Orihime's weird food combinations actually make a lot of sense-
It's one of those things that in the moment, it's used for comedic relief when other characters see her or hear about her weird food combinations but honestly there's also a lot of subtlety that makes me wonder if Kubo has more personal experience growing up poor or with food security because my god it makes too much fucking sense.
We know that Sora and Orihime had abusive parents who were described as the types of people that would hit a child until it stopped crying and that Sora intentionally hid her away from them to take care of her.
Chances are, their parents never taught Sora how to cook or take care of himself properly, and growing up, he likely had to feed Orihime little bits of what he could put together before he was able to turn 18 and run away with her.
At the start of the story, Ichigo says that Sora died three years ago and at the start of the story, Ichigo and Orihime are both around 15 years old. Which means Orihime was no older than 12 when Sora died.
Have you seen what 12-year-olds left to their own devices eat? And eventually, we find out that Orihime is taken care of by a distant relative who only sends her money as long as she keeps her grades up. Given that she lives by herself, it's likely only enough money to ensure that Orihime isn't homeless or starving - but not enough to actually buy proper meals.
And if it is - Orihime likely doesn't know what a proper meal looks like. From how Sora described their parents, he likely had to raise himself as many children do in abusive relationships, and then had to raise Orihime. But children often learn things from their parents like how to cook, clean, etc.
Another character with a similar home life that Orihime reminds me of is Taiga from Toradora.
Until she met Ryuji, Taiga pretty much lived on convenience store food as her parent(s) only sent money every so often. Likely - once again - it was just enough to make sure she wasn't homeless or on the streets but not enough to be able to afford cooking proper meals and Orihime - like Taiga - likely doesn't really know what normal food or meals really look like.
And as early as the volume 2 character profiles, we learn that Orihime is supported by relatives.
At one point, she's even seen eating bread likely because it was all she could afford.
In Chapter 14, Orihime just brings an entire loaf of bread and a can of red bean paste to lunch and as early as Volume 2 we learn that she's supported by relatives - yet we also know that she lives alone which even as early as this it can be assumed that they're fairly distant and only do so out of obligation rather than love.
Come Chapter 450, this is elaborated on even more
She outright mentions that a distant aunt pays for her living expenses and sends her less when her grades go down. And here, you can see her recounting what she heard about her parents being "really abusive" from her brother all with a smile on her face despite the fact that it's a pretty somber.
Another hint to the food insecurity is how Orihime looked at the donuts earlier and Riruka upon hearing this, let Orihime eat as much as she wanted.
It's in her own way, but Riruka clearly understood that Orihime didn't really have a good home life. But she's a tsundere so Riruka has to say that she doesn't want them anymore instead of outright saying she feels bad and doesn't want to deprive someone who likely has never really had too much food security of food that's right in front of them. The typical "It's not like I care or anything" from tsunderes like Riruka.
Jumping back to earlier chapters-
Orihime joked with Tatsuki about having to carry around a sleeping bag and sleeping outdoors after being kicked out of her apartment following the hollow incident in Chapter 24.
Given that Tatsuki didn't appreciate the joke and up till this point, she's one of Orihime's closest friends, chances are Tatsuki knows that Orihime has a precarious living situation which is why the joke didn't come off as funny because Tatsuki would also know that Orihime is the type to just smile her way through all of her troubles.
So combined with what we know...
As early as Chapter 4 her apartment was damaged as a result of Ichigo's battle with Acidwire, in Chapter 14 she brings bread and red bean paste to school to eat and in Chapter 24 Tatsuki doesn't appreciate her jokes about having to be in a sleeping bag until she finds a new place before admitting that she's actually staying in a hotel.
Chances are her grades slipped to the point she couldn't afford rent anymore or the damage to the apartment was that bad - either way the result was a pretty big strain on her already tight finances.
Orihime's odd food tendencies aren't just to make her quirky, but one of the only ways she knows how to survive. After all - a lot of people who live in poverty or struggle with food security eat and enjoy strange meals like mustard sandwiches where it is just bread and mustard or sugar sandwiches where it's just butter, bread, and sugar... A lot of struggle meals honestly involve some type of bread because it is cheap and filling.
Bread is one of the cheapest food items you can afford and while everyone else thinks that her food combinations are horrid... there is at least one person who appreciates them.
Rangiku!
And from what we know, Rangiku also had a very similar upbringing where she was found starving and alone by Gin. He offered her persimmons, a fruit that when eaten at the wrong time is very sour but when it's ripe it's mushy/soft. Because of this, persimmons can be something of an acquired taste - and when they're dried the flavor of them is even more concentrated
All in all, her quirky food habits are a subtle nod to her upbringing, and thinking about it now, it makes sense as to why it never really sat right with me when people would callously make fun of her food combinations or rather treated them like a genuine character flaw to mock and demean her over.
