While I still have an account, (I used to be ichiruki4eternity on here) to that one person who said they were in medical school now and were basically “too good” to speak to me anymore (you know who you are and if you’re confused by this you weren’t that person) guess what bitch? Guess who’s also in med school now

Me caring about a fictional pairing that never happened from a series I think is stupid written by a man I loathe and don’t even respect

I've noticed that you're not very fond of Renji or the Kuchiki characters in general. Can I ask why? (No offense, just curious)

No offense here, anon. I'm more than happy to answer.

I'll start with Rukia since she's the easiest to explain. Rukia was one of my favorite characters up until the Hueco Mundo Arc. You see at first she was a dynamic girl, a little helpless but that was understandable since she had no powers, she was funny, kind and I really felt for her during the first arcs. Then Kubo just replaced her with another character. Rukia got more closed off, agressive, punch happy and tried to make Ichigo apologize about something that wasn't his fault. I didn't hate her, as she still had some of her best traits but this shift made her go from one of my faves to a neutral character. Worst off it's when she marries Renji after he left her for years and almost slashed her to bits, and the novel, oh that damn post canon novel gave me rabies. She's embarrassed by being called Abarai? I could buy this from Orihime, or Momo, hell I'd even buy it from Riruka, but Rukia? No, that's not her. Instead of forgiving Byakuya and Renji in a heartbeat, Rukia's character would've been better off if she told them both to sit on a prickly cactus and stay the hell away from her, then left with Ichigo and Co. to the human world at the end of the Rescue arc. Instead she forgives those two, who have been nothing but shitty to her and takes to hero worshipping Byakuya. No, that's the worst thing she could've done and to top it off she marries one of them and has his kid. That dude hit you once and you not only marry him but have his kid?! Gurl, that literally begging for trouble right there. I just felt disgusted with the way Kubo handled Rukia. I don't hate her but I don't love her as much as everyone else in the fandom does.

Renji And Byakuya though? Those two I absolutely despise.

During the first arc these two come to the human world to arrest Rukia, who need I remind you was completely powerless, and what's the first thing Renji does? Swing a goddamn sword at her. He literally just tried to slash her with his sword. Does Byakuya interfiere? Tells him to maybe tone it down a bit? Nope, he does fucking nothing. Renji keeps trying to hit her, with a grin on his face, and later on even chokes her. It's not until Uryu, who's a freaking Quincy, steps in that the whole aggression stops.

I know people defend this with 'oh Kubo meant for them to seem as villians at the time' but I think you can't come back from trying to slash your bestie/future wife or from letting my sister be slashed to bits.

But ok, if it was just that, I'd be willing to let it slide so as long as the two apologize and Rukia gave em a 'reason you suck speech' or something similar. Well next time we see Renji he's taunting Rukia in prison. He backs out and says it's a joke later but it was still scumy of him to do that. During that same scene Rukia says she knows she'll get killed and pinnapple dumbass tells her Byakuya would intervine, but she shoots him down by saying that he'd likely just kill her himself and has never once cared for her from the moment he adopted her. Like, what? This asshat hasn't even looked her in the eye in 40 years? I know in shinigami time that's like 4 years maybe but it's still a long time to be emotionality neglected.

After his fight with Ichigo we get Renji And Rukia's backstory and instead of growing sympathetic towards him, I hated him more. So he and Rukia grow up together with some friends in the poorest place in Soul Society, and after their friends death they join the academy to get better housing and food. That's good so far, only the two are separate because Renji has more potential and Rukia is average at best. He gets new friends and keeps moving forward. Rukia was alone and stuck. Sad but ok maybe they'll make up after graduation. Nope, because the Kuchiki clan wants to adopt Rukia, remove her from the academy and now she'll live as a Noble. It's clear in that scene that Rukia does not want this, that she'll take any excuse to not accept, does Renji tell her to stay with him, or to choose what she wants? Of course not, the idiot congratulates her, makes a light-hearted joke about it and then sulks when Rukia sadly thanks him and leaves. Then he suddenly decides to stay away from Rukia for... bullshit reasons. Like I get Kubo tried to paint it as a I have to stay away so the Kuchiki won't get mad at her, but Rukia didn't ask for that, she was lonely, even more so without Renji, and he didn't even attempt to communicate with her or just check in? She obviously didn't want that and he didn't either, but no, I'm apparently supposed to be heartbroken that they were speareted. Then when he sees her again, his childhood bestie, the woman he loves, his future wife and mother of his child, what happens? He tried to slash her with a sword when she was depowered. See how his backstory made the previous scene worst. Honestly I was glad he chose to help Ichigo not let Rukia get killed but damn, it shouldn't have taken this long!

