Ichigo & Orihime

Delusional Origo™ who was right about IchiHime. It's canon :) var sc_project=9469812; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="bd2116dd";

[ichinoue]

Why IchiHime was obvious as hell for endgame (regardless of the fandom’s denial about it)

--IH has been obvious since the pilot chapter. Ichigo and Orihime had mutual romantic feelings for each other in the bleach prototype, Kubo’s original plan for bleach. Here’s a post on it. --If you really, truly want to argue that Ichigo and Orihime “barely had any moments!” luckily, I was insane enough to create a masterpost with links to every single IH moment in the manga (which had to be split in half because it literally broke due to having too many links on it). Part One is here, Part Two is here. It has over 377 links. Say what you will, but IchiHime has the most moments and screentime of any other pairing by a landslide.

--The amount of focus that was put on Ichigo’s desire to protect Orihime specifically is MASSIVE. It was made more than apparent how much Ichigo cared about Orihime and how important she was to him, by the level of focus that was put on Ichigo’s protectiveness over her, specifically. It’s something that singled her out as special and set her apart from the others, time and time again. It was consistently emphasized in the manga, and, conversely, so too was Orihime’s desire to protect Ichigo specifically. Their mutual desires to protect each other was a recurring theme. I’ve made a masterpost on this too, which you can find here. Warning, it’s long. --Ichigo is open and receptive to Orihime’s displays of her feelings for him in positive ways. The fact that she cares about him so much doesn’t bother him in the slightest. In fact, he likes it. Here’s another link.

With that out of the way, let’s get to it

--Teasing The amount of times Ichigo has been teased about Orihime is yet another dead-giveaway of his feelings. He gets it from his family:

The panel where Orihime’s name is mentioned is conveniently placed in the same panel of Ichigo sweating. Why so nervous? 

Note that his family mentioned two other girls (Tatsuki and Rukia) first, but Ichigo isn’t shown sweating/panicking + throwing the door open demanding they shut up until Orihime is mentioned. She was the catalyst. Touchy subject, eh Ichigo? He’s also teased about Orihime by his friends/mentors:

Even Ichigo’s enemies tease him about Orihime. The poor kid can’t catch a break:

How sweet. That is a LOADED comment. The implication behind it is evident. Enemies just love to tease the hero about how protective he is over a certain special someone. 

And here, Shinji taunts Ichigo for reacting as if Orihime is his girlfriend and teases that she’s ‘way out of his league.’ Interestingly, that’s similar to what Karin said in one of the above^ panels: that she wouldn’t be fazed unless Ichigo brought home someone of Orihime’s level (which is also similar to something Tatsuki said to Orihime in chapter two: “a big breasted beauty like you could do much better than Ichigo”). There seems to be a pattern here---the implication being that Ichigo likely has taken an interest in Orihime/sees her in a romantic light, but is being told (and perhaps believes to be true) that he doesn’t stand a chance, because she is “out of his league.” That’s 3 times now that Kubo has teased at that very implication. This is a clever writing tactic, because while Ichigo is being told that he doesn’t stand a chance with her, the reader knows that he’s actually the only one who does stand a chance with Orihime, because (unbeknownst to him) he has her heart. When a shounen protagonist is consistently teased about a girl, that’s one of the biggest giveaways that he has feelings for her. The author is essentially teasing at his feelings---Especially when his reaction to the teasing is to get embarrassed/flustered (just like Ichigo does!)---confirming the suspicions even more. Teasing is especially ideal for a shounen as it hints at romantic feelings and effectively gets the point across, while still keeping things light, comical, and less shoujo-esque.

Kubo treats Ichigo’s feelings for Orihime as a running joke/recurring theme that he seems to enjoy poking fun at and teasing him about. Here’s yet another instance:

’Hey! What are you teaching her?!’ ‘Don’t divert your attention, Ichigo!’ ;)

Furthermore, one of Ichigo’s biggest mentors (Urahara) created an outfit for Orihime specifically to tease Ichigo specifically. Just think about that for a second: Urahara...went out of his way...to tease Ichigo...about Orihime. No one else, just Orihime, and just Ichigo. Just the two of them. Ichigo and Orihime. Does that seem indicative of anything to you? It should. Urahara obviously suspected Ichigo had feelings for Orihime, and went out of his way to tease him about it. Otherwise, why not create it to tease Chad, or any other boy with a pulse for that matter? Why just Ichigo? How did Urahara know it would affect him specifically? And if you were to argue that it’s only because Orihime has feelings for Ichigo and had nothing to do with Ichigo’s feelings, that still wouldn’t explain why Ichigo himself is the ONLY character to have such an extreme reaction to Orihime’s clothes if he didn’t actually like Orihime back. We’re given a flashback of Chad being there while the outfit was made, and yet he has zero reaction; complete indifference. And then you have Ishida, who people argued was the only one attracted to/in love with Orihime...and he has zero reaction to her outfit. The only one who is given any reaction at all (and in a massively obvious, blushing manner to boot) is Ichigo.  So, why exactly was this master-plan concocted to tease Ichigo about Orihime? Simple answer: The wise and all-knowing Urahara picked up on the fact that Ichigo has romantic feelings for her.

After all, Urahara was around to witness Ichigo kneeling at Orihime’s bedside. He saw Ichigo moping around and blaming himself for not protecting her:

See him lurking over Ichigo’s shoulder?

And,

Urahara witnessed this particular exchange in which Ichigo smiles widely (rare for his character) at Orihime, while she smiles back and cutely blushes. This happened merely a few days before Urahara created the outfit for Orihime with the intention of teasing Ichigo. Perhaps witnessing just how happy Ichigo looked when he saw Orihime again, prompted Urahara to concoct his master-plan.

Now, if you’re thinking that Orihime is ‘desperate’ for wearing these clothes for Ichigo, you’ve missed the mark. As Yoruichi clearly stated, “it’s obvious that she’s been deceived by some maniac.” Urahara deceived/tricked her into wearing this. She wore it with the innocent intentions of cheering Ichigo up after he failed against Yhwach, by arriving clad in battle uniforms with Chad, ready to back Ichigo up. She was not trying to ‘seduce’ Ichigo. If she were, it would not be written in bold print that she was deceived, and she never would have reacted the way she did (panicked/embarrassed/ashamed and trying to cover her body up) when she realized Urahara’s true intention. And Urahara’s intention, was to tease Ichigo about Orihime.

....And Ichigo’s reaction to being teased about Orihime?

Directly mirrors Orihime’s reaction to being teased about him. She reacted this way out of nerves/embarrassment because she has *hidden romantic feelings* for Ichigo and was put on the spot....and Ichigo reacted in a nearly identical fashion. He reacted just like someone who has *hidden romantic feelings* did. Hmmm, so if we know that Orihime has romantic feelings for Ichigo, and this is how she reacts to being teased about him, what does it say about Ichigo’s feelings if his reaction DIRECTLY MIRRORS hers? (Hint: he likes her too. A five year old could figure this out. You don’t even need the words; the illustrations speak for themselves). Their reactions are mirror images because they feel the same way; they’re both hiding their romantic feelings. If they felt differently, their reactions would be different. Instead, they’re exactly the same. If he wasn’t attracted to her, he wouldn’t react to her at all, except perhaps with disgust/contempt/indifference. Instead, his face nearly catches on fire with a blush.  Blushing/sweating/nervous/flustered teenagers who are too embarrassed to admit their feelings for each other? Check, check, check, and mate. This was the first time, ever, in nearly 600 chapters that we got Ichigo blushing about someone who was also blushing about him too, in the same panel, twice. And it went on like this for five straight pages. This was the biggest and most blatantly in-your-face shiptease Kubo has ever written. Ever. To make it even better, Yoruichi then calls Ichigo a coward for being too embarrassed to say how he really felt. You can’t really blame him for being cowardly; remember that at this point, Ichigo is only seventeen---still immature and doesn’t know how to act around girls (particularly the girl he likes).

He reacted similarly here:

Nel scolds him, similar to how Yoruichi does, for being an oblivious teenaged boy who doesn’t know how to talk to girls. That’s twice now that he’s been given these “girl lessons” and, interestingly enough, both times have involved Orihime. 

