Orihime Inoue

"is a Human living in Karakura Town. She is a student at Karakura High School, where she is in the same class as Ichigo Kurosaki and her best friend, Tatsuki Arisawa."

Appearance


Orihime is a teenager of average height. She has brown eyes and long, waist-length, burnt orange hair. Her most noticeable physical trait is her slender yet curvaceous figure for a teenager, especially in terms of her large breasts. She wears her hair in bangs tucked behind her ears with hairpins, which she only removes to sleep, as they are worn in the memory of her brother. Orihime initially wears her hair with a full but parted fringe before pulling most of her bangs behind her ears as she was ready to leave for Soul Society, a change noted by Tatsuki.

Seventeen months after Aizen's defeat, Orihime's hair becomes fuller and wavier. Her bangs naturally frame her face without her hair clips and also hang over her ears. She stops wearing her hair clips and instead keeps them clipped onto the left collar of her school uniform.

Personality
Orihime is independent, friendly, humorous, sensitive, caring and kind. She comes off as naive and rather clueless, which is at odds with her exceptionally high marks in school. She studies hard because when her grades drop, she receives less financial support from her relatives. She is a member of the Handicrafts Club and likes to invent very ridiculous sports to play with Tatsuki (such as "base-cer," a combination of baseball and soccer). She tends to zone out with her mouth open and loses track of what she was thinking or dreaming about. She has an over-active imagination and gets carried away thinking of implausible scenarios, such as portraying herself as a futuristic and highly destructive robot in an assignment asking a student "How do you see yourself in the future?".

Orihime likes Asian flower print clothing and comedies. While she does eat some normal food, Orihime cooks and eats unusual meals, which other people often find unappetizing. Her favorite food is red bean paste and she likes putting butter on sweet potatoes. She enjoys cheese and butter most of the time.

Orihime has demonstrated that she is perceptive when it comes to people's mental and emotional state, especially in regards to Ichigo, as she is able to tell what kind of driving force is pushing someone. She additionally has a crush on Ichigo and later falls in love with him. She has exhibited traits that appear to have some connection with Ichigo, such as the ability to detect Ichigo by scent, sense his Spiritual Pressure even when masked by the Visored, and an awareness of what mood Ichigo is in, sensing his feelings of anguish, disappointment, or worry, even feeling pain herself when she sees Ichigo getting hurt.

17 months after Aizen's defeat, Orihime has gained a much firmer resolve in combat; when Ichigo was training with Kūgo Ginjō, Orihime was entirely willing to injure Ginjō if he attacked without her permission. She and Sado have sworn that they would be strong enough to not burden Ichigo when he finally regains his power to fight, which is reflected in her development of a technique that acts as both offense and defense.

History
Orihime and her brother, Sora Inoue, were raised by a drunken father and a prostitute mother, who always argued and beat their children. Fearing that their parents would kill Orihime, in the March that Sora turned eighteen, he ran away with Orihime, who was three years old, and raised her on his own from then on. For nine years, Orihime and Sora lived in harmony despite the fact that Orihime was bullied in school because of her unusual hair color. One day, Sora gave Orihime a pair of hairpins. However, Orihime refused to wear them because she said they were childish. That day, Sora died, and Orihime began wearing the hairpins every day since. After Sora's death, Orihime prayed for him every day. A year after Sora died, Orihime met Tatsuki and befriended her and the amount of days she prayed for him diminished. After entering Karakura High School, she stopped praying for him and instead talked about Ichigo before she left and when she returned from school. She wanted to show Sora that she was happy and that he did not have to worry about her.

Since Sora's death, Orihime has lived by herself in Karakura Town, receiving financial support from a distantly related aunt living elsewhere.