After that we get the whole Renji vs Byakuya thing. Renji goes down like a chump, assists in the final battle for a bit and that's it. No apologies for the past, or for what he did when he arrested her, or the things he said to her in prison, zero apologies from Renji Abarai. This doesn't work, especially if Kubo wanted to marry these two off by the end of the series. Renji needed to apologize directly, we needed to see it play out, not just be told he did it offscreen. This left me hating Renji for the reminder of the show. He was now more friendly and even a bit of a comic relief but his first impression muddled that for me. On the Fullbringer Arc he refused to fight Jackie because a man who hits a woman is trash but... didn't you just do that to the chick you're in love with like two years prior? Did he forget? Was that an admission of guilt or something? I dunno. It felt like a last ditch attempt from Kubo to make him more likeable but to me it fell flat. By the end I was fully disinterested in Renji, wheather he lived, died, married Rukia, Byakuya, whoever the hell, I just didn't care for him at all. It did bug me that he took Uryu's spot in the final chapter cover. Uryu deserved better than Mr hypocrite taking his limelight. Renji would've been better as one off villian, Kubo should've given his backstory to another character and have them with Rukia instead. I'll never get over the fact that this dude spent his first appearance being the most unlikeable jerk, physically assaulting the woman he loves, talking shit like a cocky dumbass, almost killing two of the main characters, and taking the girl he loved to her death; only to be married to said girl in the end, with a daughter and on best terms with the people he fucked over. I ain't a fan of him.

Byakuya it's another character who I wanted to smack against the concrete, repeatedly. First appearance? Lets his lieutenant throw his sister around like a ragdoll, almost kills an innocent human, and basically acts like everyone's beneath him? Good, I already hate him. Next time we see him, he shows no emotion towards Rukia's sentence, he's still hell-bent on stopping the human squad from rescuing her, almost lets Renji die after he loses to Ichigo (honestly I was down for Renji bitting it but c'mon this dude is your employee and you don't care if he dies? Big yikes) Keeps messing up every attempt from the others to rescue Rukia. Almost kills Renji in a fight, then goes to fight Ichigo and here's where he became irredeemable for me. During his fight with Ichigo, he says he'll beat Ichigo and then kill Rukia himself. That's when I wanted Ichigo to chop him into sashimi. You can't say something like that and expect anyone to forgive you. He loses against Ichigo and at the very least honors his word to not kill Rukia. Okay then he defends Rukia from the real baddies. Nice, I still hate him. When he's being healed he tells Rukia that he adopted her because his wife was Rukia's actual sister, and he promised he'd keep Rukia safe if he ever found her.

All throughout the flashback I only felt sympathy for Hisana. Being put in the poorest place in Rukon, having to leave your baby sister to survive, marrying a guy who you love only for his family to hate you because you're not Noble, then getting terminally ill and not being able to help your lost sibling, all of that is horrible and broke my heart. More so when you realize that Byakuya didn't keep his promise to protect Rukia because it would break the law. He can stick his laws where the sun don't shine Rukia almost got killed unfairly because of him, Ichigo and his friends would've died unfairly because of him, he doesn't deserve any forgiveness. At least the dude had the spine to apologize on screen but that still just the bare minimum. I wanted to see him make up for all the shit he caused, maybe try and help change the law so a mistake like this dosen't happen again, just something productive. Well no, he's still the same cold and unlikable jerk we first met, only now he seems to treat Rukia better. This should've been a start, not the default. When he almost died in the final arc I thought it was a fitting end, he's humbled down, he apologizes to Rukia and Renji for losing, he leaves everything in Ichigo's hands, which mirrors how he was opposing him on the first arc but it's now fully on his side, it was the best way to salvage this unlikeable prick. But no, he dosen't die. He lives and its back to the grind again. Worst of all it's how he appears during Rukia's big fight and she uses her Bankai, he's there to mansplain and sour the fight and ugh I hated that chapter. Then he says he's proud of Rukia and it's meant to be a heartwarming moment, to me however it was vomit inducing. You're proud now? Two years ago you almost killed her! You ignored her and neglected her for decades and this is supposed to be cute?! No, his pride is worth less than dirt when he treated her this badly before. Heck if he had won back at the beginning Rukia wouldn't even be there. You almost killed her two years before, and now you're proud? Miss me with that nonsense.

The ending was especially jarring for me not just because Renji got with Rukia but also because they, along with Byakuya did nothing to fix the system that almost led to Rukia's unfair death. None of them did anything and if there's one thing I would love to see if Bleach ever got a sequel,would be Ichika yelling at the three of them for their ineptitude. They let the Sokyoku get rebuilt, they didn't do a smidge to change the system even though they're two captains and a lieutenant, and still live in prefect rich peep paradise when Rukon is still as shitty as it was when Renji and Rukia lived there.

