Desire to protect in Bleach
[Disclaimer: this is NOT a post for Orihime and IchiHime fans, so I suggest you spare your fragile heart the trouble and skip it. If youâre not content with what you read, just block and move on, thatâs easy. With that said, off we go.]
Today, I saw Ichihime stans (them again, how surprising đ) claiming that Ichigo and Orihime are the two characters that want to protect people the most. The exact words were:
âThe detail is that Ichigo and Orihime are the ones who most strongly represent the desire to protect others, there is no one in Bleach who has a desire as great as them and that is why they complement each other personallyâ
I laughed out loud because while I agree with Ichigo (his name and the whole story makes it pretty clear from the start anyways), what on earth is Inoue doing here?! Some of her fans really donât know what to invent anymore to give her the importance she doesnât have đ.
Orihime is absolutely not presented as someone whose ultimate goal is to protect others. Ichigo and UryĆ« are. And itâs not even a debate, itâs plainly shown multiple times in the manga.
Regarding Ichigo, he isnât introduced as wanting to protect everyone at the very start (though, beating the guys who knocked over the vases with the flowers of the dead girl is somehow a hint of his future status as a protector, I guess?). Once he meets Rukia, he starts by saying heâs not the type to let people die without doing nothing, until it turns into a wish of protecting not just his family circle but âa mountain of peopleâ by the time he meets UryĆ« (he even tells him so).
Uryƫ, in a flashback, is shown wanting to protect all people from Hollows from a very early age (you can even say he wanted to protect people before Ichigo (who needed a push from Rukia) did.).
âbUt UrYĆ« PuT tHe WhOlE tOwN iN dAnGeR iN tHe FiRsT ArCâ
1 â The bait wasnât supposed to attract so many Hollows. It is explained later it was Aizenâs fault. If he hadnât intervened, UryĆ« would have dealt with them without problems.
2 â UryĆ« knew about Orihime and Chad having spiritual energy, so itâs logical to suppose he thought they would find a way to deal with them. Or that he thought Ichigo would come to help them. In any case, it sure wasnât UryĆ«âs best idea, Iâll grant you that. But itâs not like he started that competition with the goal to hurt them. Plus, what about Ichigo? He never worried about them (okay, he didnât know they had spiritual energy, but still).
3 â The Hollow competition diminishes in nothing UryĆ«âs resolve to save people, in fact it has nothing to do with it, as UryĆ« stated he would not let a single hollow hurt the citizens. The beef he had was with Ichigo and more largely Shinigami. It didnât affect his will to protect. This will is strong, and Ichigo having the same ideals, it explains why they bound and became friends this fast.
Now, about Orihime. When did she ever start to say her goal was to protect others? She didnât, actually. Because it was never the case.
When Rukia was kidnapped, she tried to âconvinceâ Ichigo not to go rescue her (some might say she was âââencouraging himâââ⊠But she did so in such a weird way, it was awkward at best), and when she finally went to Soul Society, was it to save Rukia? No, absolutely not, it was just because of her crush for Kurosaki.
(Letâs be real, Ichigo and UryĆ« were the only ones who wanted to save Kuchiki because thatâs??? the decent thing to do??? while Chad and Inoue did not care about her safety at all. I wonder how poor Rukia would react if she had known at the time (and Chad saying before they leave UryĆ« is the weakest of them all really makes me dislike him, especially as Chad almost always lost his fights and UryĆ« was more skilled than them)).
Also, I have to highlight a fact I feel no one ever talks about, but that still strikes me, though.
Who, in the seventeen months timeskip, took it upon himself to protect the city while Ichigo was without powers? Spoiler, itâs not Inoue or Chad.
And not only that, but neither Orihime nor Sado left a single finger to help him during that time. Yet they had their powers, so where were they? Because when Ichigo is here, they sure have no problems coming to help him:
The fact that, in the Fullbring Arc, Ichigo himself didnât ask Orihime and Chad to take care of the Hollows while UryĆ« was in the hospital (instead asking UryĆ« how they were gonna do with him incapacitated, as if they didnât have two other friends, hello?), shows how little faith he has in their capacities. None of the two even suggested to help. It could have been a moment of growth, showing they exist outside of Ichigo for once, but no. Even though they were âtrainingâ (all that to be brainwashed by Tsukishima in the end, cough cough) the least they could have done was to offer their help to UryĆ« to protect the town (itâs also their own???). Thatâs what real friends do. But there was not Ichigo, so they didnât feel concern, I guess đ€·đ»ââïž.
And after that, Iâm supposed to believe Orihime represents the desire to protect everyone? đ Lol, youâre kidding me. She just wants to protect Ichigo and nobody else. When heâs not involved, she just doesnât seem to care, and Chad is no better. If I remember correctly, part of her went to Hueco Mundo because she wanted to see if Ichigo would rescue her like he did with Kuchiki? She was jealous of Rukia and Nel? But wow, what an amazing portrayal of the desire to protect everyone indeed!
Letâs be clear: Iâm not saying Orihime isnât nice. She is. But is she as selfless or altruistic as some fans makes her out to be? No, she absolutely isnât. Being nice is different from being selfless/altruistic. UryĆ« and Rukia are the ones who are the most selfless with a strong sense of abnegation: Rukia in the first arc when she goes back to the Soul Society with Byakuya and Renji in order to protect Ichigo even though she knows sheâs likely to be executed for her crime, and UryĆ« in the last arc when he plans on destroying the Wahrwelt with him inside in order to save everyone, even though he has to become a âtraitorâ to his friends. Oh yeah, and this boy also sacrificed his powers during the Soul Society Arc, with the aim to protect, again.
