IchiRuki Writer's Analysis

[@scarletink2600]

Ichiruki is such a tragic ship because for a shonen romance standard they could've been one of the best, most well-written ship ever made

[@camillesharem]

Yeah... Everything was there! Ultimately, I think it came down to Kubo mistakenly writing Ichiruki better, too many cooks behind the editing scenes, and Kubo just getting burned out to not really try at the end. Though I DO have to thank Kubo for this travesty, because it's helped me a lot with writing some of my own romantic subplots.

[@kissofarose100]

I totally agree

[@k.omorebi]

funny how for an anime that wasn't supposed to be centered on romance ironically had one of the most complex and beautiful ships in shonen history

[@camillesharem]

It is funny how that turned out! I really do believe that Kubo never intended for Ichigo and Rukia to have such amazing chemistry, but it just happened as he wrote and drew. Bleach IS all about the action. That is where the character development is had, relationships are forged, and the most plot progression is made. A true battle manga! Where a friendship was done so well, it basically became a romance.

[@terrarionaqu5262]

ichihime? yes

[@terrarionaqu5262]

@@camillesharem it was never a romance, you made it up as one thats your fault

[@RandomGuy-ci9nt]

Yes anime not manga

[@janinebelleestrada7096]

​@@terrarionaqu5262no... Their chemistry is stale and a lot of times out of pocket

[@Lisey91]

I have to admit.. I always liked Orihime better with Ishida. They seemed to compliment each in a way that her and Ichigo don’t really do.

[@camillesharem]

That makes a lot of sense. We get to see far more chemistry between Orihime and Ishida than between her and Ichigo, because those two actually work together! The only times that Ichigo and Orihime really "work together" is when she has to heal him, which really isn't teamwork. (And it's suspicious that it always takes her forever to heal him when she restores characters like Grimmjow almost instantly.) In the fight against Ywach, she only has one good moment. Orihime never really evolves beyond her one-sided crush when it comes to Ichigo, but with Ishida it feels like she's having some kind of development! On the other hand, we see clearly throughout the whole manga how Ichigo and Rukia help the other transform and grow together and independently.

[@acro9779]

nah im a orihime and ulquiorra guy

[@Lisey91]

@@acro9779 like the concept, but more for the aesthetic. The artwork when he dies reaching for her is so poignant

[@camillesharem]

@@acro9779 Excellent. That ship has a lot of great fan art!

[@lolsnez7542]

@@camillesharem ichihime has way more

[@obe1withtheforce785]

Whether or not they ended up together, nobody can deny their feelings are stronger for each other than the people they ended up with. It's silly

[@keymo9359]

i feel like renji and orihime are just their rebounds🤣🤣

[@terrarionaqu5262]

you mean their friendship feelings? not love

[@terrarionaqu5262]

@@keymo9359 if you think that you really are brain less

[@terrarionaqu5262]

ohhh you mean how a friend who thinks he is never going to see his friend again sees another one? that wasnt a look of love that was clearly sadness, "look of love" my ass you just proved you dont have friends

[@Sunaiguess7]

​@@terrarionaqu5262you people always going with the uhh no there more like siblings then lover you know you can say that for every relationship in history Naruto and Hinata and etc like dude and also when do brothers and sisters blush at each other these relationships are only shipped after most flustered and blushing showing interest like when rukia would get embarrassed and surprised when asked her feelings on Ichigo and no sibling acts like that even his own sibling you could say the same for natsu and Lucy you could for renji and rukia renji just knew rukia longer and they were childhood friends would that make them more like family since they grew up together like siblings

[@wood1066]

Ichigo and Rukia should've definitely been the pair for the final battle. Even in what was the final chapter of Bleach the last panel you see of Ichigo he was with Rukia. Unlike the NaruSaku shippers i fully understand why the IchiRuki were upset.

[@carlsalba]

So you wanted rukia to die?

[@R1IY2N]

@@carlsalbawell Orihime could’ve died aswell

[@nazunyawn]

To this day, Ichiruki still my top otp in Bleach. Still sad that they didn't end up together. 'Canon' can have their thing, but for me it's always IchiRuki. I'm gonna share a bit about my favorite quote from them. Note that I read the manga first, then watch the anime. So they started as this amazing partners who work really well together to cleanse hollows in Karakura. Then SS arc happened, Ichigo man.. REALLY determined to save Rukia. He challenged Byakuya for her sake, gained bankai for HER sake (not my words, Ichigo's). SS arc really fueled this ship good. The aftermath? We get the poetic quote from Ichigo "I remember now...the reason why I wanted to save you so much. (...) Thank you, Rukia. Because of you, the rain has stopped." where the rain symbolizes Ichigo's sadness or despair, and Rukia is the one who stopped it. Meaning: Rukia is the one who stopped Ichigo's sadness/despair. She has influence on his life, his heart, despite only being in Karakura for a short while. This quote alone is enough for me to make this ship OTP. I only ship them casually before, but after this... totally OTP. Volume poems just fueled my love for them more. "I wonder can I keep up with the speed of the world without you in it?" - Ichigo Kurosaki, volume 49. In the same volume, "Rukia hasn't come to Karakura town ever since." shows how much he missed her. To me, it's a very romantic poem. Everyone can have their different interpretations, of course, but for me, after reading all of FB arc, it's about her. Volume 54, with Rukia on the cover. "If it can be said that it is the heart that is unchanging, then that is strength.". In the same volume, Rukia thinks about Ichigo and how she said that he never changes, and he is the one who managed to change Soul Society. They have faith in each other. So yeah, I feel confused because the entire manga shows Ichigo Rukia. I can list their moments but it's gonna be a loooooooong ass list. I re-read Bleach after the last chapter, and it's still IchigoRukia. The anime, movies, character duets, etc. amplifies it, of course, but IchiRuki is always there. So poetic, so beautiful.

[@camillesharem]

It really was always them. Ichigo and Rukia were and still are the OTP for Bleach. The artwork, the scenes, the dialogue, the poetry, all of it is on another level and even makes some romance manga and anime blush. Haha!

[@reaganthai9529]

@@camillesharem dang despite how bad the bleach manga ended ichiruki is still popular as ever and will never die.

[@camillesharem]

@@reaganthai9529 Yup! It's incredible to see how much these two meant to fans generally. I really think that is part of Ichiruki's lasting legacy and beauty, how much everyone still cares about them after all these years.

[@tomscott1741]

That look Rukia gives Ichigo before she disappears made my heart melt I'm not going to lie. It was very beautiful and romantic. Ichigo and Rukia had so many great scenes together that Ichigo never had with Orihime.

[@camillesharem]

I agree. Kubo wrote them as a great couple, or at least a potential couple. That development was totally half assed with Orihime. That's why we tell people to "sculpt" their couples, don't just ship them; it makes writers lazy if they don't.

[@tomscott1741]

@@camillesharem I agree

[@chadadams]

ichigo and orihime had as equal great scnes together you dont have to lie or be bias about it

[@terrarionaqu5262]

thats a lie

[@icysnow57cold64]

I don't think the romantic type of love is special. And I am started to think that the romantic type of love isn't real. I mean about more than half of romantic couples either break up with each other or divorce each other, while most platonic best friends remain friends until death. I think that having a platonic best friend is a lot better than having a romantic partner or spouse is. Having someone who's like a sibling to you is a lot better than having a romantic partner or spouse. Also, you are more likely to be much more closer to someone who's like a brother or sister to you than you would be with a romantic partner or spouse. People tend to fight with their partner or spouse a lot more than they do with a platonic best friend, and you never fight with your best friend the way you fight with your partner or spouse. Partners and spouses are just temporary. If you break up or divorce them, it's hard to go back to them. With your platonic best friend, you're going to make things work, because they are your best friend, they are your go to partner. It's always easier to make amends with them than it is with a romantic partner or spouse. Romantic relationships are pointless, while platonic relationships are not.

[@walterlaubscherjr2011]

IchiRuki all the way they are so good together

[@camillesharem]

Always! I recently got dragged into a discussion about the ending to Bleach. It made me go back and reread the final battles of the manga and how everything comes together at the end. It's sad to say, but it still doesn't hold up, and I realized that when I first read the ending I had held out so much hope because I was certain IchiRuki would sail; it was the last good thing! Oh well... Still one of the best relationships in Shonen and they always bring a smile to my face. :)

[@tweetyah11]

One side note that gets looked past a lot is how the manga heavily makes symbols out of yin and Yang, and when Rukia’s bankai was shown it literally paralleled to Ichigo’s mugetsu. When I originally read it (back when it was released) I had a theory that the ending would somehow combine these both together to end the fight with ywach but BOY WAS I WRONG XD

[@camillesharem]

I've wondered if that was Kubo's original plan or something his editors were pushing for. That team up between Ichigo and Rukia was hinted at so freaking hard by the symbolism and even Kisuke bringing it up! But nope... We call a super lame battle for the conclusion. And I hate to say it, but Orihime proved absolutely worthless in the end, despite having a power that should have perfectly countered Ywach's!

[@Marukanitel]

​​@@camillesharemBecoming a liability afterwards to which Rukia had to babysit a wounded Orihime and let Renji and Ichigo go ahead while her and Orihime stayed back... Yeah, I'm a little piss that Rukia didn't get to have more badass moments especially against Yhwach, imagine Yhwach trying to get Ichigo steered up naming out futures that Rukia died and Ichigo couldn't protect her. The story started with the two of them and it would end in their deaths, and Ichigo would get mad and reckless and not think right or get depressed again and how they would lose and fall into Despair but Rukia would calm Ichigo then he would go Horn of Salvation and say, "Hey, Rukia." 😭 Like TYBW Arc is the definition of Missed Opportunities.

[@camillesharem]

@@Marukanitel Exactly! The story began with Ichigo and Rukia, the story should have ended with the two of them fighting back-to-back against Ywach. And remember that she just killed As Nodt, overcoming her fears. She could have that pillar to Ichigo once again, helping him to push forward, since his power according Ywach was that he pushes through all obstacles and makes the future he wants. Having Rukia's support would have evened out the battle and given us a fascinating slugfest! Not to mention the romance we wanted, but oh well...

[@reaganthai9529]

@Camille's Harem just imagined the anime does this and have the fight be ichigo and rukia vs yhwach instead rather than him with orihime. Let just say that was a very lopsided fight with ichigo losing his powers and orihime being a burden. Kisuke urahara did say he leave everything to ichigo and rukia to settle the war. Kubo did say the tybw anime was originally what he intended if it wasn't rushed but we see.

[@reaganthai9529]

@@camillesharem let not forget that during ichigo thoughts of his two most depressing moments during the fight involving losing his mother and the second not being able to protect rukia.

[@shazuchi]

I'll continue to be salty for this couple.. It's so beautiful ;-; That face that Rukia makes at the end just before she fades from Ichigo's vision.. My heart.. 😭

[@lust-sama3920]

That is not a look you give to a friend, she looked at him like she REALLY wanted to be with him but can't...

[@martinkaradjov6153]

@@lust-sama3920i mean they went trought alot of hard moments together, in my eyes they are family

[@artprincess3996]

I was re-watching Bleach and I decided to give Ichihime a chance. However, I gave up on Ichihime when Ichigo was fighting Grimmjow using his hollow mask powers. Nel has to knock some sense to her and show her how much Ichigo was doing so much for her. That's when I realized what felt so wrong about Ichihime. It's clear to see that she views Ichigo as an ideal, not as a person. The moment he shows a side of him that she doesn't approve of, she flinches away. That's why I'll always be a fan of Ichiruki. I do think the reason why Rukia is able to uplift Ichigo is because she understands and fully accepts him for who he is. Unlike Orihime, whom I don't think was able to accept him for what he is because she doesn't understand him. I think that's why he gets beaten around so much during that fight was because he was holding back because Orihime was afraid of him. I get it that she was traumatized because of her brother but based from what I've heard, she's still afraid of his hollow form several episodes later. I'm not a love expert but isn't love about accepting the person, light, dark and all? That's why Ichihime doesn't feel right for me because this pairing was never able to bypass the superficiality of it all, unlike Ichigo and Rukia. So yeah. Ichiruki all the way!

[@thepenmaster]

I lost it when there was a fight, can't remember it well now, but ichigo beat the enemy and Orihime HEALED HIM[the enemy, I mean]. I couldn't believe it 😂😂😂

[@klr9839]

that was against tsukishima and he was using his fullbring on her@@thepenmaster

[@gaminginvirinch3339]

She doesn't view him as ideal person tho you are twisting the whole situation in anime

[@terrarionaqu5262]

its clearly you didnt understood the point of that fight at all

[@artprincess3996]

⁠@@thepenmasterOMG! Now I'm annoyed again with Ichime HAHA

[@Thesilentvoice...]

I think what hurts the most is that we will never get a solid answer from kubo as to why he chose ichigo x orhime but focused SO much on ichigo x rukias relationship (unless he decides to talk thoroughly about it). It just makes no sense how everything was written way outside of what the characters wanted from the start. Uryu, chad and ichigo doing things they didn’t want to do and out of character by the end. And the whole ichkia and kazumi thing to carry on the relationship of ichigo and rukia didn’t make sense. Why not continue on with the real thing instead of pushing it onto the children? Plus it doesn’t even work because ichigo was only a human who had rukia a soul reaper unlock his powers, kazumi has all the power unlocked already and knows about the soul reapers so what purpose does ichkia have to teach him? There’s no parallels either, it only stops with ichigos parents being a parallel to ichiruki.

[@death2damari]

Kubo chose Orihime because of her tiddies.

[@reaganthai9529]

@@death2damari yeah that sounds very sexual.

[@J3rs3y_G1rl]

I like to think it was Rukia who made the choice to let Ichigo live out his life. So she agreed to Renji's proposal which in turn hurt Ichigo and prompted him to go for Orihime. Which this in turn ends up doing to Uryu what Ryuken went through with Masaki and Isshin. And circle that back into Rukia and Ichigo who are the parallel of Masaki and Isshin and it's all one big circle.

