Second: The willful ignorance of some people in this fandom makes me sick tbh. Like the amount of detractors that like to go back to the first 100 chapters of BLEACH to put RenRuki down would make me laugh if it we’re so sad.
Like I literally cannot understand how some of these people can just flat out ignore the many, many inconsistencies in BLEACH and then praise others as the ultimate reason RenRuki can’t happen.
I’d like to take us all back to chapter 51-56.
The inconsistencies of… well this entire event in comparison to subsequent and ongoing BLEACH… begins with the last page of chapter 51 that showcases the haori-less and not-captain Kuchiki with not-vice captain, armband-less Renji Abarai.
Captain-less and Vice-Captain-less, because at that point in the series Kubo admitted captains weren’t even a thing yet. Wait wait wait, so that means Kubo tweaked things as he moved along and didn’t plan out every single detail, every relationship, and every character at the very beginning of his 15 year long series??? Σ(꒪◊꒪ ) //sarcasm
To further my point, let’s take a look at chapter 213.5. This scene/chapter is dedicated to the past right before BLEACH as we know it started. This is Renji’s statement right before Rukia leaves for the world of the living:
Do you see that smile and soft look in his eyes? That is not the face of someone who would do this a month later:
And if you say “well he said he’d scare her” I’d like you to look at your life and determine at what point you were led to that level of desperation.
And then I want you to come back and take a look at one of the most intense verbal, not-up-for-interpretation errors; this panel in chapter 52:
Like, ah, yes that is totally applicable to the current series. You know him, Renji Abarai, that (adopted?) son of the noble Kuchiki clan. Yanno, that same Kuchiki clan headed by Byakuya—the not-captain, b/c the Gotei 13 wasn’t even a thing yet—Kuchiki?? ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
No, seriously… it honestly baffles me how people use these same scenes from 10+ years ago to put down RenRuki in the current series, because Renji has been shown to be “an abuser” in the past (lmao for real?).
Why don’t we take a look at a real “abuser”: Byakuya. Ain’t nobody attacking Byakuya for being a hardcore asshole to Rukia. He said if she wasn’t executed, he’d execute her himself. And now they have like one of the most beautiful relationships in the series. Why? Because they cleared it up and be apologized for his actions throughout the SS arc.
Byakuya explains and apologizes for his constant attempts to kill her. So that’s patched up. It’s explained. And there’s multiple other instances in the series where people apologize for specific wrongdoings.
And yet… Renji never apologizes to Rukia for trying to kill/hurt her in the world of the living. All he ever really apologizes for is letting her go.
So… like why did he never apologize for hurting her or threatening her? Why was that never resolved after the fact? Because, honest to god, I believe Kubo considers Renji’s action in chapter 51-57 to be basically non-canon. I honestly believe that Kubo is not bothering to resolve it, because he doesn’t want to address it, because it’s a plot hole.
Kubo did the best he could to patch it up with a backstory (after all he can’t wholly ignore it), but now after the fact I believe Kubo disregarded it, because Renji is an entirely different character and his relationship with Rukia is entirely different than in chapter 52.
And if you think “that’s bull it is sooo canon and Kubo would address it” I’d like you to take Ulquiorra’s hollow hole and how it dropped 3 inches. That’s pretty important, but never addressed. Why? It’s a plot hole (haha). Kubo needs to ignore it for the sake of Ulquiorra’s “what is the heart?”, b/c his hollow hole needs to be is where his heart is supposed to physically be for symbolism and all that.
TL;DR—Rukia and Renji’s first meeting (and basically Renji’s first character depiction) is a plot hole.
Now that that’s dealt with, I’d like to give an extra kick in the balls and explain why…
Kubo’s first depiction of Renji and Rukia’s relationship and its contrast with their current relationship is one of the top reasons why I believe the pairing has legitimate canon potential.
Here’s why: the beginning of the series/characters first interactions shows Kubo’s original intent. The current series/their subsequent interactions shows how Kubo’s original intent has changed.
Renji and Rukia first meeting in the physical series* under terrible circumstances.
(*that is to say BLEACH as the readers are chronologically exposed to it. Ex. in the “physical series” Rukia and Renji met on the street in chapter 52. In the “actual series” they met ~100 years ago in Rukongai. This is a very important distinction.)
Now, considering Renji and Rukia’s terrible first meeting in the physical series, it’s easy to infer that Kubo didn’t really give a rat’s ass about their relationship or even wanted them to have a bad relationship.
However, suddenly in the SS arc is was revealed that Renji is secretly in love with her and that really they have a tragic childhood backstory and in truth Renji has been trying to get her back this whole time and—!!
Like hold up, where did that come from? Based on his first physical series encounter with Rukia there were no feelings of fondness in there anywhere. So what happened?
Here’s what happened: Kubo decided after Renji and Rukia’s first terrible physical series meeting that he wanted there to be something more in the actual series. But Kubo can’t go back in time in the real world and change what he drew and wrote. So alas, Renji and Rukia’s terrible first physical series meeting lives on.
But it doesn’t live on in the actual series. Instead Kubo does the best he can to go back in time in the actual series to patch it up and try and explain it away so that he can move Renji and Rukia along into a healthy, happy relationship (which they have now). He tries to go back and explain Renji’s harsh actions as him being desperate to not let her extend her sentence and yada yada (though there really is no way to patch up the level of messed up Renji treated Rukia back then, but kudos to Kubo for trying).
People claim that Renji slashing at Rukia and trying to injure her and choke her and etc is shining proof that RenRuki is abusive, but the simple fact is: it was a mistake. It’s a plot hole.
Kubo wrote that scene at the beginning of the series when things weren’t planned out (captains didn’t even exist, like ?? that’s half the series right there). And he could have just left that scene how it was and left Renji’s character how it was and just casually added in Byakuya’s haori and Renji’s armband later, because whatever those are clothes so who’s gonna care.
But he didn’t stop at the haori and armband.
He didn’t stop until he turned their past into a love story. He decided that Renji and Rukia’s relationship (Renji’s love for Rukia!) was important enough to go have to go about sewing up the plot hole that is chapters 51-57.
And that’s why RenRuki seems like a real contender for canon to me; Renji and Rukia’s relationship (Renji’s love for Rukia!) was important enough to the story and to Kubo that he put developing it over consistency.
Kubo chose to create a heart wrenching, angsty backstory as a means to, albeit very roughly, sew shut the 51-57 plot hole so he could usher in a loving, healthy partnership between Renji and Rukia going forward.
TL;DR— The first physical series meeting between Renji and Rukia is a plot hole that Kubo regretted enough to create an entire angsty, painful backstory in order to try to explain. Kubo wanted to include Renji as a love interest and partner for Rukia bad enough that he added in dozens of chapters to give the reasons for a rift that caused the violence of their first physical series meeting. It’s a iffy patch job, but if you have an ounce of reading comprehension in your body you can understand why the inconsistencies are there and, as such, why chapters 51-57 hold no water in terms of Renji and Rukia’s relationship.
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