Orihime Inoue

Orihime Inoue (井上 織姫) is a fictional character and major figure in the manga and anime 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 shinigami. Her given name is taken from a Japanese legend that the festival Tanabata is based on. On a chapter cover in Volume 1 of the manga, the word Vega, a star that symbolizes Orihime the weaver princess from the Tanabata legend, is printed to show the connection. She ranked 10th in the most recent Shonen Jump poll.

Character outline
Orihime Inoue has long orange-brown hair which she wears with the bangs behind her ears and hairpins. She does not remove her hairpins, except to sleep (she is seen without them in episode 64 when she wakes up), as they are worn in memory of her brother, while her hair is worn long in honor of the promise Tatsuki Arisawa once made to protect her. Her large breasts are occasionally made the subject of jokes in the series. She also has an amazingly hard head, which has injured Uryū, Chad, and Ichigo. The only person who has been able to damage her head has been Yachiru Kusajishi in a comical moment when she is riding on Kenpachi Zaraki's shoulders. Orihime has brown eyes in color pictures of the manga, but gray eyes in the anime.

Orihime is friendly, humorous in her own way, sensitive, and kind. She comes off as naive and rather clueless, which is at odds with her exceptionally high marks in school. Apparently, she is hopeless when it comes to technology. One of the members of the Handicrafts' Club remarks that she is not smart enough to use a cell phone, which is why she does not have one. Additionally, according to Tatsuki, Orihime has the fighting skill of a black belt, however, in the English dubbed version she says Orihime is at the skill of a yellow belt.

Orihime cooks and eats strange food at home, although she also likes some normal food. 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.

Orihime has a tendency to rush into situations without thinking, sometimes leading to embarrassing consequences. At one point, the schoolgirls ask Rukia if she has feelings for Ichigo. When Rukia denies any such thing, Orihime is disappointed that Rukia does not share her sentiments, because if she had, then it would be two girls against one boy and therefore the girls "team" would win, which makes no sense. She also tends to have an overactive imagination and gets carried away thinking of implausible scenarios, such as portraying herself as a futuristic and apparently highly destructive robot in an assignment asking "How do you see yourself in the future?", when the question refers to what occupation one wishes or believes they will have.

Orihime has also demonstrated that she is perceptive, mostly when it comes to Ichigo Kurosaki. She has a crush with Ichigo,and later falls in love with him, and in both the manga and anime her feelings only become more evident as time goes on. She has revealed these feelings both to Rangiku Matsumoto and to Ichigo himself, though he was asleep at the time. She also has the uncanny ability to detect Ichigo by scent and sense his spiritual pressure, even when masked by the vizard.

Through her expanding role in the manga, Orihime has become a more complex character than her earlier archetype suggested. Where Orihime was more happy and goofy at the start of the series, later arcs deal with her feelings of inadequacy and inner turmoils. She also functions as a second female lead after the Soul Society arc, which was recognized when her character was featured along with female leads from other Weekly Shonen Jump series on a special Shonen Jump cover.

School
Orihime scores the highest marks in school after Uryū Ishida and Ryō Kunieda. Despite her intelligence, she appears to lack "street smarts." She is also a member of the Handicrafts' Club with Uryū and apparently likes to invent very ridiculous sports to play with Tatsuki (like "base-cer," a combination of baseball and soccer much like kickball or soccer-baseball except they use a bat to hit the soccer ball instead of their foot). Like Chad and Ishida, she is in the same class as Ichigo. She is frequently in the company of Tatsuki, her best friend and a childhood friend of Ichigo's.

History
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 a drunk father and an unfaithful mother, who always argued and beat their children. It is unknown if her parents are still alive.

When Sora turned eighteen, he ran away with Orihime, who was three years old, and raised her since. For six years, Orihime and Sora lived in harmony despite the fact that Orihime was bullied in school because of her long hair. One day, Sora gave Orihime a pair of hairpins. However, Orihime refused to wear them because she said they were childish. On the same day, Sora was wounded in a car accident and died in the Kurosaki clinic. Orihime has worn the hairpins ever since. A year after Sora died, Orihime met Tatsuki who defended her from the bullies. They have been best friends ever since.