[@maymay5600]

what's so fucking funny is ichiruki art he draws up SELLS way more than ichihime

[@celestialsoldier622]

The first reply isn't wrong lmao. Around the middle of the HW Arc Orihime replaced Rukia as the main female lead and Ichigo and Rukia's interactions become EXTREAMLY limited afterward. This is also around the same time Kubo said his taste in women changed to like bigger breasts which is why Yourichi's breasts got x10 bigger in that arc. So yeah, yeah, big tits is why Orihime won.

[@MaxsRandomBS]

Rukia and Ichigo always looks so cute together, both very serious but both can also be idiots at times. It's kinda sad that their ship isn't official, but they'll still be the best ship in bleach, I love their dynamics

[@lolsnez7542]

They are best friends, his dymamic with orihime is better

[@idstayaway9992]

Nah ​@@lolsnez7542

[@michaelp3609]

I think there's a reason the ship never died in the fandom and is by far the most popular to this day. Kubo's intention or not he basicly gave nothing to Orihime and gave rukia everything, Colour spreads, ichigo literal saying how he couldn't keep up with the speed of the world without rukia, how he almost dropped everything to go find rukia before ulquiorra showed up and here's a little nugget of info since i see this argument alot from people. Ichigo didn't go vastolord to save Orihime, White did that to save his life and with all that put together no shit a majority of fans gravitated toward Ichiruki.

[@camillesharem]

That last point about White was such a cool reveal. Part of the reason why I loved the last arc until the last few chapters was that it put so much into context. And even in the last arc, in the final fight, Orihime was given only one good moment to shine and was then taken out like a punk. We learned nothing new about her character, there was no bubble moment between her and Ichigo, and we only got her gushing, crush perspective on the fight and nothing from Ichigo other than "Yo." Which really doesn't match up in any way with the "Yo" he gave to Rukia. That first reveal was so well earned! Yeah... Kubo just gave Rukia all the good scenes and didn't do Orihime any favors. Which is I tell other writers to carefully plan out the couples they want in their stories and don't just ship them thinking that it will work out.

[@michaelp3609]

@@camillesharem for me blood war started to fall off during the half way point. We started getting a bunch of drawn out fights that didn’t need to be nearly as long such as the constant one ups-menship of Gerard valkyrie which I still shiver about to this day. As times gone on I’ve learned about the issues Kubo faced with his health which I genuinely sympathies with but he definitely didn’t do himself any favours with what he chose to focus on with the time he had and also just figure Kubo probably had not realised the amount of mixed singles he was sending due to how normally he is cut and dry with what emotionally conclusion we should be coming to with character connections.

[@michaelp3609]

@@camillesharem I also do love who White actually is since it puts everything into perspective he really does love ichigo.

[@camillesharem]

@@michaelp3609 I held out hope until the very last chapter. There was a lot of stuff I didn't like, but I love Bleach so freaking much and I think Kubo is a great storyteller and artist when he's on point. I wish he had taken a break and pulled a Kentaro Muira. "I'm releasing it when it's done!" But unfortunately, he was in a dark place and completing the story was his light at the end of the tunnel. I sincerely hope that the anime takes the opportunity to shore things up, shorten what needs to be, and make the additions necessary to help the ending land way better.

[@camillesharem]

@@michaelp3609 White is the real MVP!

[@skysailor-]

You hit every single point. I’ve never been much of a shipper but Ichigo and Rukia’s chemistry is so apparent that it was impossible for me to ignore. My heart still aches for the final ending 💔

[@camillesharem]

Theirs was a truly amazing relationship. My shipper's heart got over it long ago, but the writer in me and the fan of Bleach that I am can't help mourn what could have been.

[@carloskingdomh]

he didnt even hit a cow with a needle

[@Bananalord_error]

Hitting a cow with a needle is harder than you think Depending on the distance​@@carloskingdomh

[@carloskingdomh]

@@Bananalord_error no it isnt

[@lolalouiseee]

Ichiruki was one of the first ships that introduced me into shipping back in 2012. Ichigo and Rukia's dynamic and relationship was so fleshed out. It was literally the best boy/girl dynamic I've ever read in shounen manga and the reasons were highlighted in this video. It seems to be a theme for mangakas to pair the main characters up with the female side character who likes them while they never show romantic interest in at all. I truly dont understand the appeal of it. And honestly, I really think Kubo went with Ichihime in the end, because he wanted a continuation of Ichigo and Rukia's story through their kids. And even if the anime adds in moments for ichihime to seem more believable, it wont be satisfying because he couldve done so more in the Hueco Mundo arc. That was her retrieval arc, he should've put in more effort in developing their relationship there when he didnt have the stress or the time constraints on him to deliver the ending. He literally failed to create legitimate mutual chemistry between them, unlike ichigo and rukia. I completely agree with you though! Despite them not ending up together, there hasnt been a couple that has come close to ichiruki's connection.

[@camillesharem]

I agree, the trope of the guy and gal getting together with the least chemistry is something that aggravates me. It comes out of nowhere with no build up. And I also agree that Kubo wants to continue their story through their kids. The most recent Hell Arc chapter totally tries to tap into that old energy, but Ichigo and Rukia will always be #1! And yeah, in my own stories, I try really hard to avoid the mistakes that were made with Ichiruki. So, I will thank Kubo for that! And also for inspiring so much amazing artwork inspired by Ichigo and Rukia!

[@lolalouiseee]

@Dawid Stawowski Yep! And also remember how Ulquiorra even pointed out that even though Ichigo went to Hueco Mundo to save her, he wasn't 100% sure that she wasnt a traitor.

[@camillesharem]

@@lolalouiseee Ichigo is the best friend in the whole squad, so he'd always be there for Orihime. He honestly cares about everyone close to him. But when he ditched to go and save Rukia, that was a shocking turn of events! It proves two things: 1. Ichigo was confident enough to turn his back and come later to kick Ulquiorra's butt. 2. Ichigo cares so much about Rukia, he'll drop a mission to save her, just like he took on the entire freaking Soul Society without any clue of anything just to save her!

[@lolalouiseee]

@@camillesharem Exactly! Its actually really funny, because Kubo had Orihime get taken to Hueco Mundo to parallel the Soul Society arc and what it really showed was the difference in urgency and desperation. Ichigo never once faltered or turned his back on his mission to save Rukia, while he did so in Hueco Mundo many times - in the beginning when he wasted time not trying to split up because he was worried about Rukia and didnt want her going alone, when he turned his back on Ulquiorra to save Rukia and even said he had no reason to fight him and only fought him because Ulquiorra provoked him (even then he was still in a hurry to end the fight to get to Rukia), and lastly when he even stated that one of the biggest reasons he wanted to go Hueco Mundo is to fight Grimmjow to make up for his prior defeat.

[@camillesharem]

@@lolalouiseee You put it perfectly! All of these details really let down any buildup to Ichihime. Bleach is honestly a Shonen battle story that taps into the old samurai philosophies of understanding yourself and others through combat. I really like Bleach for that and how Ichigo grows and establishes himself throughout the series. However, the sprinkled bits of romance shine through all the more because of it, and those little gleaming nuggets all pointed to Ichiruki.

[@monostar7]

considering that it's a shonen anime it's amazing how well the relationship between a man and a woman was portrayed, in the form of ichiruki. you don't see that often in shonen. their bond was amazing and i agree that not everything has to be romantic and that this is a shonen anime but regardless of that a writer should be able to write multiple genres into an overarching story. romance doesn't have to be the center but the way ichiruki was portrayed was nothing short of a relationship that gave all the signs of an endgame couple. they were well developed and full of meaning, unlike the much more poorly done ichihime and renruki. ichigo, a newbie shinigami, turned THE SOUL SOCIETY upside down to save her. i feel like the ichihime ending was a disservice to something that had been developing for years and was very strong, but ultimately got pushed away like nothing in favor of safety that a generic couple brings. tite kubo majorly fumbled the bag with ichiruki, the beating heart of bleach, the black sun and white moon.

[@stryperwolf1723]

All of you who ship ichiruki dont realise after SS arc that they both barely even interacted with each other. The only short amount of time they were a bit together was at the start of the arrancar arc. And even that wasnt much. TYBW they both had maybe 5 panels with each other. Rukia herself even shiped ichigo and orihime.

[@camillesharem]

It's clear from everything Kubo himself has said that he wasn't very good at writing romance. In many ways, Ichigo and Rukia's intense relationship was a mistake, however he did it so well that it has stuck with fans long after the series came to an end. And really, mere shipping doesn't produce that. I have been in the shipping community for a while and I have seen them come and go, but Ichiruki stays strong. Why? Because Kubo, either wittingly or not, wrote an amazing couple that built each other up. Rukia and Renji reconciled off screen and had buddy moments until the last few chapters. Orihime's advances were always so one-sided. Even reading the manga, all the visual and dialogue cues were for Ichigo to reciprocate were missing. And yet whenever he and Rukia were together there was chemistry like crazy! That is something hard to forget.

[@reaganthai9529]

@@camillesharem this is why I don't get involved and argue with people who disagree with ichiruki. We can all make valid points with good evidence and people who ship ichigo and orihime will have their own perspective and be biased. It's like they can't admit that kubo wrote all these beautiful color spreads, love poems, and great chemistry between ichigo and rukia.

[@camillesharem]

@@reaganthai9529 Exactly. There are lots of people who have commented on this video, arguing that anybody who likes this ship is dumb and didn't read Bleach. Well, no amount of arguing will change their opinions. It's better to simply express what you enjoy and why, and carry on conversations with those who are willing to have intelligent or positive discussions. The fact that this video also has hundreds of comments from people saying how much this relationship meant to them is telling enough of Ichiruki's impact and worth on Bleach's fans. :)

[@reaganthai9529]

@@camillesharem remember when you mentioned yhwach said he would come back to kill everyone when they are at their happiest moment? Woundt that mean all that happens with the bad ending was a result of ichigo sacrificing his happiness to ensure that everyone would be saved from yhwach. That would ensure ichigo was being very selfless by being unhappy as to never let the bad guys harm everyone ever again. This would even mean him sacrificing his love for rukia and keeping his friends and family safe.

[@kikibadger]

9:24 "this goes against everything Kubo was setting up" EXACTLY. With the parallels between IchiRuki and Ichigo's parents, it was obvious what Kubo was doing...right up until the last arc. Not to mention that Ichigo and Rukia got several colorspreads by Kubo of just them two together, one of which was popularly dubbed the "honeymoon spread" by the IR fandom at the time. You know, the one with Ichigo and Rukia lounging on a beach together with a bottle in a bucket of ice between the two of them. Oh, as well as Kubo's comment regarding the movie Fade to Black in which he recommended people take their girlfriends to see it. Yeah...IR fans had nothing to go on, huh.... Anyway, snark aside, love the vid. Your commentary and the supplemental images concisely describe my feelings surrounding the pairing debacle. Edit: oops, gotta correct myself, it wasn't Kubo who made that comment. That comment was indeed made, but I can't even remember who it was, but it was someone involved in the production.

[@camillesharem]

Wonderfully summed up here! EVERYTHING pointed to Ichigo and Rukia getting together. Orihime's affections were always on-sided, even in the final arc. When Ichigo showed his final transformation to her, I took it as coming full circle with her coming to terms with who he was, and then there was the seriously ham-fisted part where Renji basically says that thanks to Ichigo he and Rukia can get together. And my response was, "What? When did any of this happen?" If it was Kubo's original intent to get Ichigo and Orihime together, he did a very poor job of it. His story gravitated towards Ichigo and Rukia. He admitted he loved drawing them together, but he didn't have to draw so many romantic scenes. And that was all him! Not his editors! The animators and showrunners at Pierrot were so convinced that Ichiruki was endgame that they unabashedly created all those filler episodes heavily hinting at the pairing. And then Fade to Black was Kubo's approved love letter to the two, highlighting so much of what makes their relationship the heart of Bleach. My personal opinion of what happened behind the scenes is that Bleach began slipping in popularity because the final arc's battles started getting nonsensical, even for Bleach. It was hard to care about many of the Sternritter, which was a hallmark of the war with the Arrancars because we came to know and care about the struggles of these villainous characters. However, that was totally lacking for the Sternritter, and I think the anime has been so long in the coming because the showrunners are desperately trying to fix Kubo's mistakes on that front (I hope!). As a result, Kubo started to doubt himself and feel the full pressure of being a successful mangaka. And rather than pull a Kentaro Muira and say he was going on a hiatus to make the story better, he struggled to get to the end. And that's when the letter arrived from the dying fan who pleaded with him to end the manga the way he wanted. And that's when Kubo returned to the OG story ideas he had, and rushed the ending so he could jump to other stories he was dreaming about. As an author myself, I can totally see where Kubo is coming from, even if I am nowhere near as famous or successful as him with all the responsibilities that come with it. However, I don't agree with it. I stopped writing an entire book in part because I realized that one of the central relationships wasn't going to work out, and it needed to for future plot and character developments. I could have written it otherwise, and to be honest, the alternative for one character was a lot of fun, but it wasn't where I needed the story to go. As the gardener of my own story, I need to tend and trim where necessary. I'm still working on that book in a roundabout way to make it work, refining the core relationship so it can be what it needs to be and not force the character to love someone they wouldn't. Simply put, Kubo very early on discovered the powerful relationship between Ichigo and Rukia and ran with that instead of his original plans, but when things got tough, he relapsed to the original script and forced something he's never set up, screwing up the ending to one of the most popular and influential manga of its time. Hahaha! It's a wonder I kept this video to under 20 minutes... Thanks for reading this rant!