It's used for comedy because when you hear certain struggle meals, they really don't be making any sense and sound disgusting! Yet at the same time, it's a result of having to make do with what you have and your tastes revolving around that.
Even with the consistency of Rangiku, someone who was found starving enjoying her food combinations - it makes me wonder if Rangiku is no stranger to eating weird things or combinations on occasion. It also contrasts with Toshiro who was shown not really enjoying the food combinations, but unlike Orihime or Rangiku, he's never really been shown starving or hungry in his backstory because he had his grandmother and Momo with him.
Because of that, it's kinda hard to chalk up Orihime's weird food tendencies and growing up poor to be a "lucky coincidence" because the other person who enjoys them too grew up similarly to her - where food was scarce. Given how seemingly well thought out it is, it makes me wonder if Kubo himself may have either had or knew someone who struggled with food scarcity.
Yumichika’s Underrated (and unique) Character: Beast in Beauty’s clothing.
First appearance:
We get to know Yumichika at the chapter 96 of the manga. From that moment, he is set as a simple minor character.
“Minor character. A minor character is usually a character who's not the protagonist or one of the main supporting characters or secondary characters. They usually have a relatively small role and often only appear for a few scenes. But even if they aren't on stage for very long, minor characters can have a big impact on the story.“
Besides the filler episodes of the anime, we can only get to see him if he’s either following Ikkaku or Kenpachi, as the typical “puppy character”. He is there to fight the one that Ikkaku won’t because the opponents are weaker, to watch him fight or take care of something else as Ikkaku does all the hard work.
We do get a lot more of Minor Characters on bleach and mostly all of them have, at least, some sort of backstory. In comparison, we don’t really have much information about him as we have from other minor characters and at first sight he’s not crucial for the plot.
So, what makes Yumichika so special and different from everyone else? I’ve been wondering for some time now, why is Yumichika in the 11th division if he’s so different from the rest of his comrades? We know that there, people only like to fight. But we got to see multiple times that the 5th seat is the only one who actually does the work, he even cares about his appearance almost more than fighting.
Said that, why is Yumichika, a feminine male character (Who are most of the time viewed and written as a joke) on the strongest squad of the Gotei 13?
First, we’re going to get a look at his first fight.
First battle:
Yumichika’s first fight happened when he was still viewed as an antagonist and his worst traits had the focus on the audience: Some random dude obsessed with beauty who says some cruel and sadistic stuff to one of Ichigo’s allies. Besides, as I said before, male characters with femenine traits are viewed not only as a joke but as disgusting (Let's remember that Bleach’s first episode was in 2001 and Japan isn’t the most friendly country with non-manly-men who actually take showers).
This is, mostly, a comedy relief fight while we see the main one between Ichigo and Ikkaku; in contrast, Yumichika vs Ganju isn’t really a proper fight, Ayasegawa just follows Ganju around and falls on his silly tricks over and over again until he’s defeated by a firework.
But, as a Yumichika starved fan, I could rescue some content from this. That is, we got to know Yumichika’s only weak spot in the entire series: Ikkaku.
That might be some irrelevant thing, based on Yumichika’s existence is only Ikkaku because he’s his minor character, a mere shadow to not leave Ikkaku alone on his important scenes, right? Wrong, but that comes later.
Let’s focus on this first. The fight was almost comical, Ganju and Yumichika running in circles, getting lost in the process, falling on a hole full of garbage bags; but at the mere mention that Ikkaku lost, Yumichika seems to turn on a completely different character. He loses his composure, that could be taken as just a normal thing for newer viewers, but after finishing the manga for the 10th time I can’t let this fact go unperceived.
Yumichika starts fighting for real, looking almost feral and with ugly expressions that he doesn’t normally make since he’s obsessed with his looks. There, you can understand why he is a part of the 11th division (But there’s more).
That is, also, an important fact regarding his and Ikkaku’s past. Where they would normally walk around looking for the strongest ones to fight.
What we learned here is; Yumichika knows how to fight dirty, and he doesn’t lose a single second in seriously attacking his opponent when he thinks that Ikkaku is in danger. That kinda resembles Kenpachi, who says that he doesn’t fight with all his strength from the beginning because otherwise he wouldn’t get to enjoy the fight and get fun, because it would end too early, too boring.
Second battle:
We already know that Yumichika is, in fact, part of the 11th squad. But we still have more doubts left: Why is he so different from everyone else there?