That youthful ignorance/immaturity is what prompts Yoruichi to encourage Ichigo to flirt with Orihime (the implication being that he wants to make a move but can’t because he’s too ‘cowardly’ or embarrassed).  So, Ichigo’s mentors, who are supposed to give him guidance and help him out, gave him a helpful wink and nudge in Orihime’s direction. They basically played cupid for Ichigo and Orihime. If you’re wondering, this is another telltale way to hint at romantic feelings: by having third-party observers play matchmaker. Especially when romantically-dumb teenagers are involved. This chapter was the equivalent of Yoruichi and Urahara yelling “just kiss, already!” Kubo wrote for numerous characters (Tatsuki, Rukia, Rangiku, Yoruichi, Urahara, Karin, Nel, etc.) encouraging Ichigo and Orihime to get together, playing matchmaker, and/or showing positive support for Orihime’s feelings or an IH romance. Thus, an IH romance was shown as a positive thing in the story. Kubo was essentially voicing his own support for IH, through his characters. He would not have written so much blatant third-party support for IH if he himself did not support it. It’s that simple. --You know what else 589 gave us? A confirmed mutual attraction between Ichigo and Orihime. The greatest, longest, most focused on scene of Ichigo’s attraction involved none other than the *only* girl who has romantic feelings for him (coincidence? nah.) Making it so that IchiHime is the ONLY Ichigo-pairing to have a confirmed mutual attraction. I repeat: IchiHime is the only Ichigo-pairing to have a confirmed mutual attraction.  It’s the only Ichigo-pairing to have mutual blushing scenes, consistent mutual teasing and third-party support/matchmaking, etc. It goes without saying that it’s also the only Orihime-pairing to have the aforementioned as well.

--Now, another dead giveaway of Ichigo’s feelings was his displays of romantic jealousy when it came to Orihime. 

Let’s start with Shinji:

He spied on Ichigo to gather information about him. He’s shown here observing Ichigo from above. And what is Ichigo doing? Grinning widely (again, rare for his character) while he stares directly at Orihime while she stares directly back at him and is smiling, too. Shinji smirks, probably storing the information he’s just gathered from this observation for later use. Which came in handy the next day:

After Shinji failed to recruit Ichigo to join the vizards, he shows back up at school. Ichigo doesn’t react other than to glare at him. So, Shinji tries a new tactic: make a move on the girl Ichigo was just hanging out with and smiling at. What we have here is simple: Shinji flirted with Orihime in front of Ichigo to get his attention. Let that sink in: Another guy. Flirted. With Orihime. To get Ichigo’s attention. (Do I even need to spell out the implication behind that?)

...And it worked!

NOW he’s pissed. NOW he’s standing up all dramatically with black lines covering his eyes before dragging Shinji out of the room while everyone watches in shock. Interestingly, Chizuru questions “when did he get so protective?”

Which brings us back to this panel:

“What’re you so mad about? It’s not like Orihime’s your girlfriend.” This is SO textbook shounen romance, filed under: ‘how to tease at a protagonist’s hidden romantic feelings.’ Look, we know that the biggest reason Ichigo was pissed was because Shinji was a perceived enemy at this point and Ichigo didn’t trust him. But you can make more than one point, imply more than one thing, with one scene. That’s what writers do! Ichigo’s distrust of Shinji is the obvious reason for his anger; but the implication of Ichigo’s jealousy - of this guy’s aggressive flirting with Orihime being the trigger that got Ichigo up and out of his seat, is still there. How do we know this? Because that very implication is then pointed out in the text itself with the girlfriend comment. Kubo could have just had Ichigo confront Shinji the moment he saw him, but instead, he purposely made it a point to include Orihime---and Orihime being flirted with, nonetheless. Why? Because he wanted to make an implication about Ichigo’s jealousy and protectiveness over her. He just dragged some creep out of the classroom for coming on to Orihime, and then demands that he apologize to her or else (this is such a common romantic trope). And to make things even more obvious? Shinji literally tells Ichigo that he reacted as if Orihime is his girlfriend. Kubo did that! He pointed out in the text that Ichigo reacted the way someone with romantic feelings for Orihime would react. Clearly, it didn’t escape Kubo’s mind that another guy coming on to Orihime triggered a reaction out of Ichigo---he was well aware of what that implied. He planned it that way, wrote it on purpose, set it all up so that he could then make an accusation about Ichigo’s feelings for her. So that just in case you missed it, just in case you weren’t totally sure if that’s what he was hinting at at first with the ‘dragging out of the classroom’ thing, he made certain to point it out in the text, leaving no room for doubt. Talk about laying it on thick. The thing is, Shinji is not a sentient being with thoughts of his own, he’s a fictional character whose words are written by Kubo. If he’s saying something, it’s because Kubo wrote it. If he’s pointing out that Ichigo reacted like Orihime is his girlfriend, it’s because Kubo wanted that to be pointed out. He wanted Ichigo’s romantic feelings to be implied here, and he used Shinji to do it. He wanted the reader to pick up on that hint.  In sum: a cleverly crafted scene that’s loaded with romantic implications and hints at Ichigo’s feelings, that Kubo himself highlighted in the text. 

Then, after the timeskip, a very similar exchange happens, only with Tsukishima this time. 

Tsukishima goes to Ichigo’s house and hangs out with his friends and sisters after brainwashing them. Ichigo is panicked, enraged, and confused. 

All of this escalates, and builds up to the moment when Ichigo finally snaps and attacks Tsukishima. And the straw that breaks the camel’s back? The thing that finally sets Ichigo off? Is when Tsukishima calls Orihime.

He mentions Chad and Orihime first, but Ichigo doesn’t attack when they’re both mentioned---no, no. Kubo made it a point to single Orihime out.  Ichigo literally stands there and listens and waits as he dials the phone, listens and waits as it rings. And then, as soon as Orihime is singled out even further, as soon as Orihime’s name is mentioned, as soon as he realizes it’s Orihime on the line, you see Ichigo’s eye in the bottom panel blacken over with seething rage. 

Ichigo finally snaps. He punches Tsukishima, throws him into a wall. And Orihime was the catalyst. Kubo could have used any of Ichigo’s sisters or friends for this, or had Tsukishima call Chad instead. But he chose to put the focus on Orihime specifically, making her the ‘breaking point.’ Just as he chose her to be the ‘breaking point’ in the classroom confrontation with Shinji. I’m noticing a pattern here. So why? Why her? What could Kubo be trying to imply with this, yet again? Just look at the panels---Kubo drew them so that we’re viewing the scene from Ichigo’s perspective: drawing closer and narrowing in on Tsukishima like a shark, frame by frame, as Tsukishima murmurs into the phone to Orihime, soft and slightly suggestive, laughing and flirting a bit, if you will.

And he gets thrown into a wall. 

Does any of this sound familiar? It should. Shinji knows exactly how that feels.

So, that’s twice now that an enemy has gotten too-close-for-comfort with Orihime on purpose just to taunt Ichigo, and twice now that Ichigo has thrown said enemy into a wall for trying to make a move on Orihime. Interesting.

Also,

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

...And then this happens, the very same day, only four chapters later. Ichigo mentions that she’s likely to be followed/stalked (the ‘by guys’ is omitted). So let’s think about this. Ichigo, admittedly, has noticed the attention Orihime receives from other guys. He’s well aware of it. He pays attention to the guys---all these prospective males around her who want to date her? Ichigo pays attention to it. And he almost seems annoyed by it when he brings it up.  Kubo set the scenes up like this on purpose. Creepy guys whispering about Orihime and then Ichigo makes a comment like this only four chapter later? That’s not a coincidence. This is yet another hint at romantic jealousy.

The best part? Kubo managed to write Ichigo’s jealousy, hinting at his romantic feelings for Orihime, without it straying into unhealthy possession (x). 

Now, let’s go way back to the very first IchiHime moment

Orihime’s feelings for Ichigo are made clear from the moment she’s introduced. Considering this is a shounen, romance isn’t the focus, so when there is romance (particularly when it involves two main characters, and especially when one of them is the main protagonist) it’s there for a reason. Clearly, Orihime’s romantic feelings for Ichigo were important to Kubo as he introduced them right off the bat and continued to reinforce them and remind the reader of them in every single major arc, for the rest of the entire series. He had a purpose for them. As we know now, he decided on an IchiHime marriage after chapter one. This is chapter two. From the getgo, he gave Orihime romantic feelings for Ichigo, started it out as a crush and developed it into love over time. Why? Because he knew they would be reciprocated in the end. And, like it or not, with shounens, it’s just that simple: Orihime’s feelings for Ichigo effectively made her a shoo-in as a potential love interest for Ichigo. Especially as Ichigo’s feelings were always kept relatively ambiguous; he was never given canon romantic feelings for anyone, nor did he ever deny or claim not to have feelings for Orihime---which meant she was not only the most likely candidate as his love interest because of her own feelings, but she was also never ruled out of the equation. By keeping Ichigo’s romantic feelings ambiguous, Kubo always left the door open to the possibility that Ichigo would eventually return Orihime’s feelings (and that possibility only became more and more likely as Ichigo’s feelings for her were hinted at more and more along the way).  With shounens, romantic love is not always going to be spelled out in explicit text, especially in the case of the male shounen protag. Explicit romantic feelings tend to be given to the girl counterpart because mangakas often see them as more “romantic” characters who are easier to write romance for. This is why you so often see “”one-sided loves”” in shounens---because it’s easier to keep romance from the focus by giving explicit feelings to only one-half of the pairing for most of the series, and not having the other half explicitly reciprocate until the very end (while still dropping hints along the way). That way, the mangaka can delay having to pair characters up in romantic relationships too early on, put romance off until the end, and avoid writing explicit, in-your-face, shoujo-esque content into the bulk of their shounen series.