[@kikibadger]

@@camillesharem I agree with all of this! And no worries, rant away, it's been years since I've been able to talk about this with someone! I was going to mention that too, how even if the IR storyline got away from him, Kubo literally did not have to shower them with so much attention that the IH relationship never got. I remember back when I was super in the fandom, people had also compiled screenshot lists of tweets Kubo had favorited where the poster gushed over IchiRuki. Like, I"m not an author and I'm trying to understand what it's like for a plotline to escape your grasp, but Kubo himself really seemed to like IR. Another thing I wanted to mention was how the Ulquiorra fight was a foil to the Byakuya one. At the end of the Byakuya fight, Ichigo shouts with joy at having won and haves a tender moment with the "princess" he saved at the end of the Soul Society Arc. Compare that to the Lust Arc where Ichigo becomes a creature acting from his basest instincts in which he injures Ishida, and probably would have blasted Orihime to bits if Ulqui hadn't jumped back into the fray. Orihime screaming for him to save her makes no sense either, given she was never in direct danger from Ulqui. I think that in itself shows that when Ichigo was around, her instinct was to cry for help from him. Not a jab at her, but rather I think that shows how unhealthy that dynamic was. And so the fight ends with Ichigo yelling, "I didn't want to win like this!" and offering to let Ulqui cut off his arm and leg. Is that what a hero's fight is supposed to look like? And then the mini arc ends with the "princess" having a tender moment with another character, further developing a ship that was already hugely popular at the time. Anyway, thanks for reading this rant too. As much as we lament the ending of the series, I guess these rants show how much of an impact Bleach had on us as fans.

[@camillesharem]

@@kikibadger It's always fun to read a great rant! And it's true what you say, Bleach has meant so much to many of its fans. Its influence and popularity are clear to see by how hyped people are getting for the continuation in both anime and manga forms. It's just sad that the main storyline got so wonky at the end. And as for Kubo letting the story get away from him, as an author you go in the direction that is the most fun and most fulfilling to write. And you can tell he was having a blast with Ichigo and Rukia together. That's undeniable from all the art he did. And I have to agree with the Ulquiorra fight. I never thought of it as a foil to the Byakuya fight before, but that really makes a lot of sense! And for Ichigo, it sets him on a path of uncertainty and self-discovery which is crucial to the finale against Aizen. Again, like I said in the video, it's really more about him than it is about his relationship with Orihime. And just as you said here, it is a foil to the ending as well, where he has a great reunion with Rukia, having saved the day, but here he leaves Orihime with Ishida and goes to continue the war. The lovely symmetry between him and his parents is obviously missing here. And really, you can tell that Kubo is trying to have his cake and eat it too by setting up Kazui and Ichika right from the get-go to get together. Hahaha! Sorry man, but you sailed that Ichihime ship and sank Ichiruki. You can't go back on that. Anyway, despite the way the Thousand Year Blood War ended, I am still excited to see what they do in the anime and I'm hoping that Burn the Witch and the Hell Arc end up being great. Maybe by taking regular breaks, Kubo can show us everything that he is made of! And I'll content myself with beautiful Ichiruki art and fanfics.

[@lolsnez7542]

@@camillesharem TLDR you didnt pay attention to the series at all

[@lolsnez7542]

@@kikibadger you do realize both of you are wrong right?

[@gdelospalotes]

It’s 2024 and I’m still crying over our sunken ship, thank you for expressing gracefully the pain that it was to read that ending. I’m running to your fic right away 👀 let’s keep ichiruki alive ❤

[@camillesharem]

Thanks! It was definitely one of my older, rougher works, but it was fun to make a story that gave Ichiruki a chance and played around with a few other aspects. And to give Ichigo a proper, BIG finale.

[@carlsalba]

why it was a pain? it seemed like a normal ending the worst part was the rushing of the end

[@TheSilviepie]

In hindsight I do think Kubo created Orihime as the token "love interest" from the getgo but she and IchiHime are sadly underdeveloped. I also believe him when he said he planned the ending with Ichika and Kazui from the start. I just think by nature of being the protagonists, IchiRuki ended up developing natural chemistry that surpassed what Kubo originally planned. This frequently happens to writers - when characters start coming alive and start writing the story themselves. If you force an ending or plot point against what the characters would naturally do, it can feel very jarring and out of character to the readers. The same thing happened with the end of Attack on Titan (except arguably 10x worse).

[@camillesharem]

I 100% agree with this statement right here.

[@carloskingdomh]

@@camillesharem that just translates to we are both wrong here

[@carloskingdomh]

ichihime is fully developed and orihime is more than a token love interest, seriously learn to read

[@illmatic2245]

@@carloskingdomh It’s quite literally the opposite it’s regressive development given it retcons Orihime’s character arc entirely and reduces her to being a static character… she’s fundamentally no different from the beginning of the series than she is at the end because Kubo decided to get rid of the whole “strive for independence” aspect of her character arc. He could’ve DONE this and shown her reasoning was wrong but we never fully saw that realized and instead she was reduced to being stagnant and serving no major purpose other than for the main character to be catalyzed into a state of romance at the end, which isn’t good writing given a lot of Bleach is centric around her dynamic with Ichigo and how she grows but fundamentally she doesn’t and instead shows progression via external events rather than having introspective moments or any internal development. And it’s a damn shame a character like Orihime was reduced to that shit and I blame Japanese shonen tropes and publishers for it completely. You can like Ichihime for aesthetic purposes, you can like it because you like Orihime as a character hell I know I do But it’s not good writing it’s the exact opposite of good, it reduces a character and destroys progression in return you get Wattpad romance novels Kubo didn’t even produce himself and that’s how you know HE KNEW he fucked up. So when you say she isn’t a token love interest yep I agree… too bad *Kubo* didn’t. You don’t even have to be IchiRuki to see that.

[@Funky_Student]

​@Illmatic™️ I absolutely agree. I don't have a problem with Ichihime but it's not a well written romance.

[@chahinezsellam276]

I do remember orihime saying that she want to be the rain in ichigo's life Even though we all know that ichigo hate ther rain and the one who stopped the rain in his heart was rukia Not only that in the last arc rukia was quick to figure out that ichigo was hiding his sadness behind a happy face but orihime actually believed that he was happy after talking to him At this point I think tite Kubo is bipolaire Sorry for my bad English

[@camillesharem]

No problem, you expressed your thoughts very well! And you're also 100% correct! Orihime actively seeks what hurts Ichigo. On this channel we try to avoid shipping wars when we talk about different ships. This is why I didn't launch into all the evidence that clearly labels Orihime as a very, very bad match for Ichigo., Rukia is the light to his life, the one to pull him out of depression, the one who motivates him, and the one he's shown the closest thing to love besides his family. The evidence is all there that Ichigo and Rukia were the better match, but Kubo went for something else entirely. It's his story, he can do what he wants. But that doesn't mean it was a good choice for the characters. And that is a bitter pill that all writers MUST swallow at some point. Just because we like what we're writing for our characters, doesn't mean that it's the right thing to do to and for them!

[@chahinezsellam276]

@@camillesharem you are totally right The multiverse's thoery makes me so happy Thank you so much

[@camillesharem]

@@chahinezsellam276 You're welcome! It's an explanation that makes me very happy, too. As it does the Ichigo and Rukia who are happily married somewhere out there.

[@belovedxx5283]

@@camillesharemthat multi-verse thing made me a bit happier ngl 😭 in some other universe they did end up together that’s my hc

[@camillesharem]

@@belovedxx5283 Same here. And I am okay with that. I was silly and wrote my own ending for Ichigo and Rukia, though I went with what Ywach said and spun it so it wasn't the happiest ending for them, but it was one where they could be together and could be happy. And sometimes, that is more than enough.

[@AJ-zg1nq]

Ichiruki is and yes, I mean is the best pairing in the shonen history. Period.

[@sebastianortega1851]

La mejor wtf?

[@thebatofbloodandfire]

​@@sebastianortega1851 the best in fiction ngl

[@sebastianortega1851]

@@thebatofbloodandfire ichiruki fanservice y relleno del anime, en el manga sus momentos son de amistad e incluso fraternal, su fandom son los que nterpretan romance con sus escenas, cuando no hay nada de ello y como no olvidar la estupidez de su comunidad al desacreditarle al mismo autor con el tema de Riruka cuando realmente se ve aleguas que ella salvó a Ichigo y no Rukia como esa porquería de comunidad tóxica se quiere hacerse creer e inventándose cosas absurdas para enaltecer su frustrado shipp, prueba de ello es este video , pero bueno no pienso perder mi tiempo discutiendo por este video , que es fácil desbaratarlo. Bye

[@marisakirisame2366]

kzbin.infozuYtsHIJwlk?feature=share

[@Black_Dragon_Official_Channel]

Facts, they feel like an actual real life couple

[@xandersmith3006]

I am fine with Ichigo and Orihime as a couple, I am sad that I feel the need to preface this lol, but I will always prefer Ichigo with Rukia. The thing that a lot of times happens is people do not like to acknowledge that we all view things differently do to a variety of factors, such as interest or preferences, so two people will have widely different interpertations. My view on the couples have bleach have changed as I grew older and I got either more experience as a person or the ability to consider different possibilties, so I am going to give my view on why I don't think these two got together. I think the big thing is that while I am sure that Kubo wanted to have Ichigo and Orihime get together at the start has some level of truth to it, Ichigo and Rukia by Kubo's own writing had a super special connection his own words being more than friends less than lovers. And I think he got engrossed in that relationship even if Rukia kinda faded into the background, but she was always a really big deal to Ichigo when she'd reappear. I think the biggest thing that highlights this to me that Rukia and Ichigo always had the potential to be together was how every major arc ends with the two saying goodbye, my favorite one is still the fullbring arc one cause Ichigo acknowledges that the two will see each other again. Like a lot of people here meantioned, Rukia changed Ichigo, "She cleared the rain." She saved him, in a great parallel to Misaki and Isshin, she was there to set him back to where he need to be when he started to lose his way in manners that no one else can accomplish like she can. Now the crux of my point, if we are being realistic and talking about if these characters were to make decisions in character, why would they not be in a relationship? I think it comes down to the 17? month timeskip between Ichigo losing his powers and getting them back. As I said earlier they are described as more than friends but not lovers, so I think this is what real cemented the couples, Ichigo was depressed missing his powers, his friends, and Rukia someone who he thought he would never be able to see again.... literally. So he starts to move on, and kinda the same with Rukia, was there always something there with Renji? Kinda but no more than with Ichigo and Orihime. So they start to move on with the Idea that this option isn't on the table, another comment on here talks about how Rukia and Ichigo are best friends but she doesn't tell him about the wedding with Renji and how it is like she is trying to confine them to their respective worlds in a sense, and that makes a lot of sense to me after giving up on the possibility and trying to move on, there is reason you shouldn't invite an ex to your wedding. There is this concept called revertigo, the idea is that when you are around people from your past that you start acting like how you did during that relationship, so while they aren't exes I could see the Idea being you don't want old feeling to spring up. Bleach loves to depict their relationship, it is the most important in the series, I think that while it grew this way because Kubo got so invested in his story that he strayed from the original idea that for their characters and how the series progressed it does make sense even though my inner shipper wants them together lol, with all the art, the moments, the parallels, etc... It speaks of a romance that just never had the right moment to kick off in a sense. There is the whole coping of Kubo changing the ending for the anime so the two get together, while I don't think this will ever happen, especially cause the hell arc being a thing, I will laugh my ass off if it does lol. This ended up being a lot longer than what I was expecting when I started typing, so anyone reading hope you have a great day and enjoyed my late night thoughts lol. Tldr: They just never had the moment for that ship to sail even thought I believe it was always a possibility

[@camillesharem]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and it's a very mature approach to the whole debate. And also applicable to what happens in real life. Hahaha! I know that from firsthand experiences. There will always be something special to Ichigo and Rukia, and while the anime will likely not change the manga's ending, this was something I had to get off my chest. And it makes me happy to see a lot of other IchiRuki shippers deal with the topic maturely and respectfully. :)

[@blackpearl6189]

It's like right people at the wrong time

[@ladylegion93-]

No matter what ichiruki will be forever regardless blood arc...

[@camillesharem]

That's the truth!

[@ladylegion93-]

@@camillesharem like you said i am gonna respect how the series turned out however it will never really make sense to me. I'll just go on fan fiction and read ichiruki some more I guess lol

[@lolsnez7542]

Thats false

[@alexielknight]

I felt a little heartbroken when it became clear that Ichiruki wont happen. But it hightened my mood to see that their relationship stayed the most important one until the very end. They end up with other partners, but the series always focused on Ichigo and Rukia a lot more. Even in the last chapter, where everyone comes together, there is more interaction between Ichigo and Rukia than there is between Ichigo and Orihime or Rukia and Renji. There is also potential to give Ichiruki fans a similar relationship in a sequel about their kids, Ichika and Kazui. But I doubt thats every gonna happen...

[@camillesharem]

I agree. Bleach always comes back to Ichigo and Rukia. Theirs is the most important relationship, no matter how you look at it. And I think Kubo is going to give the fans IchiRuki 2.0 with their kids. He heavily telegraphed Ichika's feelings in the newest arc. Now, will he proceed and finish either the Hell Arc or Burn the Witch? That is the big question!

[@kingjalon7591]

Honestly Ichigo was paired with orihime because of her rack and ditzy personality. Rukia was there with Ichigo through the thick and thin and they had a good teasing relationship together, and challenged each other for the better. Renji x rukia makes no sense to me. He liked her as a kid, then when he's first introduced into the story he stabs her and is laughing while trying to kill her... Then without apology he transitions into this guy who deeply cares for her.....no.

[@camillesharem]

Your observations are 100% spot on! One of my best friends who got me into Bleach back in 2011 told me that Ichigo and Orihime were going to end up together because Orihime had an impossible rack and was dumber than a blonde. Like you wrote, I wouldn't have believed this ending back then, even with her accurate rediction, but Ichigo and Rukia had amazing chemistry, the Ichihime moments didn't even stay with me they were so one-sided and bland most of the time, and we never got any hint of a growing romance between Renji and Rukia after all the crap he put her through. And honestly, there are a ton of other reasons! That's why Bleach has given me a lot to chew on when it comes to writing my own stories and their romantic subplots. There are a couple of stories where I think it would be fun to have a faceoff like Ichiruki and Ichihime, but then I remember how miserably it went for Kubo. And if I want two characters to end up together for real, it should be well developed, well plotted, and apparent throughout the story.