Early story
Orihime first appears as a high school student who has a crush on Ichigo. Her first exposure to the spiritual world comes when her deceased brother, Sora Inoue, becomes the hollow Acidwire. The battle does not end until Orihime's intervention that results in Sora stabbing himself with Ichigo's zanpakutō, purifying himself in the process. While both Tatsuki and Orihime's memories are modified by Rukia, this event enables them to start developing spiritual awareness. She once again encounters a hollow when Uryū lures a massive number to Karakura Town for his challenge to Ichigo. The hollow, Numb Chandelier, uses her ability to control various students and forces them to attack Orihime. When Tatsuki tries to fend off the assaults and protect Orihime, she is controlled as well. Seeing Tatsuki in tears, Orihime decides it is time for her to protect Tatsuki in return for their friendship. This desire transforms her flower-shaped hairpins into six fairy-like spirits. These six spirits, who call themselves "Shun Shun Rikka," briefly explain their powers for Orihime, which she uses to defeat the hollow. Afterward, Kisuke Urahara takes her and Yasutora Sado to his shop and he explains to the two about their powers.

Soul Society arc
After Rukia is taken back to Soul Society, Orihime decides to join Ichigo on his rescue mission, along with Chad, Uryū, and Yoruichi Shihouin as their guide. For the majority of their mission, Orihime is grouped with Uryū. Compared to the others, the two are fairly stealthy about their movements, attracting attention a total of three significant times while the others are fighting at basically every turn.

Shortly after arriving, they fight Jirōbō Ikkanzaka of the 7th Division, Uryū dispatches him fairly easily. Orihime then gets the idea to steal a pair of shinigami uniforms to blend in. When two possible candidates from the 12th Division show up, Uryū merely watches as Orihime takes them down single-handedly. She later mentions that Tatsuki trained her to fight at an equivalent level of a black belt in karate. However, when they come face to face with the captain of 12th Division, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Uryū forces another shinigami, Makizō Aramaki of 11th Division, to carry Orihime away. Later, she is able to reunite with Chad, Uryū, and Ganju Shiba. While they manage to save Rukia, they are unable to stop Sōsuke Aizen, the mastermind behind the entire scheme, from departing for Hueco Mundo.

Bount arc
In the anime, Orihime returns to school where she finally starts to talk to Tatsuki Arisawa again. During that morning, Renji Abarai turns up outside in a gigai calling for Ichigo, who runs out of class. Later that evening, Orihime is visited by the spirit of her dead brother, who assures her that he got to Soul Society safely and he will never become a hollow again. Meanwhile, Renji's phone picks up a spiritual anomaly near Orihime's house and he informs Ichigo of this. Chad and Uryū also sense this. Back at Orihime's house, her brother starts to behave strangely and suggests going outside. When Renji, Ichigo, Chad and Uryu arrive, there is a huge door (which somewhat resembles the Gates of Hell) floating outside Orihime's house. She is then sucked in while three shadowy figures stand on the rooftops laughing. The next day, everybody at school, including Tatsuki, seems to have lost their memories of her existence.

The shadowy figures rope Ichigo and the others into playing their "games" to get their friend back, eventually kidnapping Chad instead of returning Orihime. One of the shadowy figures impersonates Orihime beforehand, and turns into a tall thin man with a mustache, glasses, and top hat who reveals himself as Kuroud. Next, a thin teenager with a zipper hood appears and introduces himself as Noba, and finally comes the girl who was phoning them, named Ririn. Chad is then sucked through the gates leaving the group down to three.

After some more games, the three strangers are revealed to be modified souls in gigai forms. They return both Orihime and Chad, but insist that one of their group has been replaced by an impostor in the process. The next game involves them finding the impostor over the course of the school day as their classmates disappear. The impostor is eventually revealed to be Chad. The final challenge involves rescuing Chad. Ichigo eventually realizes that Urahara is behind the whole thing.

Afterwards, Urahara reveals to the group that Uryū has lost his powers. Yoruichi appears and tells them that Bounts have appeared. Urahara explains to the group about the Bounts and because they have high spirit powers, they might be targeted. He also tells them that the three mod souls have Bount detectors inside them. He then pairs Orihime up with Kuroud who takes him home in pill form and puts him into a rabbit bag. As she is admiring him, Kon, Chad, and Noba (inside a turtle plushie) turn up. As they are talking, Noba and Kuroud detect a Bount and the two run off to stop it from absorbing somebody's soul. The find that they are too late and are confronted by Ryō Udagawa who then walks off. They sense Ichigo is in trouble and run to find him just after Ryō Udagawa has carried off Yoshino Sōma. Orihime realizes Rukia Kuchiki has come back to the real world and she invites her to come to a restaurant while Ichigo and Chad exchange confused looks.