You can even put Masaki in there with what she did for Isshin and Ichigo (this is why I canât stand people saying Orihime ressembles Masaki, because this is blatantly wrong, theyâre nothing alike). Her speech to RyĆ«ken before going to rescue Isshin underlines her strong will, which Orihime doesnât possess and never will.
Now, tell me, when did Orihime put her life on the line for Ichigo like Masaki, Rukia or UryĆ« did? Because I canât remember a single moment when she was ready to sacrifice anything for him while sheâs supposed to âloveâ him. She always ended up relying on Ichigo in the end while claiming she didnât want to be a burden to him (and failing spectacularly each time), and the one time she actually âfights alongside himâ (lol), they lose.
This is what true selflessness is like â putting others before yourself:
With that, I rest my case.
I said on X how some IH fans claimed Orihime represents the desire to protect the most when it isnât true, and how she has flaws, and someone said:
âBut that's not a claim; it's literally in the manga. She also stated her desire to protect others, not just Ichi, and forgave people like Ulq despite his actions; she even healed Harribel despite protests from Renji & Rukia. I don't ship IH btw
Reading this, I really needed to react to it here. I didnât answer to that person because it would surely turn into endless debates. Also, the âI donât ship IH btwâ, hmmâŠ
I mustn't have explained myself clearly then. I donât say Orihime has 0 desire to protect, that would be utterly nonsensical. What I mean is that she doesnât represent that desire the most strongly. Other characters (such as Rukia and UryĆ«, as I said above) are shown to represent that desire more than her.
âit's literally in the manga. She also stated her desire to protect others, not just Ichiâ
Okay, the one with Tatsuki is a fair point, Iâll grant you that. And, to be honest, I would have wanted to see more of that Orihime ready to throw hands at her enemies, cause this scene shows sheâs capable of it. Right, she said she will protect Tatsuki, okay (that must be the only scene when she openly states she wants to protect someone else than Ichigo by the way).
However, when you look at it, the âIâll protect Tatsukiâ is quickly followed by the âto protect Kurosakiâ scene when Yoruichi asks them their reasons to go to Soul Society. Pay attention to how she doesnât even say âto protect my friendsâ, but âKurosakiâ specifically, as if Chad and UryĆ« donât matter. See the difference?
Also, funny to mention Tatsuki when Orihime doesnât even spare her her last goodbye before going to Hueco Mundo. Again, she picked up a guy she doesnât know very much instead of her best friend who helped her when she was bullied and has protected her for yearsâŠ
âand forgave people like Ulq despite his actionsâ
Okay, and? What is the point? Weâre talking about Orihimeâs desire to protect and if sheâs the one who symbolizes that the best. What is the fact that she forgives Ulquiorra doing here? I fail to see how it has something to do with the whole desire thing. Unless itâs more an argument to the fact I said she has flaws? But then again, I never said Orihime isnât forgiving or only has flaws. She does have qualities, Iâm not denying that, but the fact that she forgives Ulquiorra changes nothing to the fact that she still has flaws (one of her main one probably being her jealousy). So I donât really understand your point here.
âshe even healed Harribel despite protests from Renji & Rukiaâ
Uh, I donât remember that. I take it it must be in one of the novels? Which one, I donât know, and it doesnât really matter, as the novels werenât written by Kubo himself.
Anyway, again, what does the fact that she heals Harribel have to do with the desire to protect? Of course Inoue isnât going to let her die. She has even shown compassion to ennemies who beat her up. Itâs in her character. Does it mean itâs enough to acknowledge âWow, this girl clearly wants to save everyone, and absolutely no one in the whole stories represents this better!â? Well no, I donât think so.
Moving on to the third picture where Orihime is in Hueco Mundo with Chad. She⊠isnât even protecting/helping anyone? They are training. Ichigo fought Quilge to free the Arrancars, all Orihime really did was shield Nel, and even then Quilge disintegrated her shield, but if you really want it, yes, Iâll give you the fact she protected Nelliel, okay. But she didnât do really more than that.
Also. Why are Orihime and Chad in Hueco Mundo in the first place? Because Ichigo went there, thatâs all. Now, imagine that, for one reason or another, Ichigo couldnât go to Hueco Mundo to help the Arrancars. Do you honestly think Orihime and Chad would have gone there to help without him? Of course they wouldnât have. After they know the situation, they just say âIchigo, youâre gonna go help them, right? đ„șâ, implying that if Ichi doesnât, they wonât either. So, yes, Orihime can have this âwe help Arrancars and Soul Reapersâ speech, the truth is that itâs more complex than that (and if she really wanted to help, why didnât she stay with the Fourth Division and help heal the soul reapers that were hurt by the Quincies?)
Iâll repeat myself, but I canât stress enough how Orihime didnât help UryĆ« for the seventeenth month Ichigo was depowered, while it would have only been logical and be a good argument in favor of her protecting others because thatâs what she wants to do. Instead, she said she âtrainedâ⊠for Ichigo.
In the end, Orihimeâs desire to protect is always somehow tied to Ichigo (and the fact that her character revolves mostly around him is an argument I often see when people criticize her). And thatâs my biggest issue: You donât help/protect others just because your friend do it, you help/protect others because itâs simply the right thing to do. Thatâs what people like Masaki, Rukia and UryĆ« (and Ichigo of course) do, and far better that Inoue.]