[@carloskingdomh]

ichigo and orihime always had a better relationship and were for each other as well, i think you are just in denial

[@sebastianortega1851]

​​@@camillesharem estar en negación no siempre es bueno y entiendo que te pueda gustar el shipp ichiruki pero eso no quita que entre ellos nunca hubo algún gesto o indicio de que se gustarán, nunca hubo nerviosismo o sonrojamiento que dijera " ellos se gustan" , hasta incluso en Naruto había demostraciones más afectivas románticas por parte Naruto hacia Sakura. Te podría dar miles de ejemplos que pasa en otras series en donde pasa exactamente lo mismo pero sería alargar mi comentario. A lo que voy es que el autor ya te planteaba desde un inicio cual iba a ser la relación de ichigo ya sea con Rukia u Orihime.

[@k1saragi24]

OH THANK GOD I'M NOT CRAZY... I actually cannot believe there's someone else who thinks the same about Renji. I've always hated him because of that atrocious change in attitude. But wanna know what's worse than Renji? Fucking Byakuya who almost gets killed by Ichigo so he could execute Rukia with his own bare hands (his words not mine) and then 10 minutes later protects her from Gin Ichimaru. Like wtf. I've also never been a fan of how the Karakura town group just becomes besties with the Soul Society all of a sudden. Byakuya should've died in that fight imo because his relationship with Rukia was I dare say abusive even. His death would mark an end of an era for Rukia so she could go back to Karakura town and be with Ichigo. Personally I would leave Renji alive to serve as a recurring rival for Ichigo and have him eventually fall off later in the story.

[@delandoneal8941]

@@k1saragi24 yeah I still haven't forgive those two. It makes me very mad that useless anime characters get what they want and not the main characters

[@TheRealHerbaSchmurba]

I honestly never saw Ichigo and Rukia as being relationship potential because of Ichigo. I’m not gonna lie Ichigo’s attitude comes off highly asexual. He doesn’t seem to be romantically interested in anyone. He treats everyone very platonically, even when he is being nurturing like teaching her how to skate, yoh never see his heart flutter, and its more like he’s teaching a visiting friend things about his culture to be a good escort. He is polite witb everyone regardless. For Rukia I could see her liking Ichigo more over time especially when she was joking about how he couldnt see her anymore. She respects Ichigo, and when a woman respects you it’s easier for them to like you. But from Ichigo’s side it never seems like he wants anything like that.

[@harabuuu2592]

💯

[@phiuzu5487]

While I'm not against asexuality since I highly support asexuality but Ichigo doesn't actually come across that way. That guy was blushing and behaving madly when seeing a naked Yoruichi and Rangiku seducing her. As for treating everyone platonically, I can agree except his relationship with Rukia. Dude literally said stuff such as whether he would be able to keep up with the speed of the world without Rukia.

[@TheRealHerbaSchmurba]

@@phiuzu5487 i dont see how your second paragraph suggests anything outside of a platonic relationship. You dont have to be romantically involved with someone for their absence to affect you

[@phiuzu5487]

@@TheRealHerbaSchmurba must be because of the fact we are arguing for different perspectives on a matter which is very subjective. Though if I were to explain further behind why you accept your reasoning I would give answers such as because you are viewing from an approach that is restricted to only platonic aspects. Same how you thought Ichigo was being very asexual towards others. If you want to be fair from a neutral side, at best you can argue that it can be either viewed as a very strong platonic or romantic form of remark as it is not by default very clear which one exactly. Another thing, I'm not saying that you restricting the view of your approach to only platonic forms of relationship is what entirely determines your disagreement of my view. Even if you understood my opinion doesn't necessarily mean you'll accept it. People can reach different conclusions on the same matter even including this one. I think I should've mentioned from the start that both of us are being very subjective and worded my response differently though weirdly enough, I realized that late Since we are approaching from two different viewpoints and I'm clarifying it is subjective, I think I'll elaborate more on why it is the case. For example, I can argue that there's a massive difference between "you don't have to be romantically involved with someone for their absence to affect you" and "their absence is affecting you within romantic aspects in this context given how their relationship has been built"...the latter approach which I justify as I find that view more reasonable. Any different view can be taken on the matter considering the justifications as it is not very clear and the justifications for those views will be derived from different mindsets and approaches. And that's where I'll leave it at that. Anyways I won't bother with much more detailed justifications for my viewpoint as I don't think it's necessary in this context

[@Thesilentvoice...]

I feel ichigo is more shy/a prude. When yoruichi was naked before him he blushed and looked away flustered. There was also a moment where rangiku unbuttoned her skirt and he peep through his hands pretending not to look. That shows he likes girls. Also throughout bleach he’d have moments staring at rukia (vice versa) where neither of them would speak but the romantic tension was there (this happened before she disappeared after he lost his powers, before he left hueco mundo to fake karakura town, after she gave him his powers back, etc).

[@delandoneal8941]

I'm just sick of that fact that all of main characters of the shonen jump always end up with weaker person

[@lolsnez7542]

Orihihime is in no way weak liar

[@delandoneal8941]

@@lolsnez7542 prove it

[@reaganthai9529]

​@domainhami5253 and after that orihime and ichigo got their asses kicked

[@accountngpagmamahal]

Thank you for this. Ichiruki was too good for Bleach...they were too good for kubo 🙂

[@camillesharem]

You're welcome! And I absolutely agree! Ichigo and Rukia were too good for the botched ending. And I think that's why Kubo is continuing the series... He going to give us pseudo IchiRuki through the thier children.

[@camillesharem]

@Dawid Stawowski I would love for it to be confirmed that this is just an alternate timeline, the one that Ywach went to destroy, and there exists another canon timeline where Ichigo and Rukia got together. That's a real problem with separate timelines, though. They can come across as having your cake and eating it too, pleasing everyone. But that isn't always the case. That can work brilliantly if you strongly teased the 'what if's', like in the Wheel of Time books. However, even a separate canon timeline where Ichihime won out when there was so little concrete evidence that it would have happened is like purposefully giving a kid a dry cookie. I see it as insincere and a half-baked story idea. And that's why I think Kubo is determined to take his time with Burn the Witch and Hell Verse this time around, so he can actually deliver on the stories that he really wants to tell and not screw up like he did by rushing Bleach.

[@raht9578]

@Dawid Stawowski bro you are coping hard

[@lolsnez7542]

@Dawid Stawowski and thats why you are delusional

[@lolsnez7542]

@@camillesharem the ending wasnt botched

[@JustOct69]

God, if Kubo actually made a movie for specifically romance (the last Naruto style) we know how it would actually end anyways currently ichiruki is way to powerful of a ship for a series that lacks romance lol

[@camillesharem]

True! For a series that is far more about the battles and the character development explored through old-style, samurai duels, romance always took a backseat. And I was honestly okay with that! But Ichiruki came across so clearly that I didn't even question it would magically become cannon until the last few chapters premiered. It makes me wonder if Studio Pierrot has haggled with Kubo about this relationship. It's hard to figure out why they've sat on the series for so many years to only now rev it up and adapt the final arc. I personally think Ichiruki was a sticking point.

[@monicacreator3168]

*cough* *cough* Fade to Black *cough* *cough*

[@camillesharem]

@@monicacreator3168 Bingo! Which makes the ending to the whole series even more strange because Kubo totally bought into Ichiruki for that movie!

[@aliefalyansyah5996]

If kubo made a romance movie or chapter it's probably about ichihime or renruki

[@aliefalyansyah5996]

@@camillesharem i personaly think it's marketing strategy, the studio know how popular ichiruki is and they want to profit from that some scene is change completely from the manga to add more ichiruki moments and in the filler arc the studio add even more ichiruki moment. The most popular one and closest to romantic one is the skatting scene at the end of the reigai arc. Kubo rarely involve with filler and the studio have the freedom to do what they want with the anime but not the manga and that was is consider canon at the end. Including also all of the light novel that have kubo involvement like can't fear your own world and we do knot always love you. The bleach anime is returning and kubo is involve in the tybw anime to add more scene since he is sick and have to end bleach prematurely at the time. So we just see will there be more ichiruki scene or kubo just add what he think is the missing scene from the manga and that include the canon couple romantic development for each other.

[@tifa2733]

"Respect the Canon." Me: FUCK CANON! Also me: *Strangles Canon behind Denny's*

[@camillesharem]

Hahaha! Given how abrupt and bad the canon ending was, I can totally respect this.

[@snekz341]

heck i will never respect that shit

[@mimin123fan]

no literally i ship ichiruki till I DIE

[@TK-gu8ov]

*Miguel's theme plays*

[@starflatinum244]

Hell, I say literally any ships that involves Ichigo in it, wether its a minor ship or fans-made, is FAR better than those of what happens in the canon ending. IchiRuki is one of those ships.

[@M3rtyville]

Ichigo's son kinda looks creepy...

[@camillesharem]

Hahaha! Well, it looks like Kubo is going to make IchiRuki happen vicariously through Ichigo's son and Rukia's daughter.

[@GayProphetMuhammad]

Ichigo's son with Orihime got Orihime vibes. He looks dumb just like Orihime. 😁

[@Besru9h]

​@@camillesharem that is the most disturbing thing I've ever heard

[@asiajordan3206]

yeah he looks like he would be a kid who'd send ya to the corn field

[@tyforestreacts]

Like, I'm fine with Ichihime and Renruki. There's some decent stuff with them, but at the end of the day, both ships only got the crumbs of what Ichiruki already had.

[@camillesharem]

And that's honestly a crime. Kubo did a disservice to those couples and their dynamics by not properly building them up and giving so much good artwork, panels, and plot points to Ichigo and Rukia.

[@carloskingdomh]

ichiruki never had anything

[@eeteukkie]

Ditto to every one of your justifications. I was also conflicted about the end pairs because iciruki development was so slow and organic and shaped them to become better forms of themselves 💕

[@carloskingdomh]

ichihime had that actually and all his justifications were wrong

[@reaganthai9529]

@@carloskingdomh no it didn't and quit commenting on every ichiruki video. Keep your comments to yourselves please

[@mia3033]

..and you chose to disregard ichihime grew as well? Prefer what you want but dont be hypocritical abt it

[@Neno-zb1ci]

funny how only thing i ever see ichihime fans do is dogpile on ichiruki fans and say how much they love the ship without even once mentioning why its well written while ichiruki fans make college 20 page essays breaking down bleach's themes, chrctrs, dynamics and destiny to prove why they personally thing ichiruki might have been a better option

[@camillesharem]

It is like that roughly 95% of the time. I've had great conversations with a few Ichihime shippers in the comments for this video, but most others are trolls or looking to dogpile because one ship canonically won over another. Ultimately, I made this video because I needed to get my thoughts out there, and hopefully they help someone avoid the same easy-to-fall-for pitfalls that served to undermine Bleach. Plus, Ichiruki will always be a great ship, even if they never got together!

[@carlsalba]

Except ichihime fans also do that just because you ignore it its a different thing

[@carlsalba]

​@@camillesharemi have seen many respectful ichihime fans replying to you and you always ignore them including me, meanwhile someone in your comments is being racist to me for expressing my opinion it would be cool if you look into that, but i have always responded to some arguments you made in respectfull manners about stuff you might be missing about context of bleach and to be honest some undermine bleach just because the ship they wanted didnt came when it shouldnt be like that How can they be a great ship if they even arent a couple?

[@camillesharem]

@@carlsalba If someone is being racist to you, please us which conversation among the comment this is happening in and we'll investigate and shut it down. But you also need to stop posting the same comment almost every day to this video. That is the attitude of a troll account, and we aren't going to engage with that. Furthermore, your comments make me wonder if you actually watched this video. For the first time in a while, I went through and listened to everything I said over two years ago now. I have reviewed the manga as well. I do not say that Ichihime is bad ship, but I explained why Ichiruki shippers and many fans who weren't even shipper were caught off guard with the ending. Kubo set up so many things that were never paid off. He rushed the overall ending. For Ichihime and Renruki shippers, they got an acceptable ending. However, as I pointed out in this video, and I have explained in especially our live streams on this channel, Kubo dropped so much... The returns of the Fullbringers and Ganjo. According to the world building, Ichigo literally CANNOT return to the World of the Living. Kubo dropped a Chekov's Gun which was supposed to be one final Ichigo and Rukia team-up. He took away Kenpachi's moment to really shine in fight against Gerald! (Soooo many people started dropping the manga around that point because of the number of Kenpachi fans.) That Quincy Silver dues ex machina. Ichigo and Ywach's fight was hilariously short and underwhelming after his Vasto Lorde form and Bankai both got wreched as soon as they appeared. The Soul Society slipped back into its old, dogmatic ways, reversing all the good and influence Ichigo had on it. (As many have pointed out is represented by the Sokyoku.) The dreaded time skip ending where both Chad and Uryu have gone back on their words about the men they wanted to be. Chad fighting for money and Uryu working as a doctor. Aizen's return being only to pull one switcheroo stunt! (That was another thing that ticked off a ton of fans!) Never elaborating on the Soul King, who he is, how he's the linchpin, who will replace him, or his relationship to Ywach beyond the vaguest of hints. Like I said in the video, I could have spent over an hour, indeed many hours, listing and explaining the ways that Kubo botched his ending. And this is where so many people misunderstand and probably commented after looking at the thumbnail and not bothering to watch or listen: I have enjoyed the story of Bleach. I really have. I keep coming back to it. And though it's not in the video, I was an Ichihime shipper before I was an Ichiruki shipper. What changed? Kubo put more time and effort into Rukia's character than Orhimie's. That's the sad fact of the matter. As I watched and read, I came to adore their time together on the screen and page. Some of Bleach's best moments are of them together. If Kubo had put that same effort and level of care into Orihime, I'd have been an Ichihime shipper the entire time! And on that subject YES, you can ship two people even though they aren't in a relationship. That is very literally where the phrase comes from. But as a close friend told me years ago, "The only reason why Ichigo and Orihime will get together is Kubo likes melons and valleys of soft pillows." And she was right! She called it five years before the manga ended! And so, this video, like I said, was to voice my thoughts and pull out some writing advice that will hopefully help out some other creators out there. So, there you have it. A long response for all your comments. Again, please inform us who is giving you grief so we can address it. But also, you need to stop commenting on this one video all the time. We've long moved on to many new projects and great topics; it will do you a ton of good to do the same.

