Bleach- Rukia and Orihime

Since I am among the few Bleach fans who admire both Rukia and Orihime I thought I should write an article about them.

Orihime is naïve and an airhead, but I think she’s a strong character. Her strength is different from Ichigo’s, it’s the strength of kindness. She wants to protect those she cares about and she can even empathise with her enemies, “sensing” if there is something good in them. Orihime was even able to influence Ulquiorra and even if she was kept prisoner, she never gave up and kept believing in Ichigo. That’s another strength of hers: she believes in people.

At one point she says that she would like to bind together other’s hearts “like the rain binds the earth and the sky”. She becomes strong because she doesn’t want to be a burden to anyone. Orihime reminds me a bit of Hinata, from Naruto, who is also kind and strong at the same time. Even if Orihime was sheltered in her childhood by her brother, she experienced loneliness and sorrow when her brother died and she would have drifted away from the world if Tatsuki hadn’t saved and encouraged her.

Orihime isn’t foolish, she knows not to underestimate the opponent. When she healed Grimmjow I think she did it because she had to prove to Aizen that her skills are worthed, so that he would let her live. She is cautious and doesn’t rush into fight, but she does get carried away by her emotions, sometimes (especially when Ichigo is in danger).

Another thing that I admire about Orihime is her friendship with Rukia. Though both of them are rivals for Ichigo’s feelings, they are also friends. At one point Orihime risks her life to break the enemy’s control over Rukia’s body; in turn, Rukia is shown helping Orihime with her training.

In the end, whether you like Orihime or not you can’t help but think that she’s a complex character (with strengths and weaknesses) who develops a lot throughout the anime.

From the first episodes Rukia proves to be selfless and brave by giving up her shinigami abilities in order to help Ichigo and his family. She is graceful and noble (much like her brother), but she is also modest and doesn’t forget where she comes from. Rukia is quite mature and intelligent, though she does get angry sometimes. She can act like a tomboy (especially with Ichigo), but she also has a gentle, sensitive side.

Rukia doesn’t open her heart and has difficulty making friends, according to Ukitake. She usually doesn’t tell her friends when something troubles her and prefers to suffer in silence than to burden others with her problems. What happened with Kaien affected her a lot, but she doesn’t talk about it. That incident made her feel guilty and she believed that she wasn’t worth saving or being happy. Her self esteem was very low, but she gains more confidence after Ichigo saves her and after she meets Ganju’s sister.

She is perseverent and kind, she often puts others’ safety before hers. Though she cares about Ichigo she doesn’t spoil him. I believe Rukia is an admirable character!

Naruto- Sasuke's character development

As a child Sasuke was kind and loving towards his family (especially Itachi) and respectful to his clan and teachers. He admired his older brother and wanted to be like him and he also desired his father’s approval and recognition.

He began to change when his entire family and clan were killed by Itachi, turning him into a cold and arrogant avenger. Though I believe he felt hurt and lonely inside, he rejected others in favor of solitude. His arrogance made him ignore those he considered inferior, thinking they would be a hindrance in achieving his goal.

When he became a member of team Kakashi, Sasuke grew attached to them and think of them as a family. He began losing some of his cold demeanor and he even put his life in danger a few times, for his team (especially for Naruto). As he later admitted to Sakura, he almost thought that he must forget about his revenge and instead focus on Team 7. This happened especially thanks to Naruto. When Sasuke’s family and friends were alive the two boys were rivals, because Sasuke’s skills were better and he was more popular with girls than Naruto.

After Sasuke lost his family and clan a bond was created between him and Naruto, because they shared the same pain of being lonely and viewed as outcasts by the other villagers. Even if Naruto had grown up alone and Sasuke had a family but than lost it, they both knew sorrow and suffering that made them stronger. A bond of friendly rivalry, because both of them were too proud to openly admit that they actually wanted to be friends. Naruto admits later that this bond was the first he made and that he sees Sasuke as a brother; that’s why he’s so determined to chase the Uchiha boy to the end of the world in order to bring him back to Konoha. This bond is precious to both of them, but especially to Naruto. That is why the moment when Sasuke finally acknowledges him is so touching and important to the blonde boy.