After the three bring Rukia up to date with the situation, they go back to Ichigo's house and talk, during the middle of which Renji barges in. Orihime then continues to help Ichigo and the group fight the Bounts and help rescue Uryū, who the Bounts have taken a liking to and claim they need. Orihime later has to fight Rukia, who is possessed by the Bount Mabashi's doll, Ritz. Though reluctant to harm either Rukia or the Bount, Rukia's momentary ability to overpower the doll gives Orihime enough motivation to free Rukia from the doll's control.

Orihime later accompanies Ichigo and the group to Soul Society after the Bounts go there to get revenge for their creation. In Soul Society, the group split up to search for the Bounts in Rukongai. While searching, Orihime finds Ichigo. While they are speculating over where the Bounts might be, they sense Rukia is in trouble. The two of them arrive to help Rukia in the aftermath of her fight with Yoshi and accompany Byakuya Kuchiki back to his house, where they are told Rukia's life is not in danger.

Later, the group get information of the Bounts' whereabouts, but they get split up when Ichigo and Uryū sense Jin Kariya, who is fighting Byakuya Kuchiki, and separately go to investigate. Orihime and Chad later reappear when Maki Ichinose tries to stop the group (which now includes Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Renji Abarai and Rangiku Matsumoto). Ichinose tries to kill the group but Kenpachi Zaraki soon shows up and engages Ichinose. The group then return to Seireitei where they find gatekeeper Jidanbō injured after losing to the Bounts. Orihime then decides to stay behind and heal Jidanbō. Later on, Orihime meets up again with Ichigo and the others, and heals both Chad and Uryū's injuries.

Arrancar arc
The group's return marks the beginning of the school semester. However, the arrival of a new student, Shinji Hirako, brings along many troubling issues. Noticing the change of behavior in Ichigo, Orihime and Chad confront Shinji after overhearing his conversation with Hiyori Sarugaki. Before they can learn anything, Hiyori is carried away by Shinji.

Shortly after, the human world is invaded by two arrancar, Ulquiorra Schiffer and Yammy. Orihime and Chad manage to save Tatsuki, who was present when the two invaders arrived. Ichigo arrives shortly after, but is then neutralized when his inner hollow interferes with the battle. The three of them sustain massive injuries, with the spirit for Orihime's attack ability, Tsubaki, completely destroyed. They are saved by the arrival of Yoruichi and Urahara.

This event prompts Soul Society to send a group of shinigami to help defend the human world, Rukia among them. While the return of Rukia helps to cheer up a depressed Ichigo, Orihime becomes conflicted with gratefulness and jealousy. After talking with Rangiku Matsumoto, who decides to stay with Orihime, she becomes positive again, with the desire to grow stronger.

After the second assault on the human world, this time by Grimmjow Jeagerjaques and five other arrancar, Soul Society finally figures out the true agenda of Sōsuke Aizen and requests Orihime deliver this information to the human defenders. She is able to track down Ichigo, who is at the vizard base, and manages to pass through the vizards' barrier without much effort. This feat amazes and impresses the vizard Hachigen Ushōda, who created the barrier.

Orihime is then summoned to meet Urahara at his shop. There, she is asked to not participate in the coming battle. Though part of the reason is Orihime's lack of combat ability, Urahara is really trying to prevent her from attracting Aizen's interest. Discouraged briefly, Orihime regains her confidence after talking to Rukia. She is further helped when Hachigen restores Tsubaki for her. She then joins Rukia in her training in Soul Society.

Unfortunately, Orihime's ability does spur Aizen's attention. Upon seeing footage brought back by Ulquiorra, he decides to have her captured. A third invasion of the human world is ordered, intending to lure Orihime out. The plan is a success, with Ulquiorra intercepting Orihime as she passes through the tunnel. Threatened with the lives of those she cares for the most, she has no choice but to go to Hueco Mundo.

Orihime is given a chance to bid farewell to one person, and she uses the chance to make a tearful love confession to a sleeping Ichigo. She comes close to kissing him but cannot bring herself to do it. Before leaving the human world, she writes a cryptic line in a notebook, "Goodbye halcyon days."

