Orihime Inoue is MORE IMPORTANT Than You Think
The festival of Tanabata recalls the legend of Gyūrō Shokujo, also known as the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
It’s a legend shared across China, Korea and Japan that tells the story of Orihime and Hikoboshi, the names that are represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively. These two lovers were separated by circumstance and the river of Amanogawa, only allowed to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month, connected by a bridge of magpies that came together in response to Orihime’s tears, driven by a desire that filled with them with faith that they would eventually meet again. . However, if it rains on that day, the river will rise too much, preventing the bridge from connecting the two and delaying their meeting for yet another year. This rain is known as “the tear of Orihime and Hikoboshi.” Interestingly enough, rain also plays a thematic role throughout the story of Tite Kubo’s Bleach, as well as one of the main characters of the story being named after the Weaver Girl herself. And upon reading her character poem at the beginning of Volume 3, we see the following words:
I feel that Inoue Orihime, though very obviously important to the story of Bleach, is neglected by readers as nothing more than another useless female character. Her only powers are that of healing and she doesn’t play a major role in terms of attack, and one of the longest arcs in the entirety of Bleach and arguably in Weekly Shonen Jump is predicated upon her rescue. As such, the label of “useless” seems to follow her around…but is that really the truth? Is that all that she is or is there more to the character than anybody seems to understand? Is she nothing more than a useless damsel in distress, or is she possibly one of the most vital characters to the core of not just Bleach but also the development of Kurosaki Ichigo who is changing the world of this story with his very actions? Well, the only way is to walk into the rain and search for the heart…to find the bridge that connects us to the Weaving Princess starved of the connection to the one she loves.
This is Inoue Orihime, a girl who is more important and stronger than you think.
Our introduction to Orihime in the manga is through her attraction to Ichigo, immediately taking place after the events of Chapter 1 where he got his Shinigami powers. She’s portrayed as being a little weird and having a strange imagination, but the most notable aspect of her is possibly her long, orange hair, which, concerning her connection to Ichigo, is very important to consider as it’s one of the things focused on the most when talking about Ichigo’s complex as an outsider.
Whereas Ichigo eventually used violence to deal with bullying and stereotyping because of his bright orange hair, viewed in Japan as a typical trait of a delinquent and even more importantly the mark of an outsider, Orihime’s manifested in a lack of confidence in herself. She was bullied and harassed and borderline tortured by her classmates in school just for looking a certain way, even forcing her to cut her long hair that her older brother was so proud of…her older brother who protected her. Her long hair that she originally cut until Tatsuki, her most precious friend, told her to be proud of it…her friend who protected her. So along with this hair that is so similar to the one she is in love with, we also notice a similar theme in the aspect of protection. Whereas Ichigo lashed out at everyone else, Orihime was always protected by others as if that was the natural thing to do. Her older brother Sora protected her from their abusive parents and Tatsuki protected her from her bullies, represented best by this drawing placed between chapters 41 and 42 of a dragon protecting a princess.
Yet, while she was being protected, you see this tendency of her to shield her own feelings and pain from those she loves. She never told Sora about any of the bullying going on in her life, fearing that it would worry him too, so she resolved to only tell him about the good times. When Orihime eventually was going through turmoil with her feelings regarding Ichigo as well as her situation with the world of the Shinigami and was approached by Tatsuki to see if there was anything wrong, she simply lied and didn’t tell her the truth. While being shielded from pain by others, she herself was ultimately shielding her true feelings from those around her, especially the ones that hurt the most.
In this, she is shown to be very similar to Ichigo, from her tendency to hide her true feelings from her loved ones, to her being an outsider…but also in the fact that the orange hair they both had were remarked by their loved ones as something to be proud of, even more similarly having those same loved ones be deceased. Yet the difference here lies in how they approached the aspect of protection. Ichigo, when thinking back to his mom, recalls that the reason he wants to protect her was because she protected him. His desire to protect is for those who protected him when he was unable to, as if to make up for his own weakness. Orihime was always protected and Ichigo always sought to protect. Ichigo engaged with conflict while Orihime shielded others from ever experiencing pain. Both were still alone in their own feelings. But notice how Ichigo’s first important bout as a Shinigami came when her older brother returned in the form of a Hollow, harming her in his regretful attempts to keep her with him, that desire for connection left hollow when he left her alone.
