A confession analysis, The essay is a continuation of my fan’s pairings analysis and my Love Triangle Essay. After reading many of the comments and debates gathered during my empirical study I found myself picking out various arguments and situations that I wanted to take a closer look at. This happen to be one of them. The Inoue confession. While favorable to some and mortifying to other the Inoue’s confession, regardless of reception, will stand out in it memorability and importance. We’ll start with some discussion of Japanese cultural attributes and their way of dealing with relationships. We’ll follow this discussion with a “confession phenomena” analysis and clarification, followed by practical application to the Bleach Universe and specially Inoue.
If I was writing an extensive empirical paper concerning this I would start out very general discussing the individualist ways of Americans verses Japanese highly structured, highly complex views of interaction. I’m not doing a college paper however, so i will spare you the citation and step by step breakdown and analysis. A simple understanding that Japanese interaction in the private and public matter is very different then Americans. I will provide a few examples that will lead into our discussion.
Our whole discussion which will lead to greater understanding revolves around Japanese relationship phenonma. Which the establishment, maintenance and other intricacies are far different from Western ideas and understanding. The first example we’ll look at is the suffix/prefix language component. This is a very basic example of cultural differences in the East and West, and is very common in not only in Japanese but all oriental cultures. The incorrect use of suffix can be highly affronting. In the Philippines when greeting someone you can say “Kumusta Ka na ba?” This is a very informal way to greet someone as opposed to the very formal. “Kumusta po na ba sila”. I learned about this first hand while living there that if you use the wrong form of address you will not get very far in your interpersonal relationships. Like the Philippines, Japan has a many different suffixes and prefixes used for different situation. In many anime you can often see characters, who are usually in some sort of service capacity, gets very angry when people don’t use a proper suffix or prefix; on the other hand the the lack of suffixes or prefixes is either an indication that the individual is really rude or that the relationship is of the nature that renders suffices or prefixes unnecessary. Bleach provides a good example. Byakuka while recovering in the SS arc is annoyed with Ichigo and wonders if he is going to keep referring to him the familiar. The list goes on. This is a shining example of how important this is though as Americans (Canadians etc) this is often lost on us.
Another example can be seen in everyday Japanese dialogue. When directly asked a question it is not uncommon to get a very around about answer. This is to avoid a potential confrontation or offending the person asking the question. Many times when asked a direct question a yes will be given when it’s actually a “maybe” or a “maybe” when a “no” is meant. The perception is better that it is better to be “unsure” then to potentially offend in such in up front manner.
These two examples are simple illustrations of the importance of maintaining the status quo in interpersonal relationships. It is important to Japanese that people are polite and non-confrontational. Everything is a reflection of this ideal. Businesses in Japan function around team cooperation and projects as opposed to individual merit and achievement potential. I have cited a few examples. There are many more
Now that a functioning understanding of basic we might be able to understand and tackle the importance of a Japanese relationship confession.
The Confession to love or not do love The idea of public/formal declaration of love is a very foreign concept to Americans. To gave you rare example for my own life, when my wife and I got engage this wasn’t something that was unknown or out of the air. The engagement was something initially very informal. We just kind of came to the conclusion at some point even before we really had the “us” talk. (Mainly because i was getting uglier by the day and if I didn’t marry my wife now and I asked her later she probably would have kill over and died from laughter. Yes I am that goofy looking I can admit it) For those of you who care I did ask her properly. (It was in front of the fountains of the Beligo in Vegas, everyone was crying. It was very touching) This is a very common experience in the U.S relationship department. Declarations of love in a less formal way. It’s probably incorrect to say that Americans don’t communicate directly they do, as a matter of fact one of the key indicators of a successful relationship is one that has an amble amount of direct communication especially in conflict resolution. But American’s like to use physical intimacy as a medium to express themselves this concept can be seen in popular culture. Who hasn’t seen the situation where a young girl in search of love feels that she has to have sex to show her boyfriend she loves him. It is also not uncommon for a couple to go out on a date, not discuss their feelings, hold a hand or steal a kiss which allows the relationship to proceed. In contrast relationships in Japan, in theory at least, have a proper order to its sequence. I could give you statistics to look up but I will give you examples from other anime just to show that I’m not misleading you. Two clear examples are in Air Gear and Suzuka. I apologize if you have not read these mangas I suggest you do so.