Agent of the Shinigami arc
At school, a distracted Ichigo Kurosaki collides with Orihime, knocking her to the ground. After he apologizes, she acts strangely and begins to make excuses while fleeing the scene. The next day, Orihime encounters Ichigo and Rukia Kuchiki on the street. She states that she is uncertain of whether or not she was hit by a car and has a bruise on her leg caused by a Hollow. Ichigo offers to walk her home, but she declines. Later, Orihime has Tatsuki over for dinner, revealing more of her crush when she becomes distracted by the thought of Ichigo's offer to walk her home. After dinner, they are attacked by Acidwire, who pulls Orihime's soul from her body, leaving the Chain of Fate unbroken so that she doesn't initially die.

Horrified, Orihime witnesses the Hollow attack Tatsuki, who is unable to see either of the spirits and becomes scared and confused. Ichigo attacks the Hollow, but is flung from the building. Acidwire then reveals to Orihime that he is Sora. Orihime is initially skeptical as she doesn't believe Sora would do such horrible things, but finally believes him when she sees his reaction to her hair-clips. As his fight with Ichigo continues, Orihime places herself between the pair, resulting in Acidwire wounding her. She embraces him and apologizes to her brother for causing all this. Sora then purifies himself with Ichigo's Zanpakutō as Orihime bids him farewell.

While both Tatsuki and Orihime's memories are modified by Rukia, this event enables them to start developing spiritual awareness. After introducing Ichigo to Uryū Ishida, she once again encounters a Hollow when Uryū lures a massive number to Karakura Town for his challenge to Ichigo. She tries to get her friends away from danger, but the Hollow, Numb Chandelier, uses her ability to make various students attack her. As the students endanger Orihime, Tatsuki arrives to defend her from the onslaught. However, Tatsuki soon falls under Numb Chandelier's control and is forced to turn on Orihime. Seeing Tatsuki in tears brings back old memories of the days when Orihime was bullied for the color of her hair and when Tatsuki saved her, thus Orihime decides it is time for her to protect Tatsuki in return for their friendship. This desire forces her powers to manifest for the first time. Orihime then notices her Shun Shun Rikka flying over her head and with their guidance, she uses them to defeat the Hollow and heal Tatsuki. Afterwards, Kisuke Urahara takes her and Yasutora Sado to his shop, where he explains their powers to them.

As she and Sado watch Ichigo and Uryū fight a Menos Grande, Orihime reveals that she had not forgotten what happened with Acidwire. After Rukia is arrested and taken to Soul Society, Orihime asks Ichigo why nobody seems to remember her. After Ichigo explains the situation to her, she asks him what he is planning to do about it. After he leaves, she swears not to let him get hurt. Along with Sado, she accepts an offer to begin training her abilities under the guidance of Yoruichi Shihōin, the cat. Orihime asks Uryū to train with them, but he declines. During their training, she manages to activate her powers after remembering how she felt about protecting Tatsuki. Orihime lies to Tatsuki about where she is going and spends her last day in Karakura Town with her and promises to return.

Bount arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Zanpakutō Unknown Tales arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Beast Swords arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Gotei 13 Invading Army arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Natural Abilities
Enhanced Spiritual Awareness: Orihime has an incredible amount of skill in detecting spiritual energy. She can sense Hollows and ongoing battles at a significant distance, such as sensing Chad's defeat by Nnoitora in Las Noches, while she was still held captive in Hueco Mundo. If she concentrates, she can even sense Reiatsu of people within protective barriers. Her spiritual awareness is superior to Chad and Ichigo's spiritual awarenes.

Spiritual Power: Orihime is able to get close to several battles between powerful opponents without being overwhelmed, such as the battles between Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, as well as Ichigo and Ulquiorra. During her basic training in Kidō with Kūkaku Shiba, Orihime demonstrated a natural talent for precise spiritual energy control, as she quickly mastered the technique. Her Reiatsu is golden-yellow.