If you’re a fan of Bleach, you probably know by now that every dumb detail on this anime has sense, you get an explanation for every thing that happens. So what is Yumichika’s reason to be an unusual character with femenine traits, obsessed with beauty and fashion, who is also a part of the 11th division but also enjoys killing people? (Sounding not correlative at all).
And, most important, why is he so relevant even though his entire life is just Ikkaku?
On his fight with Hisagi, Yumichika talks about that a little. This takes place in chapter 139 and 147 of the manga. Here, Hisagi mentions that a 5th place can’t even win against a Co-lieutenant.
We do know that Ikkaku is the second strongest men on the 11th division, and the only reason why he isn’t lieutenant is because Yachiru has that place (If you finished the manga, you probably know why); and Yumichika didn’t say that he couldn’t achieve the 3rd place, he just mentions that Ikkaku took it, making it seem as it’s not really about power balance. Him and Ikkaku have, or almost have, the same amount of strength.
That makes Yumichika, also, an almost Lieutenant if we speak about power.
And he is not even training his real powers (Remember this for later); later on, Yumichika shows his true form to Hisagi, but we don’t get to see it until the White Invasion.
I said before that the reason for him being in a lower position than Ikkaku is not power imbalance. He is fighting with an arm besides his back, he always has been since him and Madarame have been friends from the beginning, therefore he probably hasn’t even trained his true powers because he’s afraid of Ikkaku sensing his reiatsu.
That almost makes pieces fall together in place: He is different from everyone on the 11th division because he’s the only one with a Kidou Zanpakuto, but he feels as he belongs there, therefore he hides his true self so he can be at Ikkaku’s and Kenpachi’s side, even if that means never achieving Bankai.
Yumichika not only loves his own pride, not only cares about what other think despite his narcissistic personality, but he also must love fight if that means he’s always wining with a half-released Zanpakuto, making every battle last longer than it should because he’s having fun.
One-sided pinning:
This far, we already know more about Yumichika. At this point is even a liked character for most of the viewer audience and even a comedy relief when he’s at Rangiku’s side; we also see him as a part of the 11th division and it’s been a while since we have seen him actually struggling in the first two fights.
On the chapter 202 of the manga, during the arrancar invasion. Bleach takes a more defeated turn where everyone learns that their power isn’t enough to fight Aizen and, therefore, to save the world and his loved ones in the process.
During this fight, Yumichika is once again spectating as one of the viewers while he takes care of Keigo. On his personal plot, I see this fight as one approaching the point of no return, but we’re not quite there yet.
As we know already, Ikkaku is Yumichika’s weak spot, that’s why he doesn’t want him knowing the true identity of his powers. In this battle, we know a little bit more about their dynamic, as Yumichika tells Keigo that they have some sort of agreement where they have prohibited to help each other in a fight, saying that if he dies during a battle, he’ll be proud of him.
This thing seemed a little odd for me; even as a part of the 11th division, why would you let someone so strong die? Also, remembering the first battle of Yumichika vs Ganju, why would Yumichika react so strongly to Ikkaku’s potential death if he’s so chill about letting his best friend die?
But nothing happens during this, we get to see Ikkaku getting his ass kicked and Yumichika talking on the phone in an oddly relaxed tone, saying to make the preparations for Madarame’s funeral, as if he has accepted his death already and he’s fine with it (Except, he’s not).
That doesn’t make sense, not even for Yumichika’s wolf-in-sheeps-clothes character. As the battle goes on, Ikkaku summons his Bankai and that’s where everything makes sense (For now).
Yumichika is not okay with Ikkaku’s death besides having accepted that agreement, who would be, if his plot is always revolving around him? But they both were hiding their true powers due to similar reasons: Yumichika didn't want to be rejected and Ikkaku didn’t want to leave the squad because of the empty captain spots; and even though Yumichika is an hypocrite, or at least his character has a lot of contrasts that shouldn’t make sense together but somehow they do, he accepts if Ikkaku wants to die for the same reason as him: his pride.
Point of no return: “Beauty is solitary”
During the White Invasion, Yumichika has to defend one of the fourth pillars protecting Karakura city along Ikkaku, Hisagi and Kira. I see his battle against Charlotte (Episode 319 of the manga) as a point of no return on Yumichika’s character.
First, they’re presented as mirror characters.
“Mirror characters are used for a similar purpose. They tend to share several qualities and are used to complement and highlight each other's traits. Common mirror characters embark on parallel plots, sometimes to achieve a single goal, which tests them and highlights their traits in different ways”
But that is highly debatable, even though they do share a common goal and several qualities such as obsessive beauty, we can hardly see them alike during the fight. Charlotte’s beauty is more prominent, exaggerated and doesn’t lose a single second in trying to show off. At the same time, Yumichika shows off his beauty because he can’t show his powers and strength without limiting himself due to his pride; he doesn’t even use Fuki-Kujaku until seconds after the end of the battle.