Example: Air Gear In Air Gear, the childhood friend and main female love interest, Ringo, is on a field trip with the main character, Ikki, and all of their friends. It is realized very early on in the series that Ringo is very much in love with Ikki though she has a mature understanding that her most probably position in his heart is that of a sister. On a very amusing side note, there is a “legend” that school field trips which are a very big deal to Japanese high schoolers, have some sort of power to bring couples together. You will often hear of the “power of the field trip”, as matter of fact many animes make reference to this belief/running joke. Back to Ringo, in a attempt to paint you a picture. Ringo feels that maybe the “power of the field trip” would work in her favor in an attempt, to at least disclose, if not incite Ikki into some sort of forward progression. However, within this attempted use of feminine whiles Ringo has an inner monolog that is very revealing. Ringo in cosplay is walking with Ikki and continues confesses to him and herself her feelings and is scared that Ikki will hear “the beating of her heart”. Ikki seems to be playing along he pulls her around a corner to “talk” and starts to move in. This is like 80 chapters into the manga so it’s not like this hasn’t been developed. Ringo is straight up in love with ikki. There is no doubt about that. However, as Ikki is “going in for the kill” (kiss her) She continues her inner monolog saying “No its not like I don’t want.....but there’s a proper order.....” I won’t spoil the rest for you because it’s pretty funny, but it illustrates the point. Sequence, order, proper behavior and structure. You have to follow the sequence for it to be done properly.
Example Two: Suzuka One more example for Suzuka, again if you haven’t read the manga I suggest you do so. A secondary love interest named Honoka is on a track trip trying to get our main character's attention. Yamoto, the main character, (who’s an idiot by the way) is all depressed sitting on the stairs outside at night. Honoka knows that Yamoto liked(s) Suzuka, the main female love interest, a girl who has already rejected him once, Honoka in a attempt to convey her feelings and comfort him (he’s depressed though it’s not girl related) grabs his hand. Suzuka shows up in an attempt to find Yamoto. Honoka freaks, in attempt to get Yamoto to look at only her (idiot) Honoka kisses him. The next day she looks for him, and attempts to kiss him again. He however, resists. And in a very revealing moment she breaks down, not only because of the “rejection” though that’s part of it, but because “you are right we shouldn't (kiss) because we aren’t even going out and.....” Again there is a proper order to things. You have to follow the order.
In my research I found it interesting talking with native japanese (I know many from my days in the philippines) about the confession. Girls take it very seriously; another interesting idea that most American’s haven’t considered is the idea of a note book full of questions. Not as prevalent as the plain old confession, the giving of a note book questionnaire to a boy or girl is an attempt to get to know some better in a very non intrusive way. It’s another way to maintain face and develop the relationship at the same time. We do have something similar here in the states but I think the last note book I got was in like 6 grade so suffice to say the note is something that Americans don't readily understand and use.
The “confession phenomena ” can happen anytime and to anybody. Tt’s not necessarily a prerequisite that you know the object of your affection in advance though this seems to be more desirable. It is not uncommon that a boy or girl not well acquainted with a classmate to receive a confession "out of the blue". Something like that is almost unheard of here in the states. We could go on. Suffice to say that the confession is one of the more interesting and important tools in the development of Japanese romantic relationship phenomena.
Why is all this important you might ask? This is something that must be made clear before we can into the application of all this information to Bleach. All this is important because you need to understand how important the confession is to the Japanses teen to truely understand the importance of the scene. Now that you know, we can move forward.
Application to the Bleach world and specifically, Inoue Orihime The most interesting thing about a character like Inoue and specifically Inoue is the how increasingly she is being drawn from the shadows. A simple comparison of Pre-SS, SS and Post-SS has given the quirky comic relief known as Inoue Orihime a whole new level of depth and development. In the opinion of some, wonderful and much needed development, in the opinion of others, silly and pointless development that actually subtracts from her overall like-ability, and of course opinions that fall everywhere in between. Suffice to say that Inoue is now likely to gain in importance, if Kubo follows his own trends, and is not going anywhere anytime soon.
