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!