That's why, when weighing the probability for canon with shounens especially, I've always felt it's much, much better to be one-sided than zero-sided. Because one-sided is essentially drawing out the dots that will eventually be connected, and lining things up for eventual reciprocation. It’s very simple, and formulaic.

But as the reader, you don’t need to be spoon-fed an explicit confirmation of feelings if you know how to pick up on the author’s hints. With a “one-sided love” the dots are often already drawn, and it’s pretty easy to spot how the other side feels, as long as you know what to look for, and how to read between the lines...And that’s exactly what authors want you to do. They don’t want to have to just hand you everything the way Kubo did with Orihime’s feelings. Some things, he wanted us to figure out on our own. And that includes Ichigo’s feelings. Kubo gave us the pieces, now put them together.

For this reason, I’ve never understood why people refuse to believe a character could be harbouring romantic feelings unless explicitly stated. Because not everything has to be spelled out in bold print. That’s what our reading comprehension is for---making inferences, and putting the pieces together.

The thing about Orihime is, just as her feelings for Ichigo were made known right off the bat, it was made very clear, right from the start, that Ichigo is very attentive to her, and especially protective of her compared to others. This is made apparent as early as chapter three. He says they’re not close, she’s just a friend of a friend, etc. And yet,

He’s the one to bring attention to her injuries, and then chastises her for not being more careful, because as we learn in the following pages, he worries about her. He’s already protective over her well-being, so much so that it exasperates him. Literally, he spends this entire exchange getting all worked up, fussing over her and the fact that she’s hurt.

“More than often! It’s almost every day!” Clearly, he’s been paying attention to her every day, even though she’s just a friend of a friend. And then he scolds her again for not being more careful, and offers to walk her home. He does these things because he cares. We know this because:

He admits to looking after her, and even wears himself out worrying about her, and wondering if she’s alright. Kubo was definitely setting the groundwork for something here. We literally just learned in the previous chapter that Orihime likes Ichigo, and now here Ichigo is, caring about Orihime so much that it wears him out? It’s easy to guess where this could be heading.  Again, this was chapter three. For Ichigo to already be this protective over her, this early on, when ‘they’re not close, she’s just a friend of a friend,’ - well, it’s no wonder that later when they become closer, he makes an exclusive vow to protect her and even rises from the dead to keep that promise. 

And then in the very next chapter, chapter four, he’s willing to die for her:

For a kid who was reluctant to take on the duties of a shinigami and tried to play it off as if he didn’t care much, this is certainly a lot of care and protective focus to be given to Orihime, a potential love-interest, in just the first four chapters of the manga.

Now, here’s some miscellaneous cute things before we get into some deeper stuff: Ichigo offering to walk Orihime home, twice. Special treatment that he’s only ever extended her way.

Asking to walk a love-interest home while she cutely blushes? This is some shoujo shit.

Orihime remarks that Ichigo is kind for going to the Ghost Bust show for his family, even though he hates it. She sees past his ‘tough guy’ exterior to his kind heart, and she likes it. She likes his kindness.

Yet another smile from Ichigo that is, once again, rare for his character. But if you’ve noticed, it’s not rare for him to smile with Orihime. She makes him happy. He’s able to drop the scowl and tough guy demeanor around her and just smile.

There’s a common argument that Orihime “doesn’t understand” Ichigo, and yet she’s the only one to realize he was being impersonated by Kon. Not even Tatsuki, Ichigo’s childhood friend who has known him for years, realized this.

Orihime also realizes, immediately, that Ichigo’s smile is fake. And Tatsuki comments how remarkable it is that Orihime knew that, considering it took her three years to figure that out.

This was only two chapters after the last instance with Kon. Clearly, Kubo wanted the reader to know that Orihime isn’t just the girl who likes Ichigo; she’s also very perceptive and understanding of him. 

He doesn’t want to embarrass himself in front of her. What’s sweet about this is that Orihime is already blushing at him, looking so endeared. He doesn’t realize that she won’t care if he looks stupid or embarrasses himself because she already likes him, just the way he is.

While Ichigo is still oblivious to why he makes her so nervous, there’s usually lots of blushing on Orihime’s part during their moments together. Her feelings essentially gave IchiHime a romantic context that no other Ichigo or Orihime pairing had. It gave a sweetness and shoujo-esque feel to their moments together that you just don’t get from scenes of Ichigo with his other friends. 

I’ve seen people argue that moments like this only seem shoujo-esque because of Orihime’s feelings/blushing and that there’s nothing coming from Ichigo’s side, but I disagree. The usual scowl on his face is gone when he speaks to her. That furrow between his brows is gone. He’s not sarcastic or scowling, he doesn’t seem impatient or annoyed or “prickly” as Ichigo can sometimes come across–instead, he’s gentle with her, even reassures her when she gets insecure about something. “Don’t worry,” he tells her. It’s just sweet. I can’t imagine Ichigo acting like this with Ishida, or Tatsuki, or Keigo, etc.

Out of the three boys (Ichigo, Ishida, and Chad) Ichigo was the one to check on Orihime and bring her a drink. Caring, considerate, and attentive.

And then only six chapters later,

Orihime saved the rest of her food for Ichigo, even though she was still hungry, because she knew he hadn’t eaten. 

They’re so thoughtful and considerate of each other, they take care of each other, naturally, and expect nothing in return. They were acting like a married couple long before they even got together.

And then you have this amazing display of subtlety (not). This is just hilarious to me, that Kubo actually wrote the following exchange:

“You think she’s got a boyfriend?” *Immediately cuts to panel of Ichigo and Orihime* “Definitely.” It’s even funnier that, looking back on it now, you can call it foreshadowing.

---Now, bizarrely, there’s  common argument that Orihime has no effect on Ichigo, can’t motivate him or cheer him up, and yet:

He was doubting whether or not he should go to Soul Society for Rukia. “If this is how it’s supposed to be, why bother?”

And Orihime cheered him up, gave him the motivation he needed.

She understands him, imitates him perfectly. “The Ichigo I know..”

Look at him. He’s caught off guard by how well she understood him, and that she was able to reach him in this way. He is visibly affected by her words - you can see it. I’ll never understand how people still manage to argue that Orihime doesn’t know how to motivate Ichigo; that she’s irrelevant to him, doesn’t understand him, can’t cheer him up, has no effect on him, etc. when a scene such as this exists.

She gave him the resolve and pick-me-up he needed, and he thanks her before charging away with a newfound motivation.

--Now, let’s take it back to how much focus is put on Ichigo’s desire to protect Orihime. After the espada attack, Orihime, Chad, and Tatsuki all got hurt, and yet almost all of the focus is centered exclusively on Orihime---but it’s not from Orihime’s point of view. The scenes are laid out from Ichigo’s point of view. Meaning he is the one continuously putting the focus on her, specifically. He knelt down on his knees at her bedside and apologized for failing to protect her. Not the others, just her.

This is Ichigo’s flashback of the scene---meaning he was still thinking about it the next day, still beating himself up over how hurt she looked and remembering what she said to him.  Then he approached her AGAIN at school that next day. Not the others, just her:

The look in his eyes is so pained, and he couldn’t even get the words out because he felt so guilty and ashamed for not protecting her, as if that’s his duty in life and he failed. His body language says it all: hands in his pockets, shoulders sagging, head/eyes tilted down. He felt so guilty he could barely even look at her. He was already acting like it was his job to protect Orihime, before he had even vowed to do so! This is a whole lot of emphasis to put on Ichigo’s protectiveness and emotional reactions involving Orihime—again, raising the question of his underlying romantic feelings for her. Why is so much focus being put on her?

