Okay, we are all getting pretty annoyed with this current arc, me being one of those people. I'm just ready for it to end already so that we can move on. This latest chapter though had made me quite a bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Renji x Ishida vs. Zael very much and like many of the other people out there, I'm glad to see that some teamwork is finally coming into play.  But what made me quite disappointed was the power boost of Orihime's powers.

When concerning Hime, I was always in between with her character. I guess it's more of like a love/hate thing. I enjoyed her character at the beginning of the series when she was light-hearted and the comic relief and then she suddenly started spinning downward and I just can't get over how she keeps beating herself over the head over someone as crazy as Ichigo. That just ticks me off and I can't stand that, but for KT to suddenly give this depressed mortal deity powers has just got me like...OO.

I reed the chapter and I rolled my eyes. I figured it would be sooner or later till she started ranking up there with Ceres and Bell Dandy (and any other celestial maiden), but at the same time, I was hoping that KT wouldn't give her such strong powers like that. To me, it just pushes her closer to the Mary Sue line. Here we have a beautiful young woman with a great figure that guys just drool over, a great personality that attracts people to her, an unrequited love, and now the full-blown out goddess powers. I think the only thing stopping her from becoming a full-blown out Mary Sue is that she is having the all-to-human feelings of depression and jealousy. (And thank you KT for giving her those traits). And even though I would have loved Hime to stay in her ditzy, funny little world, I'm quite glad that KT did give her those humanly qualities no matter how annoying it is.

I was also searching through the forums to see what others thought of this sudden revelation of Hime's powers and saw that many people were sort of divided on this. Some were expecting it, others weren't, some think its cliche and others think its great. At first, I thought it was a bit cliche for KT to do something like this, but then I got to thinking of all the different ways KT could go about with this in the story. I doubt he'll use Hime constantly to bring back the dead and I'm sure he'll give her some kind of weakness with it that he'll reveal later on to us. Then I started thinking about the bigger picture and what KT may be planning on doing. This all concerns KT's pilot chapter. Many people say that that pilot chapter doesn't count and in a way it doesn't, but it doesn't mean that KT can't still pull some things from it. If anything, KT might just do what he did at the end of the pilot chapter and kill off Hime. (Didn't she die from her hollow father in the pilot? I can see a hollow, maybe her brother or Aizen himself, kill her off in the near future if not in this arc or this year) and then she would be sent to SS b/c she was human when killed. That could make sense in seeing as how well KT made her develope relationships with not only Rukia but with everyone in SS.

Now where would Ichigo fit into all this? I doubt KT will use the same Ichigo as he did in the pilot. Ichigo and Rukia's feelings are too far down the runway and I think he had their relationship planned from the get-go even in the pilot. I can see Ichigo become guilt ridden and sad but not love-sick "OMG my darling is dead". Besides, he's a soul reaper and can visit whenever he feels like it, the same with the rest of the friends.

But anyway, I have complete faith in KT to pull us out of this arc and get us back on track. And besides, I'm sure Rukia will have a big thing as well considering that every time something big has happened to Rukia, something big happens to Hime and vice versa. But more on that later.

ciao

Alright I'm back. This is part 2 of the essay that I started last night. I'm just letting all the readers who read this know that this is my biased opinion on both Rukia and Inoue's lives. Whether you agree with me or not, you're opinion will be respected so I ask that if you are going to comment, please be respectful in return.

*Breakdown---Inoue*

Orihime Inoue was born into an abusive home. Her mother and father were a bunch of jerks who would beat their children. I'm not very fond of parents who abuse their children. I believe those parents should be beaten with full force with a big baseball bat and dragged behind a moving vehicle for atleast a mile. (As you can see, I highly disapprove of parents who beat their children for no reason or just beat them for stupid reasons like a baby crying) which in Inoue's case, would have happened often if not for her brother Sora. So from a young age, Inoue was deprived of having a mother and father's love. Sora took her under his wing and raised her to be a beautiful and good, warm hearted child.

In elementary school (I don't know what it's called in Japan sorry) Inoue was constantly picked on for her hair being different.

 She had no friends and the only family she had was Sora.

They loved each other deeply, but Inoue holds the guilt of thinking that she had a hand in killing her brother. I believe the guilt comes more from her arguing with him that morning and then him dying in a car accident that very same day. Either way, Inoue became orphaned at a young age but old enough to care for herself. Atleast, she has her memories of her older brother to help her.

When she gets older and into Junior high, she finally makes friends with Tatsuki Arisawa. From there, things become a lot brighter for Inoue. Now a high school student, she has many friends and admirers. Her beauty is well known (as well as certain assets). Inoue isn't my favorite character but I will be honest enough to say that she is a very charming character and has beauty on the inside and outside. This is due to her brother Sora who saved her from her parents, IMHO.

Inoue lives alone but Tatsuki cares for her (sometimes she brings her food). Inoue also loves Ichigo. At first, she was too shy to even look at him and then slowly she started to speak to him. Ichigo never really payed any attention to Inoue much until she became involved with saving Rukia from SS. Here we see a little more of Inoue's character and her strong resolve to always be near Ichigo and to help him whenever possible.

So, in conclusion, Inoue had the love of her brother till he died unexpectantly. For a short time she was alone but then soon made friends who care for her and look out for her. The only abondonment issues that may hurt her is her parents and her brother (who unintentionally died and abondoned her in the living world).

Sora still looks after Inoue after he has died. So truly, even if she didn't realize it, Inoue was never truly abondoned.

Both Rukia and Inoue had a tragic past. For me, Rukia's was more tragic than Inoue's. What would have truly happened to Rukia if she would not have met Ichigo? What would have happened to Inoue if Ichigo had not met Rukia?

For me, Rukia should get Ichigo and not because I'm a crazy fangirl and love the couple, but because I took the time to sit down and analize both girl's past (in my own interpretations), I can come to this steady conclusion. Rukia lived 150+ years of pain compared to Inoue's 15 years. And yes, this time age does count. But I have a feeling that things will become brighter for both girls. I have faith in KT that he wouldn't continue to bring horrible tragedies into their lives. But he does love Shakespeare and Shakespeare did love a good tragedy, so I'm not sure if we are all heading for a Star-crossed lovers ending or a Fairy-tale ending.

So Rukia should most definitely get with Ichigo.

Now the next thing I'll be looking at is Ichigo. This one will take me some time. We all know and see Inoue's love for Ichigo. That's cannon. But what about Ichigo? I believe he is started to have some majorily deep feelings for Rukia. I will search the panels for this evidence. But what about Rukia? Everyone is always talking about Ichigo...Ichigo...Ichigo who has the feelings. Have we seen Rukia show any sign of deeper feelings for Ichigo? I'm going to research on this and get back to you guys.

So yeah, I feel better now.