Reflection and Analysis

Bleach - Orihime's Character (9/13/2018)

I found myself disappointed with the ending of Bleach.

Of course, the first reaction of some fans upon hearing I am disappointed in the ending of Bleach is to say something along the lines of, "you're only disappointed because Ichigo ended up with Orihime instead of Rukia" which in turn is used to shut down any conversation regarding the ending. There is a bit of irony I think in the fact I started doing some digging after Bleach ended and found that, in regard to conversations regarding issues with Orihime's character, the same tactic is used to shut down conversation regarding the subject. "You only take issue with Orihime's character because you don't like her." Some even put forth the argument, "that's the way it ended, so just deal with it," which still treats any opposing view as wrong simply because it is a different point of view, not because there is a valid argument against said point of view.

Except, there is plenty of issue with the ending of the series outside of the endgame pairing, something fans of pairing Ichigo with Orihime seem apt to ignore. In their minds "The Perfect End" as it is called is indeed the perfect ending to the Bleach series, yet for many more it is a worst nightmare. More specifically, during Bleach's run certain fans claimed Tite Kubo didn't pre-plan anything, but the ending itself seemingly proves what they were saying. Except, if one examines "The Perfect End" and the following chapter these are the only truly inconsistent chapters in the series.

What are the issues with the ending?

- The second to last chapter is called "The Perfect End" despite the fact there is no such things as perfect endings. Perfect endings in storytelling are reserved for the endings of fairy tales, but more specifically only those aimed at a very young target audience.

- Despite swearing to his grandfather to only use his fists to protect, Chad ends up becoming a boxer and thus breaking his promise.

- People take issue with Uryu becoming a doctor, and yet this isn't my issue due to the fact I know Uryu overcame the reason why he didn't want to become a doctor. My issue lies in the fact this was a special event for the friends to get together, yet Uryu was unable to schedule ahead of time the time needed to get off.

- Ichigo and Orihime only have one child despite the fact neither one seems like the type to have only one child.

- Orihime is now able to cook despite the fact in the Manga canon the only person who actually liked her food was Rangiku, which needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The only other time people are shown liking her food was an Anime only event and fans of Orihime Inoue, particularly those who pair her up with Ichigo love arguing Tite Kubo had no hand in the Anime because the Anime leans more towards Ichigo getting together with Rukia.

- Where is Isshin, the doting grandfather? It's not as if there was anybody there who would recognize him as a Shiba, but for that matter where are the rest of the Shiba family who would love doting on the newest and youngest member of the Shiba clan.

- Rukia makes an odd comment to Karin and Yuzu regarding how much they've grown up since she's last saw them. This is odd given the fact the two girls are now twenty-three, and they would officially have been grown up at age eighteen, yet we're to believe Rukia's not seen them in the last few years.

- Also, Orihime's taken over Yuzu's role within the Kurosaki family. While I understand she is Ichigo's wife, that doesn't mean Yuzu is going to let her sister-in-law do everything particularly when that isn't actually in Yuzu's personality.

- Why is Ichigo in the world of the living when we all know Kyoraku brought passes for his family so they could go and visit him in soul society whenever they wanted?