He moped around like this, all sad and beating himself up, because he couldn’t protect Orihime. Tatsuki and Chad are mentioned too, but the most focus is put on Orihime.  And then...

He bowed before Orihime, looked her right in the eyes, and made a singular, exclusive vow to protect her specifically. Just Orihime. No one else. She is literally being singled out here, once again:

This is reminiscent of a shoujo. And remember that he mentioned how Chad and Tatsuki got hurt, too. Tatsuki and Chad are the people Ichigo is closer friends with/has known longer than he’s known Orihime…Orihime should really be less important at this point if we’re going by pure platonic friendship alone, right?…And yet...Orihime is the ONLY one he is shown apologizing to, the ONLY one whose bedside he kneels at, the ONLY one he has flashbacks of. The ONLY one he is shown approaching, and vowing to protect. So why? Why only her? Why is she so special to him? What sets her apart from the other “just friends” ?? C’mon people. The answer is crystal clear. The counter argument to this is that Ichigo only made this vow “because Rukia made him do it.” As if he didn’t actually care and was only brought to Orihime’s side by force. However: a) Look at the intensity in his eyes. Does it look like this wasn’t important to him? Is he just a great actor? A great liar? Someone who would have no problem looking someone in the eyes and lying to their face with an empty promise they had no intention to keep? Sorry, but no. That’s not who Ichigo is. b) If it didn’t really matter to him and was just some throwaway comment he would have just shrugged it off or said it with his usual scowl (or avoided eye contact all together because he would have been lying). None of that was present. His usual “tough guy, I don’t care” attitude melted away here. His entire demeanor changed because he was being vulnerable. He was being sincere. c) To make this argument you would have to ignore the way Kubo built up to Ichigo making the vow to Orihime in his writing. Ichigo spent the entire previous chapter agonizing over how he wasn’t strong enough, had flashbacks to him apologizing at Orihime’s bedside, was shown approaching her again at school while he’s moping around all depressed and kicking himself over not being able to protect her…But then the promise he makes her didn’t actually matter? Suddenly he didn’t care anymore, and only did it because Rukia made him? That makes absolutely no sense.  The reason Rukia helped him out here is because she knew how important this was to Ichigo. It’s that simple.

Now, top all of that off with how depressed he was when Orihime was abducted:

He walked around like this all day, with a pained expression and dark circles under his eyes. Like a listless, lifeless form who just had his heart ripped out of his chest. And later on, he refuses to fight Ulquiorra until he mentions Orihime.

That is one hell of a rage-face. And, once again, Orihime was the catalyst. For some reason I’ve actually seen people claim that Ichigo rage-attacking Ulquiorra here had nothing to do with Orihime? But that makes no sense whatsoever. He refused to fight him until Orihime was mentioned and then lashed out in immediate, consecutive panels directly following the mention of Orihime’s name, which was also followed up only 13 chapters later with a confirmation from Nel in bold print that “Ichigo dove towards Ulquiorra after hearing him say Orihime’s name!” His emotionally-charged reaction here was because of Orihime. There’s no way around it.

“Now do you have a reason to fight me?” Indeed, he does.

Now, top all of that off with this:

SHE’S CALLING ME. I WILL PROTECT HER.

I’d also like to point out that when rising up from the dead, the same kanji (the very same kanji that is in Ichigo’s namesake, mamoru, “to protect”)--it’s the same kanji that was used when he made the vow to protect Orihime at the beginning of the arc. It could be said that he was rising up to keep that promise to her. It’s in his very name. The fact that Ichigo’s desire to protect Orihime was so strong it transcended death—that he’s dead on the ground with a hole in his chest but can somehow still hear her voice, and with his very last vestiges of life, he tells himself he must stand up, he WILL protect her. If that’s not indicative of deeper, latent/subconscious feelings, idk what is.

He even attacked his own friend, yet immediately turned to Orihime chanting “I will protect her.” Even in death, the desire to protect her still persisted. Even after hollowfying, it was the one shred of his real self and humanity that remained intact: his desire to protect Orihime.

And, once again, we have yet another classic romantic trope: the love-interest being in danger, which triggers some sort of level-up or burst of uncontrollable power from the hero, even when it seemed all hope was lost, as his desire to protect her is what pushes him to keep going or rejuvenates him. The hollow did the physical rejuvenating obviously, but Ichigo vowed to stand up and protect Orihime both before and after he hollowfied.

Listen, if you’re still denying IchiHime at this point, idk what to tell you. Like, if you’re *genuinely* surprised that Ichigo ended up with the girl he ROSE UP FROM THE DEAD FOR idk how to help you lmao

But, moving on:

The Grimmjow battle

Orihime, having been beaten and assaulted by some of her captors just a few chapters before this, now stands with Grimmjow’s hands wrapped around her throat, threatening to strangle her or something worse, and yet, she still refuses to relent, all to protect Ichigo. Grimmjow calls her a bitch, and then bam! A hand appears.

The look in Ichigo’s eye here gives me chills. This is the first time we see him on his feet again after Ulquiorra dealt him a near-fatal blow, and it’s when he pushes himself up off the ground to protect Orihime. Interestingly, with this moment and the lust arc, both times Ulquiorra ‘kills’ him, we don’t see Ichigo on his feet again until he rises up to protect Orihime. That says a lot about how strong his desire to protect her is. He’s battered and bruised and can’t even stand up straight, but goddamnit, You. Better. Get. Your. Hands. Off. Of. Her.

What’s interesting about the Grimmjow battle is that Ichigo wasn’t fighting like his usual self for the first half of it. This is commented on by both Grimmjow (x) and Nel (x). He was reluctant to bring out his mask, and didn’t finally do so until he absolutely had to, when Grimmjow aimed his strongest cero at Orihime.

Now here’s where it gets interesting. You see, normally when Ichigo reassures Orihime that he’ll win a fight, he does it like this:

and,

Smiling and confident. Bold proclamations. And yet, only two chapters after that last instance shown above, he changes from smiling and confident to this:

You see his eye in the top corner, observing her reaction? See how his entire demeanor changed when he saw how scared she looked? The reason for that, and the reason he was reluctant to bring out his mask in the first place, is because he didn’t want to scare Orihime. And she certainly can’t be blamed for being afraid. She didn’t even know he could take on this form, and she has past trauma with hollowfication because of her brother. She then has a flashback to H!Sora to solidify this, as she fears that Ichigo could be consumed by a hollow in the same way. But she never expresses a fear that he’ll hurt her; only that the hollow will hurt him. She doesn’t understand what’s happened to him, and he doesn’t have time to explain because he has to use this form in order to protect her. He can’t reassure her all smiling and confident like he usually does, so he’s very gentle about it. And instead of just telling her what to do or how to feel, he politely asks for permission to reassure her, taking her feelings into account. Saying, “I know you’re scared, and I know telling you to be at ease while I’m in a shape like this will be difficult, but please allow me to say it.” He’s supposed to be fighting but he still takes the time to check on her. He’s just so...gentle with her. So considerate of her feelings, like the last thing he wants in the world is for her to be hurting, or afraid.

Things really start to go downhill for him when he shields her with his own body:

Now look at the bottom frame, at the pain in his eyes, once again, after he sees how afraid she is. You’ll notice that Kubo kept focusing on Ichigo’s eyes, the only part of his face that can be seen under his mask, to demonstrate Ichigo’s emotions during the fight, emotions that were brought on by Orihime.  It’s like it’s killing him that he could be scaring her. He was beating himself up over it. He wants to smile and reassure her just like he always does, but he can’t right now. He has to use his mask, has to protect her first.

Nel then remarks that Ichigo was invincible with his mask on last time. So what’s different this time, other than who he’s fighting? What’s happened to his usual fighting spirit? Why does he seem so down and listless?

It’s because Orihime is there this time. And as we see in the above panel, once again, we’re shown Ichigo’s eyes, watching her. He keeps looking back at Orihime, distracted, before suffering another blow.  It’s like he can’t even focus on the fight because he’s so focused on her, so worried that she’s afraid, or that she might think differently of him because of his mask. (We know this because *spoiler alert* as soon as she calls out to him and he realizes that isn’t the case, he goes back to normal again). This is how important she is to him---he can’t even fight like his usual self because he’s so worried about Orhime, and her emotional well-being.

After all, Grimmjow already taunted him with the fear of “what’s going on inside her.”