Yes they are, at some point, mirror characters. But at the same time, they’re foils.
“Foil Definition. In literature, a foil is a character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character. The objective is to highlight the traits of the other character.”
The first Chapter of the fight is titled “Beauty is so solitary” and that will make sense in just a minute. On the battle, Yumichika is losing without looking much affected by it, he is angry, but he doesn’t show the kind of feral-angry that he should even knowing that his death will mean that one of the pillars broke.
Almost at the end of the fight, Charlotte shows what it seems to be his most powerful technique, leaving him and Yumichika both alone in some kind of alter-dimension; a black sphere made of briars that doesn’t let other people even sense the spiritual pressure of the ones inside it.
At first, “Beauty is so solitary” resembled Charlotte; meaning his beauty was so unique that only he could truly understand and appreciate it. But now, it takes a completely different turn. “Beauty is so solitary” meaning Yumichika being trapped in a place where nobody can see him, where he can show his true beauty only when he’s alone.
That is why his beauty is solitary, and why he is so different from the rest of the 11th squad, he is meant to be different because otherwise it wouldn’t be solitary, he’d completely fit in.
Yumichika reacted automatically, releasing the true power of his Zanpakuto. But unlike with Hisagi’s battle, we can actually see how his power are this time.
We also get a explanation on why he can have two Shikais; that being him calling his Zanpakuto “Ruri-iro Kujaku” as a true name.
瑠璃色孔雀 = Azure peacock, being azure his zanpakuto’s hair (and more prominent) color on his humanized form.
He says his sword hates the color light-purple (More specifically wisteria) so when Yumichika calls “Fuji-Kujaku” only does half of its Shikai, the multiple blades showing what it should be vines.
Fuji-Kujaku = Wisteria peacock. And, funny fact, wisteria is the color of Yumichika’s eyes.
Here Yumichika explains how the victim dies once the flowers bloom. His true Shikai is so strong that Charlotte later asks if that was his Bankai; besides that, Yumichika can actually eat the flowers and consume his enemy’s powers by doing that. Each one of the flowers representing a fraction of their powers.
So, if Yumichika would actually train and use his Shikai on every battle, he’d soon become a Reiatsu monster in just a few battles. Yumichika is not only risking his own life by keeping his powers by himself, he sacrifices his Bankai (Why would he want to achieve a Kidou one anyway), he sacrifices his strength (Even if he’s part of the 11th division where being strong is kinda the main goal).
He also says he would have sacrificed his own life if Charlotte didn’t show him that technique. And all that is just for his squad, mainly Kenpachi and, most important, Ikkaku.
Yumichika’s weakness:
I said multiple times that Yumichika’s only weakness is Ikkaku, and I will say it again. The previous scene about him planning his funeral takes a different turn now.
It did seem that Yumichika was accepting that Ikkaku and him had the same destiny: dying because of denying the use of their true powers. But the last few times Ikkaku was in true danger, Yumichika’s reaction was far from accepting.
Even if he was accepting his own death and he would be gone if it wasn't for Charlotte’s technique, when we see that Ikkaku’s pillar got destroyed…
In the anime he goes as far as trying to attack Hisagi, telling Yumichika that he’ll lose too if Ikkaku loses in the first place. Once again, Yumichika lost it completely just for the fact that Ikkaku lost (He is not dead and he recovers consciousness two seconds after the first frame).
Sadly, they sedate Yumichika so we don’t get any answer as to why this happened. We do know that is completely different from the time where Ikkaku showed his Bankai, but what happened in the middle?
I, unfortunately, can’t answer that. We did see them together many times when the invasion was going, they lived together with Keigo some time, but there was nothing plot-related that could send Yumichika on a rage tantrum; maybe that time he just knew that Ikkaku was going to use his Bankai and that’s why it’s the only time on the entire series where he doesn’t lost his composure at Ikkaku’s safety.
And, in the Quincy Blood War, it happened again.
When Bambinetta was about to explode Ikkaku’s head, she didn’t even get to touch him for more than a fraction of second before Yumichika this time stepped on the fight and broke their agreement of “We mustn't help each other”.
Only, this time, Ikkaku seemed to help Yumichika too, pushing him away with his sword when Yumichika pretended to block an attack with Kidou. So maybe after some years they both agreed that their promise to not help each-other wasn’t worth keeping anymore, but that’s just speculation.