[@carlsalba]

​@@camillesharemi already reported that person is not giving ne troubles anymore thank you, if it still bothers me i will be to make sure to let you know and thank you for responding to me with your insight and i will make a long statemente explaining to you and making a comeback to your arguments so that way you can understand what happened in the end regarding some of your comments, but before that i do want to point something out with due respect and no offense to your friend but she is wrong, ichigo and orihime didnt end up together because kubo joked about liking femenine parts it was already stated they ended together cause kubo planned since thr first chapter and because ichigo and orihime complemented each other as humans, but i would like to include more of that in my extensive response to you, and im sorry me commenting wasnt meant to look as a troll cause as i said i did watched the video and i think it was good but many things were said without the proper context

[@rustecohle591]

I just don’t get it…it just makes sense that it would be Rukia… I get the feeling after all these years… the author may rectify this in the anime… let’s see what happens… lol

[@carloskingdomh]

no it made more sense renji and rukia and ichigo and orihime

[@anthonybarnes706]

I actually still can’t believe that Kubo did not realise what he had with Ichigo and rukia. Deep down in my gut, seeing Ichigo with orihime just does not sit right with me, It should have been Ichigo and Rukia. It’s weird because it felt like that was what Kubo was planning, yet it never happens

[@camillesharem]

I understand that confusion. I think it all comes down to Kubo getting ground down by ending the manga and decided to resort to his original plan for the ending and shoehorn it in despite it making very little sense.

[@carloskingdomh]

kubo never planned it, you can just admit you dont know a woman and a man can be friends without loving each other

[@carloskingdomh]

@@camillesharem you know the last two chapters are his original plan right?

[@voidvalkyrie2263]

I like relationships that aren't romantic. They tend to be closer.

[@kgi901]

For me who was initially an anime watcher but after switching to the manga in my teenage years, I understood why Ichigo and rukia were more of a close friendship. While orihime was always destined with Ichigo , the jealousy, the soft spoken love , while in my teenage time my wife who was my batch mate never actually bickered like ichiruki or had such an interaction even though we were in love quite like orihime and Ichigo . For most teenagers the interaction is usually soft love filled with nervous and a hidden special feeling which we really try to hide. So I think them being teenagers had an effect on us like they were adults. So I love ichihime , it provides me with how me and my wife usually were in our high school .

[@carlsalba]

preach

[@R1IY2N]

It’s different for everyone at the end of the day

[@ryantoussaint7873]

Honestly I never cared about either ships but definitely ichiruk (however you spell it) is better. Especially when you tie in the fade to black movie. It’s ichigo fighting for Rukia again. They are definitely best friends. Also in the beginning of the show when the girls ask rukia if she likes him, it really felt like we were going into that direction. Plus the annoyance ichigo gets from his dad, is kinda similar but better with rukia. The way they fight each and other make jokes on each other.

[@camillesharem]

Shipping should never drive anyone's enjoyment of a story. Bleach is largely great without any romance! But yeah, stepping back and being objective, there's far more chemistry between Ichigo and Rukia, both in the manga and anime.

[@ryantoussaint7873]

@@camillesharem I agree but I feel like if they they have a romance it would have been good especially him fighting to protect rukia from her bro and defeating while renji has never done that. And he was dying and told him to protect during tybw it would hold more weight but yeah

[@Snzn_7]

Everybody forgets that Rukia is having trouble to define what Ichigo is to her at that time because she still haven't moved on from the Kaien dillema and how Ichigo reminds her of him. Renji and Byakuya, the people who knows Rukia best. immediately pointed that out when they saw Ichigo. WIth y=you reference to Rukia having similar jokey interaction with Ichigo like Ichigo iwth his dad. Welp Ichigo like his mother more than his Dad and Orihime's personality have similarity to Masaki. so...

[@fitrahL]

Black Sun & White Moon 💙 💙 💙 💙 💙

[@celia1888]

My main issue isn't so much IchiHime per se so much as why it's there. On Origime's side ok, on Ichigo it's a big question mark and then together....there's nothing. They have little to no emotional scenes together. It's kinda the same with Renji and Rukia. It always was written as very one sided. IchiRuki just hammers the point home because they have all of those. Even if I do love them as a queerplatonic relationship and I don't mind them not being together. It's also because Orihime's charcater was treated as a Love Interest and only exists through her feelings for Ichigo which makes it impossible for her to develop an actual relationship since it's easier to have one when you have two actual characters

[@camillesharem]

It's true. It's far easier to buy a relationship between two characters when they have that development and honest chemistry.

[@celia1888]

@@camillesharem it's also the fact they they have less development than IshiHime or UlquHime for me. Like she's had more emotionally vulnerable conversations with Ulquiorra than with Ichigo by the end and Ishida's become almost nothing within the story (in a freaking Quincy arc) and he still has better development with Orihime than Ichigo despite the fact that she replaced Rukia as his companion for the end fight where she could have had development with him. It's such a waste.....

[@camillesharem]

@@celia1888 I absolutely agree! And that fight alongside Ichigo was an absolute joke! That should have been the climax! And while Ywach's powers are really cool, Ichigo was absolutely manhandled and Orihime was useless except for one panel. I was so pissed when that fight dropped, but I wrote it off saying that Kubo must be pulling another Aizen situation to give the next level of Dangai Ichigo! ...I was so wrong.

[@carloskingdomh]

@@camillesharem orihime saved ichigo multiple times in that battle not to mention she fixed his broken bankai, stop lying

[@reaganthai9529]

@@carloskingdomh false he got beaten badly and tsukshima was the one who help restores his powers.

[@shaifs5072]

I fell out of Bleach after the manga ended. I didn’t stick around for the light novels or mobile games so I don’t know what’s going on. Ichigo and Rukia are my favorite OTP of all time. Their relationship used to mean everything for me. I’m not going to mince words here, Ichihime’s romance was one-sided. Kubo dropped the ball on it. He wanted it from the beginning and chose to make it from the ending, he should have put more effort into the relationship.

[@camillesharem]

I agree, Kubo definitely dropped the ball on their relationship and there's no way to argue around that. Likewise, Ichiruki was something special to me and I still love their moments together. It's some of Kubo's best, some of the best dialogue, some of the best humor, and some of the best action. Whether he liked it or not, Kubo wrote them as the strongest characters and it shows in their interactions. It's what made people fall for them as a couple. And deep down, I think he knew he screwed up, which is why he's telegraphing their children becoming a couple in his newest manga.

[@shaifs5072]

@@camillesharem there’s a new manga? What’s the title? As for me, the fighting to love moments. The way they would gaze at each other, Rukia being the one would call Ichigo on his bullshit and the only one who could “fix him” is what makes them so special for me.

[@camillesharem]

@@shaifs5072 He wrote the one shot "No Breaths from Hell." It even takes time to ship their children. Haha! It's actually a great piece and holds a lot of promise if Kubo continues the story, but I think he's stewing on what irons he has in the fire and worrying that he'll screw up again if he has to do another weekly serial. To which I say, "Dude, just pull Muira and release each chapter when it's good and ready! You have the fans and the eyeballs! They'll read your stories if they're good!" There was a great video done on Rukia's "female gaze", how she has such tenderness for Ichigo and him alone. And those moments are enhanced by the fact that she can call him on his BS and whip him back into shape. In return, Ichigo would listen to her. They understood each other on a deep level and had the best chemistry in the series. That is why I ended up shipping them! I was actually into the Ichihime camp for a time, rooting for Orihime until I realized that not only was it a one-sided crush, but that she never drew out the best parts of Ichigo like Rukia did. And a few soft smiles from him don't justify reciprocation or emotional progression! I've been in that desperate spot of shipping before, and it's always hollow and forced...

[@shaifs5072]

@@camillesharem I watched that video yesterday. It’s great but made me feel awkward about myself since it made me realize I don’t view romance like men typically do. But I haven’t read any side content for bleach. So I have no idea what that one shot is.

[@camillesharem]

@@shaifs5072 Romance is personal and subjective. I've had many open chats with others in the Harem, friends, family, etc., and everyone experiences romance slightly differently. It's one of the things that makes writing or drawing good romance kinda difficult, because you have to hit on nigh universally accepted attributes of what makes a good love story. Kubo ironically drew and wrote all of that for a relationship he didn't intend to set sail! I'd highly recommend googling the one shot, or using Viz's free chapter sample to read it. It's definitely worth it! And Kubo also wrote a side story that takes place in the western half of the Soul Society called Burn the Witch. That is such a fun read! And it got an anime adaptation, too! But they didn't adapt the first chapter, so you'll have to read that one if you do check it out.

[@lucianozo]

Anyone who tries to argue that Ichigo/Rukia had a better relationship with anyone else in the series literally has to grasp at straws. The series is them.

[@terrarionaqu5262]

i mean they are the protagonists but as a couple they had nothing dont be in denial

[@mia3033]

Doesnt mean they have to bang each other tho

[@reinsama2.09]

Fun fact as long as diavolo dies its canon Therefore ichiruki is canon because of it

[@camillesharem]

Hahaha! Coming in clutch with the facts there.

[@lolsnez7542]

No it isnt canon and will never be keep crying

[@reinsama2.09]

@@lolsnez7542 tell me you're a ichihimetard without telling me you are

[@GayProphetMuhammad]

@@lolsnez7542 You're crying because IchiRuki is still the ship of majority of Bleach fans. ICHIRUKI forever. 😂

[@william90tz45]

Ichiruki forever . Most popular ship

[@camillesharem]

Amen! And I love how many people still love and find meaning in this ship long after the series ended.

[@ChloieKato]

I loved Ichigo and Rukia's chemistry. His relationship with Orihime didnt even come close. I have no idea why it made sense to Kugo to put Orihime with Ichigo.... biggest disappointment.

[@geminiguy6032]

Ichigo is the embodiment of the guy she tells you not to worry about.

[@Goji-Moji]

It’s really annoying how every time this comes up, people will go “no its just the anime, not the manga, it was filler and changed” and like, Naw dog. I didn’t watch the anime. I read the manga. It’s still there.

[@SMT_Bleachfan]

What manga did bro read Peroxide💀 Lets not forget the whole Hueco Mundo arc and tybw development with Ichigo and Orihime's relationship

[@carlsalba]

Then you are not being truthfull cause the manga never had those interactions with ichigo and rukia

[@Goji-Moji]

@@carlsalba ??? By “it’s still there” I mean the chemistry, not literally that the filler is there. I didn’t even specify what interactions I’m talking about but you immediately went “no it’s just filler those interactions aren’t there”. Which interactions? I don’t know, because again, *I didn’t watch the anime, I read the manga*. You are exactly proving my point. You’re annoying.

[@Goji-Moji]

@@SMT_Bleachfan I read Bleach, but crucially, I read it above a 6th grade level. It’s funny how much a story or piece of art will change if you examine it with any kind of depth.

[@SMT_Bleachfan]

@@Goji-Moji ? What depth are you talking about?

[@reinsama2.09]

Remember boys and girls as long as diavolo dies its canon Therefore a scenario where diavolo spawns in the bleach universe, Ichigo and Rukia getting freaky, Diavolo getting killed by a heartbroken renji, is ALL CANON. Again infinite death=Infinite possibilities. And no you don't get to nitpick because it's infinity, This scenario is but 1 of MILLIONS of possibilities. And if every single diavolo death is canon that means the circumstances and the cause and effect is ALSO canon Which mean Ichigo and Rukia getting their freak on is canon, Renji killing diavolo because the girl he likes is fucking an orange is canon, Diavolo dying as a result of this outcome is canon. Which means ichiruki is canon thanks to the mere fact that since diavolo dies an infinite number of times, and every single death and scenario revolving said death is CANON. And kubo can't do shit since the inception of Diavolo's infinite death loop was in 1999 Ichiruki is canon with PROOF and if you want to argue over infinity please do I'm curious to see what excuse you make

[@loinsofcoins-y3l]

Beautiful. Their relationship was always the most well-crafted in the entire series .

[@carlsalba]

like most other characters but you ignored that

[@loinsofcoins-y3l]

@@carlsalbaOkay? Cool? Didn’t ask for your empty and vague reply. See you never.

[@eureka9113]

Well done, you earned a sub.

[@camillesharem]

Thanks! Happy to have you along for the adventure!

[@mithras9706]

Pretty good video, I WILL say that if Kubo intended for Orihime to end up with Ichigo he probably decided that around the ending of the Soul Society invasion arc, he pushed Renji as a character more and by the start of the next arc Rukia and Ichigo have less scenes together, the following arcs don't help at all either lol. Ichihime isn't much better either because Orihime became almost a non character by the Hueco Mundo arc, she got a lot of build up and none of the pay off, she got kidnapped as bait, didn't unmake the Hougyoku and was a damsel in distress for most of it.

[@camillesharem]

That's the real problem. Orihime's character development was weak and she never really helped Ichigo. I examined the manga and anime scenes to see what kinds of differences there were and Orihime deliberately takes her time healing Ichigo when she is stronger than that. Kinds creepy... And then when she can step in to assist Ichigo in a fight, she gets wrecked. That might be excusable if we got good development for her as a character, but it doesn't happen, and her time with Ichigo is minimal. That's what the Ichihime ending feel forced, when it shouldn't have been if Kubo had slowed his roll and taken his time.

[@SHAWNJX]

Thank you im not crazy for shipping them this whole time. I came here after the current episode of the tybw and how they interact when they are in the healing barracks every interaction they have screams they should be together he never talks to orihime like the way he talk with rukia and how rukia is always there for him at pivotal moments of his life.

[@camillesharem]

As I've said multiple times, if Kubo never intended for IchiRuki to happen, he accidentally wrote the best chemistry between them. Even if their pairing isn't canon, it will never not be a beautiful and meaningful ship! I'm hoping that the anime makes more sense of the manga's ending, because it was a disaster. When I realized that Kubo wasn't going to wrap up the plot and action satisfactorily, I was comforted in my surety that at least Ichigo and Rukia would get together. Hahaha, oh boy... I still hope they can at least make the overall ending more fulfilling. Whether or not it becomes anime canon, Ichigo and Rukia will always have the best relationship!