Enhanced Durability and Endurance: Orihime is strong enough to endure two ambushes from Loly, which both involved physical attacks, and the first encounter involved the use of Bala. She even stood up to Loly, demanding that she leave Orihime's chamber and withstood Loly's attacks without fear or retaliation. Orihime even withstood physical force from Grimmjow for refusing to heal Ichigo so he can fight him, only for her to keep refusing, despite the fact that he was squeezing her neck. Her greatest act of defiance is slapping Ulquiorra for insulting and mocking her friends, an act which left the 4th Espada speechless. The fact she felt no pain despite Ulquiorra's enhanced Hierro is a testament to her durability and endurance.

Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: While a pacifist by nature, Orihime has a natural talent for martial arts. She reveals that Tatsuki has trained her somewhat in karate. According to Tatsuki, Orihime has the fighting skill of a black belt. Orihime is skillful enough to incapacitate two unseated Shinigami soldiers when she surprise attacks them.

Memory Chikan Resistance: Orihime was able to recall the event of her brother fighting Ichigo Kurosaki, even though the memory chikan has been used on her by Rukia.

Shun Shun Rikka

 * Orihime's spirit energy is harbored in the pair of hairpins that her brother gave her. Shun Shun Rikka is composed of six spirits. Orihime has four techniques, which use the spirits in combination with a spirit chant and the technique name. Only spiritually aware beings can see them. They reside in her hair-clips, which are 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 phenomena by denying or undoing events in various forms. This power can be used for attack, defense, or healing (depending on the combination).

The Visored Hachigen Ushōda comments that her hair pins, being the physical manifestation of her powers, is very much like the Zanpakutō of a Shinigami, and that her powers resemble his own powers. Sōsuke Aizen, in his explanation of the Hōgyoku, states that Orihime's powers were actually awakened by the Hōgyoku; when she cursed her powerlessness with all her heart, the Hōgyoku answered her desire.

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

Ayame

 * Voiced by, Tomoe Sakuragawa, English Philece Sampler
 * Ayame has a quiet personality. She wears a dress larger than her body. She, along with Shun'ō, is in charge of Shun Shun Rikka's healing ability.

Baigon

 * Voiced by, Kiyoyuki Yanada, English: Liam O'Brien
 * Baigon is a bald male spirit. He wears a mask that covers the bottom of his face. Baigon is part of Shun Shun Rikka's defense. He is brawny, and has a large body.

Hinagiku

 * Voiced by, Daisuke Kishio, English: Kirk Thornton
 * Hinagiku is a highly energetic male spirit. He wears a large eye patch that ends in a horn. Hinagiku is part of Shun Shun Rikka's defense.

Lily

 * Voiced by Rie Kugimiya, English: Kate Higgins
 * Lily is a female spirit with bright pink hair, transparent yellow goggles, and a blue bathing suit. She has a tattoo on her backside. Lily is part of Shun Shun Rikka's defense. She has a futuristic style.

Shun'ō

 * Voiced by Junko Noda, English: Dorothy Elias-Fahn, Latin American Spanish: Javier Olguín
 * Shun'ō is a friendly young male spirit (who appears to be female in the anime) with a topknot. He and Tsubaki are usually the ones who talk to Orihime. He, along with Ayame, is in charge of Shun Shun Rikka's healing ability.

Tsubaki

 * Voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa, English: Wally Wingert, Latin American Spanish: Jorge Ornelas
 * Tsubaki is a fiery male spirit. He is the only Shun Shun Rikka spirit 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. At one point, Tsubaki was killed by the Espada Yammy Llargo, who crushed Tsubaki into tiny pieces. Orihime was distraught by this, and since the pieces were too small to find, she couldn't bring Tsubaki back. But due to meeting Hachi, whose powers are similar to Orihime's, Tsubaki is restored by Hachi, despite Hachi having no pieces of him.

Techniques
Orihime's techniques involve incantations and manipulating the Shun Shun Rikka into different groups. Though Orihime initially needed to recite their kotodama to use her techniques, further training has rendered this unnecessary. Her kotodama consists of voicing the names of the members involved, followed by the technique name and the phrase, a reference to the nature of her powers.