Sorry for the long answer, I just wanted to let everything out as in most discussions people are baffled by the fact that I don't like these three characters all that much. Hope this answers your question anon!

I really think Kubo never planned Renji to be a good guy until he started the Soul Society arc. Renji did not act like a person who didn’t want Rukia to “pay for her crimes.” His actions, his expression, he was ready to take her to her death. If Kubo wanted us to believe that Renji only did it because “orders”, he should’ve given us a pained man who has no choice. He should’ve made Renji sad, hurt, that he had to do this. Not grin and choke her. As a writer, this stuff is important so it doesn’t come out of left field. We needed hints throughout, not just when we got his backstory.

You know what I just thought about recently? How fucked up Renji actually was and how fucked RenRuki is? Poor little Rukia man. She got paired with a man who was gonna aid in her execution. Ichigo had to beat the sense into him quite literally that it was wrong to kill her. And that’s who she chose? Rukia really? Or should I say, Kubo really? I mean I hate IchiHime most of all. But objectively speaking at least it’s not abusive. It’s toxic and unhealthy but not abusive. RenRuki feels like SasuSaku in the sense it’s just wrong and f**ked up. And yeah sorry SasuSaku fans your ship is one of the most toxic I’ve ever seen in fiction. And it’s sad Rukia ended up in a pairing similar. It’s sad. What kind of message is Kubo trying to send us? Ichigo gets with this meek submissive woman who’d never challenge him and Rukia gets with a man who once was more than willing and proud to aid in her execution. You see why my user name is Tite Kubo is gross now?

How it would feel if someone told me I had to rewatch Bleach with them

ITS A SIN! MAKE IT STOP ITS A SIN I SAY!

No but seriously y’all have strength I don’t. I truly haven’t thought about IR for 10 years. Maybe I’m having a mid life crises or a mid twenties crisis anyway lol. I just am feeling nostalgic for my teens. So I’ve been thinking about anime and especially IchiRuki lately and tumblr and stuff. Idk. I just couldn’t continue posting here when it all ended. I am genuinely shocked I still see people active in the fandom. It makes me happy tho. Thanks guys for keeping IchiRuki alive. Because I don’t have it in me to care to anymore and haven’t in a very very long time. It’ll always be my OTP. But you couldn’t pay me to rewatch or read Bleach.

So, I just started watching bleach again, and the emotions I get watching ichigo and rukia are so much more intense than watching other characters that are a ship. It's not even comparable. These two are just on a whole other level and I still am in utter shock that the author tried to ruin it by not making it canon. This is the kind of ship that moves mountains. It's beautiful and other ships pale in comparison and still rings true no matter what canon may be

It’s because mangaka don’t understand what foreshadowing means. They don’t understand that Chekhovs gun MUST be followed to have a good story. Chekhov's gun is a dramatic principle that suggests that details within a story or play will contribute to the overall narrative. This encourages writers to not make false promises in their narrative by including extemporaneous details that will not ultimately pay off by the last act, chapter, or conclusion. Kubo is VERY guilty of making false promises in his narrative that never ultimately pay off. That’s why everyone hated the ending. That’s why the entire franchise when downhill and lost readers and was dropped by SJ. Because it became dog shit because Kubo can’t write. He’s a one hit wonder. Like one of those musicians that makes one really amazing song by accident and everything else they do sucks. That’s Kubo. He made a really amazing pairing all by accident. It wasn’t because he was a talented author tho. No if he were than Bleach’s plot wouldn’t repeat every other arc

Normalize having romantic build-ups for relationships in Shounen genre

If an author plans having endgames for couples, there SHOULD be a build-up for them, even in Shounen.

The writing should make sense and the writer shouldn't throw at us some random pairings in the last chapter. Either stick to the no-romance in Shounen rule till the end or put some effort.

It all comes down to common sense, good writing and storytelling, in the end.

Why is the chemistry between Ichigo and Rukia so good? I'm trying to get into other ships on other shows and nothing compares.

At 13 they were my relationship goal, and 13 years later it still stands.

My theory on why IR didn’t happen…

I used to be an active IchiRuki fan. I no longer am. I did have a dream about tumblr the other day tho and when I was on here that’s 90% of what I posted about. After the manga ended I ended up deleting my account. I was not only done with Bleach but anime in general. I have not watched or read Bleach since it ended. Which is nearly a decade. So my arguments won’t be as solid as they used to be when I could literally recite that series like a souther Baptist preacher can recite the Bible lol. But while I’m here (as I just made a temporary account to look at things for nostalgia’s sake) I have decided I want to post my ultimate theory as why IchiRuki didn’t happen.