And then Ichigo later has a flashback of this moment while confronting Ulquiorra:

Clearly, Grimmjow’s words had an impact on Ichigo. Worrying about Orihime was weighing heavily on his mind, and affecting his usual fighting spirit. Again, we know that Orihime is what was affecting him emotionally for all of the reasons I’ve listed above, for the way Kubo kept bringing the focus back to her in every chapter of this battle so far, and because she’s the only thing to get Ichigo back to his normal self. Even when Nel calls out to Ichigo, it has no effect on him whatsoever. But when Orihime calls out to him? He’s completely revitalized. She was the catalyst.

“Ichigo is using that power for YOU! He’s fighting! In his blood-splattered body! All for you!!!”  Kubo wrote that.

And then....

(Where are all the naysayers who claim Orihime has no effect on Ichigo and is unable to cheer him up or motivate him? Listen up.)

Orihime calls out to him, and completely rejuvenates him and restores his resolve, once again, when it seemed like all hope was lost. And he looks back at her, totally awestruck, while she stands like a shining beacon of hope. THIS is the kind of effect she has on him. 

Most characters (Isshin/Rukia/Renji/Chad/etc.) use some sort of violence to get Ichigo out of his funks. They hit him. They slap him. They kick him. They throw him. They use some sort of violence. And hey, that’s cool! It clearly works.

...But you wanna know what else works? Orihime, crying out to him. No violence, no hitting. Just gentle words. Once again, their dynamic is different from what he has with all the other 'just friends.’ It’s so much more gentle, and tender, and soft. That’s what sets it apart, makes it special. You can’t say that Renji or Rukia or Chad has a special, unique way of getting Ichigo out of his despair, because they all do basically the same thing: call him an idiot, make a big speech, kick him in the head, etc.

But with Orihime, it is special, it is unique. He has a different chemistry with her. While practically every other person in his life takes a “tough love” approach, with Orihime, it’s always more gentle–i.e. unique. Different. It’s her wearing her heart on her sleeve for him, a tearful request for him to not get hurt anymore. And that’s all it takes to completely revive him, and restore his resolve, when he was about to lose during the Grimmjow battle. Again, THIS is the kind of effect she has on him.

And immediately following that exchange? Ichigo even went so far as to tell Grimmjow he wasn’t allowed to get hurt anymore... because Orihime said so.

There’s no pain in his eyes anymore; they’ve completely softened. And he smiles. He can smile again, because he knows she isn’t afraid of him. And even though he was just getting pummeled into the ground, only seconds from defeat, Orihime calls out to him and then, without even looking, he catches the blow in mid-fucking-swing, with one hand.  “...sorry, Grimmjow” He actually apologizes to him. Like, “welp, you heard the lady.” He’s not allowed! To get hurt anymore! All because Orihime tearfully asked him not to. That is boyfriend (husband!) behavior. She gave him a request, and he will honor it. He can’t get hurt anymore. Not necessarily because Orihime isn’t allowing him to, but because he won’t allow himself to, because of her, FOR her. He cannot allow himself to get hurt anymore, because seeing him hurting is hurting her...and he can’t stand to see her hurting either!  Like, to hell with his own injuries, he could give a shit! But he can’t get hurt anymore. Not because he doesn’t want to, but because she asked him not to. He has every reason in the world to not get hurt, but yet he STILL made it all about HER. That’s love.

And I think it says a lot that in this shounen action manga, a love-interest wearing her heart on her sleeve for the protag was the turning point of this entire battle. Because as soon as Ichigo saw her tearfully calling out to him, telling him he didn’t have to win, that he could leave her behind to die, just as long as he didn’t get hurt anymore...That’s when he realizes she wasn’t afraid of him, that she still cared about him just as much as she ever did. And that’s all it took, to get him back to himself---knowing Orihime still cared.

He NEVER got that defeated look back in his eyes again. Even after he took more hits, he still kept going and even Grimmjow was like “wtf?” because it was all over the moment she called out to him. That was all he needed. Ichigo never lost his resolve again after hearing Orihime’s words. Again, she was the turning point of this entire battle. 

And when it was all over, he looked at her like this

Like she’s the most precious thing in the world. Like he’s weak in the fucking knees over her. Because her caring about him the way she does (and in turn, him caring about her the way he does) saved his life. And he knows it.

-Orihime targeting & taunting by enemies Ichigo is protective by nature; it’s in his very name. He wants to protect everyone, or “a mountain-load of people” in his words. However, where it became interesting/significant and indicative of deeper romantic feelings is when one of the people he wanted to protect was: a) consistently singled out from all others on numerous occasions and b) Ichigo’s desire to protect that person was emphasized/highlighted/focused on the most. And that person was Orihime. 

Orihime is the one who was consistently targeted by Ichigo’s enemies to get to him, as if they clued into the soft spot he had for her and used it against him as a weakness. They used her specifically, time and time again, to taunt him into a fight, or fuck with him emotionally/psychologically. It is such a classic romantic trope for enemies to go after the hero’s ‘certain special someone.’ And nearly ALL of Ichigo’s enemies went after Orihime:

*Glares at the enemy while shielding Orihime*

*More glaring while he shields Orihime*

*Grimmjow aims his strongest cero at Orihime to get Ichigo to hollowfy*

*Throws himself in front of her and shields her with his own body*

LET GO OF HER

LET INOUE GO (and then Nnoitra teases him about her hahahah poor kid still can’t catch a break)

GET AWAY FROM HER

SHUT UP!! MOVE!!!

You’ve gotten stronger......

Is it because of the girl?

That girl is already one of us...

*clenches jaw* That’s not for you to decide.

You bastards...what did you do to Inoue?!

NOW THAT’S A GOOD FACE, KUROSAKI!

His movements are unquestionably sharper than before...I was right in arranging for HER to be here then.

Telling him Tsukishima attacked Inoue will only hurt his performance!!

I see....So he’s the one. *cue dramatic music*

And to make my point even clearer, let’s have these again:

AGAIN.

AND AGAIN.

AND AGAIN.

AND AGAIN.

Have you noticed the clear, undeniable pattern here? All the enemy taunting? The fact that nearly all of Ichigo’s enemies target Orihime? If you want to piss him off, taunt him, tempt him into a fight---just try to get anywhere near Orihime. Hell, even just mentioning her name can get the job done.

Ahem,

Kubo pointed out via Nel that Orihime was, in fact, the trigger to Ichigo’s emotionally-charged response. It’s no accident. It’s not a coincidence. He’s aware of it enough to write it into the text. He wrote these things on purpose.  So why? What point was he trying to make here? The answer: Kubo reinforced this pattern and recurring theme over and over and over again to drop hints about Ichigo’s romantic feelings. NO other character was singled out as a point of Ichigo’s protective focus anywhere near this much. Add all of that on top of the fact that Ichigo vowed to protect Orihime only, and then chanted “I will protect her” after dying and hollowfying and ask yourself again: WHY is so much singular, specific focus being put on Orihime? Why did Kubo feel the need to put the focus on Ichigo’s desire to protect Orihime specifically, emphasizing it more than his desire to protect any other character, time and time again? What *major hint* was he implying through this pattern and recurring theme, which is also a massively common romantic trope?  As Grimmjow said, “you want to protect her? How sweet.” The answer was always obvious. The counter-argument I’ve seen to this is that Kubo/Ichigo only focused on protecting Orihime so much because she was the one who needed the most protection for being weaker than the others. However: There have been times when she was definitely not the weakest or the one in need of the most protection, and yet she was still singled out, regardless. In the classroom incident with Shinji, there were plenty of Ichigo’s school friends around with zero powers or defenses that Kubo could have used as Ichigo’s catalyst instead. Same as the incident with Tsukishima---in a house full of his friends and little sisters---hell, Yuzu would have been a perfect candidate as the one needing the most protection...But Kubo still used Orihime as the catalyst, the trigger, the breaking point. So, that counter-argument simply doesn’t hold up.  And if most of the protective focus was only put on Orihime as a matter of circumstance because she required the most protection, that still wouldn’t explain Ichigo’s emotionally-charged responses to her, if protecting her was only out of “duty” and nothing else, with no actual feelings attached. Because by consistently narrowing in on Orihime as a target, Kubo effectively highlighted Ichigo’s underlying feelings for her as it triggered some of his strongest emotional reactions—his blind rage when his enemies threatened her or used her to taunt him, his terror and panic when she’s in danger and he can’t get to her, the way he beats himself up when he fails to protect her, etc. Good writing is when you show, not tell. And this is one of the ways Kubo chose to show us Ichigo’s latent/underlying romantic feelings---By having his enemies target his soft spot for Orihime, and his heart. And if you’re still not convinced that Kubo used this ‘enemy targets the love interest’ trope to demonstrate romantic feelings, then ask yourself why he also used the same exact trope with RenRuki, another canon romantic pairing, in back-to-back chapters, as seen in this post (x)  We knew that Renji had feelings for Rukia at that point. So what did it say for Kubo to have mirrored a big Renji–>Rukia moment with an *extremely similar* moment involving Ichigo and Orihime? What does it say about Ichigo’s feelings for him to mirror Renji’s reaction, but with Orihime?  When you have a trope being repeated like that with two different romantic pairings, I think it’s safe to say that this is just one of the ways in which Kubo views and writes romance---by having enemies taunt the heroes using the person the hero has romantic feelings for. And nearly all of Ichigo’s enemies used Orihime. Moreover, Ichigo doesn’t just protect Orihime from enemies. He’s jumped to her defense multiple times, against a friend or foe:

Yoruichi scolds Orihime and Ichigo is the one who speaks up on her behalf, validating that she’s the reason they’re okay. Again, Ichigo is the one who jumps to her defense. Not Chad. Not Ishida. But Ichigo.

