—.✦ ݁˖ Ichihime 🍓🍞 My favorite couple in shonen ~ A thread. Breakdowns, Fun facts & More

—.✦ ݁˖ Ichihime 🍓🍞 My favorite couple in shonen ~ A thread. Breakdowns, Fun facts & More

Part one: Opposites, yet the same. Ichigo and orihime grew up basically in opposite lives. Ichigo grew up with a family around him that cared for him daily. Orihime, lost her only family member she knew, her older brother, Sora at age 12.

Despite this glaring difference, there is a similarity: loss. The both of them had lost the most important person in their lives at a young age. Ichigo lost his mother Masaki at age 9, and as mentioned above, Orihime lost Sora at 12.

But that similarity runs further: shame and guilt. Both of their losses had them come to the same conclusion: if they had acted differently that day, they could’ve prevented it all. And to different degrees, they are to blame for their loss.

Orihime, of course, was the first to notice just how similar this made them, the fact they had this in common made her feel closer to ichigo – Or in her words, It made her feel like she understood ichigo better.

Where “Opposites, yet the same” is truest: their powers - a dichotomy of protection. Both made promises to protect. Ichigo fights everything head on. Orihime decides to help those who put themselves in harms way. A yin & yang relationship, as their powers are direct negatives.

Since the death of his mother, Ichigo made a promise to himself to protect his family & loved ones from all harm. It makes sense why he became a shinigami, as it gives him the power to fight all danger head on, and no one else has to take on any harm for him, like his mother did.

Meanwhile Orihime, wants to help protect anyone who steps on the frontline in order to protect her. Shun Shun Rikka fits her perfectly! (Manifested because of ichi btw) A fullbring shield and healing ability so she can still be of help, while respecting her nonviolent nature.

Their sacrifices reflect this too! The final getsuga, and the Six princess shielding flowers. Their sacrificial offenses. With the final getsuga, ichigo gives up all power, leaving him unable to protect anyone. Which is nearly a stab in the heart, as it was nearly his identity.

The Six princess shielding flowers at their full power allowed orihime to reject all suffering pain and suffering. But the sacrifice is herself. This is because the source of her powers is her own will, in other words, she IS her power. ⬇️

I just LOVE how their powers play off each other And giving Orihime a sacrificial moment makes it so much better. Though ichigo doesn’t die with the final getsuga, losing his powers is still the equivalent to losing everything to him. Fullbringer arc shows us the toll it had.

They fight for the same reasons, and people, but have very inverse sets of powers. with having such opposite powers, it’s like putting together 2 puzzle pieces! They wish the same thing upon the world but do it in fully opposite ways! One cuts and one heals. :)

i REALLY REALLY REALLY wanna talk about how they’re basically the same person before i talk about how much they love each other and other nonsense… SOOOOO Part 1.5 (not exactly part 2, but is also separate from part 1) The same mental fight! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

one thing i noticed is both of them have suffered the thought of feeing like they’re not enough!!! Whenever ichigo feels like he’s failed to protect, he gets in a depressive state. And it’s so much worse if it’s orihime who he wasn’t able to protect

The whole story Orihime has struggled the feeling. Her being surrounded with such strong fighters had her thinking they didn’t need her. This was her biggest mental fight, she never felt like she was enough. And when ichigo felt the same, it was some of if lowest points.

They even got knocked out of this feeling by the same person — Our dear friend rukia ❤️ Even in recovery, they walk the same paths.

Part 2: Early bleach hints and Feeling! Orihime actually started to crush on/obsess over ichigo so long ago it started off screen! We learned this from Sora as a Hollow, where he said after she met ichigo, *ALL* Orihime would talk about when she got home was ichigo 😭😭🧡

When it comes down to them, early bleach mostly only showed us orihime showing interest in ichigo She: realizes her missed opportunities, she would daydream about him, and actually DID sniff out his scent like it was nothing (even tho it was Kon in his body😭😭) ⬇️⬇️⬇️

some extra moments from the early chapters!

But outside of that, orihime definitely understood ichigo the best early on as well! She’s able to tell when something was off about him by small mannerisms other people wouldnt notice!

nearing the end of early bleach, and entering soul society arc. Orihime was the first (who didn’t know about encounter with renji & byakuya) who understood where his mind was about saving rukia! And fully convinced him to save her when he was unsure if it’s what he should do!

Entering part 3: Development in soul society! In soul society Ichigos strength and courage shifted Orihimes feeling from more of a crush, to admiration! She also said she joined him in his cause to protect him! (and she still (day)dreams of him 😭)

One of my favorite things they sprinkled across this arc, is more insight into how much she actually cares for him, and more interaction outside of the classroom! Their bond is already so close people who don’t know the two assume they’re already dating at this point

However, she does feel sad through it up to the end too, because she feels like didn’t get strong enough for the purpose she went there, to protect ichigo. It made her so upset that she couldn’t help him :(

🕝 GIVE ME SOME DOWNTIME, I HIT THE LIMIT OF TWEETS I CAN ATTACH AT ONCE 😭😭💔

Part 4: The arrancar & Hudeco mundo arcs - reciprocation. These two arcs show us SO MANY important moments between them, as well as ichigo expressing so much more emotion for orihime, and i want to go over them all!

Firstly: defeat. The first encounter with the espadas, Ulquiorra and Yammy. Ichigo had failed to protect orihime, chad, and tatsuki. This has sent him in a slump, far deeper than we’ve seen up to this point.

Also in this arc, Orihime showed she was still able to sense ichigos spiritual pressure even through a barrier that was meant to block it out so it couldn’t be detected, during his training with the vizards!

Separation. In the arrancar arc, orihime was abducted by ulquiorra, and was given 12 hours left on earth, which she thought would be her last 12 ever. She was given permission to say bye to one person only. And she chose ichigo. This is where we got the iconic confession⬇️⬇️

Obviously as a confession, it solidified everything that was hinted at in past arcs. Ichihime had become undeniable!

The news. Ichigo didn’t react to her disappearance/abduction light at all. Both the suggestion of her being dead, and the suggestion of her being a traitor set him into denial fueled anger.