Hueco Mundo arc
As she arrives in Las Noches, the fortress of the arrancar, Orihime is ordered by Aizen to demonstrate her power to the rest of the arrancar by restoring Grimmjow's missing arm. After she recreates it, Grimmjow also asks her to restore his number six tattoo, identifying him as one of the Espada. Upon completion of this task, Grimmjow butchers Luppi to get his rank back, much to Orihime's horror.

Orihime is assigned to a modest room as Ichigo, Ishida, and Chad attempt to rescue her. She receives a new wardrobe similar to that of an arrancar and is informed by Ulquiorra that Ichigo and his group (which now includes Rukia, Renji, and a trio of hollows) are attempting a rescue on her behalf. She appears to have converted to Aizen's side and as a supposed token of his trust in her Aizen shows her the Orb of Distortion, which he explains is necessary for both the creation of arrancar and the royal key. However, this only gives Orihime a sense of purpose, and she resolves to destroy the orb with her powers by erasing its existence altogether.

As Ichigo's group separately make their way through Las Noches, she senses Chad's defeat at the hands of Nnoitra as Ulquiorra walks in to her room. As he tries to convince her to eat, she repeatedly insists that Chad is still alive. Frustrated, Ulquiorra tells her that all her friends are eventually going to be defeated and that only fools come into Hueco Mundo with their powers untested. Orihime responds with a slap across Ulquiorra's face. Ulquiorra leaves as Orihime breaks down and starts crying.

Lolly and Menoly later break into Orihime's room to torture her, only to be killed by Grimmjow shortly thereafter. Orihime is at a loss as to why he'd do such a thing, so Grimmjow explains that he's returning the favor for his arm. Grimmjow then grabs Orihime by the collar of her uniform and hoists her up, explaining that she now owes him another favor. Before they depart, Orihime revives the two arrancar he killed, leading them to refer to her as a monster because of her ability to bring back the dead. After chaining her arms together to prevent her from escaping, Grimmjow drags Orihime to Ichigo, wanting her to restore him to full strength so they can have a fair battle. Orihime has trouble doing so due to the large amount of leftover spiritual pressure from Ulquiorra's attacks.

Ulquiorra himself arrives in short order, having discovered Grimmjow's plans. Grimmjow uses a portable negación field to imprison him, then has Orihime finish what she's doing. Though reluctant at first, Ichigo tells her to obey Grimmjow so they can fight. After the two begin to battle, Orihime consoles Nel, telling her that Ichigo will win if he says he will. After Ichigo dons his hollow mask, she becomes shocked at the cold, vicious fighting style Ichigo displays and wonders if it really is him. With encouragement from Nel, Orihime is able to lend her full support to Ichigo allowing him to gain the upper hand and deal a damaging blow to Grimmjow. After Ichigo stabs through Grimmjow and ends the fight, he grabs Orihime and prepares to leave to find Rukia and Chad. However, they are interrupted by the appearance of Nnoitra, who slashes the defeated Grimmjow in order to take over the battle. She attempts to assist Ichigo only to be tackled by Tesla, who prevents her from trying to break free by threatening to shatter her Shun Shun Rikka. After Nnoitra gets hit by a double cero blast from Nel, Tesla rushes to his aid releasing Orihime, she in turn rushes to Ichigo's side only to see Nel comically hug Ichigo. Orihime tells Nel that if she keeps hugging Ichigo like that he is eventually going to pass out, which he does shortly after. Not long after that Ichigo wakes up and goes to aid Nel in her battle against Nnoitra, only to have Tesla recapture Orihime shortly after he leaves.

After Nel falls, Ichigo goes up against Nnoitra, but is stopped by Tesla, who releases his zanpakuto. Nnoitra then grabs her, and sticks his fingers in her mouth telling her not to scream and watch as Ichigo gets killed. Tesla, however, is swiftly cut in half upon the arrival of 11th Division Captain Kenpachi Zaraki, and Nnoitra immediately throws her aside to face Zaraki.

