jiji

shipping theories, useless rants and random reblogs | english is NOT my first language

[christine-sullivan]

Here’s the thing about Bleach. I mean, yeah, Ichigo had desires for a normal life in the beginning. Seeing ghosts was weird, he had grief/guilt over his mother’s death, etc. But, when he became a Soul Reaper, he changed. He realized he had this power to protect, not just his family, but everyone. He hated his powers because of what happened to Masaki, but when he saves spirits, protects others, he finds solace in his powers. Because that’s the thing: people change. And when Ichigo no longer had his powers, it hit him hard. That is why he joined Ginjo (or partly). If Ichigo didn’t want his powers, if he wanted to live a normal existence despite everything he went through as a Soul Reaper, why didn’t he decline? Ichigo didn’t do it because Ginjo persisted; he did it because he wanted it. And Isshin and Kisuke knew that, and they helped in that happening. 

So… it becomes clear that Ichigo’s desire for a normal life isn’t as strong anymore. Not as strong as his desire to have powers, to protect. 

If we didn’t have the Lost Substitute Shinigami Arc (that showed Ichigo’s depression), then the ending wouldn’t have been so out of character (it still would be a little, though.) If he had constantly wished for a normal life, I wouldn’t have been surprised that he stayed in Karakura Town. But, his character arc was not like that. 

It’s different for mangas like Inuyasha, Fruits Basket, and Fullmetal Alchemist. In Inuyasha, they were fighting for so long, fighting for love, fighting for family, that it’s nice to see them settling down; it’s nice to see Inuyasha throw away his dream to be a full demon to be with Kagome. 

In Fruits Basket, the Sohma Family does not have a normal existence at all. And it hinders their relationships with others. Look like Yuki and Kyo. Yuki, abused and neglected, wants nothing more than to run away. Kyo, angry about his status, wants to gain his family’s respect. In the end, they get something much better that helps ease all that pain. (Don’t get me started on Hatori and Momiji). 

In Fullmetal Alchemist, the Elric Brothers are on this journey to return to their normal lives. And that’s what they get: their bodies, their home, their family. The only way the ending would be weird is if Riza and Roy got married and had kids, and she decided that she didn’t want to be in the military anymore to become a stay-at-home mom. I have to admit, I wouldn’t have minded them being canon, but as long as Riza didn’t give up anything. 

Anyway, this is long, but the point is, Bleach ending made no sense based on Ichigo’s character arc. These types of endings make sense for characters that continue to suffer because of their current lives, characters who need to find peace and love, etc. 

I also have to point out that Inuyasha, Fruits Basket, and FMA are all done by women, so maybe they just know how to write better, consistent stories. 

[jijikuroneko]

Am i the only one that hates the canon shippers of Bleach for making fun of us for shipping IR

omg my first ask! i always thought i was invisible in this hell hole called tumblr. thank u!

and no, you aren’t the only one. i think most people, actually, don’t like them. shipping and fandom is for fun, and these folks make it about turning people miserable. too bad we don’t give a crap lmao

[puzzled-on-main]

am i allowed to say kill all trillionaires or is that too specific of a threat

[exhuastedpigeon]

The first rule of fandom is have fun. The second rule of fandom is find an enabler and become an enabler. Yes you should write that fic. What if it was even hornier? What if it was angstier? What if you wrote it just for me?

[jijikuroneko]

my personal headcanon is that inoue became the true villain by the ehd of the tybw. her powers became heightened enough she can now reject reality in a way she changes reality itself — something like making a bubble/shield and everything inside happens just the way she’d like to

so that’s the reason she’s married to ichigo, rukia is married to renji and everybody else has their canonical shitty endings

the downside is that even though she can shape reality in her little bubble, inoue can’t really change/manipulate/control people’s personalities and feelings and that’s why ichigo ignores her after they’re married, rukia feels overall out of character and indifferent towards renji and etc

you can deny the facts for as long as you’d like, that doesn’t change how things are in the real world — her very powers are based on the fact inoue can’t accept the raw truth of the world, so she’d have to learn the hard way

[mondengel2]

Hi! Back again to ask for your thoughts on the panels where Orihime finally shielded Ichigo from Ulquiorra’s strike? Why do YOU think she hesitated?

You mean this moment in chapter 341?

I think it's very important to take in the context of everything that came before this. This fight and what came before are broken up for a long time by the Fake Karakura battles between the captains and espada, but:

From the beginning of the arc she's felt Chad and Rukia's reiatsu fade on the battlefield where she can't help and been upset about it. She's WATCHED Ichigo be near death several times and been unable to help and upset about it.

