation with Halibel during the meeting. Rather than pick at her, as he did with Ulquiorra, he just makes an offhanded comment. Halibel calls him out on it and rather than get that unpleasant frown or etc, he does to her exactly what he did to Ulquiorra. He asks her if she's scared. Picking all the same, it's not better or worse than what he did to Ulquiorra.
So what would explain this even more? Maybe, just maybe, when Tesla asked him why he picked Neliel, he was a little reluctant to admit that he in all his greatness needed her to tell him how strong he was. Maybe, just maybe, he didn't exactly want to cry on Tesla's shoulder about what he was. He dealt with it himself, like men do. It's not in Nnoitra's personality to be as sexist as we expect, but it is in his personality to be a macho man. What, Nnoitra's not that smart you say?
Then let's assume I've been wrong all along. Why did this man who hates Neliel not say to her face when she said “you have no reason” that he thinks women are beneath him. That's a reason for some people, but he doesn't want to say it to her. He tries to fight her constantly yet he refuses to tell her this big bad secret? Let's recall I've suggested he values Nell's opinion, not quite so much for Tesla's. (Poor Tesla, he's just a poor boy and nobody loves him )
Oh, and let's consult the sibling theory for just a moment. Some people like to propose that perhaps Nell and Nnoitra are siblings. For a moment, let's recall Il Forte and Szayel. These two are canon brothers, yet they don't give a shit about each other. If by chance Nnoitra and Nell are siblings, this means that Kubo ships incest. Siblings as hollows are not the same as humans. If you want my real counter? Go read my old old manifesto, but this sums it up.
The End
So after all this we've finally come to a serious conclusion. Nell follows Nnoitra due to her hollow nature, but she feels compassion for him too. Her own unwillingness to accept him, as dictated by her hollow nature (high and mighty, etc), is what makes him feel emotions. Unwilling to deal with her not accepting him and the feeling of emotions, he gets rid of her. When they meet again, he's changed a lot of his ideals because he remembers her. She can't bring herself to kill him, he can't either. In truth, they're the only people that can truly appeal to the hollow nature of the other as well as the human nature of the other.
As big as a couple of misfits they seem to be, in human terms they could actually function. Unfortunately they are hollows and thus have dealt with that in the ways we've already seen. But even as hollows, they still felt emotions and were able to experience things that without each other they'd lack, serious characterization moments and serious thoughts and experiences and over all? They'd never have become so deep.
Here's some fun links!
Fanart Sites:
http://m-pe.tv/u/page.php?uid=boroon&id=1
http://www10.oekakibbs.com/bbs/yayoi-_-i/oekakibbs.cgi
http://gogonokaze.ciao.jp/frameset.html
Fanfiction.net C2
http://www.fanfiction.net/community/Hate_is_Love_for_Hollows/56419/
Have fun :Db