Orihime Inoue

Orihime Inoue

Orihime Inoue (井上 織姫 Inoue Orihime) is a fictional character and major figure in the animeand manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. She is a classmate and friend of Ichigo Kurosaki, the main character of the series. Like many other friends of Ichigo, she quickly develops spiritual powers of her own after Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper. Through the series, Orihime learns about Ichigo's duties as a Soul Reaper and decides to accompany him when he goes to Soul Society to save Rukia Kuchiki.

Besides the manga and anime series, Orihime has also appeared in other media from Bleachincluding video games and animated films. Orihime's character has been highly popular between readers of the manga since her introduction, having ranked high in all of the characters popularity polls of the series. Additionally, various pieces of merchandising have been developed based on her appearance such as figurines and key chains. Publications from manga, anime and other media have also commented on her character with most praising her traits and development inBleach.

Personality

Orihime is friendly, humorous, sensitive, and kind. She comes off as naïve and rather clueless, which is at odds with her exceptionally high marks in school.Additionally, according to Tatsuki, Orihime has the fighting skill of a yellow belt.Her cooking style can be described as very bad, disgusting, or, more often strange to the point that aside from Rangiku Matsumoto, no one would think it delectable, and is one of the running jokes in the series.Orihime has a tendency to rush into situations without thinking, sometimes leading to embarrassing or even dangerous consequences. She also tends to have an overactive imagination and gets carried away thinking of implausible scenarios, such as initially fantasizing a date with Ichigo, later ending into her becoming a boxing champion prior to being shot.Aside from Rangiku Matsumoto and possibly Tessai Tsukabishi, no one shares Orihime's tastes. Her favorite food is red bean paste, and she likes putting butter on sweet potatoes. She enjoys cheese and butter most of the time, especially butter on baked potatoes. She also likes Cake (sometimes but not always) rice and ice cream( as seen eating in the anime) She tends to zone out with her mouth open and loses track of what she was thinking or dreaming about.

Orihime has feelings for protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki.This leads her to be jealous of the relationship Ichigo and Rukia Kuchiki share despite her friendship and admiration of both of them.Through her expanding role in the manga, Orihime was more happy and goofy at the start of the series, but later arcs deal with her feelings of inadequacy and inner turmoils.Orihime lives by herself in Karakura Town, where the story takes place, and is supported by relatives living elsewhere. Previously, she had lived with her older brother, Sora, who was fifteen years older than her. She and her brother were raised by parents who did not want children who were different. When Sora turned eighteen, he ran away with Orihime, who was three years old, and raised her since. For nine years, Orihime and Sora lived in harmony until one day, Sora was wounded in a car accident and died.

[edit]Abilities

The Shun Shun Rikka.

Orihime's power manifests itself as the Shun Shun Rikka (盾舜六花, literally "six flowers of the shielded hibiscus", translated in the English anime as "six princess-shielding flowers"), six fairy-like creatures that reside in her hair-clips (shaped like six-petaled flowers, each fairy is two points on a given clip) when inactive.

The fairies are separate manifestations of Orihime's spirit, each with its own unique appearance and personality, and each named after a flower. Orihime's techniques involve incantations manipulating the Shun Shun Rikka into three different groups. Though Orihime initially needed to chant an incantation to use her techniques, further training has rendered this unnecessary. Her incantation consists of voicing the names of the members involved, followed by the technique name and the phrase "I reject" (私は拒絶する watashi wa kyozetsu suru), a reference to the nature of her powers.Since Orihime's power is fueled by her emotions rather than spiritual energy, the only limit that has been shown to it is her own confidence; any self-doubt weakens her abilities and can cause them to fail.

Santen Kesshun (三天結盾, literally "triple heavenly linking shield") is Orihime's defensive technique. The incantation arranges Baigon, Hinagiku and Lily into a triangle, forming a barrier capable of repelling anything seen so far. Although it is shown that it clearly has its limits such as when one of the espada, Yammy shatters it with a single punch.

Koten Zanshun (孤天斬盾, literally "solitary heavenly cutting shield") is Orihime's offensive technique. The incantation summons Tsubaki (椿鬼), who forms a thin barrier on either side of himself that cuts through enemies like a sword.However, when Tsubaki is destroyed by an arrancar, Orihime is unable to use this technique until Tsubaki is revived.Koten Zanshun is the least effective of Orihime's abilities, not because of any lack of power, but because her own pacifist nature. Since the technique is invariably lethal if effective, Orihime is conflicted about whether she truly wants it to work, and thus any powerful foe can block the attack.

Sōten Kisshun (双天帰盾, literally "twin heavenly returning shield") is Orihime's healing technique, though it goes well beyond simple healing. The incantation summons Shun'o and Ayame to form a half-oval barrier around whatever or whomever Orihime wishes.While active, the barrier repels all negative events inflicted upon anything within the barrier. No matter how extensive the damage may be (whether used on living beings or inanimate objects), the barrier can restore it to full working order by reversing space and time around the damaged area, making it as if the object was never damaged in the first place. This is the aspect of her power that piques Sōsuke Aizen's interest in her since, in Aizen's words, she "violates the realm of gods."