Ulquiorra tries to reprimand and manipulate her, Ichigo tells him to shut the hell up. Followed by him comforting Orihime and thanking her for protecting him.

Once again, speaking up in her defense. This time, it’s against Orihime’s best friend.

And he was so furious on Orihime’s behalf that he yelled “BULLSHIT” to Captain Commander Yamamoto for implying that Orihime is a traitor - he got so angry at the mere implication that Renji had to hold him back! There’s yet another recurring pattern here, born from Ichigo’s protectiveness over Orihime, and the obvious soft spot he has for her. He’s jumped to her defense multiple times and does not tolerate people being rude to her. If you’re mean to Orihime, he’s going to give you shit about it, because he’s caring and considerate of her feelings. He isn’t just protective of her physical well-being, but her emotional well-being, too. Once again, special treatment that singles Orihime out. Side note: another common argument that was peddled for years was that Ichigo was only protective of Orihime’s physical and emotional well-being like this because he viewed her as a “little-sister type” or that he treats her the same way as he treats Yuzu or baby Nel...but Ichigo sweating and blushing over Orihime’s body certainly laid that feeble argument to rest for good.  The basis of this argument was always that Ichigo is more gentle towards both Yuzu/Nel and Orihime than he is towards most other characters. He’s more gentle towards Yuzu and Nel because they’re little sister-types to him. And since we know he definitely doesn’t think of Orihime as a little-sister type…why exactly is he more gentle with her? Why does he act differently towards her than he does with others? What sets her apart in his mind? The “little sister” excuse can’t be used anymore. So there must be another reason. Gee, I wonder what it could be. ---Honestly, the fact that there were even shipwars between ichiruki/ichihime is especially hilarious because Rukia literally ships IchiHime:

She doesn’t pull Ichigo to Chad or Tatsuki’s side to make a vow like this; just Orihime. And she seemed very enthusiastic about her job as Cupid. 

She even leaves the scene in the top frame to give Ichigo and Orihime privacy in that intimate moment, like “welp, my work here is done.” What’s interesting is that, because Rukia knows and understands Ichigo very well, it’s possible that she caught on to who he had feelings for, and that’s why she practically played matchmaker for him with Orihime like this. Rukia was also aware of Orihime’s feelings for Ichigo by this point, and I can’t imagine she would want to give her false hope if she knew there was no way Ichigo would ever return her feelings. Which leads me to believe that Rukia suspected Ichigo did have feelings for Orihime as well, and that’s what brought on her matchmaking and shipper faces---Not just because of the way Orihime felt, but because of the way Ichigo felt, too. She was giving them both a helpful little nudge in each other’s direction.

And here, she was in the middle of a sentence but she cuts herself off because she’s so distracted by the IH goodness. She looks kind of annoyed in the middle frame, and then she just freaking melts into gush in the bottom one once she realizes there’s IH stuff happening. And you see that little cloud coming off her mouth? She’s literally sighing at the sight of them together, with the softest and biggest shipper face while she watches them, as Orihime cutely blushes and cries and Ichigo gives her the gooey puppy-dog eye look. 

Clearly, she can feel the chemistry in the air between them. All of the nakama are standing around together, but only Orihime gets this soft, cute moment with Ichigo. And once again, he doesn’t scowl or look annoyed or recoil in disgust at such a strong display of her emotions and feelings, it touches his heart!!! It makes him smile, makes him happy! He turns into such a boyfriend when it comes to her!!! He does not act like this with the other 'just friends.’

Rukia only ever smiled in support of Orihime’s feelings for Ichigo. Hell, she even shipped it in the prototype chapter:

Rukia is first shown to be surprised by the way Ichigo’s demeanor softened while he talked about Orihime (indicating that it’s rare for him to act like that, and further singling Orihime out as someone special to him), making her suspicious about his feelings for her. She then smiles knowingly, and asks if he’s in love with Orihime—which is a pretty obvious indicator that he is. The fact that he was embarrassed by her assumption and immediately denied it only served to confirm Rukia’s suspicions even more. And sure enough:

She tries to confess Ichigo’s feelings for Orihime from the inside of his pocket, and Ichigo gets panicked and embarrassed and stops her from saying anything else. Obvious is as obvious does. The prototype holds no weight in canon, of course, but I do think it’s interesting that Kubo carried over so many of the same patterns from it to the final draft of Bleach that we know today: Orihime’s blatant feelings for Ichigo, Ichigo being teased about her in romantic way, Rukia playing matchmaker, etc.  ---Now, as I said before, Orihime’s canon love for Ichigo effectively made her the most likely candidate as his potential love-interest, and gave IchiHime a romantic context that no other Ichigo or Orihime pairings had.

Kubo even wrote a love confession for Orihime, dedicated a chapter to it in his shounen manga. Her love was obviously significant and important to him, he made it a point of focus several times, throughout the entire series. And her confession was the most romantic, shoujo-esque scene in the entire manga. I mean, honestly now, is anyone ACTUALLY surprised that Ichigo ended up with the ONLY girl who has a canon love for him. Really? Because that’s a lot of focus to put on love and romance in a shounen if it won’t actually lead to them ending up together.

Orihime’s love was shown to be a deep and profound thing---so deep, it withstood seeing him become a ‘monster’ in the lust arc, and so powerful it persisted through a brainwashing. She cries when Ichigo cries and feels pain when Ichigo is in pain, that’s how deep her love goes. She cites Ichigo as the reason she can talk about her tragic past without getting upset, her reason for hope and happiness, and her desire to protect him motivates her to get stronger.  I’m not sure of any writer who would write a love this deep, put this much focus on a character’s feelings in such a positive way, and consistently reinforce those feelings over and over and over again in every single arc, if they weren’t meant to be reciprocated in the end. Because...why bother? Honestly. If Ichigo were meant to end up with someone other than Orihime, why not give the canon love for Ichigo to that person instead?

For years people tried to counter this with the argument of, "just because Orihime loves Ichigo doesn't mean he has to love her back!!!" but I think that line of thinking entirely misses the point?

I’m not suggesting that Ichigo was required to love her back just because she loved him--it's more to do with Kubo's intent for giving that love to Orihime in the first place, if he didn't plan to follow through with it. Her love for him isn’t treated as some personal burden that she needs to overcome--She never once expresses a desire to move on or fall out of love with Ichigo (nor do any surrounding characters ever suggest that she should move on). On the contrary, Orihime expresses the exact opposite of moving on in her love confession: She would want to fall in love with the same person, in every lifetime she lived. i.e. she will love Ichigo forever. That’s a lot of specificity (“same person”) and permanence (“five lifetimes”) for Kubo to attach to a love that he had no real attachment to and intended on doing away with in the end. 

Which brings us back to Kubo’s intent behind cementing Orihime’s love in canon in the first place: In a shounen manga where romance isn't the focus, I don't think it's at all unreasonable to assume that the author is typically only going to create romance where he intends to pursue romance (especially when it involves two main characters, one of them being the male protagonist). Simply put, the romance he created was the one he intended to pursue and follow through with in the end: the romantic subplot of Orihime->Ichigo.

It’s not complicated: Kubo gave the one and only canon love for Ichigo to Orihime, because he knew they would end up together in the end. It really is that simple.

Just as he vowed to protect her, she vows to protect him. Their mutual desires to protect each other were highlighted the most.

