art by christina

- She was the first character created

- She was the og protagonist of snipe

- Ichigo's character design was changed to match hers and Kubo said that it feels wrong to draw ichigo without rukia.

- she was called the fixed heroine and the shinigami protagonist

- Kubo chose to feature both of them on the cover of the final volume, making it the only volume with two characters AND singled out ichigo and rukia in the thank you note of that volume.

They are the two main characters like it or not. Even og IH shippers understood that she was a main character, hence all the merch and art, and that ichigo and rukia's bond was central to the story even if they didn't consider it romantic. Calling her a side character and failing to understand why people are upset by her treatment in the last arc in light of Urahara's last words is at best poor understanding of narrative devices and storytelling and at worst willful blindness.

Someone legit told me that Urahara's final words aren't that deep and that he only singled them out because they are the closest to him which a) is completely incorrect, they are not the closest characters to him like where did that even come from?? hello yoruichi and b) shows piss poor understanding of foreshadowing and narrative significance. Characters words and actions have meaning and serve to move the storyline along, especially a character's final words.

Dudebros acting like hur hur rukia fans think the entire series is about her. I know it is difficult but can you use your singular brain cell for a minute and understand that from a narrative pov, Rukia should have been involved in the final battle. Effing ganju played a role and his importance to the overall storyline pales in comparison to Rukia.

Rukia has some meaningful moments: in the hospital/relief station when she knows Ichigo's ruminating and thinks it's deeper than what Shinji told her; when she senses Ichigo's reiatsu before anyone else; and yes, when she reveals her bankai. I wouldn't call her "dumb" or "boring".

But I agree that Kubo did her a major disservice. While there's a reference to Ichigo and Rukia training in the royal realm, we see nothing of Rukia's work to gain bankai, and the moment of its reveal feels unearned and even like fanservice, albeit of a far less sexist kind than we usually got from Kubo. Why wasn't Rukia engaged in the final fight? She's the deuteragonist and she had a brand new bankai. Why was she left to babysit Orihime, instead?

Actually, I know the answer to that last part: Kubo couldn't show Ichigo and Rukia interacting again, or his chosen canon pairings would have come across as even more pallid, one-sided, and lifeless. After all, he's shown time and again that he can't help himself: when he draws an IchiRuki parting or reunion, everyone else fades away.

Of course, Kubo did every single one of his established characters a disservice in TYBW. The whole arc was such a dumpster fire, even before the trash pile of 685 and 686. There's a reason SJ treated Bleach like a gag manga.

You might not care about romance in Bleach at all BUT

Please for the love of God, don't let anyone convince you that Ichiruki wasn't shipped and people that like it, are crazy and haven't read the manga.

Ichiruki WAS number one pairing, widely shipped by most of Bleach fandom. People rooted for them, created fan work and discussed it nonstop. Ichihime was nowhere to it in terms of numbers or popularity.

Let’s consider “toxic” not in the physical sense here, as Inoue was never a violent person and never hit nobody.

As for “toxic” in the sense “unhealthy”, it’s a different story.

For Ichigo, I think Orihime was first and foremost toxic towards herself rather than Ichigo. She was obsessed with him, more than having a genuine crush on him. I mean, she was literally a dog when it came to Ichigo:

It’s awkward at best, and at worst, well…

Yes, I know that I’ve talked about it already, but at that point, I can’t not mention again the boob dress because it’s the most blatant form of disrespect concerning Inoue. She is so obsessed with the boy that she loses all her self-worth and dresses just to "please" a boy rather than for herself.

And, cherry on the top, it just shows how Inoue doesn’t know Ichigo at all to even think he is interested by, well, women’s breasts. Just look how not at ease he felt when it was Yoruichi or Rangiku.

I can also mention the so-called “cheering up” scene when, according to her fans, Orihime tries to push Ichi to go save Rukia, when in fact, she really acts like she’s trying to prevent him from doing so:

Sorry, but when is the reader supposed to understand Inoue is convincing Ichigo to go save Rukia, when she's all "Her friends are in that world, are you SURE you're doing the RIGHT thing? And WHAT will you do after THAT". Her disappointed face also speaks volume "Oh, so you want to save her...".

Seriously?! All I see here is just a jealous girl upset that Ichigo cares more for Rukia than her. I will never accept that as a "cheering up" speech from Inoue to Kurosaki, because it's not. And when she saw his resolve to go rescue Rukia, she just gave up and said she was joking. No, she wasn't. She clearly couldn't stand Ichigo having eyes for another girl. And she never grew out of it, just look at her jealous behavior with Rukia and Nel in the following arcs.

So yeah, from this point, Hime is “toxic” to Ichigo, if not in the physical sense, at least something is really weird here.

It’s not really better for Rukia.

Orihime didn’t go to Soul Society to save Rukia, neither did Chad, and Ichigo and Uryū were the only ones to go there because it was the decent thing to do. Inoue never thought once about Rukia when in Soul Society.

In the Hueco Mundo arc, she was jealous of Rukia, and this is no healthy behavior.

She can be jealous, this isn’t really the issue here. The problem is that she never talked about it to Rukia, who, as for her, never stopped thinking about Inoue and cheering her up, even as she was almost dying. Also, Orihime said she partly went there to see if her friends would go rescue her like they did for Rukia… I’m sorry but, how is it not a selfish behavior? Her fans glorify her and keep claiming how an angel she is, but, sorry, the only other friends of Ichigo who were shown to be genuinely selfless are Rukia and Uryū. The others? No, there was always a moment to tell me that no, they’re not.

I could go on and on about Orihime’s wasted potential and the many flaws of her character. She could have been interesting, but it turned out she wasn’t, in the end, and did nothing really noteworthy in the show.

THIS IS URYU ISHIDA OFFICIAL ART???!!!!#@%÷^@

the thing about atla is that it was always about balance. aang was the personification of everything toph needed but never had: freedom, flight, not being weighed down or restrained. while toph was the personification of everything aang was not: someone who faced her problems head on, rooted, always grounded. in aang’s first earthbending lesson toph taught him to face one of his biggest weaknesses, which was relying on evasion rather than directly facing problems. and there’s the fact that aang was fated to meet toph, the way the universe gave him signs that he would meet her until he did—from envisioning her in the swamp (someone you’ve lost, someone you loved), “someone who waits and listens”, the fact that their bond would go on to last more than one lifetime. aang needed the grounding toph gave him, and toph needed the freedom aang gave her. yin and yang. air and earth.

aang was the avatar, but he was also a 12-year-old kid who often struggled with the weight of expectations on him, on the fact that everyone’s solution to every problem was always “but you’re the avatar, you’ll find a way.” except that toph never idolised him or coddled him or acted like he was different; she treated him like he was a normal boy, she teased him, gave him nicknames. i’d know your little footsteps anywhere, twinkle toes. she was a grounding presence for aang, a reality check that he needed. aang gave toph what she always craved, freedom, and toph showed aang how to face one of his biggest fears.

They’re waiting for the hollows 🤭

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her sister abandoned her, brother never showed he cared, childhood friend stopped talking to her, and then the man she admired died by her own sword after he was possessed by a hollow.

then ichigo comes into her life, and makes her feel wanted and cared for, and by coming to rescue her, she actually wants to live.

yet ichigo's thoughts about rukia (who he can't see) not even coming to visit him once takes up half the page, including so much negative space. showing how significant this is to ichigo's state of depression and overpowering in his thoughts.

yet ichigo's thoughts about rukia (who he can't see) not even coming to visit him once takes up half the page, including so much negative space. showing how significant this is to ichigo's state of depression and overpowering in his thoughts.