She's been beaten bruised and bloody by Loly and Melony once by this point and been saved by Grimmjow.

The Grimmjow vs Ichigo fight where she was TERRIFIED of Ichigo's power happened just before this fight began.

The Nnoitora and Tesla fights where she watched a drained Ichigo get beat around and his arm violently broken while she was held back with fingers violently shoved into her mouth to silence her happened JUST before this.

She was suddenly and unexpectedly kidnapped from where she was and teleported to Aizen's throne room by Starrk, then frightened by Aizen suggestively touching her face and telling her to smile before telling her he's going to destroy Karakura, that part of his plan to divide the shinigami forces so he could destory her home more easily was using her as bait, and then leaving.

She is frightened, riddled with guilt, has abysmally low confidence in Ichigo as a person in general, but in his strength and ability and trustworthiness in particular NOW, and knows none of her other friends are coming to save her because they're down for the count.

This whole ordeal, and particularly the last few hours has been nonstop violence and fear and Kurosaki-Kun came for her like she secretly wanted (and the guilt of having subconsciously deliberately done this to test if he WOULD come like he did for Rukia is certainly eating her up inside), but he's not heroic. He's scary. He didn't really come for her, he's grinning while he fights, and fighting instead of saving her.

And very literally JUST before the fight began: this happened in chapter 315:

In all that chaos, Ulquiorra showed up, and just like every time before, he's a moment of space and quiet and clarity.

All the danger is gone when he arrives. He's the one being in Hueco Mundo whose main purpose up until this point was to protect her, and he makes it clear that to him she's included in that order to protect Las Noches while Aizen is out.

Then Ichigo arrives, and it's looking like it'll be the same thing as the Grimmjow fight.

And despite being closer, more easily able to interfere, she stays back and watches. With Grimmjow she could be moved to comment and tell Ichigo not to fight or get hurt because he was fighting just to fight, but here they're both fighting for her sake in this moment. Ulquiorra to keep her and keep her safe, Ichigo to take her away - and that has a whole can of worms with some of her OTHER prior hangups.

She came of her own free will. She was manipulated, but to her POV she still made the choice and wanted to be there, and she's STILL freshly dealing with the knowledge her brother took her from her family. She's previously questioned Ichigo if it was right to go get Rukia, had Rukia thank her for coming for her when she'd actually gone there to follow Ichigo, and is dealing with the full weight of the mistake she made coming here.

So she's hanging back and THINKING.

She's definitely anxious and worried here, but she really, truly doesn't know which side she's on. She is torn on who she wants to chose here and kind of just freezing in place.

She latched onto Ichigo as someone who could be her protector and has been dreaming up a perfect boyfriend in him for years and has just suddenly and violently been exposed to how much he is NOT that dream guy. He's a good guy, but there's a hollow and ugliness and bloodlust hiding in him she' doesn't like's terrified of. A nice exterior over something rotten. He's like Sora all over again in her eyes. Her perfect brother/guy suddenly being washed away into a monster that wants to eat her.

Ulquiorra is a "bad guy" and a hollow, but he's been upfront with who and what he is. There are no dark secrets, he wears his darkness on his sleeve and what she's been finding underneath that is someone caring and good - an inversion of Ichigo. He's done nothing but protect her from every danger that's come her way in the way she's been wanting someone, and Ichigo in particular, to do since her brother died.

Who do you pick? The guy you've been hoping will be all you want and is socially the "right guy", or the guy who's been being all you want but is socially the "wrong guy"?

So she's subconsciously waiting to see who comes on top or who she feels drawn toward more strongly here.

And she doesn't act until Ulquiorra is about to deliver a hit to Ichigo from behind, but that's more her hangups with violence and people getting hurt than picking a side. It was more of an automatic thing rooted at the heart of her personality and psyche that spawned her powers.

She does not like people getting hurt.

She was fine watching Ichigo get beat around a bit and even taking one cero to the face, but a blade strike to his unguarded back is more viscerally an INJURY, and Ichigo IS someone she knows, so she acted to defend him.

This is NOT the look of a girl who's decided even half-heartedly to pit herself against the person she's looking at:

She looks SO unsure.

And then Ulquiorra responds to her with words again instead of any harm and calls her on the hypocrisy and implications of waiting to act.