Once again, Yumichika lost his brains when Toshirou attacked Ikkaku. Which is surprising, because on the Quincy arc we do get to see that Yumichika got smarter, being now on the 3rd seat and being able to read his enemies just a second in the fight. But when things are about Ikkaku, he just stops thinking.
Sadly, Toshiro knocked him out before he could release his true Shikai so we didn’t get to see him in action again after Charlotte’s fight.
Is subtle development enough?:
I am still upset that we didn’t get to see Yumichika releasing his true powers in front of everyone and his plot stayed the same. But we do got some Yumi character development on the Quincy Blood War.
Now, Yumichika acts more assertive, smarter and faster than before which is… Not surprising, but at the same time, we are in a shonen where characters usually don’t think before they act (Goodbye to all the Bankais of those who didn’t use their brain in this war). The Gotei 13 is showed as “not strong enough” during this arc, but somehow Yumichika is once again different from everyone else, since he seems to have gotten better, because his “beauty is solitary”.
For example: on their fight with Giselle, he discovers her stupidly fast.
The same happened with Bambinetta.
And he actually uses Kidou now, that’s why it was so disappointing to see that they didn’t do much plot-development for him. Maybe they’re saving Yumichika’s power for the Hell Arc, I hope, because otherwise they would be throwing an amazing and underrated character to the trash.
Anyway, that’s everything I have on the subject. Feel free to comment if I forgot about any details + theories you have :)
YHWACH: THE ALMIGHTY | BLEACH: Character Analysis
Yhwach is the main villain of BLEACH’s TYBW arc, which will be adapted in the new Bleach anime releasing in October 2022. In order to prepare for its release I will be breaking down and analysing everything that we know about the father of all of the quincy, and the son of the Soul King: Yhwach. He was a fascinating villain with a clear motive that he wasted little time to act upon, unlike Aizen he did not have time for tricks or mind games, he got down to business by immediately destroying the soul society and killing the head captain. In this video I will go over everything that there is to know about Yhwach, and hopefully by the end of this video you will understand his character better as well as learn some new information that you didn't know about him.
During the entirety of the story previous to the introduction of this character and the other arrangers, the hollows are presented to us as creatures void of any emotion, and this is what Ulquiorra seems to represent this, as his entire character arc is centered around the hunt for emotions. He wants to understand what the metaphysical concept of a hear is and what it really feels like to experience emotions. Ulquiorra is born nihilist, with no option for another worldview as what pulls people away from the extreme rationality and negative outlook to the world is mostly emotion and he has no way to experience them. This by itself makes him outcasted from the human world, but as an Espada that is pretty normal. To make him stand out even in that environment we are given other characteristics about him that achieve this purpose perfectly.
He was born without a mouth, so he couldn’t speak, a perfect representation of the repressed outcast nihilist that cannot express his emotions, rendering even more deep his search for them as they always escaped him and he could never even express what he though through other means without a way to communicate. This lack of a mouth also meant he couldn’t eat, making an impediment for him in the way to becoming a better hollow, which is eating other ones, he is born in the highest possible class, a Vasto Lorde, and with an immense power and an even greater potential. While he can’t realize this, he changes the more he stays in contact with Orihime and every single scene featuring the two of them is a way to introduce these subtle shifts in his mentality as he starts to understand emotion even if he can’t experience them.
The apex of this is when he finally sees people caring about him, as Inoue runs towards him and all her feelings are reversed on him in a beautifully drawn scene. The fear, the hate for hurting her friends, all crumble to the careless altruism that brings her to help everyone no matter what they did, and finally explodes into tears of sadness as she realizes she couldn’t help him as he helped her recognizing hollows can be people too.
This is important for her as it closes her arc of recognizing hollows as people that started with her brother, and Ulquiorra learns to respect the power given by despair as Ichigo kept falling down and getting up again and again just to protect his friends, as he sees the fire burning in him, with the burden he decided to carry and he finally gets defeated it is the scream of Inoue that wakes him up, giving him access to unimaginable power, sealed deep within him and the despair becomes anger. As Ulquiorra realizes his faith he as only one thing to say
-“In that hand, stretching towards my dying body, is a heart.” -
He understands that the same hand that was able to wake up ichigo from what could only be described as death was trying to do the same with him, but this time she is hesitating and this hesitation costs him his life.
The hesitation caused by his behavior costs him everything as when he finally gets what he was searching for his entire life, it is himself that reaps that away from him, and he slowly disappears as a dark spot slowly cleared by bleach.
The Beauty of Rukia & Orihime's friendship and how one removal changed it all (Part 1)
Anyways I'm back on my bullshit and I'm going to try to keep my gushing about Rukia and Orihime's friendship from being RukiHime ship propaganda no promises tho.