This is also the first time it’s revealed that Hollows are humans who eventually fell into despair and are left empty, signified by the holes in their chests, but it’s also the first time Ichigo ever made his first decision to not take Rukia’s words at face value. What ended the fight wasn’t any attack made by Ichigo but an action by Orihime. When her brother was expressing the despair of slowly leaving Orihime’s heart and being replaced by Ichigo and Tatsuki, instead of simply rejecting his pain and letting Ichigo kill him off, she instead embraced it wholeheartedly, hugging him even though he bit into her and wounded her. She finally told him the truth of the pain she was hiding from him, as he expressed that even though he knew that she was hiding her pain, it was still a sign that she still loved him. And the way Ichigo ends the conflict isn’t through killing him like some monster but appealing to his heart as Sora broke into tears being reminded of Orihime’s hair pins that she wore every day. In her own words, she hated them, even so much that she fought with him…that being the last conversation they ever had. Yet that symbol of her pain was also a representation that she would always love him, ending the chapter with Sora’s mask finally breaking off as he disappeared. Her actions caused pain to both of them, but it ultimately resolved the feelings they weren’t able to express. They were finally able to see each other’s hearts.
Orihime’s interactions in the story always seem to revolve around pain or someone being hurt, whether it be Sora, Tatsuki, Ulquiorra, or especially Ichigo. Fitting as well is that her eventual power she gains is that of a shield, because like Ichigo she desires to protect that which she loves, yet unlike Ichigo, that assertiveness as well as the ability to attack are simply against her nature. Said power only awoke because Tatsuki was fighting to protect her from a Hollow only to fall and get violently injured, a sight that Orihime reacted to not in fear but in resolve to protect the friend who always saved her all those times before, the drawing between chapters this time subverting the former, the princess instead protecting the dragon.
This power she has is known as the Shun Shun Rikka, translated into English as the “Six Flowers of the Hibiscus Shield” or in the official Viz translation “Six Princess Shielding Flowers”.
This power manifests six fairies who form three different shields, the first being Santen Kesshun AKA the “Three Sacred Links Shield” or the “Three Gods Shield”, the power to reject that which lies in front of the shield, that being anything Orihime faces. The second is the Sōten Kisshun AKA the “Twin Sacred Return Shield” or the “Twin God Reflection Shield” that rejects what’s behind the shield, that being any damage that anyone she’s protecting faces. And arguably most notable for the sake of understanding Orhime’s character is Koten Zanshun AKA the “Solitary Sacred Cutting Shield” or the “Lone God Slicing Shield”, the ability to reject both sides of the shield and thus sever anything it flies through, yet time and time again this power is the least utilized of any of Orihime’s three shields because the other two lie within her nature: the desire to protect and to heal, but against her nature is the capacity to harm. Revealed later on in Arrancar, this power moreso than Chad’s Brazo Derecha de Gigante resembles that of a Shinigami’s, noted by Ushōda Hachigen to more closely resemble his own abilities. It’s clear that while Orihime has this power to reject all harm and pain, she herself refuses to cause pain to others despite the fact that pain is how she ultimately begins to connect.
She was only able to understand more about Ichigo when Tatsuki told her about the pain and suffering he went through when his mom died, sympathizing with him because of her shared experience with Sora. She leaves Tatsuki’s house in the rain while hiding under an umbrella noting how this was the first time she grew to see why Ichigo was the way he was, feeling for him not kindness but what she defines as “one-sided sympathy.” She was only able to truly understand his feelings not through any of his joys or happiness but because of his grief and pain as she looked up into the rain. And once again we see this symbolism of the rain return only in this instance, and while it may be obvious that it’s rain for the sake of it being sad, note that this chapter takes place in Volume 3 where Orihime’s character poem lies, a poem that details the desire to connect through becoming the rain. Also recall the legend of Tanabata and the tears of Orihime. The symbolism of rain, and arguably even tears, are tied to this idea of pain but also connection. So to begin to understand Orihime, you have to consider all of these moving parts. The rain and tears of Orihime, the desire to protect and the connection brought about by pain, because while seeming separate they are all intrinsically tied, and what better place to start than with the arc that led everyone to believe that she’s nothing more than a damsel in distress.