And she fumbles when it's pointed out like that.

Like always, when she's challenged to put her darker feelings into words and has to really look at and understand the flow of her thoughts, feelings and actions, she freezes.

She didn't know how to express the loneliness, couldn't articulate the switch in her too-cheerful public mask to her at-home loneliness and gloom, couldn't speak up about and didn't understand her various guilts and jealousies and angers and just shoved it all down, and in the moment she's asked about it can only reflect on her self and think "why" and "I don't know".

And Ulquiorra, like always, is uniquely able to look into her and see and understand her.

He says "You don't know." right ever she stutters out "..because..", not a question, but an acknowledgement, and then he tries to tell her to help her work through it.

Ichigo interrupts, but I'm certain he was about to say something along the lines of her being one of them (one of HIM and HIS) and point out that she was conflicted between them because of a past attachment, then probably walk her through how her actions do prove she's at least partially chosen Ulquiorra.

And I think she followed his thoughts because she looks like this immediately after:

That's not the look of a girl who's chosen the guy speaking to her. That's the guilty, conflicted look of someone realizing they've been standing back on purpose and and let Ichigo get hurt instead of acting to protect him from the beginning because she doesn't see them as on the same side for certain now, didn't want to protect him from those prior hits and maybe doesn't want him to save her anymore.

It is, in fact, the same doubtful look she'd later have in early TYBW when Urahara scolds her for thinking Ichigo would run away from a fight.

Ichigo dismisses her and she backs up to near a doorway and out of the way like he tells her to after this, and the look on her face is anxious, but not in the fear-based way of the Grimmjow fight or the terror that will come later when Zangetsu takes over. She looks like someone teetering on the edge of a big decision.

She never rebukes here Ulquiorra like she did in the past on behalf of other characters and she's not even pretending to cheer Ichigo on in saving her anymore.

Externally she's at her most passive in the series here, interally in the most turmoil.

She's hovering on the cusp of telling Ichigo to leave I think.

Very telling to that is that when she gets attack and Loly is threatening to rip her eye out, she doesn't call out for rescue even when her mouth is uncovered, and just before her mouth is uncovered, Ulquiorra saves her from Ichigo.

TL:DR:

She didn't protect Ichigo until he was about to take a devastating injury because she was subconsciously leaving who she would go with up to the fight's results because she was genuinely torn between Ichigo and Ulquiorra here. I think if Ichigo had been the one to pull that back-striking move she would have saved Ulquiorra.

[mondengel2]

Reviewing this moment again and it's actually a lot darker on Inoue's part than I remembered.

She run's past child Nel's collapsed form to Ichigo's side shouting she'll heal him and Ichigo immediately tells her to go heal Nel first and she freezes, then whips around, and then hesitates.

She doesn't just hesitate, she starts to turn back toward Ichigo anyway and stops again. It takes her a LONG moment to concede and then go.

She hadn't even thought to heal Nel, and when told to doesn't want to heal Nel.

Inoue really is viciously jealous of Nel after Ichigo shows awe in her. To the point she clearly is at best apathetic about her being injured and disabled, at worst prefers her that way so she can't outshine her around Ichigo.

Also really interesting is how the sound effects of the battle aren't present or are very small when she's speaking to Ichigo, but dominating the panels when she isn't - very much showing how her focus has narrowed so completely she doesn't notice anything else.

Also: Ichigo is so unimpressed with her here:

Like. He had to TELL her to go heal the child.

The difference in the tension in his face between these two panels says the first one isn't entirely a wince of pain, but moreso him pulling a disgusted expression. The first panel he IS wincing of course because he's in pain and it's probably taking some effort to talk, but you can see the WTF?! on his face clear as day. In the second one he's watching her with an assessing kind of caution and a frown as she leaves. He definitely caught that hesitation and does not approve.

I think now this is the moment Ichigo reassessed her and decided to never rely on her again, not the betrayal in TLA.

From the beginning Ichigo has always been concerned about collateral damage, making sure battles stay away from bystanders or to drag it away from other people who are injured, making sure others get taken care of first.

Inoue just disregarded someone vulnerable in a way he never could.

Nel is his friend, unconscious and bloodied and a child and even being brutally beaten he never stopped thinking of her, but Inoue forgot her completely as soon as she hit the ground because all she was paying attention to was Ichigo.