But I firmly believe these two have one of the best friendships in a shounen manga. I absolutely hate that the OG anime gutted Orihime's relationship with Ichigo, but in doing so, it also gutted her friendship with Rukia. Even though they met through Ichigo, even with him removed from the situation, their friendship is sincere and genuine.
They've known each other for probably a month? And already have a fast and sincere friendship. Sadly, this depth is missing from the anime because they removed Orihime's scene/line of declaring that Rukia was her friend as well in a moment that established the proper basis of their friendship going forward.
Without that moment, everything else that follows loses the emotional investment behind it because their friendship is no longer between the two of them, but revolves around having Ichigo as a mutual friend.
This is going to become RukiHime ship propaganda I have no idea why I even tried to entertain it not being.
Apparently, I have so much to say on the topic it will be continued in part 2 because I refuse to use fewer manga panels to prove my agenda.
Anyways to get started
Even though there was no real reason for Orihime to remember Rukia's name when she joined Ichigo's class, she still does while Rukia doesn't even know who she is.
Even though Rukia is putting on something of an act or character, Orihime goes along with it despite the fact that the two barely even know each other.
But who knew that a bit of an awkward first meeting would have bloomed into a very wonderful and precious friendship? Sadly, we don't get too many more interactions with them beyond this point up until the point where Rukia is taken back to the Soul Society.
That said - Orihime is among one of the people who actually remember that Rukia was part of their class before everyone else suddenly forgot her.
And it would be safe to assume that the two had actually become decently good friends considering...
When Ichigo is doubting whether or not to save her, one of the things Orihime tells him is that she doesn't want her friend Rukia to die either.
Now, when Renji speaks with Rukia while she's awaiting execution, Rukia mentions having been in the human world for two months.
This establishes that within two months, Orihime was at least comfortable enough with Rukia to call her a friend and be aware that she's in a dangerous situation and needs to be helped.
And this is the pivotal moment IMO for their friendship, without it, every other scene involving them loses so much emotional weight and value because it loses a simple but foundational building block.
Now, to jump back to the cover art of Chapter 58 real quick
Rukia is drawn with the other girls in class but as a blank, missing space. It looks like Tatsuki is interacting with Chizuru, with Michiru behind Orihime and another girl with long hair (likely Ryo, but she never had a huge role - but she's the only character I could find with long hair that is part of the Karakura HS) facing away from the group.
Orihime is the only one who looks to be facing Rukia, which also matches with her also being the one who asks Ichigo what happened to her or why she had disappeared so suddenly with everyone else forgetting her.
All of this to say - despite not having a lot of panels of them interacting, it is safe to say that during Rukia's two months, she got the closest to Orihime.
And it also matches with the idea that Orihime is Rukia's first female friend.
Now, someone else has already done a pretty good write-up but I want to do more too with more focus on some of the manga panels.
The only other female character that Rukia seemed to have a close relationship with was Miyako, but even then Rukia describes Miyako as her idol rather than someone who was a friend.
The only other friends Rukia was shown to have were the street rats in Rukongai and they were all boys. However, after just 10 years the other three had passed away and it was just her and Renji left.
So it's safe to assume that up until she met Kaien, after being separated from Renji she didn't really have friends.
And even then, it's less her becoming friends with Kaien and more like an introvert being adopted by an extrovert. That said, regardless it's safe to assume that they had become close.
Kaien's words to Rukia about being her friend for life so long as she's within the 13th division, also mirror how Orihime was the first to establish a sense of friendship between the two of them - something that is lost without that initial scene.
As I mentioned earlier, it seems like all of Rukia's friendships have been with male characters. After all, it makes sense considering that she "grew up" around boys.
But things like that only make her friendship with Orihime more beautiful because she's the first girl that Rukia has actually let her guard down around. Now that I've laid down some of the basis for Rukia's past friendships, let's circle back a bit
Once again, even though they've only known each other for roughly two months at this point, Orihime Is thinking about how much Rukia is going to love the dress that Uryu made after Rukia's execution had been stopped.
When Ichigo had been avoiding Orihime because she was injured by Yammy, the person who drags him to Orihime is Rukia. Even though Chad had also been injured, IMO the reason she drags him to Orihime - outside of the fact that Kubo wanted a scene of Ichigo promising to get stronger to Orihime - is because out of the Karakura gang, Orihime is the one that she is the closest to.
WIthout Orihime having established that she and Rukia are friends, this moment and the gentle looks that they give one another don't have the same emotional weight to them because such a simple, foundational piece removed the bond that they had with one another.