And then, in the finale of the manga, Ichigo and Orihime tag-teamed the final boss together. One of the last battles in bleach, ever, was an ichihime tag-team against a god. And it was Ichigo’s idea. This was the first time he had ever asked for someone’s help in battle. He finally allowed himself to count on someone else, against the guy that killed his mother no less, it was Orihime. His future wife. And damn, that’s beautiful.

Look at all those flashbacks. This was chapter 672, and that top panel? Happened way back in chapter 58---The very first arc! Kubo’s been developing and building up to this since the beginning, and there’s the proof.

Nothing makes me laugh more than when people say IH had no development. As we saw above, they went from Orihime feeling unable to protect Ichigo/Ichigo being overly-protective of Orihime to the point of side-lining her, to the two of them fighting side-by-side together against a god. Ichigo trusted Orihime---let her know he was counting on her to protect him (the very thing she vowed to do), and acknowledged her strength and growth, and Orihime achieved what she set out to do way back in chapter 58 - the first time she expressed a desire to protect Ichigo.  They literally started here in chapter two:

Orihime couldn’t even say ‘good morning’ to Ichigo without getting all flustered and stumbling over her words. .....And ended up here:

They understand each other so well, trust each other so much, they communicated a strategy without words. Just a single look. The chemistry between them on this page is palpable. The way Kubo keeps narrowing in closer and closer on their mouths. The way they’re both sweating and panting and almost kind of smiling in the middle of this life or death battle because they know they just effectively communicated a plan to each other without speaking and it’s pretty cool how in synch they are and they’re both kinda diggin’ it? Yeah.

As the series progressed, we saw them growing closer. They started out as just acquaintances, and then this moment really solidified a growing friendship:

Ichigo confides in Orihime when he’s feeling down and confused. This was his biggest secret---that he had become a shinigami, and here he is, feeling comfortable enough to confide in Orihime. He opens up to her, and she’s very receptive. They talk through it and, again, she’s able to lift his spirits.

Then at the end of the arc,

They share more and more cute, intimate moments. Ichigo singles Orihime out to ask if she’s okay, and Orihime is able to confess how worried she was about him. We see her feelings deepening from a crush into love, and we see Ichigo’s caring for her and protectiveness of her growing.

This is the first time he gives her that look. There will be more to come as they grow closer.

And then in the next arc, Arrancar and HM, we see them both struggling---Ichigo struggles to control his hollow powers, and Orihime struggles with feelings of worthlessness and self-doubt.

 They went through absolute hell in HM together, and when it was all over, they looked at each other like this:

They saw each other at their absolute worsts, and it didn’t change the way they saw one another; they were still so fond and adoring of each other, still caring about each other so much. The struggles they went through didn’t tear them apart; as a testament to their bond, it only brought them closer. And as I said in one of the posts I linked, I think it was very telling how Ichigo was never bothered or annoyed in the slightest when Orihime was the only one getting emotional on his behalf, or shedding tears for him. Here she is, fussing over his appearance and crying because she’s so incredibly happy that he’s okay. She does these things because she loves him...And it doesn’t bother him at all. He likes it! Her love for him makes him happy. It makes him smile and go all gooey and soft with the puppy-dog eyes, because he likes the fact that Orihime cares about him that much. He genuinely appreciates it, and you can see it in the look on his face. You can see it in the way it brings out his tender, heartfelt side. (This is also one of the moments that ‘gave him pride’ as a shinigami in the FB arc, seeing how much Orihime cares). At this point in time, he hadn’t yet realized that what she feels for him is true, romantic love, but this IS her love for him, on display...And he likes it. And I believe that in itself was yet another telltale sign that Ichigo would eventually return her feelings---because of how open and receptive he was towards her displays of love and affection. Being open and positively receptive to displays of romantic love indicated reciprocation, not rejection. Rejection could have been indicated by shrugging her off or reacting with annoyance when she wears her heart on her sleeve for him like this, recoiling at her feelings. Instead, he is positively receptive towards her feelings. He turns tender and soft and smiles, it gives him pride, he likes it. And so, it could be inferred that if he knew about her romantic feelings, he would be open and receptive towards them, based on how positively he reacted to her displays/demonstrations of those feelings.  Remember how Orihime wearing her heart on her sleeve for Ichigo was the turning point of the Grimmjow battle? How positively Ichigo reacted to that  display of her love and care for him, even if he hadn’t yet realized it was romantic? Remember how much it affected and impacted him in such a meaningful, positive way? Once again: open and positive reception indicated reciprocation. 

We saw them grow even closer over time, and the time-skip showed them hanging out more and more at school, and the bread-date:

They’re more comfortable with each other here compared to the start of the story, although Orihime is still nervous around him. Ichigo hasn’t yet figured out why.

The difference between here and the beginning of the story is evident. They’ve grown closer, become better friends. Kubo added in cute little moments of them sharing manga, Ichigo literally inviting Orihime inside his house when she brought him some bread, instead of just taking the bread and being like “yeah, thanks, bye” (which is what he might have done if he truly didn’t like her or didn’t want her around the way detractors always claimed lmao), but he doesn’t just invite her inside, he takes her up to his bedroom??? Instead of just the kitchen???? Even though they’re eating food? Even Orihime was surprised by that one--later that night, after she goes home, she mentions that she had only intended to give Ichigo the bread at the door. It was Ichigo’s idea for her to come inside, up to his bedroom. Anyway, then he brings up a cute little tray with drinks and closes the door to give them privacy. He felt that comfortable with her already, which was so different from the way they started out, with her being just a “friend of a friend.” 

Then, later that night, he offers to walk her home from the hospital. So, in a single day, that’s two separate attempts he’s made to spend time with her (inviting her upstairs when she only meant to give him the bread at the door, and then trying to walk her home). And yet, naysayers would still try to argue that Ichigo didn’t care about Orihime, was annoyed by her, didn’t want her around.

One argument I’ve seen them use is that, “Ichigo turned down Orihime’s offer to go check on Chad with her in the FB arc.” But they seem to conveniently leave out that the only reason he turned her down was because he had already made plans to meet up with Ginjou at the FB headquarters. 

Interestingly though, just as Orihime made attempts to spend more time with Ichigo (by bringing him bread, and asking if he’d like to go with her to check on Chad), Ichigo made attempts to spend more time with Orihime (by inviting her up to his room, much to Orihime’s surprise, and then offering to walk her home from the hospital).

They both made such attempts, not just Orihime. Almost as if the feeling of wanting to spend more time together went both ways... :)

She developed past the lust arc; Kubo even gave us a flashback to solidify the change from then to now.

She strengthened herself so that she wouldn’t be a burden to him, and was there to support him as he gained back his powers. This is when he began to realize he didn’t need to side-line or coddle her anymore; he could rely on her instead.

And then in the final arc,

Another development: they’re fighting side-by-side now.

Another development: They’ve become even more close and comfortable than they were in the previous Fullbring arc. Orihime isn’t fidgety about being in Ichigo’s room, anymore. She waltzes in like she owns the place. He teases her, she teases him right back. 

Honestly, how anyone can look at the moments from the first few arcs compared to this one, see how timid they were around each other compared to how comfortable they are now, and still say nothing developed or changed between them, is beyond me.

They developed both on and off the battlefield. They became closer friends, their bond strengthened, their importance to each other and how much they care for each other deepened. From acquaintances, to here. You can see the growth in each arc, from one to the next. It’s tangible.

--The final arc was a goldmine, Kubo made sure to give IH plenty of moments, development, and focus before making it canon

They were a tag-team before they even took on Yhwach.

Pressed against Ichigo’s chest, protecting him during this emotionally charged moment.

Self-explanatory. 

Kubo recreating the IchiHime headbump from the SS arc.

Ichigo ducking back to protect Orihime. He starts out holding her shoulder and then moves his hand up to cradle her head while she blushes :) This is standard shounen romance: no over the top kissing or sex scenes, but cute, small moments like this. 

Out of all the nakama and characters, it was Orihime who was by Orihime’s side as he took on a God, the guy that killed his mother--and it was at Ichigo’s request.

They are the sword and shield.

Ichigo even took time out from this battle against the dude that killed his mom to, once again, check on Orihime. Reassure her. Take her feelings and past trauma concerning hollows and the lust arc into consideration. Let her know that this isn’t like the lust arc--this time, “I’m still me.” 

No other ship got anywhere NEAR this much. 

--And to me, IH has always been obvious in the way Ichigo is with Orihime. Always respectful, gentle towards her, the soft smiles and tender looks and puppy-dog eyes and words of comfort and reassurance.