However, when Orochimaru branded Sasuke with the Cursed Seal he pushed the Uchiha boy back on the path of vengeance and power. Though Sasuke still struggles with choosing between revenge and those he loves, in the end he becomes more and more obsessed with power and gradually loses his humanity.

According to Kakashi Hatake, Sasuke has both a superiority and an inferiority complex, as he is unwilling to acknowledge when someone is stronger than him, but obsesses when he believes that they are. Sasuke was dismissive of his rivalry towards Naruto when he was sure he was the better, only to obsess over Naruto’s fast growth after the latter defeated Gaara. He’s so concerned with this that he doesn’t notice his own growth and is under the impression that he is weaker than Naruto. The Uzumaki boy, who still admires Sasuke a lot and is happy to finally be acknowledged by him, doesn’t understand the sudden change in Sasuke and is determined to get some answers and prevent Sasuke from walking the path of revenge, even against the Uchiha boy’s will.

At first Sasuke didn’t want to kill Naruto because he didn’t want to follow the path indicated by Itachi, but instead wanted to gain power in his own way. After training with Orochimaru and severing the ties he believed bound him, Sasuke was apparently willing to kill Naruto just to prove a point at how much he had changed. He became increasingly confident in his strength and retained the habit of underestimating his opponents, though he acknowledged his mistakes and was not above making bonds with those around him (like he did with the members of his own new team, Taka).

According to Obito Uchiha, Sasuke alone was shouldering the entire hatred of the Uchiha clan. After learning the truth about Itachi’s actions Sasuke vowed revenge against the entire Konoha village, even if that was against Itachi’s wishes and would bring disaster for the entire world.

In the end, Sasuke is just a confused “child” looking for recognition and power to fill the void left by the loneliness and hurt he felt inside. He was jealous of Naruto because he could turn loneliness into strength and created bonds with people, that made him stronger, while Sasuke rejected those bonds believing they are a weakness and choosing solitude instead. Sasuke himself realizes in the end that he always followed behind Naruto just as he did with his older brother Itachi.

Concerning Sakura, Sasuke does show genuine affection for her in the end, as well as remorse for what he did to her and to the entire shinobi world.

Death Note- a closer look at Light and L

“If we catch Kira, he is evil, if he wins and rules the world, then he is justice.”

-Light Yagami (“Justice”)

Yagami Light is a hardworking, talented, and a natural genius. His only faults are his deep sociopathic interior, his cynical outlook on life, his overconfidence in himself and his belief that he is never wrong. L describes both himself and Light as “childish and hating to lose”.

Ohba said that Light was “a young man who could understand the pain of others” when he first encountered the Death Note. Ohba said that if Ryuk never developed an interest in the human world,

Light would have become “one of the greatest police leaders in the world” who, with L, worked against criminals. Indeed, wouldn’t it have been great to see Light and L work together (like they did when Light lost his memories of the Death Note), instead of “hunting” each-other? Though the competition and mind games between them are very interesting and keep you on the edge of your seat.

Ohba described Light’s life “ruined” once he obtained the Death Note, and that Light became a

victim of the Death Note “in many ways”.

The Death Note represents power and humans become easily corrupted by it. Especially a human

with a strong sense of justice and high morals, like Light. Though hesitant in the beginning, Light uses

the Death Note with more confidence every time and gradually loses his humanity becoming this cold,

ruthless, and malevolent being that people call Kira. He becomes completely devoid of love,

compassion and mercy. He views himself as the only rightful savior of mankind and he’s convinced that all his actions are justified, no matter how inhuman they might be. He is shown to even be willing to sacrifice his own family, if pushed to that point. He is so convinced that what he is doing is right that he never falters in his beliefs of creating a utopia (that is actually a dystopia), even when he crosses the thin line between punishing criminals and killing innocent people for the sake of “justice”. Light is a complex, layered character that, unlike L, doesn’t get emotionally involved with anything or anyone, which makes him seem like the winner.