The arc that began her steps to connect to Ichigo by hurting him the most.
As mentioned before, the Arrancar arc is the longest arc in all of Bleach as well as possibly one of longest in all of Weekly Shonen Jump. A staggering 14 volumes long, 27 if you include Fake Karakura Town and easily the longest we’ve had to watch Ichigo pursue a single antagonist and also the arc that hits its full stride when Orihime gave herself up to Ulquiorra to save her friends as Ichigo, similar to how he went to protect Rukia, was joined by his friends to invade Hueco Mundo and save their friend. But how it was initiated was with the entrance of arguably one of the most important characters in the series, especially in regards to the development of Ichigo and Orihime: Ulquiorra Cifer. He and Yammy with relative ease destroy Chad, Orihime and Ichigo. Destroying Chad’s arm, shattering Tsubaki who served as Orihime’s only form of attack, and treating Ichigo like he was nothing when his Hollow powers went out of control. In the end, Ichigo who wanted to save everyone found himself protected once again. The protector of Karakura Town was useless against these new foes and Orihime couldn’t even do a proper job of fighting for herself. Their pride was in shambles and their weakness forcibly thrust out in the open. And more importantly, this sense of inadequacy would slowly force a wedge between Ichigo the protector and Orihime the princess who wants to protect. But looking at the order of events, we find something interesting.
It’s Chad who assumes that Orihime’s Santen Kesshun wouldn’t be able to block, yet she unlike him was able to defend against Yammy’s attack. She herself says that she wants to make sure Ichigo doesn’t have to fight for her, resolving to fight by herself. That mindset led to failure. Ichigo then arrives, apologizing for being late and ends up taking all of the hits, begging Orihime to stay back. Neither one accepted the other’s help and almost trampled over each other to take the blow so the other could be safe, but both were useless in the end and had to be protected.
The desire to protect that gave them both their power was ultimately their greatest disparity in their relationship. Keep in mind the meaning behind what Orihime desired. That concept of pain is something she blocks people off from experiencing themselves. She puts on a brave face so no one is hurt by her pain, bearing it all alone behind a shield that she puts up between her and others whereas Ichigo resolves to take all of the pain by fighting so they don’t have to. But such a protection only hurts themselves and more importantly hurts the objects of their protection, the ones they love, and thus this becomes the greatest conflict between these two throughout the arc. Ichigo, furious at his own weakness after seeing Chad and Orihime is sad and depressed…but the one who snaps him out of it isn’t Orihime but Rukia, the one who changed his world. She forces him to move and gets Ichigo to express his regret to Orihime. It was Rukia and not Orihime…but why?
Orihime in some sense was jealous of the relationship Ichigo and Rukia had. Orihime was only able to sympathize with Ichigo through their shared pain but never stood at his side as a combative equal like Rukia could, but there is an important distinction. Rukia simply tells Ichigo that the way to get past his struggles is to get stronger or force himself to move past it.
It’s actions made for the sole purpose of a sudden break from the darkness, a slap of encouragement on the back, but it’s still one that avoids the pain at the core. And even amongst fans of Bleach who believe that Orihime is not suited to be by Ichigo’s side, it’s important to see that this is also a belief she holds towards herself, manifesting as jealousy towards the girl who could do what she couldn’t.
This is addressed in the aftermath of Yammy and Ulquiorra’s arrival when Orihime talks to Rangiku in her home about this feeling of jealousy, saying that just feeling like that makes her weak and a bad person, to which Rangiku responds by saying that just by addressing those painful feelings is proof that she’s a good person, and more importantly that Ichigo needs both of them, and notably while Rukia makes Ichigo move by pushing past pain, Orihime makes him evolve by addressing it.