 * is Orihime's defensive technique. It repels attacks by placing a shield between the enemy and Orihime. The incantation arranges Hinagiku, Lily, and Baigon into a triangle which has the ability to repel the "outer shield." A 'shield' is raised between her and her enemy, and they repel the attack she receives. 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. Orihime is later able to shape Santen Kesshun into a dome-shaped barrier large enough to easily hold herself and other individuals.


 * is Orihime's "healing" technique. It surrounds something and returns it to the way it was before it was destroyed. It rejects, reverses, and reconstructs phenomena that have occurred, even phenomena that Orihime hasn't witnessed. When Sōten Kisshun is used, she can reject and reconstruct subjects that are covered in her shield. The incantation summons Ayame and Shun'ō to form a half-oval barrier around whatever or whomever Orihime wishes. Their ability is to repel the "inner shield." The shield placed inside means that they repel the damage within a limited area. In other words, they return a subject covered by the shield to the state that they were in before taking damage. Orihime fully restored Grimmjow's destroyed arm from nothing. Sōsuke Aizen describes this as "The Rejection of Events". Her ability is to limit, reject, and negate any kind of event that has happened to her target. It is an ability that returns her target to its former state, no matter what has happened to them. Yasochika Iemura comments that the technique's healing speed is potentially faster than Isane Kotetsu's and his own. However, it is far more powerful than "Temporal Regression" or "Spatial Regression"; it is a power that trespasses into God's territory. Originally, Orihime wasn't able to restore a destroyed Tsubaki, but Hachigen Ushōda states that since she has powers very close to his own, she should be able to restore him to his original form, even without a shattered fragment. Later, she can fully resurrect the dead. While Orihime can heal wounds quickly, it takes longer for her to replenish the patient's Reiatsu. Large amounts of foreign spiritual pressure around a wound makes her power to reject ineffective.


 * is Orihime's offensive technique. It rejects the fusion of matter and splits it. The incantation summons Tsubaki, who has the ability to repel "both sides of the shield." He breaks through the enemy, puts up a shield inside, and repels the combined substance, splitting the enemy in two. 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.


 * is one of Orihime's techniques. It combines Shun Shun Rikka's offensive and defensive properties. The incantation integrates Tsubaki into the center of her Santen Kesshun ability, creating a triangular shield which, at the very instant of receiving an attack, disperses the resultant force as a concentrated explosion which is automatically returned along the attack's opposing trajectory.

Shun Shun Rikka
Fragility: The Arrancar Tesra, when holding Orihime captive, warns her not to try to attack him, as he can easily break the physical container of her Shun Shun Rikka, the hair pins themselves, stating that they are ridiculously weak.

Determination Impediment: Orihime's determination directly influences the effectiveness of her powers. Feelings like doubt or worry make them weaker, while conviction makes them stronger.

Censorship

 * Orihime and Sora's past was toned down in the anime. In the manga, it was said their father was an alcoholic and their mother was prostitute who would beat their children whenever they cried and Sora ran away with Orihime to protect her from them. In the anime, their parents simply abandoned them when Sora was 18.
 * Nnoitra restraining Orihime and keeping her quiet while she witnesses Tesra torturing Ichigo was toned down in the anime. In the manga, when Orihime tried to called out to Ichigo, Nnoitra put two of her fingers down her throat to silence her. In the anime, he simply covered her mouth with his hand.

Appearances in Other Media

 * Orihime has appeared in every Bleach video game to date, mostly as a playable character. Several of these games have expanded her Shun Shun Rikka's abilities, which she uses her Santen Kesshun for offensive tactics. In games where she is a supporting character, she normally uses her healing ability to replenish the life of the character. Orihime has also appeared in all four Bleach movies.