Like - just look at the look that Rukia gives her and for me, this is where their friendship truly starts to get deeper than just knowing each other because of Ichigo.
And because of how Rukia interacts with Ichigo and Renji, without the establishing moment where Orihime considers Rukia a friend, the way that Rukia is so gentle with Orihime gets lost because it can come off like Rukia simply not being "close enough" or "not good friends enough" with Orihime to be that level of rough as opposed to Orihime being a friend that Rukia simply is gentle and vulnerable with.
Fast forward a little bit and a thing I noticed about Orihime when she's talking to Rangiku
The way that she describes Rukia, despite admitting to being jealous, is similar to the way that Rukia had described Miyako. At this point, Orihime's risked her life trying to save someone she had only really known for a couple of months, yet says not a single bad thing about her even when consumed with her own jealousy and insecurity.
Even though Orihime describes Rukia in a way similar to how Rukia describes Miyako, the reason she breaks down in tears is because she feels jealousy and envy towards someone she considers a friend.
Also, how pained she feels also ties back to how the one time she expressed a negative feeling or emotion towards or about someone (Sora), she ended up losing them permanently. Orihime outright says that Rukia is beautiful, and kind and that she loves her for helping to cheer up Ichigo and beats her own self up for how she feels.
Yet, without the establishment that Orihime and Rukia are friends, this scene comes off as if she's jealous of someone that is more like a total stranger who happens to be closer to Ichigo than she is - even though Rangiku states that both of them are important and valuable to Ichigo.
And after Urahara says that Orihime should call it quits because she can't fight and would only hold the others back, the person that she runs into and confines in is Rukia.
Another thing I want to note is that in all the times we've seen Rukia, she's always been fairly rough when it comes to how she handles people. After all, she's been friends with primary boys her entire life and there's only one time when she's "rough" with Orihime.
And it's when she's trying to help cheer up Orihime. But Orihime doesn't "work" the same way that Renji and Ichigo do where you can hit them like they're broken TVs. In this instance, she tries to do what she normally does with Ichigo and Renji but sees that it doesn't work - and not to mention - she's pissed off on Orihime's behalf that Urahara pretty much dismissed her after Orihime had already - from Rukia's perspective - shown that she was willing to fight and protect her friends no matter what.
After all, Orihime had only known Rukia for a couple of months at best but was still willing to risk her life not just going to help protect Ichigo, but to save Rukia as well.
When she sees that Orihime is genuine in her feelings that she'd rather be sad than a burden, this is when Rukia switches to being more gentle - and Orihime is the only person that Rukia is really this gentle with.
I said it earlier but I'm going to emphasize it again - without the establishing moment that Orihime considers Rukia a friend, the level of vulnerability that Rukia shows when she's with Orihime is lost.
Even though she has a close friendship with Ichigo and Renji, Orihime is the only one that she's been shown to express emotional vulnerability with.
And for me, this scene is so important to the value of their friendship. Sadly, because the anime removed the scene where Orihime calls Rukia her friend as well, the emotional weight behind this scene is a lot less than in the manga even though it was a minor change.
Much like how Kaien established that he and Rukia were friends for as long as she was in the division, Orihime is the one who establishes that she's friends with Rukia. While she doesn't directly say it to Rukia, her actions show that she does genuinely care for Rukia as a friend even outside of Ichigo.
This is also one of the few times we see emotional vulnerability from Rukia as well because it was the only way for the two to properly connect with one another.
In the OG anime, this scene comes off as Rukia simply offering advice to someone who is in need as opposed to her being pissed off that someone like Urahara would dismiss her friend and Rukia expressing an emotional vulnerability to someone she considers a friend.
And they resolve to train together.
While watching them train, Ukitake even mentions that Rukia was never particularly good at making friends and that she rarely opens up.
And he even mentions being glad that she's found herself a friend. It's positioned against Hisagi's doubts of "even if that friend is a human?" is it truly a good thing? Because since Orihime is a normal human girl and Rukia is a soul reaper, they'll live very different lives.
Ukitake could have said this about Ichigo, but there's a reason it's positioned with Orihime - because her kindness and compassion is what allow her to properly reach the hearts of others.
Despite the friendship they have, it implies that Rukia hasn't truly opened her heart to Ichigo the same way that she had to Orihime. Yet without the establishment that the two are friends, the friendship between the two comes off as lessened even as Ukitake comments on it.
Even when Orihime can't immediately follow, both girls are confident that they'll see each other on the other side. After all, Rukia already knew of Orihime's insecurities when it came to being left behind or unable to follow her friends, yet here there's neither insecurity or doubt for either of them.