When Rukia originally disappeared, it was Orihime who immediately told him to go to Soul Society and save her because that’s what he already wants to do, but while he was gone decided that she refused to let him go alone. After all, Rukia is a precious friend, and one of the only people to break down her walls was Orihime who came to her with her vulnerability and pain exposed. Orihime is only able to connect with another when she shares her pain…yet over and over again she refuses to do the same to Ichigo who she loves more than any other because he’s the one she wants to protect the most. No harm should ever come to him…yet again while she was gone everyone she loved was threatened and was given the only way to save them by Ulquiorra, addressing her not with threats but the blunt, honest and painful truth. She would go with him to Hueco Mundo and leave her friends behind, allowed only to say goodbye to one person…and the one she chose was Ichigo. She was only able to tell him her honest feelings of love when he couldn’t see her, and even then she couldn’t connect with him.
And with the tear of Orihime dropping on his face and a note that said “goodbye, halcyon days,” she was gone. A goodbye to the joyful days of happiness and comfort…causing Ichigo greater pain than ever before.
It’s Orihime’s ability to connect to others through shared grief, longing and sorrow that makes her character so necessary for Ichigo, but what else is notable is that the same must be done to her, not physically but emotionally, in order for her to open up. This is why her connection to the nihilistic Ulquiorra is so potent in developing her and Ichigo. Ulquiorra doesn’t hide anything to keep others from being hurt like they do because he doesn’t comprehend emotion, much less the need to preserve bonds by hiding such things. When Orihime had already resolved to stay in Los Noches to give them time to get stronger, Ichigo, Chad, Uryu, Renji and Rukia came anyway despite her wishes, told to her by Ulquiorra who says it bluntly, followed by “this shouldn’t mean anything to you. You are, in body, mind and soul, one of us now.” Every action he takes regarding her feelings is cold and calculating, whether it hurts her or not. And, ironically, this results only in growing her resolve. He asks her if she could sense Chad falling, stating matter of factly that it shouldn’t matter. That they would fall regardless like lambs to the slaughter-
Even against the Espada who gave Ichigo so much trouble, who was stronger than anyone they had faced, she still stood her ground and even retaliated against him, utterly confusing the empty man who stood before her.
But even though Orihime showed no fear and only resolve in the face of Los Noches and even the Arrancar who tortured her, there is one place where she shows an immense fear beyond anything else.
There is this inherent fear that Orihime has of Ichigo when he’s in his Vizard form that becomes important when you read the Arrancar Arc. She constantly mentions how he feels different, like a monster with eyes that don’t reflect her face in them. Even the steadfast faith she expresses when Ichigo is fighting Grimmjow goes away when she sees the look in his eyes, only snapping out when Nel tells her to keep cheering for him even if she’s afraid. So she calls out to Ichigo not to win but simply to stop getting hurt, prompting Ichigo to finally defeat Grimmjow. There is a desperation Ichigo has for Orihime that he doesn’t for anyone else. While he has that same desire to protect everyone, for Orihime that drive is even greater. Be it due to the way everyone is naturally drawn to protect her because she’s a princess or even her perceived weakness, it’s inferred that Ichigo cares the greatest for her and would do anything to protect her. It’s not even the same level of drive he has for Rukia, and with Rukia it was no one else’s words but Orihime’s that made him go after her. And for Orihime, she desires the Ichigo who is smiling, being happy when she sees him with that face he always has on. But such an unchanging relationship does nothing but stagnate and ultimately harm, so the solution to push past it is connection.
A connection brought about by pain.
The connection between Orihime and Ulquiorra becomes all the more clear when you realize that Ulquiorra is a name that is a play on the phrase “El Que Llora,” also known as “the one who cries,” evidenced even more by the tear marks on his face. Whereas Orihime rejects pain by hiding it, Ulquiorra can’t comprehend it. He is a being who embodies the aspect of death known as “emptiness,” and is thus utterly confused by the actions of Ichigo and Orihime and the perceived faith they have in each other that he sought to break down. In her own words, she realized something in agonizing while her friends were facing death and suffering for her sake because, just as she wanted nothing but their safety and was willing to risk death for it, they felt the same for her. While Ichigo was defending her, Ulquiorra continued to be baffled by their actions. She didn’t need to be saved, yet he did so anyway. Orihime didn’t need to protect him, but she did anyway. Even while witnessing their dysfunctional relationship of two throwing themselves over each other, Ulquiorra grew to understand their feelings more while also challenging their own illogical actions. And atop Las Noches for their final battle, Ulquiorra transformed into his Resurrección, named Murciélago as black rain showered the battlefield. And once again, Orihime found herself simply watching alongside Uryu, a callback to her witnessing the fight between Ichigo and Byakuya. The first time had Uryu foolishly trying to protect Orihime, who resolved to stand still, preventing herself from intervening while still watching Ichigo fight his hardest. But this time, it was Uryu who told her to have faith while her own that Ichigo would win was wavering. It was the first time she ever moved regardless of her steadfast faith she always had, and this time she couldn’t save him, powerless yet again.