So, first and foremost I want to mention I am not liberal, why do I mention my politics? Because I am about to say some things that I’m sure I’ll get attacked for by people claiming I’m just a crazy liberal. But I am actually a moderate that leans conservative, a rare thing for tumblr I know. I don’t make accusations of sexism lightly. I don’t just willy nilly call people sexist because I don’t like them. But I do think some people are sexist. Sexism is real and it’s a prevalent problem in Japan. And I think Kubo may be a misogynist.

And before you start rage typing at your keyboards please hear me out. This isn’t my theory, it’s actually my brothers who is even more on the conservative spectrum than I am. He REALLY doesn’t make claims like this lightly, but I really think he’s onto something. He said basically he believes if Kubo is telling the truth that he never intended on IchiRuki and always planned Ichihime that it’s likely because he’s sexist. Rukia is Ichigos equal, she’s smart, strong, and she stands up to Ichigo and tells him off when he needs to be told off. Orihime is I’m sorry Orihime fans, but she’s dumb, ditsy, airheaded, and most importantly submissive.

In Japan traditionally submissive women were looked upon as ideal. Obviously I know that things have changed with modern times and it’s gotten a lot better. But echos of Japans former sexist past still is present within their modern society. As are echos of our former sexist past. As a student of anthropology I can tell you women are just f**ked in most societies. While the “tiger mom” stereotype is very real do not let that fool you. The ideal TRADITIONAL wife in Japan is still very much one who is submissive to her husband. This is why Rukia could never be Ichigos lover. She was not submissive enough.

Anyway, this is my brothers theory and I think he may be onto something. I used to think, we ALL used to think Kubo was foreshadowing IchiRuki, but maybe he wasn’t? Maybe he really is just that much of a talentless hack. I mean was any of Bleach even any good besides the first two arcs? After the Soul Society arc that entire franchise became a shitshow. And IchiRuki wasn’t the only thing he foreshadowed that never amounted to anything. See this is what I mean where my arguments won’t be as strong because I haven’t read the series in years, but I know y’all know what I mean. There’s a tone of shit in Bleach that he introduced that never got brought up again. So much lore that was never developed and in the rare cases when it was it never made any sense. So maybe he is just talentless.

I used to think he intentionally gave Bleach a shit ending because he was fired. If you remember Naruto ended a year prior and Shonen Jump used the popular Naruto pairings kids to make a sequel series to milk the franchise. I always wondered if Kubo knew no one gave a shit about IchiHime and that it would be impossible to make a sequel with IchiHime kids. So he sacrificed his series so his enemies couldn’t prosper off it. That’s what I used to think he did. But I’ve since changed my mind. I was giving that man FAR too much credit. I don’t think he’s that clever to think to do that. I think he’s kinda stupid tbh. Sorry but I do. Anyway. This is all I’m posting. I again just made this account because I wanted to say hi to an old mutual I was shocked to see was still around. You can reply but I’m not gonna debate y’all like I used to. I’m over that shit now. My opinion stands and you can’t change it. Like it or hate it it’s my opinion and I’m entitled to it. If you’ve gotten this far and read all my post I hope you have a lovely day!

Edit: I forgot to add that before you say “well Kubo can’t be sexist because he creates strong female characters” THINK AGAIN! I love Quintin Tarantino but the man has said very misogynistic things in the past including that he thought a minor girl could consent. And he literally created the most badass female characters of all time. Some of my favorite female characters. Beatrix Kiddo and O-Ren-Ishi. Yes men who create strong female characters can be sexist. Never underestimate a man’s ability to demean a woman smfh

Anyway I am serious this is just a throwaway account I made so this is my only post so it’s also my goodbye post so,

I don’t think any of us won. Ichihime is a terrible pairing that got zero development. If Kubo really isn’t lying and he planned that shit then he is a talentless hack. A one hit wonder. And IchiRuki got one of the best pairings in all of shonen anime if not fiction in general only for it to amount to nothing. Our time energy and emotions were wasted invested in false promises from Kubo. None of us won. I just made a tumblr temporarily to say hi to an old mutual and to look at things because I was feeling nostalgic. But I no longer ever watch anime anymore. Bleach and Naruto forever tarnished my experience with the genera and I no longer trust mangaka to follow through with any of their for shadowing. If I do watch something I ALWAYS make sure it’s ended first and know the ending so I never have my time wasted again.

I just think it’s so funny how a canon ship fan will spend most of their time defending their ship than they do actually enjoying it. I mean they have been constantly trolling, “They’re going to be so mad when the ending gets animated because we won!” I don’t know about anyone else but I could care less because did y’all really win? A non canon ship has an obvious amount of more chemistry and this is just on a platonic level. I don’t need mischaracterized comics or fanart to get crumbs of my favorite couple, your favorite couple barely has scenes together. So I don’t know, I still feel like I won! Just a thought…