TLA showed how shallow their connection was and how easily and completely she could and would distrust him on someone elses word, to the point he couldn't BEG her to listen to or believe him, but here is where she showed in a pretty irrevocable way that she was unreliable and couldn't be trusted to do the right thing or to be properly present and where she needs to be in battle.

There's also a really interesting parallel between Ichigo and Byakuya here in what seems to be simultaneous moments.

Byakuya has been badly injured and is waiting for Isane to heal Rukia and Hanatarou before he allows her to work on him, and she doesn't argue, just heals Rukia and Hanatarou and leaves Byakuya to last like he orders:

A sharp contrast to Inoue. Unlike her, Isane is a real healer in ability and personality.

Inoue, like every time Ichigo is around, pays no attention or care to anyone else but him, even when they are in dire need of her help, and when told to go help someone else or do another task always hesitates or argues or simply ignores it and keeps focused on him.

And every time Ichigo isn't impressed by it.

Inoue is never able to read or understand Ichigo, but because of her crush she's spent a lot of time studying his expressions and I think she understood his disgust at her here.

When she does run toward Nel it's more like she's running away from him and his judgement rather than rushing to help Nel.

I think she was ashamed of this moment, and both literally and figuratively ran away from it. She healed Nel as requested and then shoved the incident down to be forgotten, and so never grew from it, which is why she later wishes Nel hadn't been healed from her disability because she didn't like her hugging Ichigo (and had likely had her feelings of jealousy and inadequacy recently compounded by Nel taking that adult form to save her and everyone from Quilge), and why even in the final battle she gets underfoot trying to heal him instead of attempting to properly participate.

I do like this moment in Hueco Mundo because of how it's a showcase of how her healing isn't really altruistic, but is a direct action of her own selfish desires. Her power is born of her rejecting the ugly reality of her personal life, not from her wanting to help others. And that's shown time and again in how she uses her power. She never becomes a great healer or warrior, she just focuses on that one, self-serving desire to heal Ichigo.

Healing Ichigo is what she wants to do.

What's needed gets forgotten or ignored by her in favor of it every time if it doesn't directly involve Ichigo, but every time that isn't what Ichigo wants; and his expressing that never changes her thoughts or actions.

I really wish the manga had committed and delved into this properly. Given her some resolution or conclusion or growth about it instead of just leaving it there: exposed but unaddressed.

[bb-bluearcher]

I'm...genuinely confused how the hardcore shippers think this a piece of proof that Orihime and Ichigo were meant to be.

First off, Ichigo hated the rain. It rains whenever he's in deep mental anguish.

...Which brings into question as to why it doesn't rain when Orihime is taken.

Second, who did Ichigo thank for drying out his rain?

Rukia.

Just when Ichigo was on the verge of a mental collapse after all the crap he went through in the Fullbringer arc, Rukia appears, with a sword in hand to give Ichigo back his powers. The rain that was pouring not long ago? Completely stopped.

I'm a non-IchiRuki shipper, but you can't exactly ignore this.

Although it seems as though a lot of the hardcore shippers has in fact ignored it.

Side note: I've come across a reddit post about this poem and the person figured that it's about Orihime's envy towards Rukia...

Eh...I generally don't think so, but not for the reason some of the commenters in that post said, saying that Orihime's envy towards Rukia doesn't happen until the Arrancar arc.

I disagree.

I'd argue that this (Chapter 33) is the earliest hint of a budding sense of jealousy.

I just...don't understand how they would say that Ichigo always had a thing for Orihime, but isn't exactly conscious about how people view his relationship with Rukia.

If Ichigo was aware of Orihime's infatuation towards him and reciprocated it (which the radicals are convinced to be the case), you'd think he'd be more mindful of his actions.

But, no.

So I am starting to agree that the majority of the radicals haven't even read or watched the series and only in it for a fantasy.

[exo-raskreia]

One of the biggest reasons I ended up disliking Orihime and the Ichihime ship isn’t even the canon pairing itself — it’s the way some fans constantly reduce the entire relationship to “Ichigo likes her because she has big boobs.” That argument completely cheapens the story and turns what should be an emotional relationship into something shallow and superficial.

When people mock Rukia for having a smaller chest while praising Orihime’s body as the “reason” Ichigo would choose her, it stops being about character writing, chemistry, or shared experiences and turns into a body-type competition. It feels less like people are defending a meaningful relationship and more like they’re saying romance is decided by measurements, which is honestly insulting to all the characters involved.