They make each other happy :’)))) He singles her out after every battle to ask if she’s okay, no matter how bruised and beaten he is. Even if he’s covered in blood and she doesn’t have so much as a scratch---He always puts her first, and singles her out in a way he doesn’t do with anyone else.

No seriously why does he look at her like this i’m dead

DEAD. After Bleach’s end, Kubo confirmed on his Twitter that he saw Bleach. to its conclusion and wrote the final chapter (revealing the IchiHime/RenRuki marriages) exactly the way he had always planned after he wrote chapter one. Link here.

IchiHime was planned since chapter one.

In conclusion, while all of these moments have always been up for interpretation, IchiHime shippers interpreted the IH dynamic as romantic, and clearly we were correct in our interpretations as it became a canonically confirmed romantic pairing in the end. Whether you agree or disagree with our interpretations, we interpreted IchiHime the way Kubo meant for it to be interpreted, as confirmed in canon.  Kubo developed IH seamlessly, gave them a TON of screentime/interactions/moments/development, and made it obvious as hell that it was going to be endgame. Like, RIDICULOUSLY obvious. If you still aren’t willing to acknowledge that, then denial is a powerful thing.

[ichinoue]

I'm kinda just writing to see if you're still alive lol

I'm more of a recent fan of the series, have been here for a year only, so I wasn't there for the.... insanity. Still, I've visited your blog a few times to see how the reactions of Orihime fans were back in the ending days, and they make me very happy, and I can't wait to see that final fight and ending again the anime in just a few months.

I hope you're doing alright

awww well hi!! Thanks for checking on me :) I’m still alive, I promise! hahah I’m doing pretty good, I just rarely use tumblr or any other fandom spaces anymore lol but I do still check my messages on here from time to time just in case :) I’d like to do a full rewatch of the final arc and maybe post some thoughts about it when the time comes 🤞🏼 I hope you and all my followers who are still here are doing well too 🥰

[dont-look-up]

[ichinoue]

What type of IchiHime moments do you want it to come out in Cour 4? Would you want them to kiss or show a scene of them marrying at the end of the cour? Since you're the biggest IchiHime fan after Kubo(no joke), I was expecting your opinion on the matter, no offense here, just curious.

I'm not sure if we'll see an actual onscreen kiss, but it would be cool to see a glimpse of their wedding to fill in the blanks of the timeskip. Even if it was just a photo from their wedding day on the table or something during the epilogue. I guess it just depends how subtle they want to keep the romance aspect? What I'd really like, and was hoping we would have gotten in the actual manga if Kubo hadn't been so pressed for time, is Ichigo asking to walk Orihime home after the war and her finally saying yes. I just feel like it would have been the perfect full-circle moment since he tried to walk her home twice before but wasn't successful 😭 But now that the war is over and everything has settled, he can walk her home at the end of the story before it's then revealed in the epilogue that they're married and share a home, and essentially became each other's home 🧡

[ichinoue]

Hey there, just here to say that you're crazy af for writing that memorable-ass paragraph 8 years ago, aside from that, see you IchiHime shippers(they truly are made for each other) on Cour 4! Till then, have a nice year.😊

Thank you!! hahah wait, which paragraph?? you mean the masterpost I posted the day IchiHime became canon 😆 I'm always worried that it's going to break one of these days because tumblr keeps changing the posting format (i don't even know if you can have that many images in one post anymore?) but I just checked and it's still there thankfully, pinned to the top of my blog dfgjkdfjgk. Fingers crossed!

[ichinoue]

Happy new year ✨

happy new year!!! :) wishing all my origos the best for 2025 💖💛🧡

[ichinoue]

Just wanted to thank you for your hard work and dedication to the IH fandom all these posts dating back years all out of love for the ship !! Thank you and I hope you’re doing well 🥰

aw thank you so much!! I’m doing really well, just super busy at the moment, October through December always have so much going on with the holidays and whatnot. I haven’t even had a chance to catch up on the new anime episodes yet fjgjkfkfkf but I’ll get around to it soon hahah. I hope you all are doing well too 😁

[ichinoue]

I know you said you haven't watched the new episodes but Kubo is adding new Ichihime moments and they're so freaking cute omg

omg really?? I’ll have to either see if I can find the clips on twitter or somewhere or look for an illegal download lmaooo

[ichinoue]

Sometimes I visit your blog to see what you're up to cause it's been so long. You did god's work keeping us Ichihime shippers sane. Have you been watching the latest season? So much new content and we're only a couple episodes in. I love how we got Orihime healing Ichigo mid-fight in ep 1 and then an extended scene of her attempting to heal the soul king in ep 2.

Thank you!! I actually haven’t been watching because I don’t have Hulu lmaoo so I am super out of the loop on most things but I have seen some clips here and there posted around social media.

[ichinoue]

ichinoue come baaaaaaaaaaaack!!!! :,(((

I’m still here ☺️

[ichinoue]

Hi! ichinoue wanted to see if you are active

I’m still here! Just been super busy and taking a break from being online at the moment but I’ll be back eventually!!! Thanks for checking on me :) I hope all my origos are having a safe and fabulous summer 🩷🧡🩷🧡✨😎

[ichinoue]

Hi! Same anon as before, I read the master post — it was so great, thank you! But is there a part missing? Rukia and Renji tell Orihime about their marriage, but I couldn’t find the part where they tell Ichigo? lol Am I blind? Can someone share the link

I don't think there was a scene where they told Ichigo? Unless there was one but it was released separately from WDKALY? But my memory for things that were released after the manga ended is honestly so bad lmao

[ichinoue]

Speaking of the RenRuki wedding, did anyone ever figure out what age IchiHime got married and had Kazui? I’m shit at math so I didn’t bother at trying.

I wanna make an iChiHime comic series of it leading up to it all and then snippets of their family life :3

oh gosh, I feel like we did figure this out or get some kind of confirmation but I legit don't remember lmao It's been too long. I think she was 25 when Kazui was born?? but idk for sure.

[ichinoue]

Do you by any chance have a link to the “We Do Knot always love you” novel? Well, the translated version anyways. I wanted to read some IchiHime goodness :3

There's a masterpost with translations here :) thanks to missstormcaller!!

[ichinoue]

thoughts about ROCK MUSICAL BLEACH: Arrancar the Beginning.

tbh I've never really paid much attention to the musicals??? But I love the arrancar so maybe this time I will hahah :)

[ichinoue]

Hey hope you’re doing well !!

I wanted to know if there’s any episodes from the original anime + Tybw where you feel like some episodes were amazingly adapted ? Like they just elevated the source material. Ik we all have our own opinions on the original adaptation so I wanted to know if you have any personal favourite episodes in the anime ?

Hi!! Thank you :) The first thing that comes to mind for me is the lust arc, I think they did such a good job at capturing the fear and hopelessness of those chapters, and the Ichigo vs. Ulquiorra battle was immaculate, it was just animated so well. And I also loved the episodes from the new anime with the Yamamoto battle followed by the wandenreich invasion, the animation and the music!!! So well done.

[ichinoue]

Do you feel that the weird IR filler/IH erasure especially in the canon storyline of the anime was less of a problem after the Soul Society arc? I might be remembering wrong but I think it got better once Kubo started supervising the script, I don't know if IR was pushed after that? All I can come up with is that one ice skating scene and personally I don't view that as some kind of 'agenda' rather a tame interaction between two friends.

Yeah, I think things got better after the SS arc. I think once the arrancar arc started with all the Orihime/IH-centric scenes, the animators just couldn't ignore it anymore. It was becoming too obvious for anyone who didn't already have a strong IR bias that IH was where the romance was (the vow to protect followed by a love confession, etc). If you watch the AotS and SS arcs, it feels like the animators were intentionally cutting Orihime out and downplaying her importance, taking moments where she talks about Ichigo and having her talk about food instead, etc. while super embellishing canon IR scenes by adding in a bunch of flowery backgrounds and soaring music, on top of all the IR filler they added in (like the random filler shinigami guy who asks if Rukia and Ichigo are dating, and Rukia's just like "that's none of your concern" pffft.) I think the animators thought that Bleach was going to be a typical boy meets girl, main male/female duo that fall in love and that Orihime was just some bimbo who would never become important to Ichigo or the story as a whole (and interestingly, a lot of anime-only fans seemed to walk away with that impression as well). Things got better over time (albeit it still wasn't great), but I feel like the damage from the first two arcs was already done. People had already declared IR as their OTP in chapter one and were reluctant to jump ship (especially when it meant jumping to a ship they had already spent years hating on).