A few basic comments on Inoue’s romantic development through out the manga. Note first and foremost. Inoue is not the childhood friend. [SPOILER="For more information as to why this is important"] The childhood friend is used almost as much as the mystery girl or girl as a potential love interest. Essentially a boy and a girl who have been friends for a very long time harbors an unspoken love that they are too afraid to let show. Though odd in the eyes of many outsider but to the Japanese that tend to avoid confrontation and value inherit stability. A childhood friend should easily be able to make a transition from a friend to a love interest very easily and would therefore do very little to the "flow" of the life or family. For Americans this is strange. To illustrate, have any of you ever grown up with a childhood friend? Or in a small town? Do you often see a one side love affair that has been kept dormant for years at a time? Of course not, if there are feelings like that they are often resolved early on sometimes they develop sometimes they don't, but they rarely remain unexplored for years at a time. [/SPOILER]That in and of itself is very interesting for the simple reason that Inoue and Ichigo would have had something that instantly "bonded" them. But no, Inoue is reduced to a "friend of a friend". But even in this position it is hinted very early that she likes him (C2:P6,7; C3:P11). The nature of these feelings are very plainly that of a small crush. She thinks he's funny and is probably attrached to him physically. His is the extent however. Remember to keep in mind, Inoue knows very little about Ichigo and has spend very little time with him. She doesn't know that his mother died and had to receive that information from a third source. All in all, Pre-ss arc is an foggy time for Inoue. She has cliche anime characteristics and it's probably safe to say that she has cliche reasons for her crush. Suffice to say it's very difficult to pinpoint inoue at this time. There are other Ichigo/inoue moments pre-ss but they can hardly consider anything of real significance and as we go into the next arc Inoue retreats further into the back ground.
]Soul Society Arc:While many die hard Inoue/Ichigo Fans would disagree with me. The Soul Society Arc wasn't a great deal kinder in development for Ms Inoue. Significant things to note is a large portion of the Arc Inoue and Ichigo remain separated with little or no interaction. There is some significant development however. Chapters 164 and 165 of the manga come to mind. While the reasons for inoue’s behavior remain a mystery readers get the opportunity in these chapters to dive deeper into what makes INoue, inoue. The first time I watched the anime and read he manga this particular scene came as a huge surprise to me. The whole arc had been Rukia, Rukia, Rukia, then all of the sudden we are blinded sided with this Inoue development when perceptively nothing has changed in their relationship. As for an actual explanation for the change none could be given at that point in the manga. But at this point it appears that a crush is turning into something different. Just wish we knew why.
With the conclusion of the Soul Society Arc Inoue’s position has changed very little in regards to her development and Ichigo’s perception of her. All the characters got closer, Ichigo and Inoue included, you can’t go through an experience like that and not feel an affinity for the people who joined you, but there isn't anything special about Ichigo/Inoue, or even Inoue at this point. Going into the Arrancar and HM arc Inoue’s position is probably comparable to Rukia’s position leading into the Soul Society arc. Many maintain that Ichigo was in love by the time Rukia was taken away, if i was to bring that to a jury with a standard of “the preponderance of the evidence” I don’t think that would sell. To tow the more conservative line, it’s much more likely that Ichigo’s feelings are more along the lines of a protector and comrade. Ichigo at that time had added Rukia to his protection list though I do feel that signs of something deeper are expressed along the way. In comparison, Inoue heading into the AA arc and Hm arc has probably been added to the mental protection list that ichigo keeps close to his heart. However at this point there isn’t anything to indicate that there’s something special about their specific relationship. The real development is yet to come.
Arrancar Arc and HM Arc In a attempt to reconcile extreme opposing views concerning Inoue’s current position and potential. A middle of the road approach is probably the best bet. A note on my following analysis. This will be similar to what a judge does in a Motion for Summary Judgment. We’ll analysis “evidence” in he light most favorable to the plaintiff and then do the same for the defendant, or will look at the “evidence” in the light most favorable to Inoue/Ichigo, then in the light least favorable to Ichigo/inoue. I will provide; now you be the judge.
To best summarize Inoue has had a great deal of development in the current arcs. In the light of all the “evidence” provide Inoue’s development could be describe as extensive, exclusive, and introverted. It has been extensive, because in about 80 chapters Inoue goes from a character of comic relief with “weak” power, to character that exhibits a wide spectrum of complex emotions that forces her outside “her box”. A note on characterization and development; development of a character, any character, comes from the setting of a foundation, an initial understanding if you may, then making characters push against that understanding. (A character experiences things foreign they deal with it, and boom, development) Forcing characters into conflict is often how authors do this. Two general types of conflict are internal and external conflict. Inoue’s conflict, where most of her growth comes from, is internal in nature. That why creditable arguments for a Ichigo/Inoue pairing as of right now are few and far between. It is inoue’s conflict type that determines the nature of her development; and internal conflict more often then not, is going to lead to exclusivity, meaning that the conflicted character’s development is not going to effect other characters around him/her. (Development that is introverted is just another word for internal.) In the light of this analysis it’s very easy to mistake inoue’s development as Ichigo/inoue development. This is not the case. Internal conflict doesn’t magically translate into external interpersonal development. In a more mundane expression, in the terms of development only, one characters exclusive internal conflict doesn’t provide creditable evidence of interpersonal relationship progression. Inoue being developed does NOT mean that Ichigo and Inoue are a forgone conclusion and that the involvement of this potential pairing is the only way to resolve the conflict. However, and it is a big however, in the terms of trend application and speculation that is very much a possibility.
