Oh man, I have been wanting to get this off my chest for awhile
First off, I gave up on watching the anime after the Hueco Mundo arc, however I HAVE read the manga. More than once, in fact. I was a big fan. HUGE. And was obsessed with this series. And I read the manga over and over until it ended.
However, the ending was SUCH a disappointment.
I don’t care how the anime downplayed Orihime or Ichihime. The manga still didn’t show much chemistry with Ichihime. All we got was Orihime giving googly eyes, an almost kiss (while Ichigo is sleeping), and Orihime being all awkward and blustery around Ichigo while he was completely oblivious to her feelings. We don’t see anymore development in their relationship at all. I don’t care if Tite Kubo claims that Ichihime was planned from the start. It doesn’t change the fact that he wrote their relationship poorly and made it seem one-sided throughout the whole series. Ichigo’s development with Rukia was just thrown out the window. All the symbolism about how the rain stopped; gone. Parallel’s about how Rukia might have the same feelings she had for Ichigo like she did for her former Vice Captain (who he happens to be related to and is almost exactly like him)? Also gone.
And Chemistry doesn’t have to be romantic. Chemistry can simply be how two people connect with each other. When I say chemistry, I’m talking about how well their dynamics are. Chemistry is when something sparks, or there is tension, or two characters are drawn to each other like magnets.
IchiRuki had that connection; that spark. Ichigo’s reason for saving and rescuing Rukia in the Soul Society arc was because she made the rain stop in his inner world. She helped overcome his loss. She changed his world. Ichigo’s reason for saving Orihime in Hueco mundo? What was it exactly? Because she’s his friend and he just likes saving people now? There was no deep meaning behind it.
I like ships where the characters challenge each other. Rukia was ALWAYS challenging Ichigo and helping him become stronger. Ulquiorra challenged Orihime’s world view and questioned her about the human heart and her friends’ strategies. Orihime challenged Ulquiorra’s understanding of humans.
They also had a lot of beautiful panels of them just… looking at each other.
Oh and sexy hot DVD cover.
Yeah, Ulquiorra was sadistic… because he was a villain, but he clearly had a redeeming quality and that was when he saved Orihime’s life. He had no personal gain whatsoever. He was already dying. His body was practically cut in half and he could have done nothing. He already admitted that his regenerating was a farce. He was going to die. And in his final moments he FINALLY understood what the heart was. Here in this scene we get something actually fucking romantic for Bleach. Two characters mutually wanting to hold hands and Orihime was showing him love and forgiveness.
So when I say that Ulquihime had more chemistry than ichihime, this is what I mean. They had a connection, yet Ichihime didn’t even get any declaration of love or any sort of…. “moment.” Only up until near the end did Orhime finally get her wish and that was to fight side by side with ichigo, and that is certainly a great development… but mostly FOR Orhime because it showed that she was stronger and could fight WITH someone she loved.
Don’t get me wrong. I am sure Ichigo and Orihime are happy. I don’t think it’s a terrible ship, but it is so boring and bland. BECAUSE it was only one-sided throughout the story until the last “flash forward” chapter. From a story telling perspective, it was kind of a sad ship that did not hold my interest. There was no challenge or no spark between the two. Ulquihime on the other end was an interesting dynamic, because I love the idea of the villain falling in love with someone who happens to be on the good side and it just makes things interesting.
All in all, Ulquihime AND IchiRuki forever <3