Ichigo’s journey has always been about loyalty, trust, sacrifice, and the people who stand beside him, not a checklist of physical traits. So when the loudest defense of Ichihime becomes “she fits his physical preference,” it ends up making the ship feel weaker rather than stronger. Instead of highlighting emotional connection or narrative development, it just reinforces the idea that the pairing exists for shallow reasons — and that’s a huge part of why the ship started leaving a bad taste for me in the first place.

Wow, very much agree. It's unfortunate how that is the main argument I've seen from that side. Then they try coming up with more "substantial" evidence when arguing but it's purely based on mistranslations & scenes out of context. IH never had a good bonding moment. The only defense for them is the canon label slapped on but it has no praiseworthy backing. I reiterate it's the saddest canon ship I've ever seen in a battle shounen along with RR 🤷‍♀️...

[thegraylushipper]

canon ship so bad they get angry about an fanon ship

[chasing-rainbows-in-the-rain]

Tell me why I searched for ichiruki edits on tiktok and all I see are a bunch of ichihime's crop and highly edited vids and the few ichiruki had a bunch of hate comments.

But they are always accusing ichiruki fans of being aggressive and delusional but once we asked to prove their ship they get so offensive and call us "retards" and "delusional s".

But its funny how they think ichihime made sense since day one because of an old draft Tite drew, where ichigo had feelings for orihime.

They claimed ichigo showed his true feelings went he went to save her in hueco mundo or when he got depressed because he couldn't protect her the first time the arrancars showed up. Or when he was dead and she called out his name and revived to protect her.

Let me disprove all of these and tell you what makes ichiruki different.

1# Hueco Mundo arc - was basically about ichigo's fighting his internal hollow. He swore to protect his family and friends and when he lost the battle with an arrancar he felt useless. His friends (Chad and Orihime) almost die because he was scared to use his hollow since he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control it. Thanks to Rukia (chapter 196), he snapped out of it and he found the Vizards to help overcome his fear. In this arc, Orihime finds herself useless because she couldn't support ichigo (physically and emotionally). And she even points out her jealousy towards rukia (228-229).

So what sets apart rukia's rescue vs orihime's?

Ichigo went to save rukia from being executed. You could say ichigo saved her to return the favor because she saved him and his family by giving him her powers but rukia never asked to be saved. She in fact told him to not do that. But during the time they spent together ichigo developed a strong bond with rukia that it felt wrong to stand by. He told her things he never did to his friends (his mother's death). And when she was gone he felt so out of place (same in thing happened in the fullbringer arc when he lost his powers). Anyway, this boy literally train to get stronger and got a bankai for HER SAKE.

In orihime's rescue, ichigo was struggling to control his hollow. He sorta gets into the idea that he needs to protect everyone because they are weak (happened with Chad and even with rukia too). Rukia even tells him im not hurt because of u and u need to trust your comrades. And in my opinion when ichigo went to rescue orihime, he did it to prove that he overcame his hollow. (280 when he fights grimmjow, grimmjow even tells him if he came for her he could have taken her and run instead of fighting). Also, the part when ichigo dies and orihime calls out for him and he revives...how is that romantic when he also tries to kill uryu and threaten orihime?? (Chapter 352).

In the fulbringer arc, ichigo and orihime got closer as friends but ichigo still kept his distance. Orihime even sense it but couldn't do anything about it. In this arc, ichigo got depressed again because he lost his powers. Rukia doesnt show as much but ichigo still thinks about her (even dreams about it and rukia's face shows up when he activated his fullbringer). Not to mention, when he gets betrayed by Ginjo, he doesnt trust ANYONE but feels relieved when he sees Rukia again.

Also, to say that ichiruki is wrong because rukia is 100yrs old and dead and ichigo is a teenager... did you forget who is ichigo's dad and mom???

And claiming that they are more like siblings but literally ichigo's siblings are not like that with him or byakuya isn't like that with rukia. And honestly, ichigo and orihime look more like siblings (orange hair).

Bestfriends?? Yeah right...

Kinda sad, that even after they got married you dont even see them interact that much. But at least ichigo started calling orihime instead of inoue. Thats romantic i guess...

