Time for a bit of nostalgia.
Something that I would like to talk about today, as an example, was the romantic plotline in Bleach. For those who are not familiar with Bleach, I don’t have the time to explain the series and what it’s about so, I’ll just copy and paste the synopsis from MyAnimeList:
“Ichigo Kurosaki is an ordinary high schooler—until his family is attacked by a Hollow, a corrupt spirit that seeks to devour human souls. It is then that he meets a Soul Reaper named Rukia Kuchiki, who gets injured while protecting Ichigo's family from the assailant. To save his family, Ichigo accepts Rukia's offer of taking her powers and becomes a Soul Reaper as a result.
However, as Rukia is unable to regain her powers, Ichigo is given the daunting task of hunting down the Hollows that plague their town. However, he is not alone in his fight, as he is later joined by his friends—classmates Orihime Inoue, Yasutora Sado, and Uryuu Ishida—who each have their own unique abilities. As Ichigo and his comrades get used to their new duties and support each other on and off the battlefield, the young Soul Reaper soon learns that the Hollows are not the only real threat to the human world.”
Bleach is a classic 2000s anime, loved by millions all around the world. Every year, men and women in their 20s and some even in their 30s get together dressed up as Soul Reapers and enjoy the company of the greater Bleach community. But this is not what we’re discussing today.
During the Bleach series, there was a notably heightened level of discussion about what the endgame romance would be in the Bleach series. The main character, Ichigo, had two close friends that people thought he could possibly end up with, Orihime Inoue and Rukia Kuchiki. This timeless debate has been going on since I was a child.
I’m honestly just here to share some of the memories over the years from this debate people have taken more seriously than climate change.
Bleach on FanFiction.net:
Bleach FanFiction Archive | FanFiction
Fanfiction is a legendary site (with some admittedly weird content). A lot of the stuff here kept me fed for years while writers retired, got their series canceled, or were producing no content for whatever reason. Was what interesting was that some people on the site had favorite characters that were somewhat irrelevant and explored new stories for them. Bleach has over 60k stories on this site, putting it in 4th place overall in popularity on Fanfiction.net. This was a place where people got to explore their ideas for the mundane activities anime heroes would be participating in, like Ichigo marrying Rukia or Orihime or something. Pretty cool stuff to get into as a kid.
Bleach YouTube Videos:
The YouTube videos people made about Bleach (and literally just this topic) would surprise a non-viewer. Here are some examples:
Ichiruki Vs Ichihime - What could've been the best ending ? (16k views)
IchiRuki Writer's Analysis (39k views)
Why Most Bleach Fans Prefer IchiRuki Instead Of IchiHime - The Pairings In BLEACH FINAL Debate (92k views)
IchiRuki manga moments - Here to Stay (36k views)
The Real Reason We Ship Ichiruki: The Female Gaze (122k views)
Ichiruki VS Ichihime (manga edition) (69k views)
Ichigo X Rukia cute moments (645k views)
People over the years have been able to get so invested in this little part of this anime. Isn’t that interesting?
I think it’s interesting that people all around the world came together for years to discuss this silly topic for decades in excruciating detail. Thousands of comments on forums, Reddit, Discord, and YouTube. Literal hours of YouTube videos. It’s silly but it really shows the true level of immersion people were able to get in a silly anime about soul reapers swinging swords. Something about that is just beautiful to me. Part of the reason I think that anime is so special is that truly good anime can make you feel something. Despite its flaws, I think Bleach can make a person feel things.
I’ll leave you with this clip.