The idea of losing something can often force you reexamine your life and your priorities. This could be one stimulus for the Inoue’s dramatic change. The idea of pending war, the realization of potential death, and prospect of monumental lose will probably make anyone look inward. Rukia, reintroduction is the catalyze for this; it’s easy to speculate without much difficulty that Rukia starts to force Inoue to look inward. The other ideas mentioned while important are distant and surreal. Rukia however is very tangible and reminds Inoue of Ichigo and the pending disaster. That is where the real inoue development starts
A note, Ichigo’s vow ultimately means very little in the way of evidence or real devlopment; Inoue’s reaction tells us that. She wasn’t happy about what he said. It was the look in his eyes that made her happy. The fact that he was back to his old self. This chapter is important though because it help inoue start her development process.
On Inoue’s jealously, though initially this might be seen as indicator or a hint towards Rukia/Ichigo it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is. This will be explored in a moment.
A note on chapter 199, Inoue has not realized her feelings yet. Notice her conversation with Mammusto is about her. Ichigo and Rukia are almost side notes. She compares herself to Rukia; inoue wants to do what rukia does but not just because of Ichigo, that is almost an after thought, but because she wants to be strong. She feels like shes not. Inoue wants to protect, and couldn’t; this is an important difference, and one that Inoue herself doesn’t understand. This comment doesn’t necessarily stem because of her love of Ichigo (though ultimately I that’s part of it) This comment stems from her other insecurities. Her fear of being a burden and the though of being left behind. These emotions are brought to the surface because of what Rukia could do and what she couldn’t do but that’s all incidental. The comment that Inoue makes isn’t one of someone in love. Note: Rukia could do this; but I couldn’t that makes me feel useless etc. (the fact that it was Ichigo probably added to the problem of course) If you are in love with someone you want to be able to do things for that person that no else can. That is the key, Inoue is not upset because Rukia’s close to Ichigo, it’s because she’s not. Her romantic love isn’t the main cause of her distress, but her other emotional infirmities.
Simple Comparison to Shakugan No Shana will ilustrate. When Shana and Kazumi discuss Yuji near the end of the series. The concerns brought up by Kazumi don't revolve around herserlf, you dont hear her saying i'm useless etc, but Shana. Kazumi brings up the point that it's not fair that Shana won't tell/admit she loves Yuji, but remain so much closer to him. Note the difference because it is key. Inoue wants to do what Rukia did. She's jealous that she couldn't; she goes on i'm useless etc. Kazumi doesn't only want to be the close to Yuji, she wants to be closer to Yuji. (doesn't want Shana to be close to Yuji, Shana feels the same way, "you can't tell him you love him. it's better if yuji stays with me") That's the key; that's the difference. Compare those scenes I think you will come to the same conclusion especially in the light of further of analysis.
Chapter 213 should be commented; this is a very telling chapter. Notice, it is not ichigo’s look that is important. The look in and of itself is nothing. It’s inoue’s reaction to the look. This is evidence that she’s starting to work through her increasingly complex emotions. Ichigo has never look at me that way. That makes me sad. Just as a side note, this is very strong circumstantial evidence that Ichigo feels more for Rukia. I think that degree depends on how far long inoue is in her understanding her feelings. The wieght of the evidence varys as that increases or decreases.
Chapter 228, Inoue resolves to become stronger. This is an attempt to resolve one of the two part problem presented in inoue’s development. Inoue wants to fight; she want to be with everyone. Therefore she needs to get stronger. If she gets stronger she can do that. Simple
Edit: and it seems i am was right you don't go slapping Espada when you have no back bone
CHAPTER 237I commend you on getting this far.