When it is suspected that Orihime is a traitor, Ichigo is ready to call bullshit and throw hands but has to be stopped by Renji - who suggests that they'll go after her.
Here, it's Rukia who questions Yamamoto's decision to abandon Orihime after Ichigo said that there was no way Orihime would have been killed. I think choosing Rukia to question the decision to abandon Rukia as well as having her be the one to say that she can't obey that order is important. Outside of Ichigo, she's also the only one outside of Ichigo who is close to Orihime.
Even though she apologizes to Ichigo as she's taken away, she is also the only one who knows what it is like to be taken away against your will and to have those around you powerless to save you. She's the one who apologizes to Ichigo because she can't do anything to save their friend.
I fully believe that if Yamamoto hadn't taken precautions, Rukia, Renji, and Ichigo would have said to hell with orders and not just because she's Ichigo's friend and wants to help him, but because she's Orihime's friend as well.
All of those shortly after establishing that Orihime is the first friend Orihime's actually made - or at least made in a while and this is further supported by Rukia's fight with Aaroneiro.
Even as he guilts Rukia using Kaien's body, she resolves that no matter how badly he makes her feel, she won't let him kill her until she knows that Orihime is safe. As she laid impaled by Aaroneiro, she recalls a conversation she had with Kaien.
One of the things the Hueco Mundo arc has revolved around was the idea of "The heart" and what it actually means. I'd have to do a separate post on how Orihime specifically represents that, but I'm going to focus on the "heart" between Rukia and Orihime.
Kaien tells her that "The heart" exists outside of the body and that it's the bond forged between friends. All of this going on affirming that Rukia and Orihime have a "heart" AKA a bond between them.
And simply put - what does all of this mean without the establishing moment that Orihime considers Rukia a friend? It makes the care between the two come off as one-sided on Rukia's part even though in the manga, much like how Kaien did - Orihime is the one who adopted our little introvert Rukia.
Just like how Orihime didn't go to the SS just to protect Ichigo, but to save her friend. Rukia didn't come to Hueco Mundo just to support Ichigo, but because she wanted to save her friend. Yet without such a simple, but pivotal moment, it comes off as if she's not truly there for Orihime.
To be continued in part 2 because TIL Tumblr only allows 30 images per post.
ULQUIORRA CIFER - Bleach Character ANALYSIS | Finding a Hollow's Heart
comments on youtube
I’ve believe this is what Byakuya would have become had he never fought Ichigo. These two characters both share similar traits: stoic, cold, enforcers. Although Byakuya was emotionally torn, he was still willing to let his own sister die, if it meant upholding Soul Society’s law. Kind of disappointed we never got any interaction between the two. It would be interesting for Byakuya to come face-to-face with a mirror image of his former self.
I've always believed that Ulquiorra's true rival wasn't Ichigo, rather Orihime. Like you've said, he is a emotionless being, perfectly protraying that empty / lifeless hollow being. While Orihime is one of the most emotional characters in Bleach, filled with soo much empathy, she literally heals her enemies and the ones that hurt her and her friends. So Ulqiuorra trying to understand why she's like this, along with the emotional bonds she shares with the ones that have come to save her, "Six Hearts Beat As One". It's this invisible heart that perplexes Ulquiorra to the point he thinks it's something physical, going back and forth with Orihime sets up this emotional debate between the two, which in my opinion, is greater than the physical battles he faces. Ulqiuorra obviously only believes what his eyes can see, so when Orihime emotionally challenges him, he takes this to a much higher offense. Until the very end, she opposed him with this idea of 'heart', and once he started to fade, he understood what 'heart' is, not a physical thing; but rather a emotional bond linking loved ones together.Show less
There's a very bitter irony that he got to know the heart in his final moments after becoming curious with Orihime's input and her refusal to succumb to the darkness of her situation. His death before her sure was a changing moment for her......
You have to remember that someone that fundamentally has no understanding of emotions cannot emotionally manipulate someone. To be able to do so, you would have to understand emotions to begin with. He does, however, have a need or desire to come to understand them. All his interactions with Orihime are him using unfeeling reason to learn what the opposing emotional response will be. He's not trying to purposely hurt her feelings because he doesn't know what they are. He's trying to learn how emotional responses differ from pure reason. His odd respect and protection of Orihime is because of this. In his yearning way he sees value in Orihime who is showing him what pure emotions are and he respects in an odd way that she can always respond with emotion over reason. She is his antithesis. Her being able to show him feeling at a moment when reason tells him it is impossible for someone to do so is in his eyes the epitome of emotion overcoming all reason and he responds with aww and yearning and respect and desire all within that moment. Whether he actually FELT something, even in that moment, is (and should always be) unclear.Show less
