Why I DON'T Hate Orihime
A lot of IchiHime fans complain that Orihime gets too much hate, and I agree does certainly does get a lot of hate, but I get so annoyed when I heard this:
"All IchiRuki shippers hate Ichigo x Orihime because they hate Orihime! They are so mean to her!"
I can't speak for everyone, and there re definitely plenty of people out there, many of them IchiRuki shippers (but, to be fair, most Bleach shippers are IchiRuki shippers, so...) who don't like Orihime and criticize everything she does, but I am not one of them.
I genuinely like Orihime. She's not in my Top Ten, but probably in my Top Thirty or so (and to be fair, she has got a LOT of competition...Bleach has a LOT of characters, and most of them are awesome). I like Orihime because she is kind, sweet, gentle, adorable, very smart, and compassionate. I don't have a problem with her not being a fighter - I actually think that is an interesting change from the norm, and her compassion for everyone, even the enemy is very endearing. Her goofiness is amusing, but she's only a ditz on the outside when in fact she's actually very smart (kinda reminds me of me...).
She's not perfect and she gets hated on a lot for her mistakes - which she has made. The IchiHime portion of the fandom would probably do themselves a big favor by not always making excuses for her. Sometimes characters mess up. Hopefully they learn from it, which she seems to have done.
During all the scenes where she is pining for Ichigo, I'm feeling really bad for her, because I've been there. Sadly, though, her feelings and how awesome she is have no bearing on whether Ichigo will end up with her or not (he won't), because love is about TWO people and their feelings, not just one. It doesn't matter how good of a person she is. It doesn't matter how beautiful she is. It doesn't even matter that she wants to spend five lifetimes loving Ichigo. What it all comes down to is: does Ichigo feel the same way? Does her beauty appeal to his tastes? Do her personality traits fit what he needs in a partner? Does he want to love her like she loves him?
The answer to all of these is the same: No. And because of this, he doesn't deserve her. Orihime deserves to be with someone who sees how wonderful she is, who cares more than anything about her happiness. And those of us who are not blinded by shipping goggles know that that person already exists, and his name is not Ichigo. It's this guy:
He loves her, and he's just waiting for her to get over Ichigo (*le gasp* Yes! Such a thing is possible. People do actually get over unrequited love and move on, even in fictional stories!) so he can make a move. He's actually got a lot of the qualities that Orihime likes in Ichigo. I could go on, but I didn't mean for this to be an IshiHime essay.
So, in short, my shipper preferences have nothing to do with how much I like a character, at least not in THIS case. I like Orihime, but she is not the one for Ichigo, he doesn't love her and he never will, and I believe she deserves better than that.
"All IchiRuki shippers hate Ichigo x Orihime because they hate Orihime! They are so mean to her!"
I can't speak for everyone, and there re definitely plenty of people out there, many of them IchiRuki shippers (but, to be fair, most Bleach shippers are IchiRuki shippers, so...) who don't like Orihime and criticize everything she does, but I am not one of them.
I genuinely like Orihime. She's not in my Top Ten, but probably in my Top Thirty or so (and to be fair, she has got a LOT of competition...Bleach has a LOT of characters, and most of them are awesome). I like Orihime because she is kind, sweet, gentle, adorable, very smart, and compassionate. I don't have a problem with her not being a fighter - I actually think that is an interesting change from the norm, and her compassion for everyone, even the enemy is very endearing. Her goofiness is amusing, but she's only a ditz on the outside when in fact she's actually very smart (kinda reminds me of me...).
She's not perfect and she gets hated on a lot for her mistakes - which she has made. The IchiHime portion of the fandom would probably do themselves a big favor by not always making excuses for her. Sometimes characters mess up. Hopefully they learn from it, which she seems to have done.
During all the scenes where she is pining for Ichigo, I'm feeling really bad for her, because I've been there. Sadly, though, her feelings and how awesome she is have no bearing on whether Ichigo will end up with her or not (he won't), because love is about TWO people and their feelings, not just one. It doesn't matter how good of a person she is. It doesn't matter how beautiful she is. It doesn't even matter that she wants to spend five lifetimes loving Ichigo. What it all comes down to is: does Ichigo feel the same way? Does her beauty appeal to his tastes? Do her personality traits fit what he needs in a partner? Does he want to love her like she loves him?
The answer to all of these is the same: No. And because of this, he doesn't deserve her. Orihime deserves to be with someone who sees how wonderful she is, who cares more than anything about her happiness. And those of us who are not blinded by shipping goggles know that that person already exists, and his name is not Ichigo. It's this guy:
He loves her, and he's just waiting for her to get over Ichigo (*le gasp* Yes! Such a thing is possible. People do actually get over unrequited love and move on, even in fictional stories!) so he can make a move. He's actually got a lot of the qualities that Orihime likes in Ichigo. I could go on, but I didn't mean for this to be an IshiHime essay.
So, in short, my shipper preferences have nothing to do with how much I like a character, at least not in THIS case. I like Orihime, but she is not the one for Ichigo, he doesn't love her and he never will, and I believe she deserves better than that.