First of all, I haven’t had a chance to download the latest episode of Bleach yet, which was just released today too, so I haven’t had the oppurtunity to view it yet myself. However, I saw a post on my LJ Friend’s Page that drew my attention, and boy was I glad I clicked. Now at least I know why I suddenly saw a bunch of avatars on message boards sporting an image of Orihime and Ichigo holding hands. I swear, when I first saw it I couldn’t help but to think wow, that’s an awesome fanart - it looks just like the anime! Uh, duh, Joana, that would be because it is from the anime.

Per usual, it would seem that the animators have taken liberties with the anime and deviated from the cannon facts in the manga. This happens in all shows, pretty much, but this latest stint has already steered up the Bleach community quite a bit.

Let me clarify, the IchigoxRukia shippers are foaming at the mouth over the blatant addition of a IchigoxOrihime scene that was so not in the manga. When I saw that screen cap from episode 167, “The Moment of Conclusion, the End of Grimmjow”, I must confess, the first thought in my head was a resounding what the hell. In the manga, during Ichigo and Grimmjow’s fight, Orihime was pissing me off by being scared of Ichigo just because he had drawn on his hollow powers.¹² Her inability to believe in her friend who had come to rescue her really irked me. Sure, at the conclusion of the fight she gets over it, but still. So seeing her and Ichigo holding hands and looking every bit the devoted couple there really threw me for a loop. Especially since I recall Ichigo picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder and essentially calling her fat³, not being romantic. Ichigo, romantic? Yeah right!

Honestly though, the little twist that the animators added doesn’t bother me at all. Yeah, I prefer IchiRuki over IchiOri, but anyone who knows me knows which is my favorite pairing for this serious - GrimmIchi! Yeah, I know, ain’t going to happen, but a girl can still drool over it right? (and subsequently drool over IchiHitsu and ByaIchi)

It is odd though to see Orihime touching Ichigo without blushing and Ichigo treating her like a girl and not just “one of the gang” that is so…twilight zone-ish.

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1. Chapter 282: The Primal Fear; pages 16, 17, 18, and 19. [↩]
2. Chapter 283: You Don’t Hurt Anymore; pages 6 and 7. [↩]
3. Chapter 286: Tooth and Nail; page 9 [↩]