[@SHAWNJX]

@@camillesharem well said and im a firm believer that the anime is going to be great, hopefully not another attack on titan situation lol

[@camillesharem]

@@SHAWNJX So far I'm confident of that as well. This season has been made with with an incredible amount of heart. And we have an idea already of where it's going. That's a good combination for anime adaptation. :)

[@reaganthai9529]

@@camillesharem I been hearing a lot of people say that the anime will be with what tite kubo originally wanted to do with the manga. If that is the case then this is his chance to right the wrong of what happened six years ago. I am not sure if this is true though.

[@camillesharem]

@@reaganthai9529 I've been wondering the same. The anime has been going at a pace unlike any other season and stuff is getting cut, so I'm not sure. But call me an optimist!

[@VolticWind]

Personally I respect Kubo for having a good boy/girl relationship that didn’t need to become romantic. I’m tired of the whole “Boy meets Girl, they get together” thing that most anime does.

[@Ichigo_istaken]

I think people just see their chemistry and think it's a romantic relationship because of their bias. They have really good chemistry but they don't have romantic feelings for each other. There's a difference.

[@fz_dracohart1255]

I would've given Kubo that respect IF AND ONLY IF Ichihime and Orihime in general is actually well crafted and explored. So far from the whole manga runs the dynamic and development between Ichihime is just so disappointing compared to Ichiruki, and it's not that Kubo had no time to develop Orihime properly. Kubo got all the damn time he needed in Hueco Mundo onwards to develop chemistry between Ichigo and Orihime also her development in general, but instead Orihime got better chemistry and introspective development with her little time with Ulquiorra than with Ichigo. Look, reason why I hate most romance in Shonen Jump is because almost all of them feel so tacked on and forced that unless romcom is the genre they should just do away with any romance or endgame pairings. Also the heroine the mc ended up with always one-note and a damsel in distress. Ichiruki couldve broken this curse but Kubo fumbled it. Kubo couldve tried to make Ichihime as impactful as Ichiruki but never done it. Natsu/Lucy is the closest thing we got with natural relationship progression in action shonen but marred with Lucy kept being played down as fanservice gags. And you're talking to a Naruhina shipper. Frigging filthy Naruhina shipper! I thought I'd be over the moon with the movie confirming development between Naruto and Hinata, and instead I feel so much secondhand embarassment from how abysmal that movie was.

[@MeGongaga-j1j]

really great video with a solid pov. you earned yourself a subscriber for this!

[@BqW-nt5wb]

There are more senseful videos by actual fans

[@MeGongaga-j1j]

@@BqW-nt5wb ? then don't ask for advice from the man himself if you're just gonna be a two-face. hostility will only isolate you.

[@camillesharem]

Thanks you! Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@camillesharem]

@@BqW-nt5wb Then why are you lurking around here? Go and enjoy those videos! I'm happy working on all my own stuff here. :)

[@BqW-nt5wb]

Ok​@@MeGongaga-j1j

[@raidgame_smmf8733]

I still hope that ichiruki still happens, because i would say orihime could've fit way more with ishida because there was a type of relationship that was there. I still hope there is a possibility for ichigo and rukia

[@camillesharem]

From what I understand, the anime adaptation is going to remain faithful to how Kubo wrote the manga's final arc. I know the showrunners were gunning for Ichiruki, and I'd love to know what drama evolved behind the scenes there! This show is money, but the studio put it off for so long. I really think that the ending was a massive sticking point between them and Kubo, but that's all speculation. That being said, Ywach's explanation about his powers indicates that somewhere out there is a happy world where Ichigo ended up with Rukia and Orihime ended up with Ishida.

[@reaganthai9529]

@@camillesharem yeah I don't think kubo gonna pull a shaman king another anime in which the manga and anime was rebooted and fix all of the program with the original ending. This included the shipping plot holes etc.

[@reaganthai9529]

@@camillesharem very doubtful but who knows

[@camillesharem]

@@reaganthai9529 Sadly, it's highly unlikely. But the anime is premiering soon and I am excited to see it back in action.

[@J3rs3y_G1rl]

Thank you for this. Very well thought out. I only find closure with imagining this: Rukia chose to be with Renji in order to let Ichigo live so he didn't give up his life the way Isshin did. I have no respect for what kubo did. He broke the cardinal rule and shattered all character development. See what he did to Chad and Uryu to understand what I mean. In my own writing; there was a pairing I have that originally were only supposed to be just friends. However, they ended up developing into more naturally. That is what I see with IchiRuki.

[@camillesharem]

That's how it happens! Sometimes while you're writing, you end up creating better synergy and chemistry between friends. And then romance between them just feels like the better thing to do! If you intended for two characters to end up together from the beginning, you need to build towards that. Kubo really left his characters out to dry. I wonder if the anime will at least try to better contextualize the manga's ending. There's always a chance it goes in another direction, but I'm not holding my breath. But I like your view on Rukia trying to prevent Ichigo from living like Isshin. However, Isshin readily chose that life, sooo... And again, that just complements IchiRuki! Kubo really wrote himself into a corner there.

[@TheSilviepie]

What you said about Rukia choosing Renji (aka stability and to stay in the Soul Society) is the only logical explanation for this clusterf*ck of an ending. (Not that I think Kubo thought that much into it but eh.) Then Ichigo basically would have no choice but to live a normal human life and Inoue would be a logical choice since she's his friend from before. They all settled.

[@carloskingdomh]

@@TheSilviepie no not really the real reason is that they both chose them because they always loved renji and orihime but keep in denial i guess

[@carloskingdomh]

@@camillesharem lmao spoken like a truly delusional person

[@manovrsb]

Ichiruki was platonic friendship and y'all were angry about it . Y'all were ignoring kubos warnings and labeling Rukia with the title "QUEEN" to come save her "KING" . When she didn't do what y'all wanted , you double back and cry out bleach wasn't romantic so ofcourse Rukia didn't act lovely dovey. You should face you own hypocrisy before complaining how the author mysteriously betrayed you

[@blackant3436]

I effing convinced that Kubo just pushed orihime on ichigo so he didn't want to brand bleach as a romantic one. if ichiruki ended up together, it's the ultimate romance like akatsuki no yona

[@camillesharem]

I think that's a valid argument. Kubo recently stressed that his series is not supposed to be romantic: it's action! It's just funny then that he still wrote a lot of romantic poetry and drew so many great panels for Ichigo and Rukia. But he is the creator of the series, and he's empowered to do what he wants.

[@mimin123fan]

That is such an interesting comparison because I really love Akatsuki no YonA

[@blackant3436]

@@camillesharem exactly. It just had such romantic aspect to it.he made Ichigo end up with orihime so everyone would rule out every romantic situations between Ichigo and rukia as home boy home girl. that's so ridiculous

[@camillesharem]

@@blackant3436 We released a podcast episode a way back about shipping, and focused on how it can be harmful to authors and their work. Too many authors treat their canon couples as ships and not as actual people with a fulfilling relationship. And that is sadly what we have Ichihime by the end of the manga. It objectively breaks a bunch of our ten commandments of shipping. Hahaha!

[@reaganthai9529]

@@camillesharem I guess kubo pride of not making bleach a anime that involves a lot of romance cost him dearly. It may have ruin all the years and hard work of the bulidup leading to the great moments between ichigo and rukia. But who knows.

[@bubblegumwarrior6731]

While I did ship Rukia and Ichigo together and everything I kinda knew instinctively how the pairings would be and then a few that I don’t remember if they happened or not. But I still feel that Orahime and ichigo even with it being the endgame pair, isn’t a good match same with a separate series endgame pair that being Hinata and Naruto.

[@camillesharem]

Yeah... Just because a ship is endgame doesn't mean it's good. It has to be properly built up and sculpted throughout the story, otherwise it'll always feel rushed, forced, and make people reject it because they'll feel that something is off. Even if they can't put into words, that feeling is still there.

[@chawli2782]

@@camillesharem ichihime had proper buildup and development so tell me why isnt good?

[@Jaytheanimator7725]

I just want to say despite the flaws bleach is still one of the big three

[@camillesharem]

True! And Bleach definitely deserves that spot.

[@lazuliioverheaven]

Thanks to Funny Valentine's stand, D4C, and the infinite deaths of Diavolo, it's canon.

[@reaganthai9529]

Wait what's canon??

[@starflatinum244]

I dare to say that one of Diavolo's death is when he saw IchiRuki are actually happen, and then he died of happiness.

[@Rosemont104]

Interesting - how about analyzing Soul and Maka Albarn one of these days? Though they never moved beyond friendship in the original anime, several fans in Japan made romantic doujinshi about them.

[@camillesharem]

Ah, that is an excellent suggestion! That will take a little work to go through whole story, but I think there's a lot of potential in discussing Soul and Maka's relationship.

[@startrack3673]

Please do tell me the author or the source of 1:45 (where Rukia is wearing geisha's costumes) if you know. I really want to read the full AU story!!

[@camillesharem]

Here's some artwork, it was mashed up together by a Twitter user. pbs.twimg.com/media/FcuDiWXX0AII5w_?format=jpg&name=large mobile.twitter.com/__makaelag I don't really know of a story that goes with the picture and this is the only one I could find that fits, but... It's not exactly my thing. www.fanfiction.net/s/8727565/1/Ripples-of-Lust

[@startrack3673]

@@camillesharem Wow, thanks a lot! Nevertheless,I was looking for the specific author of 1:45 illustration (and hopefully his/her other works), not the general genre ^_^; Apart from that, I really appreciate your passion over ichiruki! ~

[@camillesharem]

@@startrack3673 You're welcome. Sorry that I don't have the original artist immediately at hand. and hey! Keep on loving Ichiruki!

[@mimijones7294]

Like I understand why it didn't happen but I think it would have been cute if they ended up together like how ichogos parents had. Two different worlds meeting.

[@camillesharem]

I honestly felt that Ichigo's parents were a strong foreshadowing of what was to come. Oh well.

[@kevinbarber2795]

Part of me doesn’t buy it was the always planned ending, but even if it is true it’s just bad writing. It’s like if Hannah Brown killed Voldemort instead of Harry, or Lando redeemed Vader and defeated the Emperor instead of Luke. Pisses me off. I don’t think I can ever accept the canon relationship.

[@camillesharem]

I hear you! If this was always the plan, then Kubo botched it. He should have taken the break and recollected himself before tackling the ending. As we see with HunterXHunter and Berserk, the fans are willing wait, as are the magazines. Bleach deserved a better ending, and where its romance is concerned, it deserved way better than it got! Ichiruki will always be it for me.

[@kevinbarber2795]

@@camillesharem hey, thanks for the cool, understanding reply. I’m glad you seem to understand what I was getting at. I don’t think I always put my thoughts and feelings into words the best.

[@camillesharem]

@@kevinbarber2795 No worries. You did very well conveying your thoughts. Keep it up! :)

[@kevinbarber2795]

@@camillesharem thanks!

[@carloskingdomh]

it was the planned ending thats just you being delusional

[@waterananas2866]

Hove much cost the rights for bleach? I will buy it and make Ichiruki ending season and movie!

[@camillesharem]

That'd be something! After the final arc concluded, I just went ahead and wrote a long fanfiction to give myself that ending. Childish? Maybe, but at least I tried to have an epic final battle with no cop out!

[@lolsnez7542]

Delusional

[@shazuchi]

We need you to do that

[@adamxero]

Kubo went with the whole oh girl has big boobs and is an air head trope rather than the poetic and well written romance. Bleach taught me never to be optimistic regarding shippings as the author ultimately writes it for teenagers.

[@camillesharem]

Funny thing is this, I was just meeting this weekend with one of the friends who got me into Bleach. She pretty much said the same thing. She loves Kenpachi and the early chapters of Bleach, but saw the writing on the wall for the series really early on. The series is sadly an example of relying on popular tropes to carry the story along rather than focusing on strong storytelling. When Kubo is being original, he's at the top of his game, but when he relies on tired, old tropes like oppai for days and airheads, it makes sense why Naruto and One Piece overtook Bleach in terms of popularity and sales. People are normally drawn to better stories. Unless it's 50 Shades of Grey. That was an abomination of both writing and society! Hahaha!

[@adamxero]

@@camillesharem It was especially prevenlant in comparison of the Soul Society arc at the Espada arcs. With Rukia you had the story telling built up from the previous arcs Grand Fisher etc so when Ichigo went to save her it felt it had a deeper meaning you knew that arc it was all about Ichigo and Rukia. When Kubo tried to do the copy and paste job it just fell flat. The rescue of Orihime didn't have any deeper meaning in fact the deepest relationship that arc was Orihime and Ulquiorra. Ultimately it felt Kubo dropped the ball massively when it came to the ending which is why most people dropped off near the end I know I did. Naruto had similar aspects where you could argue Hinata and Orihime were similar but the difference was Naruto and Hinata had built up a relationship prior to any potential shipping. One Piece is the same where you have Luffy either with Nami or Hancock. Personally I'm team Hancock based on prior relationships being built up before shipping is involved.

[@camillesharem]

@@adamxero What you're talking about here is one of our Ten Commandments of Shipping: There needs to be chemistry there. And a writer does well to consider building up a relationship prior to exploring any romance. This hopefully means that the characters involved are more fleshed out and defined, allowing for them to have better conversations, more meaningful moments, and to explore new aspects of each other or see what they already knew in a new light. When reading and watching through Bleach, this does happen far more with Rukia than it does with Orihime. I can see where Kubo tried to give Orihime more depth, and that is commendable, but that is never enhanced by Ichigo learning more about her beyond the first arc. Whereas with Rukia, both the reader and Ichigo are constantly learning new things about her or re-contextualizing the relationship, which make her friendship with Ichigo feel much richer by comparison. Hahaha, this is why writing romance is so difficult!

[@lolsnez7542]

Is funny because ichihime is a poetic well written romance im sorry you ignored it

[@lolsnez7542]

​@@camillesharem lol bleach is way better written than naruto and in no way naruto is more popular and selling more means nothing wheb there are hundreds of series better than naruto when they havent even reached the amount of sales at all. I think your friend is just another casual who just let the bandwagon hate get the best of her or him. Mind you i can show them bleach analysis from actual fans for her or him to be intelligent again, do you wish?

