Olmosis

(I'm so late to this joke but I really wanted to draw it 😶🤚)

First of all, let’s examine what Kubo “wanted”

BLEACH IS A SHONEN NOT A SHOUJO. What Kubo has stated is that he doesn’t like or intend to include romance in Bleach, he enjoys writing action and doesn’t plan to delve into any romance. So then... what the hell is up with Orihime’s character? A character who’s entire arc is centred around romance to the point where there is nothing else! Orihime, less so in the soul society arc, is a device used to prop up the main character as an amazing kind gentleman. She’s there to bring comic relief, fanservice and judging by how Kubo refuses to give in depth motivations for her character and explanations of her powers, not much else. She’s a plot device for the hueco mundo arc. She’s a convenient character to have around when Kubo batters his characters to the point of no come back by which point he can just have Orihime use her suddenly godly powers to undo the damage. She doesn’t need to have in depth motivations or well explained abilities, just enough convenience as a character to fill a few plot holes that in the end do nothing for her. The whole time reading the manga, Orihime feels less and less like a character and more like a fan girl self-insert. If you remove Orihime from the manga entirely, you have no obvious romance! Any romance that Kubo wants to include is oversaturated in Orihimes character. She’s basically his beacon of Shoujo. Something for female audiences to relate to as well as appeal to the male gaze. Orihime was never treated like a serious character by Kubo. So, apart from her character, the occasional side pairing and chapter 686, Kubo hasn’t included any obvious serious romance within his manga.

ICHIRUKI IS AS ROMANTIC AS A SHONEN COUPLE COULD BE. This is where Ichiruki comes in. Even without the romance aspect, these two characters undoubtedly have the deepest bond within the whole manga. With no mutual romantic pairings, we usually grasp onto whatever’s closest we can get to that. Ichiruki is the closest. Sure they’re not making out or proposing their undying love for each other but throughout the manga, they’re constantly saving each other’s lives, putting each other first and learning a lot through their encounters with one another. Their bond is the heart of the manga and keeps the plot moving forward because it’s the way these characters have changed each other that leads to the decisions they make which, as main characters, influences the entire series as a whole. Throughout the mange being written, ichiruki have been referred to as soulmates, they’ve been paralleled to canonically romantic pairings like Isshin & masaki and have also had their bond spoken on from the perspectives of other characters. Orihime being one of the main ones with her wanting to be what Rukia is to ichigo because she recognises how much he relies on her above other characters. Their bond might not have been outwardly romantic but it was never just a normal friendship either. They were meant to stand out.

ENDING AFTER AIZEN. Kubo’s original intentions with Bleach were to end after Aizens defeat with Ichigo losing his powers & Rukia returning to the soul society. That was the ending that was set up from the start. He was pushed to continue even when he had already set up the ending and perhaps that’s why the fullbringer arc was so lacklustre with undeveloped plots, underwhelming villains and the neglect of important characters (this was chads arc and he was barely there). I have to admit that I did enjoy the ending of the fullbringer arc much more than the actual ending and the would have been ending just because it symbolised hope. Ichigo’s growth in that arc was amazing and the ending with him getting his powers back and saying he’d see Rukia again was very open and satisfying. If it had ended that way, I would have been happy just because we wouldn’t know what happens beyond that point & could go on assuming our own versions of what happens 10 years later and whatnot. It tied it together nicely while leaving room for more.

But, if we take Kubos word on the fact that he did intend to end bleach after Aizen then no, bleach was not ended the way it was intended from the start.

LETS SAY PLANS CHANGE and that he still intended on that particular ending after the fullbring arc, i would say: no he didn’t. The ending he intended on involved a dead Byakuya, more in depth fights and plots and most importantly, more time to develop that. He didn’t have that time. Kubo even admitted that he had to rush the ending and could not develop it in the way he wanted to.

The ending, I’m guessing, was a result of a poor plans and rushed storylines. He had to wrap it up very quickly and what’s the quickest and most low effort way to do that? Oh yeah, a lame time skip with marriage and kids. It’s the naruto blueprint. Ori & Renji were the convenient since Kubo didn’t have an excuse to Ichigo to be in the soul society or for Rukia to be in the human world.

I feel like I should stress that the reason I personally was unhappy with the ending was not because Ichiruki wasn’t endgame, i absolutely wanted them to be but I never expected them to be since it was a shonen manga. The issue I have is that RR and IH made even less sense as a happy ending for the characters. That ending felt depressing for all characters involved with Chad becoming a boxer, Uryu following in his fathers footsteps, Ichigo also following in his fathers footsteps despite his entire character being about how bored he is with human life and Ori settling for a life as a maid despite having the ambitions and the capabilities to become so much more. Rukia might’ve gotten the worst of it because despite becoming a captain, she still had to marry r-ren-🤢 renj-🤢 i can’t even say it (jk i think she got the happiest ending somehow but only because the bar was real low).

Now listen, random tumblr user reading this. We are in great need of more fanfiction of this ship. I insist. Even with Izumi sensei trowing us random gifts on the canon, I feel like there are so many prompts and universes that havent been used yet.

100$ emergency commissions! Open! 

100$

Up to two characters

Full color

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NSFW ok-D&D, Furries and OCs welcome! I will draw for any fandom and any ship, not just the ones you know me for.