Her cries of pain called him back from the brink of death, now a monster obsessed with nothing but defeating the enemy that could hurt his friends. The embodiment of that poisonous desire to protect without any regard for the other person’s wishes. She ended up relying on him again, hurting him and making him rampage driven by that sole desire to protect, now twisted because of his own failure and her anguished screams. And the one who stopped him and saved Uryu was the enemy who caused them both so much pain. While Ichigo won the battle, this was a victory of evolution for no one but Ulquiorra. It was a victory Ichigo refused to accept, and when Ulquiorra looked at Orihime and asked if she was afraid of him, she responded with “no.” An answer that she wouldn’t be able to have with Ichigo just moments prior. Her hand reached out to his as Ulquiorra discovered where the heart lied…in the desire to reach one’s hand out.
What the Arrancar arc reveals is something interesting. Ichigo’s desire to protect his friends was a desire lacking in the faith of their abilities. He didn’t trust his friends enough to fight by his side and resolved to simply fight in front of them. Even before he entered Hueco Mundo, he told Uryu and Chad they simply weren’t strong enough until they proved him wrong. As such, he crushed their feelings and his own body. But considering Ichigo and Orihime walk a similar path, the same applies to her. She didn’t trust that her friends would be alright without her, so she ran after them and sacrificed herself for their sake. She thought she could protect them on her own, and while overjoyed that they came to save her still had wavering faith that they would survive. As much as she tried to have faith in Ichigo, she still worried about him. She still didn’t trust that he wouldn’t get hurt. When she saw his Vizard form, she lost all of the joy and safety she felt when he was there. That lack of faith drove her to go to his side, worsening his condition and turning him into a monster against Ulquiorra. The fear she felt when she looked into his eyes wasn’t that he was an inhuman monster. It wasn’t that he was resorting to violence. It was fear that grew because in those instances she realized the happy and strong Ichigo she loved was suffering and becoming someone he wasn’t all because of her own weakness. To protect someone is to impose your own strength upon those you feel lack it. To protect in this way is one that ultimately hurts them. But what I find most interesting is that calling Orihime’s power a shield or healing isn’t entirely correct. Her power, after all, isn’t a shield. It’s rejection.
It was Unohana, revealed later to be the first Kenpachi, who is the first person who ever remarked at Orihime’s abilities. When she saw her healing, Unohana reacted with shock, citing her to be even greater than the captain of the 4th Division known for their abilities. It’s also Unohana who is instrumental in reviving the power of the strongest Shinigami, the one who was meant to inherit the title of Kenpachi. By killing him over and over again, she would break down the walls that were hiding his true self, his potential, and his real feelings that he buried so he wouldn’t have to break off his connection. By healing him over and over again, she would revive the person she knew he was. But you can only heal that which needs healing. You can only truly connect and heal hurts when you inevitably hurt someone. In fact, the connection Unohana Yachiru had with Kenpachi began not through any friendly meeting but a battle that scarred them both. It was his most treasured connection and memory, but one he only made through pain.
Orihime, when meeting Hachi, is also told something interesting. He gives her back Tsubaki and tells her that her powers are like his, and says that they’re not suited for combat. While this seems like the same type of putting down that Urahara gave her by saying she should call it quits, it’s moreso clarification. Her power is simply not suited for combat and that’s a fact. She is not a combatant. Notice that this is coming from Hachi, who never once launches an attack in the Fake Karakura Town arc yet is a phenomenal force on the battlefield, being instrumental against Barragan where Soi Fon even with her powerful Bankai was no match. His power, after all, is predominantly shields and barriers. He even stresses that she should not do “what she is suited for, but what she wants.” Highlighted even further by Rukia, she was never a burden on the battlefield in Soul Society even though she never once attacked. In Rukia’s words, those who fall in battle are not the weak of power but the weak of spirit. So if Orihime’s power wasn’t suited for combat yet she belonged on the battlefield, what was her role?
