Why 686 was the final nail in the IchiOri coffin...
I remember after I read the chapter all I felt was eerily fine. That’s fucking crazy cuz as a shipper, I was “supposedly” defeated. The evidence of a big-eyed, incest-looking baby LITERALLY staring me in the fucking face should’ve made me feel depressed as fuck but it didn’t. No lie, reading it the first time hurt like a bitch, the fact that Ichigo literally laid down and fucked her with those half-assed feelings of his made me sick, but even so I never felt like I lost and I couldn’t figure out why. What makes Ichiruki so great that it defies a canon where Ichigo knocked up another woman? Well, I’ve been thinking and there are actually a couple of things that point to Ichiruki being the true OTP of Bleach and Ichi//hime as nothing more than a crackship especially with all the evidence from the last chapter.
I’m gonna say this rn. Chapter 686 of Bleach is Kubo’s most subtle way of making Ichiruki canon.
I know, chapters 685 and below made Ichiruki canon but y’all 686 was the icing on the fucking cake. If you looked at my other post, you know I firmly believe that this ending was intended to be bad and I stand by that. You know why because EVERYONE doing OOC things means intent. If everyone was in character and did things that they loved or could be seen doing except Ichiruki then that means that Ichiruki was not the true endgame. In this scenario, there is a happy mold being set for the story that has to be consistent for all of the characters. There can’t be some characters that have good ends and some characters that have bad ends in the same story, they either have to be all relatively good or relatively bad. By the way Bleach ended, Kubo went with the relatively bad ending route which means that Ichiruki can not be together. If they were then that would make them a bad ending for the characters. Think of it as Kubo’s worst case scenario and here’s the thing….it actually makes sense within the context of the story. You know what makes it understandable….Ichigo.
I know I was fucking pissed when I thought that Ichigo gave up on being a Shinigami because he wanted that shitty of a life. I was mad at his decision but I never thought of his reasoning and that’s when I started thinking…..What if Ichigo did it all deliberately. Ywach said that he would find the future where he was most happy and fucking annihilate him, right? So what if Ichigo listened…what if he actually headed his warning and decided to become miserable on purpose…. It would make sense, if he really wanted to make sure Ywach never hurt anybody in the future, he would have to do one thing
….give up his own happiness…
…and like a domino effect, the other nakama, the soul society, everyone followed suit. If Ichigo had left the human world, Orihime would face the fact that her love would never come to be and she probably would have been more ambitious. Ishida and Chad would probably have followed Ichigo’s lead and done things that they truly wanted to do, they also would have felt a greater need to protect people because they want to make up for Ichigo not being there like they did in the fullbring arc. Ishida would have been there for Orihime after she matured and moved on and they probably would be together (Ishida being so alone and isolated felt so intentional in the chapter, especially after all the hinting throughout the manga, I really do believe that Ishihime would be the true happy end where Orihime is finally on the recieving end of love and Ishida being the one to reciprocate her love). On the flipside, Ichigo as a shinigami would keep the Soul Society from returning to its former corruption. He would be able to enforce more change as a Captian or head Captain. He would be able to be by Rukia’s side every single day. He and everyone else would be without a doubt the most happiest they’ve every been. But that couldn’t happen, because Ywach would come back and destroy them all. So Ichigo became our tragic hero, sacrificing himself for the good of everybody.
I think that not only did Ichigo give up his happiness by choice, he did it with reason. This isn’t me reaching or grasping at straws, I do believe that this is not much of a stretch for Ichigo to act this way in the story.The thought of a villian, that broke his sword fucking thrice despite all his powerups, coming back to destroy everything might’ve been a very valid reason for Ichigo to be OOC and stay where he doesn’t want to be. Furthermore, Kubo has never really been a blunt type of writer (except when it comes to propping Ichiruki). He loves the meta, the beneath-the-surface type of shit, the impied meanings rather than the spelled out ones. It just makes sense, everything you see in 686 is the bad end that happened because of Ichigo and what does that bad end include……….. Ichi*hime married with a kid.
because of this we can conclude that in no way IH was intended as endgame
With the way Kubo wrote IH, it can’t even be seen as an true endgame ship just based on their interaction alone. Even with my bias and 686 reasoning aside, they are truly just a weak ass ship… and what really gets me is the fact that THERE IS NO FUCKING EXCUSE. Kubo has shown to be more than capable of drawing Rukia sense things about Ichigo, know how to cheer him up, and protect him so why doesn’t he ever do those things for Orihime? Because he doesn’t want to. He always chooses to have Orihime be the selfish one or the clueless one. Even the fucking Ichi//hime conversations are drawn to be less entertaining. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Ichi*hime has been disserviced so many times in this manga that they can’t even be considered a rival ship to Ichiruki.