[@AlchemistJay]

Man, reddit does not really want to hear the genuinely valid argument of Ichiruki. Appreciate the video essays that actually make proper breakdowns about the quality of writing techniques and why this is absolutely a collection of objective points.

[@camillesharem]

Thanks! Yeah, I didn't post this on the subreddit because I knew what kind of attention it would draw. I didn't want to have a fight of canon vs my shipping, but just lay out my thoughts and observations. Ichiruki was amazing, whether intended or not, and it can absolutely help authors create better romances.

[@reaganthai9529]

@@camillesharem you watch any other anime?

[@camillesharem]

@@reaganthai9529 We watch all the anime that we're able to. I just binged my way through Spy x Family to catch up. Such a great story! Demon Slayer MHA Chainsaw Man Summertime Rendering Reincarnated as a Sword Looking forward to Nagatoro season 2! It all depends on time, too.

[@reaganthai9529]

@Camille's Harem do you like any other anime ships like eren mikasa deku orachao, etc?

[@camillesharem]

@@reaganthai9529 Speaking for myself, the anime ships that I've been most invested in have been: Kirishima and Ashido Loid and Yor Kitigawa and Gojo Nagatoro and Senpai Yuri and Lilith (It's not as creepy as it looks at first, I swear! Oh boy, here comes the FBI...) Alto and Vermeil Beyond these, I have my old school ships which all either sank or were never confirmed. I'm an old school shipper and these days it's hard to get into the speculation for possible romances because I've seen the tropes and know a lot of the signs. I freaking love Subaru and Rem, but I already know that it's futile because of that darn First Girl Trope!

[@justaperson2693]

i think ichigos vasto lorde transformation was more of white taking controlling. and wanting to protect ichigo

[@nuzhatmaliat9258]

Heres what i think happened behind how kubo wrote ichiruki without meaning it: Bleach was originally meant to be "black" and rukia was the og mc alone (u can check on net). That version got rejected and dragon ball author encouragd kubo to add some touch ups and resubmit. So kubo made ichigo to be mc. Since his og oneshot chap and prolly rest of his story blueprint was alr planned out with rukia as mc in mind, the redone version was not much diff with rukia and the new mc (ichigo) having most of the screen time and tgt. The studio thought this was the main couple and pushed it to the max. Another thing that i feel is that kubo is prolly overestimated in romance genre, hes still like every other shonen writer. Most shonen writers dont write relationships with a legit platonic foundation first and then go to next step (how miyazaki treats romance), rather they shortcut the relationships to someone having a crush and immediately next they date/propose. Its why bromance is a trope. Its why fujoshis think the two male leads ina detective show got more chemistry tgt than with their wives. Because ichiruki had that foundation while ichihime didnt, the latter felt rushed.

[@carloskingdomh]

ichihime had more fundation dont be a liar

[@matteoscotuzzi6627]

One of the best couple for Me and i still love It i respect ichime but for Me ichiruki its on another level ichime seems to be the same couple of te tipical manga ichigo and rukia seems to be a real relation between two pepole they respect echother they talk echother about their problems and they help echother ti solve their problems like a real couple (its my opinion so dont kill me for this in the comment ahaha)

[@camillesharem]

Amen! There was a wonderful sense of maturity to their relationship. That is what won me over to the idea of Ichigo ending up with Rukia.

[@fitrahL]

Yes, Ichigo with Rukia 💙 ❤️ 💙 ❤️ 💙 ❤️ 💙 ❤️ 💙 ❤️

[@raniles2566]

As someone who's AroAce, I'm more than fine that they ended on a platonic relationship. That doesn't mean their elationship is lesser than any romantic relationship they have. Honestly, I'd put more importance to it, but that's more personal bias y'know I just hate how media and consumers are so focused on romantic relationships being THE epitome of success and happiness in life, when platonic relationships can be just as fulfilling or even more so.

[@camillesharem]

You make an excellent point! I've written five stories by now where characters don't get together, or romance is not even a focus. And they're still a load of fun to write and to read! Shipping encourages loads of people to think that romance is all a character needs and just jump right to the steamy parts... But a well-crafted relationship, romantic or platonic, is what's important. And friendship is just fine, and is sometimes what the characters and the story need more. Sadly for Kubo, he wanted married couples by the end and didn't put enough effort into making those relationships feel fulfilling by the manga's end.

[@carlsalba]

​@@camillesharemthose stories you made sound like what kubo made with ichigo and rukia i dont understand how you cant see it that way And i dont know how i need to explain this more than i already have yes kubo did put effort in those relationships to feel fullfilled just look at the story, progression and development of each couple

[@carlsalba]

Well said

[@bonkmaster8792]

Makes more sense for him to have been with Rukia imo

[@carloskingdomh]

not really he is a human rukia a shinigami where is the sense?

[@bonkmaster8792]

And if you read the manga or watched past the first arc he isn't even human and he's a shiningami. Sense is in the story. What you're saying is the equivalent of this man is black and that woman is white.

[@MariaLopez-300]

@@carloskingdomh That Doesnt matter because ICHIGO’s DAD Is a shinigami and his mom was a Quincy (human). Plus isshin and misaki’s love story directly parallels how ichigo and rukia met anyways. So them being from different world is not a factor.

[@RedXDRevenge]

Correct me if I’m wrong buy didn’t Ichigo power grow so much that he couldn’t go back the work of the living as said by Shunsui which part of this shit shouldn’t be happening.

[@camillesharem]

Yes. That was an entire chapter that Kubo conveniently forgot. There's lot of in-manga evidence that suggests the ending should have been different, but Kubo shifted gears and went with his original ending idea even though it no longer worked with what he had set up.

[@RedXDRevenge]

There are so many questions unsolved in bleach it makes me sick that I wasted years on it for 100 plot holes not be filled in.

[@camillesharem]

@@RedXDRevenge I absolutely get how you feel! I defended the series up to the very last chapter, because I believed that somehow a decent ending, even with all the loose threads, could somehow be delivered. When Kubo didn't do that, it made it harder to go back and enjoy the series. So many holes were there and weirdly enough Ichiruki ended up being the most tight storytelling threads. That and Zangetsu.

[@chasinghaze0962]

You remember it was a 1% chance of that happening or something. So it didn't happen. As we found out from the CFYOW. Spoiler: ichibei had set up ichigo to be soul king in case everything goes wrong. ofc Shunsui had that inkling too. That's why he went to the human world. That didn't happen so no need to bring it up.

[@RedXDRevenge]

@@chasinghaze0962 oh thx my guy you cleared up a plot hole for me because I didn’t read the novel. But do tell me one thing why didn’t Ichigo stay in the soul society if he loved being a soul reaper so much because as we saw in the ending he not anymore Does this have anything to do about Ywach saying he will kill them if Ichigo at his happiest

[@janieannmarie]

Idk about y’all but if my man were to look at another woman the way Ichigo looked at Rukia while she was being healed, I woulda broke it off immediately 😭 but they’re just platonic right? 👀

[@camillesharem]

Bingo! There's a really excellent video out there breaking down the expressions between these two and how Ichigo draws Rukia's attention, and vice versa. Orihime and Renjo never get those eyes!

[@carlsalba]

yes they are platonic the series tells you that multiple times and ichigo looked at rukia like any other person would if his or her friend would be hurted

[@carlsalba]

@@camillesharem you misspelled renjis name is renji not renjo and i wanted to clarify you that orihime and renji did get both eyes like that from multiple stances in the manga would you like me to give you an example?

[@janieannmarie]

Regardless, Kubo might’ve created one of the best & interesting relationships between a male & female character in Shounen. They could’ve been quite the power couple if given the chance but it didn’t happen and that’s okay 🤷‍♀️

[@ChocoBuns420]

@@janieannmarie Yea, even though it didn't happen and the ending was mid at best. The journey that the series had was unforgettable for all us fans

[@doctorpringles12]

Wanna know what I think? After having read the entire story through just the manga for myself, I can safely say that the outcome of the ending would’ve been just as muddying(maybe less so because of just crumb feeding shippers) even with Ichiruki happening. I’m shocked no one goes to lengths to point this out that it’s because of the second half that everyone’s pairings took the L because it felt like neither pairings got the organic implementation and development it could’ve had to Ichigo and the overall plot throughout Fullbringer and TYBW. If Ichiruki happened just as Ichihime did, and I’m left with THIS depiction of story development throughout the Fullbringer and TYBW arcs, I wouldn’t have been able to buy it even with the amount of set up Ichiruki initially kind of had in the first half. It’s a shame Kubo never took the time to choose an organic romance development to prioritize cuz Ichihime would’ve had less flak for it had Kubo gone to lengths to give better development with the pairing between Ichigo and Orihime in the second half if that was what he wanted for the end. And sadly, I wouldn’t even buy Ichiruki if it happened while I’m left with everything that happened throughout TYBW.

[@camillesharem]

Absolutely! Kubo never put in the proper legwork to make any ship work. Every relationship we see or could have seen at the ending would have just been thrown out there and would have ticked off someone! Hahaha! Bleach was always first and foremost a battle story. And it should have stayed that way. Kubo did play around with romantic elements, but that means he should have either tied them off and ended it or sailed certain couples earlier, but as you pointed out, those relationships were left to the wayside as the stakes and action grew throughout the overall story. Writers need to work on not forgetting what they've put into their stories and especially build on the things (like romance) that they introduce as important for their cast of characters. Kubo gave himself too much to juggle and in the end prioritized the stuff that he liked, but forgot to make through threads for a lot of his climactic and ending reveals...

[@Taiga-16]

They loved each other at some point. They maybe didn't end up together but they definitely had feelings for each other, especially between the soul society and the fullbring arc. For me the Quincy arc ruined their relationship building, Rukia was litterally not there, such a waste. Anyway imma read that fanfiction 😁

[@terrarionaqu5262]

they never loved each other, and they never had feelings for each other you are living in a delusion and denial, the soul society? you mean the arc where he saves her because she is her friend and he owes her so much? in the fullbring arc we hardly see each them but in the end he spent the most of that arc with orihime nice try though, rukia was doing her own thing you know being her own character just because you want her to be dependant of ichigo doesnt mean it was a waste ignorant anyway you can continue being delusional LMAO

[@caseyhart4999]

I can’t even pretend to care that much about who Ichigo ends up with at the end of the series. It could have gone either way and I would be fine with either option. I will say it would be super awkward if he ended up with Rukia after the events of chapter 237 though lol.

[@forever_young138]

ICHIGO AND RUKIA ❤❤❤

[@carlsalba]

Are just friends

[@krisztinaeckstein9701]

Because shonen jump rushed Kubo to draw the story faster he wanted to cause finanical damage for the publisher. He knew that readers prefer Ichiruki, so he choose Ichihime to decrease the selling of Bleach.

[@camillesharem]

I hadn't heard that before. if it's true, that's such a dumb decision... Being vindictive in your own story never brings an satisfaction, and I think it shows in how Kubo just can't move on from Bleach and is barely going anywhere with it. I get it if the guy wants to take his time and do it right with the new chapters, but he's dragging his feet slower than Berserk at this rate! And again, punishing his publisher and angering the fans would be such a moronic, selfish move...

[@krisztinaeckstein9701]

@@camillesharem but he did it anyway, as he finished the manga he started to hate Bleach :(

[@camillesharem]

@@krisztinaeckstein9701 That's really sad... Bleach is the story that got me back into anime after I fell out of love with the medium (Gigguk's video about that process is 100% spot on!) and it remains one that I genuinely cherish. But when the creator no longer cares, everyone suffers.

[@SeaBagel228]

Hold on That just makes no sense, shipping asside, what creator purposely makes a decision to INTENTIONALLY destroy their work when they are being rushed, working with torn shoulder tendons, and physical burn out from how suffering the shonen Jump work life is, but still want to finish what he started Kubo’s clear he cares about his series, he NEVER hated bleach Going as far as being involved with every step making the new anime for the fans top experience

[@camillesharem]

@@SeaBagel228 There's so much speculation that swirls around what happened with Bleach behind the scenes. It is clear that Kubo was suffering from a variety of things. The life of a mangaka is extremely demanding and we have to recognize that Kubo isn't as young as he once was. There were definitely mental and health problems that contributed to him wrapping up Bleach sooner than was intended, and it wasn't just editor deadlines. In fact, his editors and the Shonen magazine runners freaked out when he announced the manga's end, putting into several public notes that they weren't sure how he was going to wrap everything up, but that they trusted Kubo. For my part, I don't think Kubo hated Bleach, but he hated the situation he was in. He had narratively written himself into a corner and felt trapped. According to him (and we have to take him at his word) he said that a dying fan told him to finish the story the way he wanted, and he did just that. There's a good chance that the ending we got was a very early version of the arc's finale. The problem is that the ending he did come up with was rushed, dropped multiple crucial threads, blatantly ignored two Checkov's Guns that he had put into the story making them ridiculous red herrings, and left a ton unanswered. The work environment that all mangaka labor under is to blame for this situation, as well as his editor, however Kubo also blundered by not demanding a hiatus to refocus and consider his story. Other mangaka have done that and managed to turn their series around, and for the creator of Bleach, one of the Big 3 (even if he wasn't at the top of his game anymore), should have been able to get the same accommodations from Shonen Jump. That's the nasty equation laid out as I see it, with tons of variables that we don't fully understand, which in turn has led to a bunch of speculation as to what those variable are. That is why in this video I focused on the storytelling advice that we can glean from this bizarre situation. IF you're writing as tory where you intend for a certain couple to get together, you must sculpt that relationship from the beginning. Kubo himself said that Bleach isn't a love story, but he still put a couple in and executed them poorly. It's something that other authors and creators can learn from so they hopefully don't repeat the same mistakes.

[@Amoschp524]

Biggest problem is Orihime never talks to Ichigo on panel or screen, any development happened off screen. To me she never grew beyond the ditsy girl who had sudden jumps in power instead of a character arc. She has for more development time with Ishida and Chad than Ichigo. To me the nail in coffin for cannon is she flinched during the last battle when Ichigo uses his hollow side. Maybe in the new stuff it will show she has accepted all of Ichigo.