It’s through the Arrancar arc and subsequently the change we see in Fullbring that Orihime experiences her greatest evidence of growth. Whereas before she would let Ichigo wallow in his pain or refuse to poke further unless she needed to, she instead reaches out to Ichigo to ask his real feelings, trying to break down the barrier as much as she could. This change is reflected in Riruka, who also grew to love Ichigo and was worried about his injuries that he was sustaining, but rather than worry now, Orihime says that she’s come to terms with that painful feeling. No longer jumping over him to protect him from harm, she instead resolves to let him fight, get injured and experience pain, but even then heal him as many times as it takes because she has to do what she can. Another conversation between the two has Orihime remarking on her painful past, something she was hesitant to share before, now talking about it openly with a smile on her face, and when Riruka remarks that saying it in such a way means there’s something wrong with her, Orihime replies by saying,
This is even further evident with this color page of Orihime and Riruka dancing in the rain, Riruka shielding herself with an umbrella and Orihime hugging her from outside it with this statement:
Orihime is now outside, embracing the rain that symbolizes a connection grown through pain. In fact, the end of the Fullbring arc has Riruka finally embracing her connections with Orihime by her side crying for her sake, ending with a set of panels, one of which thanking Orihime for crying for her. What’s also important is to compare the difference between Rukia and Orihime once again in regards to the rain. Rukia’s arrivals in the story can be thought of as pushing away sadness. She repeatedly removes the rain from Ichigo’s world, even literally in the Fullbring Arc when she gives him his powers back. But Orihime is one who weathers the rain. Even when her mind was warped by Tsukishima, she still wept when she saw Ichigo crying, overwriting any of the powerful memories that he implanted in her because her desire to see Ichigo smile was greater than anything else, yet it was still the rain that made her move. It was still his tears that sent her into action and not his smile. She and Ichigo learn to expose each other to the painful feelings they both had. The legend of Tanabata is one that began in response to Orihime’s tears. Without the rain first arriving to signal the bridge of magpies, there would be no connection.
Orihime is a character that I feel is more misunderstood than any other in Bleach, and I feel it stems from that belief of her uselessness. The fact that she never fights on her own with her own power is seen by many to be her weakness, but that is antithetical to her purpose as a character as well as her journey throughout the story of Bleach that runs parallel to our main character who seeks to protect as many as he can. Her power doesn’t lie in attack because she’s not suited for it. Her role as a princess is to stay back behind her knight and be shielded. But her power is rejection. Her abilities are those of one who rejects the role of the protected and heals the ones she loves not through one sided sympathy or joyful days, but by weathering through the rain and tearing down the barriers that lie between them, but only if she herself tears her own down. Her role that she chose is not that of an attacker, a role that doesn’t suit her nature. It isn’t as a princess, which lies in conflict with her desire to protect her friends that she loves. A knight is a warrior who wields not just a sword but also as shield. A protector who only attacks is unable to protect anyone. A knight incapable of attack is no more than a liability. Ichigo is merely a sword. Orihime is a shield. It’s only together that they can fulfill their wishes.
This comes to a head at the end of Thousand Year Blood War. As they ascend to the top before Ichigo faces Yhwach, Ichigo, who never relied on anyone else before and refused their help because he wanted to protect them all himself, told Orihime that he can’t do it alone and is in charge of defense. That he was counting her. Finally, finally, finally she was able to fight to protect him, this time by his side. And in the fight, when Ichigo was going to lose his composure, she was the one who snapped him out of it, neither one fighting to shield the other, but two mutually relying on one with perfect synchronization on the battlefield.
The ultimate callback to their greatest failure in connecting is when Ichigo activates his hollow powers, and the scene mirrors the moment when he became a Vasto Lorde, but his face this time held a smile, and when told to step back, she had faith he would win.
The end product of their growth and their mutual trust is at the very end. Finally, after all of their hardship and pain, they ended up in a future where they could smile, finally free of the rain. The very symbol of that joy in the name Kazui, their son. The bridge of magpies was finally able to connect the two lovers, for they had learned to weather the rain.
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