 Trivia:

 -Kenichi Matsuyama (L) and Tatsuya Fujiwara (Light) became “so immersed” in their character portrayals, that they did not talk to one another while on the set; only when filming ceased did they converse and “went out for a drink or two”;

-Tatsuya Fujiwara said that he felt difficulty portraying Light because he has no signature mannerisms (like L) and therefore has his feelings displayed by his face;

   

-Fujiwara explained that he wanted Light to cry in a particular scene even though the director told him that “Light doesn’t cry”, since the actor believed that the scene would feel “more honest”;

-The actor said that he “could understand” Light’s intentions to create a new world even though “murder is a horrible thing”;

-According to Ohba, Light sees Misa Amane, who he uses as an accomplice, as a “bad person” who killed people, so he acts emotionally cold towards her and manipulates her. Despite this, he keeps her alive even after her memories of being Kira have been removed for the second (and final) time;

-The name Yagami literally means “night god”.

  

“Risking your life and doing something that could rob you of your life are exact opposites.”

-L (“Hard Run”)

L decides to act based on the saying: “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”. In my opinion he gets involved more than Light does and genuinely expresses his feelings to him: “Light-kun is my first friend”. This shows his humanity. All the eccentric quirks he has acquired are said to be due to the heavy strain of upholding the name of L (according to the novel L: Change the World).

Writer Tsugumi Ohba said that L is the smartest character “because the plot requires it”. He added that he personally views L as “slightly evil”.L is quite secretive and cautious; he has great deductive powers, though his appearance masks his abilities. Meticulous and analytical, L is good at deceiving his opponents and is willing to take drastic measures to solve a case. Some of his tactics are quite bold. Though he doesn’t show it in an evident manner L does get involved in every case and is well aware of the implications. Whenever L gives percentages to indicate how much he suspects a person of committing a crime, such as “five percent” he may in fact be over ninety percent convinced of their culpability.

Although he is often seen sitting and inactive, L retains a high athletic ability. In chapter 38 of the manga, L suggests that even though he eats only sweet food, he remains underweight because the brain uses the most calories of any organ in the body. He also says that if he sits normally, his reasoning ability would drop by 40%, Interestingly, in the manga he is seen sitting on the floor in a pose similar to how one would meditate, while thinking deeply about the Kira case.

Ohba said that his favorite human character in the series was L because Ohba believed that the detective was the “strongest” character in the series “besides Light”. Obata also chose L as his favorite due to “appearance, personality, everything”. In response to the question “Who was the most fun (character) to draw?” both Ohba and Obata answered “L”;

Kenichi Matsuyama, the actor who portrays L in the movies, described L and Light as having “such unique characters that they’re impossible to understand” and that “the inside of L’s head remains a mystery” to him. Matsuyama said that L and Light are “extremely” alike in that they have “very strong sense of justice”.

   

Trivia:

-Matsuyama admits having experienced some difficulty in trying to portray L (especially in emulating L’s postures). He decided to interpret him as an individual who does not “quite understand other people on an emotional level”;

-Kira, L, Mello, Near are all in alphabetical order; Ohba considered at first the initials “I” and “J”, but decided that they didn’t “feel as good” as L. He mentions having given L the alias “Ryuzaki” because L is pronounced like R in Japanese;

-L can tie two cherry stems in a knot with his mouth, as seen in episode 18;

-The novel states that L helped in the prevention of World War III when he was only eight years old;

-In the novel, L takes a few capoeira lessons from Suruga. This is most likely a homage to the on-going fan speculation of L’s capoeira like fighting style in the Death Note manga and anime;

-In the novel, L completely loses (for the first time) his composure and calm attitude;

-In the novel it is described that L did consider Light to be his friend, going as far as holding on to Light’s broken watch as a memento and saying: “Light, I’ll see you on the other side. Let us explore the world of nothingness together”;

-According to the timeline that is presented on each page of the novel, it appears L was to have only 272 days left to live prior to writing his name onto the page of the Death Note. Based on this bit of information it’s obvious that L’s remaining natural lifespan at the end of the second movie would only have amounted to less than a year.