To this day I still can't believe there are people who watch/read the SS arc, saw Renji's flashback and how obviously smitten/whipped he was for Rukia, and didn't think that RenRuki is going to be one of the end pairings. I was sure about RenRuki's pairing much earlier than I was for IchiHime LMAO
Same. Especially because a lot of the "shippy" stuff in the SS arc went to renruki (and ichihime) instead of ichiruki.
I know the SS arc is purported to be IR heavy, but reading it back, the SS arc had some definite misfires in terms of romantic hints or development between Ichigo and Rukia. There was so much potential that either wasn’t used, or was given to IH/RR instead. They spend practically the entire arc separated, their interactions were minimal, and they had to share a lot of the spotlight with RR.
i.e. Renji's the one who gets emotional when he begs Ichigo to save Rukia, has flashbacks about their childhood together and her "gentle aura." Lamenting how he let her go, how he "barks at the star but doesn't have the courage to jump and grab it." Renji's the one who is willing to leave his lieutenant badge behind, throw away his rank, fight his own friends and take on the very captain he serves under to save her. And when he falls, he once again has another flashback to the moment he let her go, staring at the very hand that she touched as she walked away.
Which is immediately followed by Rukia panicking and screaming out his name when she feels his spiritual pressure disappear. Then when Ichigo rescues Rukia he throws her into Renji’s arms, tells Renji it’s his job to protect her—and he does this knowing how strongly Renji feels about Rukia! That was supposed to be ichiruki’s big shining moment and yet it’s intercepted by renruki at Ichigo’s insistence.
Then Ichigo battles Byakuya, and Rukia isn't even there for any of it. It isn’t Rukia who’s watching from the forest or having to stop herself from running to his side, it’s Orihime. It's Orihime whose feelings for Ichigo are given focus via Ishida's monologue, where he talks about how badly she wants to help Ichigo and is depending on him. It isn’t Rukia who tries to catch Ichigo’s fall after that battle ends, kneels down at his side and cries tears of joy that he’s alright while Ichigo gives her puppy-dog eyes—that’s all Orihime.
Meanwhile, Rukia is on the other side of SS, being cradled in Renji’s arms, and crying into Renji’s chest. This is supposed to be the Rukia rescue arc, it's supposedly all about IR, right? And yet all of these cute, intimate, “shippy” moments I've listed are given to IH/RR while Ichigo and Rukia are still separated. It’s supposed to be all about Ichigo saving Rukia, and yet at the very end, it’s Renji - not Ichigo - but Renji who keeps cradling Rukia in his arms, looks Aizen right in the eyes and says “I’ll never let her go” along with, once again, ANOTHER flashback of the time he let her go. Because he's vowing that that will never happen again. He's never going to let her go.
I mean, shouldn’t at least some of these moments have gone to Ichigo instead if IR was the romantic one or meant to be romantic in the future? How did people not clue in to where things were heading by this point?
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