Powers
Orihime's power manifests itself as the Shun Shun Rikka (盾舜六花, lit. Six Flowers of the Hibiscus Shield; Six Princess Shielding Flowers in the English anime), 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. Through various combinations of the six fairies, Orihime has the power to reject fate by denying or undoing events in various forms. This power can be used for attack, defense, or healing (depending on the combination). Orihime's mood directly influences the effectiveness of her powers. Feelings like doubt or worry make them weaker, while conviction makes them stronger. At their height, her powers resemble those of a deity in strength.

Orihime's powers initially manifested during the duel between Ichigo and Ishida while trying to protect her friend Tatsuki from Numb Chandelier. She was trained by Yoruichi Shihouin in their usage before attempting to rescue Rukia Kuchiki from being executed in Soul Society. Curiously, Orihime's spiritual energy and powers resemble those of the vizard Hachigen Ushōda (who even compared her Shun Shun Rikka to a zanpakutō). Orihime mainly functions in a healing capacity, due to the nature of her powers. Despite her ability to inflict lethal damage, she is a pacifist and will only harm opponents to save someone's life.

The fairies are separate manifestations of Orihime's spirit, each with its own unique appearance and personality, and each named after a flower:


 * Ayame (あやめ) - Iris -
 * Ayame is a shy female spirit covered in a dress larger than her body. She is capable of healing together with Shun'ō.


 * Baigon (梅巌) - Ume -
 * Baigon is a bald male spirit with a mask that covers the bottom of his face. He is capable of shielding Orihime from attacks along with Hinagiku and Lily.


 * Hinagiku (火無菊) - Daisy -
 * Hinagiku is a male spirit with a large eyepatch that ends in a horn. He is capable of shielding Orihime from attacks along with Baigon and Lily.


 * Lily (リリィ) - Lily -
 * Lily is a female spirit with bright pink hair, transparent yellow goggles, and a blue bathing suit. She has a tattoo on her backside. She is capable of shielding Orihime from attacks along with Baigon and Hinagiku.


 * Shun'ō (舜桜) – Althea -
 * Shun'ō is a friendly female spirit with a topknot. She and Tsubaki are usually the ones who talk to Orihime. She is capable of healing together with Ayame.


 * Tsubaki (椿鬼) - Camellia -
 * Tsubaki is a fiery male spirit who is the only Shun Shun Rikka capable of direct attack. He often strikes anyone who gets on his nerves (including Orihime). Because he is primarily focused on attacking, he is vulnerable to counter-attacks and has been injured several times. The stronger Orihime's anger and killing intent, the more powerful he becomes. However, Orihime's timid nature limits his overall power and has contributed to his injuries in the past.

Techniques
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), a reference to the nature of her powers.

Santen Kesshun (三天結盾, lit. Three Sacred Links Shield) is Orihime's defensive technique. The incantation arranges Hinagiku, Lily, and Baigon into a triangle, forming a barrier capable of repelling anything on the far side. Because the barrier rejects negative events, it can also function as an airbag of sorts, allowing Orihime and anyone else nearby to survive a potentially lethal fall unharmed.

Sōten Kisshun (双天帰盾, lit. Twin Sacred Return Shield) is Orihime's healing technique, though it goes well beyond simple healing. The incantation summons Ayame and Shun'ō 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, making it as if the object was never damaged in the first place. It can even resurrect the dead. The technique takes longer for more serious injuries, and large amounts of foreign spiritual pressure also make healing more difficult.

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." At first it was believed the technique required that Orihime have some piece of what she is healing to restore what's missing. She was unable to heal Tsubaki after his destruction because he was shattered into pieces too small to find. However, it has been suggested by Hachigen Ushouda, a vizard with similar powers, that Orihime should be able to restore anything she wants without actually having a piece of it.

Koten Zanshun (孤天斬盾, lit. Solitary Sacred Cutting Shield) is Orihime's offensive technique. The incantation summons Tsubaki, who forms a thin barrier to either side of himself. By flying at an enemy, the barrier can reject anything to either side of it, thus cutting through enemies like a sword. While Tsubaki can cut through basically anything, Orihime's general dislike of combat and hesitance to use lethal force degrades the effectiveness of the technique, making him easy to counter and equally easy to injure.

Appearances outside of Bleach
Her character has gained additional fame even among non-fans thanks to a short looped animation of Orihime twirling a "leek" (specifically, a negi, or Welsh onion) played to Ievan Polkka. Known as the Loituma Girl, the four frames used in the flash cartoon were taken from the second episode in the anime.

Notes and references
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