Shonen anime tends to be less about love and more about fighting – but that does not stop fans from shipping their favorite characters. From Naruto to One Piece, many fans of these anime titles have developed strong opinions about who the leads should wind up with. Shipping characters like Sakura and Sasuke can pit you against fans who swear by Sakura’s secret love for Naruto. And, when it comes to Bleach, fans spent years going back-and-forth over whether Ichigo should end up with Rukia or Orihime.
For those of you who are caught up with the manga, you will know how Ichigo’s controversial love triangle wound up. Tite Kubo brought the supernatural shonen title to a end, leaving Ichigo smitten with his wife Orihime while Rukia got together with her childhood friend Renji. For half the fandom, the epilogue romance marked a moment of victory; However, plenty of other fans were less-than-pleased with the development.
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Even though Bleach‘s manga ended some time ago, fans continue to debate the merit of Ichigo’s marriage – but what does its creator have to say about the romance? In the past, Kubo has talked about his work’s cursory focus on romance, and the artist was even asked about Ichigo’s budding feelings for Orihime or Rukia.
“I get asked about that a lot!” Kubo told fans at San Diego Comic Con a few years back. “I don’t want to make Bleach into a love story because there are much more exciting things about their personalities and things that they can do instead of getting into the romance aspect of their relationships.”
Obviously, Kubo’s focus shifted towards romance when the manga came to an end. For the majority of Bleach, romance was a non-issue as Ichigo was too busy honing his Soul Reaper powers and trying to end Aizen’s crazed schemes. However, fans did not that Ichigo did have his moments of affection for both Rukia and Orihime. For the latter heroine, the orange-haired lead felt an instinctive need to protect her as she became targeted for his spiritual gifts. Rukia needed far less protection given her lifelong training as a shinigami, but her reliance on Ichigo for emotional support and comfort left plenty breathless.
Beyond the franchise’s continued shipping wars, fans of Bleach do have a right to their own head-canon as they envision their perfect end of the manga. By the series’ end, Ichigo has completed his hero’s journey after defeating a bloody Soul Society uprising thanks to the Quincy community, and Ichigo comes to terms with his fantastical powers. Whether the hero ends up with Orihime or Rukia was not a matter of importance judging by Kubo’s statement; instead, the canonical pairing was made out of preference or perhaps even ease.
But, hey – if Ichigo is happy, then fans should be too. The poor guy has been through a lot. Even if he chose to shack up with Kenpachi, fans should support the half-shingami. Well, mostly.