Ultimately the thing that needs to be understood is Inoue’s confession is more for her benefit (and ours) then for anyone else's. Inoue’s various statements, I don’t want to be a burden, I don’t want to be left behind, I don’t want to look at your (ichigo’s) back, coupled with Inoue’s realization as to the depth of Rukia and Ichigo bond is part of her revelation that accumulates and peaks in chapter 237. Inoue does not realize she is in love with Ichigo until she gets to Ichigo’s bedroom. Inoue’s attempted kiss was not saying good bye, but in away was saying hello. It was saying that I think i have feelings for you. I may never see you again. This is one way I might find out. She however is unable to complete the task. Two possible interpretations.
Slanted In a Ichigo/Inoue light; Inoue realizes the depth of what shes been feeling; she understands now, she is in love with Ichigo; One would think that she would want to kiss him good-bye. The problem is however, she doesn’t want to say good-bye. Inoue’s inability to kiss Ichigo maybe because not only would kissing him reenforce the fact that shes leaving never to return, but that it might strengthen a love realized (or perceived so) too late.
Note: the creditability of these arguments also depend on Inoue's state of mind before she gets to Ichigo's room. If Inoue is totally aware of her feelings. This argument loses it's footing.
Slanted In Rukia/Ichigo light:Inoue’s inability to kiss Ichigo is because she’s had time to think about it and she knows why Ichigo is so happy that Rukia is back. She knows why he looks at her the way he does. She knows what Ichigo and Rukia might not know. That they love each other. Kissing Ichigo could strengthen love that could never be returned.
Inoue’s actual confession Whether you air on the rukia side or the Inoue side the actual confession portion of the chapter doesn’t change much. It important to understand that Inoue’s confession was to reveal, not re-enforce. This is in imperative concept that must be understood. Inoue’s confession was a realization for her benefit. She maybe always felt that way, but it wasn’t until she came to his side that it was made real. The train of thought inoue followed was an attempt to articulate her own confused thoughts. “ whether five different cities, and fives different lives I would fall in love with you all over again.” It was in that moment that things became real for inoue. It was in that moment she became important.
Important to ichigo. No. He doesn’t really know, but important to the story. Why might you ask? Because before this point Inoue could have been taken out of the story to little or no effect. With this presentation Inoue is brought to the forefront. Her feelings will not be ignored. This is not the last time this issue will be brought up and INoue will not get over Ichigo until he knows about her feelings. Believe it.
In retrospect this confession, the actual saying of the words, may have also been an attempt to move on. To let go of her attachment to Ichigo. The "thank you" portion of the scene had a feeling of finality to it. Like this part was ending and something new is about to begin. Reasonable people however, will disagree here.
One thing is fore sure now. The status quo is not going to be maintain in regards to Ichigo/Inoue. She will either move forward, or move back. She will either progress or digress. Ichigo will attempt her love or reject, but she will not maintain this current state. Not for long anyway.
I will not offer my conclusion you can do that on your own. I hope I gave something to think about however.
Wow, longest essay yet. Thanks for reading. If you have any questions. Feel free to ask. I would love your comments. Thanks
Follow up: This post was originally at the Naruto Fans form where I was answering questions. I did a bit a follow up here.
This was a post I got on the NF where I did a bit of follow up as to why inoue was developed the way she was. This may had a bit of insight.
From
mutluna,
One of your classics, again. Good post and for most points, I agree with you.
What I want to talk about is, why did Inoue improve with such speed, not in her personality, but her importance in the story? (Indeed, I think, she even got worse, lost her self confidence and became Ichigo centered more than ever but it is not our topic) Especially, for what purpose ch 237 serves for? Ichigo doesn't remember anything about the confession, he was totally unaffected by it and we all know Inoue loves Ichigo before this chapter. It was just a crush at the beginning, but we saw that it was growing day by day, although they weren't together most of the time. But whenever they were, Inoue always showed a different concern for him. Even when she was just thinking about him, her mood changed, Ishida helped us to notice that. So, ch 237 didn't show anything new, yes it was impressive all the way, but had nothing we hadn't known before.