[rimonoroni2]

my general opinion on what people should be "allowed" to portray and what topics they should be "allowed" to explore in fiction is that you can make whatever art with whatever themes you want but i'm also allowed to think the way you handled it was tasteless and should've been done differently. my negative opinion on your handling of sensitive topics is the price of admission for publicly showcasing your work. this is not a pro-censorship stance because i am not The Government

[rimonoroni2]

this is getting really popular so i’d like to add the important caveat that your criticism of a work is no more unassailable than the work itself. just as one is entitled to be critical of something someone else is entitled to disagree with that criticism. i add this because some of you pretend to give a fuck about thoughtful analysis and then when someone points out flaws in your argument you declare that all criticisms are valid. this is untrue. the status of a hater is no more sacred than that of a liker. get off your high horse and engage in the thoughtful discussion you pretend to believe in or perish by my blade

[sunflowersandcherryblossoms]

Ganju: "I'm a Shiba. Not one amongst us is a coward"

Isshin: *Exists*

Me: "Sure buddy... You've all been so fucking brave throughout the entire series, always coming to help your cousin... Not..."

[aurora-313]

I heard a good way to describe the Shiba family as inertia. When an external force is acting upon them (Rukia kicking Ichigo into gear, for example), they commit 110% to everything they do for that immediate goal. As soon as that external force is gone or abates, their desire to do something about it abates as well.

Kaien had no ambition to climb the ranks. Ukitake kept bugging him to become his lieutenant and eventually kick him into captaincy.

TBH, that seems to be the clan's general attitude. They're the sleeping bear of the Bleach cast, and all the positive and negative connotations that come with it. They're content to coast through life, to their own detriment, until someone decides to make a bad day their problem. Then they're going to fuck shit up until the problem disappears and immediately resume their previous coasting normal.

[skyrigel]

[doodletyi]

[kittymary50]

even if renji apologized, it doesn’t erase the fact that he slashed rukia’s face, choked her, enforced her execution, and abandoned her for decades. an apology doesn’t justify canon abuse or make the relationship healthy.

Hi!

I read somewhere Kubo didn’t know what to do with Renji at the start of the series, so maybe it could explain why he acted like a jerk at the start of the series.

Even so, Renji should have had a discussion with Rukia about what he did, and apologized. But you’re right on the fact it wouldn’t have changed anything of what he did before.

Actions speak louder than words. What did Renji really do for Rukia? Ichigo was the one who saved her. Rukia was the one who gave Ichigo powers, not once but TWICE. She is Ichigo’s light –not Renji’s light, mind you, Ichigo’s, per Kubo’s OWN WORDS. If it doesn’t speak volume…

I’m a forgiving person, so I’m ok for Renji trying to mend his relationship with Rukia (if she wants to, I think it’s up to her to decide what to do), but for them to end as a couple? Yeah no, their relationship was too poorly written for that.

Please, even Uryū try to save her when Renji and Byakuya took her to Soul Society, while he was claiming to be the shinigami’s enemy. He sewed her a dress. It’s more than Renji ever did.

I really don’t see the appeal in that ship. The fact they are married and have a kid will never change that. Kubo messed up so much, but what’s new.

[kittymary50]

Studio Pierrot and Bleach

Forever baffled and utterly annoyed with the fact hardcore IchiHime fans are quick to blame the Bleach anime (and poor Noriuki Abe) for pushing IchiRuki when:

Most of the reasons why people ship IchiRuki (poems, symbolisms, color spreads, etc.) were already present in the manga,

Kubo became involved in the anime after the Bount arc and so had multiple occasions to add “IchiHime moments” in it, yet did nothing of it, instead praised the episodes with IchiRuki in it (especially the ice-skating one, aka 9/11 for hardcore IchiHimey fans) and didn’t remember the anime pushing IchiRuki at all,

Some Orihime scenes were cut/altered, but so were some Rukia scenes too (contrary to what IchiHimey stand believe, IchiRuki fans were also not really happy with that unknown shinigami added during “Memories in the rain”),

Orihime got filler scenes too, for instance, the one where Kurosaki holds her hand in the Hueco Mundo arc.

The anime didn’t “push” IchiRuki. Ichihime (and Orihime herself) just wasn’t popular to begin with, and still isn’t, even now. Just look at the recent contest results about the most popular fictional ships in Japan. IchiRuki ranked something along the lines of 78, I think? GinRan had a good rank, too. IchiHime? They didn’t make it. Their rànk would have been so low lmao.

But I guess canon shippers have nothing better to do than desperately try to find a reason why nobody likes their hetslop ship, so… they keep being annoying despite their couple having been canon for years. They’re the literal definition of insecurity.

[Edit: I saw your comment before you blocked me, blankspace-bluesky. Thanks for perfectly proving my point 👌🫢😛😂.]