The bias is just too damn strong against this ship with one of the most famous examples being in the beginning of the HM arc. We all know it. Orihime tries to cheer Ichigo up after he gets his ass kicked and still can’t control his inner hollow. She fails and despairs about not knowing what to do. Rukia shows up ,in the most dramatic way ever, knows immediately that something’s wrong and cheers him up like it’s fuckin child’s play. She does it so damn well that Ichigo’s ass is full out smiling and teases her with ‘You’re really noisy, you know that!’ and that’s the point! Tell me one thing that Orihime has done, that Rukia hasn’t done better……. You know what tell me something Orihime has done, that Rukia hasn’t done at all.…that’s right you can’t. If we really compare Orihime to Rukia, Orihime is just barely as competent as Rukia when it comes to knowing and supporting Ichigo. She is always shown to doubt Ichigo and his abilities, where as Rukia is always shown to have an unbelievably high amount of faith in Ichigo. Orihime claims to love him for five lifetimes, but she is the only person in canon to say that 'I can’t see myself reflected in his eyes.’ and 'It’s really you Kurosaki-kun, because of the long hair I wasn’t sure.“
She couldn’t tell that if he was her love of five lifetimes because his hair was longer?? what kinda shit! not to mention Rukia’s looking at her like she’s stupid And it’s exactly because of little shit like this that IH just doesn’t work as a true endgame ship.
Hell, they don’t even work as a shock factor ship because that would require Bleach to have a good end. They exist as nothing more than a crackship for Kubo to make fun of.
But the ultimate thing that really tells me that this manga was not intended to end with Ichi*hime is the fact there is not ONE moment in the entire fucking manga where Ichigo stops to just acknowledge Orihime.
This was made glaringly clear when I read 686, and I realized that in all the time he’s known her he never truly compliments her strength, never just thinks about her in relation to him or even just in general. He never went “Orihime really treasures her friends and is kind to even her enemies…I’ve never noticed that before…” or “Orihime’s always worrying about me, she should worry about herself more…” or some shit (but then that would require that she actually has character outside of her Ichigo crush). In all of those chapters, no meaningful action was communicated on Ichigo’s part. And again it’s not that Kubo is incapable!! There’s been too many times where he’s made Ichigo think of Rukia, be awed at Rukia’s power, contemplate how her absence affects him, wonder if he can keep up with the speed of the world without her, and think of how kind she is. SO AGAIN THERE IS NO FUCKING EXCUSE FOR WHY KUBO DIDN'T DO A FRACTION OF THE SHIT FOR ICHI/HIME!!!!! Say what you want about the Naru*Hina relationship, Kishi at least had Naruto clearly acknowledge Hinata. Kishi even did it very early on in the Chuunin exams, when Hinata fights Neji. Naruto goes from thinking of Hinata as that weird, shy girl to someone he can actually relate to. Naruto hears her back story and identifies with her being called a failure. He was so fucking moved that he fucking shouts from the stands and cheers her on! And throughout the whole match, his attention is focused solely on her! And when she looks like she’s been defeated, he is the only person to say “No! She’s got some more fight in her!” And when she stands up, he nods and looks so proud of her. And what did he do after Hinata was defeated by Neji, he picked up some of her blood that she coughed up and swears a vow to win in her fucking honor!!!!! Hmm, it almost reminds me of Ichigo SWEARING TO HIS MOTHERFUCKING SOUL TO SAVE RUKIA FROM EXECUTION! Ichigo has never thought as highly of Orihime. Ever.
Ichi//hime’s main argument against Ichiruki is the classic “Orihime is the only one that showed romantic interest in Ichigo.” or “Ichiruki has no romantic development”. Well, the thing that they continue to miss is that surface level, shoujo-type moments are meaningless when compared to the more meaningful aspects of a relationship. You can blush at people you barely know, but you can’t trust them with your life or respect their judgments and opinions.
Just the way Rukia commands his attention whenever she’s in a room…
….or whenever her life is in danger.
How just the sound of her voice can make him focus…
And it’s that same attentiveness that was so clearly missing from Ichigo in the final chapter when Orihime was concerned. So clearly, like throughout the entire manga, there is only one person who Ichigo completely focuses on.
This is the moment Ichiruki became officially canon. This animated banter with Rukia is canonically the happiest moment of his intentionally unhappy life.
Let me say it again for yall fam…
ICHIRUKI. IS. OFFICIALLY. CANON.
Go on and let that marinate.
Ichiruki has always been one of those ships that say it all without saying anything, and this is no exception…
Edit: I almost forgot…a moment of silence for all the illiterate Origos out there, who will undoubtedly fail to understand how and why this logical explanation makes sense. For those who only understand things when they are spoon-fed to them, this post must be really difficult to read and comprehend. I honestly feel nothing but pity for you all and your mental health since it prevented you from truly experiencing Bleach the way it was intended to be. But It’s okay, go back to look at your incest baby Kazui and headcanon a final chapter better yet a whole manga where Ichigo pays more attention to Inoue rather than Rukia. Right now the only thing I’m sorry about is the fact that your ignorance has been rewarded. A good ending would’ve let you down gentler.
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