Then, what is the big idea? I'd say it is only to make the story more dramatic, to increase the effect of her departure for us, readers. Before SS arc, while Rukia was forced to go to SS, we also had a dramatic scene, too. The difference is, Ichigo was aware of it and we have witnessed flashbacks of that scene many times. Adding an impressive part is just like to give a big shot before the new term starts. The relationship between Rukia and Ichigo developed during pre SS arc and similiarly in pre HM arc, Inoue got the spotlights on her. However what happened in that time for Inuoe, as the main character of the arc, was totally bounded by herself. Rukia was the one who knew about her most but we aren't sure how much. It is quite heartbreaking, by the way. By viewing how one sided and bounded by her inner world, I have trouble in considering that all of these arguments are going to create a love triangle or the dynamics of the relatonship between Ichigo and Inoue are going to change. No, I really don't think so. Because while all of these were happening, Ichigo wasn't aware of anything, not even a little. And the things which made Inoue jealous of weren't just her delusion, however our priority was not the things made her jealous, but her feelings about that. So why were we concerned about her feelings that much? It is simply because she was going to be in the center, and every single thought of her was important from that on.
By the way, I could use the differences between two departures and the backgrounds of departures for pairings but it is not the right place, so I quit here. :)
I don't have much time but i'm going to attempt to answer you; if i am totally off let me know.
The funny thing about bleach is how important the initial catalyze relationship is to the story. The first 181 chapters of the story is pushed on because Ichigo and rukia; now don’t get me wrong this isn’t a comment on their specific relationship dynamic, but you must recognize most of the major plot development at that point revolves around those two. (Plot development and Character development are different at times; at others they are the same) Compared to a anime like naruto the initial scope of Bleach’s story development is very narrow. Ichigo had to save rukia; that is the both the long term and short term goal, and the only focus. All of his strength revolves around this goal (He got his death god powers back, was able to defeat kenpaki, was able to obtain banki because of rukia) The subsequent arcs of bleach are distinguishable from this. The goals, scope and complexity of the plot has changed; with that it’s safe to assume the pacing will change as well. So what does this mean for Inoue? Several things to think about as to why she was developed in the way that she was.
Inoue out of the core characters was the least developed.
Initial description: Quirky comic relief with a possible superstar fixation on the main character.
While we have a understanding of Inoue’s personality (which is cliché; just like many of the other characters in the series) we don’t really know what makes her tick. If you could compare this to Chad, Ichigo, Ishida and even Rukia we understand why they act the way that they do. The readers know enough about the characters to understand the nature of their actions. Inoue had not been given that by the end of the SS arc. Kubo could have decided that Inoue needed additional development because she was lacking compared to the others. Kubo could have done it quickly because he wanted to get it out of the way.
Inoue was in the best position to make “plot” push and making it faster was the only way to do it effectively.
Inoue, who was being ignored, was in the best position to make further plot development to the overall story. The nature of her powers weren’t understood and she had little in the way of complexity. Inoue’s sudden development could have been a precursor to using her as a device in the overall plot; its rare that a character in inoue’s position will provide plot development and not receive precedent or subsequent character development. If that were to happen you run the risk of losing the interest of your readers. Continuing with that train of thought; the boarding of scope and complexity of the plot, the addition of an arch villain and the ever increasing list of prognostics would make it difficult to balance if Inoue’s development was as slow as say, for example, Rukia’s had been. Past arcs were much more narrow in focused compared to what’s going on currently; those arcs and their over all goal (saving Rukia) were more expansive because there is just less going on. That’s why Ichigo and Rukia relationships was able to under go such extensive and SLOW development. The argument could be made (loosely; I would have to think about this more) that Inoue’s development had to be faster because if it was as slow as Rukia’s not only would it be impractical in the terms of pacing, but she would get “lost” in everything else going on. While inoue has become more “important” the mere circumstances leading to her capture and detainment differs from that of Rukia’s making every component that goes into the story inherently different.
A real love interest/romance plot device
This is the one you are probably wondering about. Inoue’s development could very well have brought to the forefront in a attempt to make her a real contending love interest for Ichigo or she could end up as a tool used to bring Ichigo and rukia together. While Inoue could have very easily been a tool to make Ichigo and Rukia at least examine the nature of their feelings, with the reintroduction of a certain death god that doesn’t seem as likely. This points toward Kubo intending Inoue to be a real rival, however further information is needed to make any kind of creditable speculation.
Remember as the readers of a manga we have a special place with in the story. We are privileged to information that no else has; that being said as obvious as inoue affection was to us, it was not to her. This is why 237 was important; remember it is to reveal, not re-enforce. It was foreseeable because that’s what good story tellers do, but to make it so inoue was in a position to do something about it and to satisfy the fans of inoue, she was given the spot light. From this point on the very nature of the Inoue/Ichigo/Rukia dynamic has changed. Inoue will either make steps towards Ichigo or let him go. At least that’s what I see from this chapter.
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