Trivia

 * According to her character profile by Tite Kubo, Orihime's theme song is T'en va pas by Elsa.
 * She ranked 8th in the most recent Bleach popularity poll (she placed highly in previous polls placing 5th, 12th and 10th).
 * Orihime owns a pink teddy called which gets knocked over during Acidwire's attack. Enraku was ranked #53 during the first popularity poll run by Weekly Shōnen Jump.
 * Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka came 33rd tying with 2 others in the Zanpakutō popularity poll.
 * The color of Orihime's eyes vary from the manga to the anime. They are shown as brown in the manga while the anime depicts them as silver or gray.

Quotes

 * "I was proud of my hair color that my brother admired. I was happy to be told such things, so I grew my hair out ever since I was little. Soon after I entered middle school, 3rd years said they didn't like my hair color and cut it. I had no choice but to cut the rest short to even it out. I couldn't tell brother.'I felt like changing it', is what I said to dodge the question. Then my brother died soon after. I became alone. I stopped talking, even at school, and became more alone than ever before. The one who stopped me from being that way was Tatsuki-chan. Tatsuki-chan yelled at me for backing down and she looked out for me. I could grow my hair out again thanks to her. I will never have short hair again, because my long hair is proof of my faith in Tatsuki-chan."


 * (To Numb Chandelier) "'I will not forgive those who hurt Tatsuki!"


 * (Thinking about Tatsuki Arisawa) "Thank you, Tatsuki. Please do not worry, Tatsuki. Because Tatsuki will come find me, that's why I can go anywhere without worry. If the place I'm going is somewhere Tatsuki can't go, then please wait for me here, I will come back for sure. Come back to Tatsuki's side."


 * (To Rukia Kuchiki) "It's not frustrating at all. It's just... it's going to be lonely, not being able to fight alongside everyone. But being lonely isn't nearly as bad as being in the way. If I'm just going to be a hindrance to Kurosaki-kun, to everyone, then it's far better to be lonely"


 * (To Ichigo Kurosaki, who is asleep) "Kurosaki-kun, you know I had a lot of things I wanted to do... I want to be a teacher... I also want to be an astronaut... and also make my own cake shop... I want to go to the sweets bakery and say 'I want one of everything'... Ohhhh, I wish I could live life five times over. Then I’d be born in five different places, and I’d stuff myself with different food from around the world... I’d live five different lives with five different occupations... and then, for those five times... I’d fall in love with the same person..."


 * "I don't believe that he showed me the Hōgyoku because he trusts me... but, at least I have learned the location of the Hōgyoku... and... about my own power, too. Everything that has occurred... it reverses it all, and destroys the very event itself. Thank you, Kurosaki-kun, for coming to save me, but I've found something I must do here. And it's definitely...something only I can do. With my power... I will return the Hōgyoku to before it ever existed!"


 * (To Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck) "Kurosaki-kun... doesn't assure us he is going to win for that reason. Kurosaki-kun is a kind person. Whenever he uses strong words, it's like he's making a promise. I believe that, he makes a promise to himself. I think that he expresses his feelings in words so that he will follow through. So that's why it's okay. When Kurosaki-kun says he is going to win, he'll win for sure. So...so that's why we should wait and believe in him."


 * (To Ichigo Kurosaki) "Don't die! Kurosaki-kun! I don't mind if you don't win. You don't even have to try. So please, don't get yourself hurt any more..."


 * (To Ulquiorra Cifer) "Maybe it's impossible to feel exactly the same way as another person, but it's possible for people to care about one another and to place their hearts as close together as they can manage. I'm sure that's what it means to make your hearts as one."


 * (To Yasutora Sado) "It's like, even though we're human, we can just spend time here in Hueco Mundo like it's normal now. Helping out all the Arrancar people, doing our best to help the Shinigami protect their home...it's just kind of nice, don't you think? I kind of wish things could stay like this forever. All of us together, helping each other out, trying to do what's best for everyone's worlds...and one day we look back and realize the start of the war just never came..."

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