[@camillesharem]

You['re spot on. It felt really out of left field for me when she was the one to accompany Ichigo to fight Ywach. I was like, "What has she done to deserve this?" Her best moments with Ichigo outside of healing him during his training with Ginjo is all back in the Soul Society Arc. The rest is very one-sided, even when Ichigo is on the panel with her and saving her! So yeah, we'll see how the anime handles that scene and the overall ending, because for the manga it was still rushed and forced...

[@alicool4837]

Renji and rukia were always the game over it is a shonen so we know the childhood friend trope After ichigo thrown rukia at renji renji said this time I will never let you go or something like that so it was clear plus renji zabimaru is snake tailed monkey the monkey that wanted to reach the moon and the stars so the ground work was always there for them As for oriheme all you need is confession to passed out ichigo that made it a seal deal even tho i wished oriheme and ishida got more developments but remember when she was changing to the soul society uniform ishida had point out that we dont change in the same room or something like then she said that she did it with tatsuki all the time so it is clear that she sees him as friend same as tatsuki so yep thats my take

[@jongall3136]

It's important to remember that the Bleach manga ENDED on Ichigo and Rukia's usual spats. I don't think Kubo was ever saying that the relationship between Ichigo and Rukia WASN"T important, but it feels like that what most fans think Kubo was implying.

[@camillesharem]

For me, the real issue is that Kubo botched his whole ending. I remember clearly reading the chapters as they released and being the last guy in my community on the hill defending Bleach. Saying, "Trust Kubo, guys! Come on, he can write well!" But then the whole ending had an unexplained, unsatisfying end to Ywach, the Soul Society returning to their oppressively dogmatic ways, Chad and Uryu doing things that didn't match up with their characters, Ichigo and Orihime together with soooo little decent build up to that, no explanation for Zangetsu taking on its old form after a whole mini arc to reveal the "true" Zangestu, a ton of setup, world building, and one Chekhov's Gun all getting thrown to the wayside to rush the ending. So why focus on Ichiruki in the middle of that mess? Because upon reflection, when I saw that it was all going to end horrible, despite by my desperate wishing against it, I thought that my preferred ship would make it. And that is silly. It really is. This video was ultimately me working through those thoughts and trying to be analytical as an author myself. I can respect Kubo for his hard work and wanting to end Bleach the way he wanted, but it all fell apart at the end. Discussing Ichiruki was undoing the last knot and finally accepting that Bleach ENDED HORRIBLY. And now that I can accept that and move on, I can try to be a better, more informed author and creator myself.

[@MelissaANNdeedeville]

@@camillesharem Just because you didnt liked the ending doesnt mean kubo botched the ending. it seems you come from really missunderstood places from your arguments cause while you might be saying you defended kubo or bleachs writting, all you are doing is saying you wanted kubo to satisfy you with what you wanted and not with what kubo wanted, so i want to explain some things adressed in your complaints, one why do you say the soul society returned to their oppressively dogmatic ways? where in the final chapter that is said or mentioned? the captain commander is still kyoraku and with how much they owe ichigo why would you assume that will be any different? specially when kyoraku is the one that has always been against it? so please tell me that, chad ended up owning a gym and teaching martial arts to kids, but im assuming you are talking about the box matches, he does that as charity events and kubo explained that doesnt goes against his character actions since chad sees box as a sport. ishida becoming a doctor means he actually made peace with ryuken about his mother death, so nothing out of character, orihime and ichigo had good build up almost the whole series specially at the arrancar arc, zangetsu returned to its old form cause the true bankai of ichigo is the combination of ichigos scabbard and his sword, see this as the dual blades as ichigos shikai and his main blade as his main blade is explaied by kubo as well i suggest you to watch bleach youtubers to know all of this, yes the ending was rushed but because of kubos health and still the anime is fixing that. why focus on ichiruki? because ichiruki was never set up as a romantic pairing and again the ending wasnt horrible just rushed which are two different concepts, it didnt fell apart because he didnt gave a pairing or because he made decissions that you dont agree with, but it fell apart because of his terrible health at the end of bleach, and i can not stress this enough BLEACH DID NOT ENDED HORRIBLY JUST RUSHED, and when the anime ends you really cant say either. you disagreeing with kubos decissions doesnt make him a better or worse author than you.

[@Horny_4_Da_Monies]

@@MelissaANNdeedevilleain’t gonna read all of that. Congrats or sorry it happened to you 😅

[@MelissaANNdeedeville]

@@Horny_4_Da_Monies good for you then

[@Horny_4_Da_Monies]

@@MelissaANNdeedeville it gets all better I promise.

[@andrescortes7460]

I would've had more respect for kubo if he would have the balls to acknowledge ichigo love for orihime why make a big deal about it he already said that it wasn't a romance it was all about action so why didn't he just got orihime and ichigo together in the time skip I mean he did at the end but the truth is he didn't believe in his work that's why he left till the end cause that's what what most people cared about ichigo and rukia..if ichigo and orihime would have got together before the thousand blood war arc would people care I mean there want any build up anyway

[@erasdsffw299]

nah its just the friendship is too good that you thought that relationship for an ambiguous relationship,It's not that complicated

[@khouloudaithsain9215]

nah ichihime is just mid and I don't even like ichiruki

[@erasdsffw299]

@@khouloudaithsain9215 bro what😅,then what do you like

[@lolsnez7542]

​@@khouloudaithsain9215no it isnt mid at all liar

[@s2sHoXXs2]

What a wonderful video! You absolutely brought up an excellent point that I didn't think about entirely, the fact that Kubo's story and characters had evolved so much that ichihime just doesnt make sense anymore. And of all the main characters, shes had some of the least amount of growth (its not none, but its very little compared to others), it makes sense that Kubo just had an idea of what the pairing would look like but only planned it at the starting point rather than the end point of the series. Its actually baffling how little ichigo and orihime's "relationship" changed and evolved over the course of the story. Meanwhile ichigo and rukia went through hell and back with each other only to come out stornger than ever before each and every time. It really just seems like Kubo just... idk, latched on to his perfect idea of "orihime" and was afraid to change her too much because of it. And so, her character suffered greatly because... well, he didnt really treat her like a character if I'm being honest.

[@camillesharem]

Your assessment is spot on. he was fixated on his personal ship, but never put in the effort to craft it as such. He was caught up in the story and the other characters and really neglected Orihime. As a result, that relationship was one of just many things wrong with the finale.

[@carloskingdomh]

@@camillesharem no it wasnt at all thats you bias

[@carloskingdomh]

you know the video is full of lies and bias right?

[@s2sHoXXs2]

@@carloskingdomh I don't take criticism from someone that can't even conjugate "your" properly, sorry

[@carloskingdomh]

@@s2sHoXXs2 yeah that wasnt mean to you and yout context so nice job playing yourself

[@themcdonut9602]

Rukia is 150 years old and when she met ichigo he's in highschool. Yall are wierd.

[@roberthayes9314]

And yet, most people don't seem to have a problem hyper-sexualizing Orihime despite the fact that for most of Bleach she is also an underage high schooler. ;)

[@themcdonut9602]

yeah people are just wierd@@roberthayes9314

[@emanueladerossi-om3xb]

​@@roberthayes9314shut up, you are just delusional, rukia is literally the trope of the loli who have 100+years, you all are just weirdos😂

[@jotarokujofan702]

masaki and isshin exists.

[@Abridgimation]

We really got robbed off RukiAizen bruh

[@Red_XIII_Cox_Enjoyer]

Nah bruh. Aizen popped her hogyoko 🍒 rmbr? Most spicy moment in the entire show 🥵

[@camillesharem]

The REAL OTP!

[@khalifabinhendi6107]

A perfect shipping opportunity, sadly down the drain.

[@carlsalba]

Not at all

[@elivenya-theautisticbookwy9638]

My issue with Orihime is, that she represents toxic japanese gender ideology. And i hate characters who are this trope. The other issue is, that shounen jump is a conservative publisher, and i don't know if this is too far fetched but, sometimes i have the feeling that they trying to shove down a certain ideology down peoples throats.

[@ohoratyehet]

same😂 I didn't like the character at all from the start

[@chawli2782]

@@ohoratyehet you do

[@chawli2782]

thats so wrong in so many levels

[@sarahaque1382]

NO I AGREE SO MUCH, GENUINELY COULD NOT STAND ORIHIME SHE GIVES PICK ME IMO

[@jamielogan6284]

But you’re not a fool because it did happen. They have an unbreakable bond. I felt they couldn’t be together because the creator chose for rukia to disappear and ichigo lost his powers and had no choice but to mate with orihime. But then when he got his powers back he went to the soul society. There’s so much romantic connections between ichigo and rukia that orihime will never have. You can still have a kid with someone and leave them. There are so many openings and endings of ichigo and rukia. The ice skating scene too. Even a whole movie dedicated to them. Ichiruki is canon and like you said with the Quincy king there are other universes.

[@Snzn_7]

nah, the IchiRuki ship sunked when Rukia chose to stay in Soul Society when Ichigo asked her if she would go back with them to the world of the living after the SS arc. (the anime might have diminished the subtleties of the conversation since they altered it to shove in the Bount Arc). Basically Rukia wanted a life in Soul Society and Ichigo wants to live normally in the world of the living. They have different lifegoals. .

[@doctorpringles12]

I will say this as the most neutral and friendly shipper guy, making every shipper of both sides see a new perspective. Bleach shipping, to me, is kinda like shipping in The Witcher. I looked back and began to see how another series made me appreciate both bond dynamics, and not care too much about the author's canonical preference (even when admittedly Bleach does leave something to be desired in its romance writing department, but it's par for the course since shonen). Ichiruki reminds me of how The Witcher made me appreciate Geralt and Yennefer's relationship, with their paralleled individual-character dynamics, co-development and all their back-and-forth banter and chemistry that sold us the importance of their relationship, made throughout the series from the start. (Also a little side note on how both Rukia and Yennefer have also their close friend pining for them i.e. Istredd and Renji) Ichihime reminds me of why I also like Geralt and Triss as a dynamic since both Orihime and Triss are presented to be the kinder counterparts to their series' heroines and have longing feelings for the hero while being a reliable supporting figure for them that would want us to have a partner like them in our lives. I think shippers should play The Witcher (3), cuz we can imagine Bleach pairings through that game and not care about canon too much and imagine it in their heads like content lmao. (Shit theory from me but if Kubo wrote The Witcher, he'd go for someone like Triss, if Andrez wrote Bleach, he'd probably go for someone like Rukia lmao)

[@camillesharem]

I think this here is a very good comparison. Thanks for sharing!

[@doctorpringles12]

@@camillesharem Now I just want a Bleach action RPG that follows the events of the series but gives the players the endgame option to follow Kubo’s intended ending or have an optional alternative non-canon ending where you get to be with Rukia that’s tailored for fans who followed their bond from the start. Having both Ichihime and Ichiruki content and options would be cool. And spin-off games are allowed to have some fun deviances. I will say, asking the anime staff to change the ending is the weirdest thing to ask for when it’s doing its job as an adaptation. Having a game that lets player have choices without mattering too much about canon is a better option I feel.

[@faheemmuhaimin5446]

I agree to your point. But for me I like ichiruki couples, but sadly it didn't happen. But I still like bleach ichigo actions adventures in 2022 anime. Hope bleach new anime will quickly released.

[@camillesharem]

Yes! I am very excited to see Bleach return! I've high expectations for it!

[@lolsnez7542]

@@camillesharem could you please dont touch the new anime please we know you arent a fan but a toxic shipper so please stay the hell away from it

[@ChocoBuns420]

Merry christmas to all you amazing ichiruki fans

[@camillesharem]

Merry Christmas!

[@zingkymarak6745]

So many toxic ichiruki fans 😂you all can't accept the fact that orihime and ichigo ended up together orihime is the perfect waifu 😌

[@naydsoe27]

Orihime is mid compared to Rukia

[@carlsalba]

@@naydsoe27 no they are equal

[@Roblox_AC]

Our worst enemy is our own fanbase

[@chriswillis4960]

As much as I love the cannon ending and I think Ichigo and Orihime make a cute couple, The way Ruika and Ichigo work together is like clockwork, from the awe she has as he basically takes all her power in the first chapter/episode and makes that Hollow look like its nothing. To the scene where Ichigo saves Rukia in Soul Society. The scene where Ichigo loses his powers, and of course her devilish smirk when she gives him said powers back in the next arc. There are many times where it just seems like those two work in ways that just makes more sense.

[@alakane2183]

The whole ending of Bleach - such a great epic story with beautiful art, depth and many interesting characters - just feels like settling. Both when it comes to the eventual pairings as shown in the last chapter, but also, more importantly, when it comes to the plot itself. Like such a great build up ....for what?...

[@camillesharem]

That is the real tragedy of Bleach's ending, all of that amazing build up and action for what!? It's supposedly the happiest ending, but it makes no sense how we got there, and it's done with a lazy time skip, no explanation, and a sudden defeat of Ywach that at first glance undoes all of the amazing growth Ichigo underwent. Hopefully the anime can clear a lot of this up...

[@reaganthai9529]

If you ever find your soul mate and true mate that understands you deep down and is the one that can always bring up from the negative and always be there for you never look back and going after then as if you don't you may regret it one day for making the wrong choice of not going after your true love and choosing to be with the wrong person.You may not even get a second chance if they move on and say it's too late now you should have gone after me. That is what it seems like with ichigo and rukia making the wrong choices with their respective life. This fanfic shocked me on how making the wrong decisions can make someone regret it for the rest of their lives.

[@reaganthai9529]

@@camillesharem another thing we can learn from this is making the right choices in life as we don't always get a second chance to alter and fix our mistakes.

[@reaganthai9529]

@@camillesharem how you been the bleach anime is doing good right .

[@camillesharem]

@@reaganthai9529 Been doing good! I haven't been able to keep up with the newest season recently. But the production level is off the charts!

[@feveredmushroomHD]

Always been an anime vs manga situation for me.

[@camillesharem]

It's definitely clear from the filler material that the anime showrunners were pushing Ichiruki. In the manga itself, Kubo served up a bit for both Ichiruki and Ichihime ships. As many claim, that was his editor's doing. Ultimately, Bleach is an action story where love takes a far backseat and provides a warning to other writers of what not to do in that regard.