Orihime Inoue is a character in the Bleach anime that has little to no screen time. Her character growth isn’t satisfactorily shown and that’s a bit disappointing. She’s always on the margins and plays the Damsel in Distress trope though she’s shown a lot more agency.
Her character disposition is always cheerful and she’s always ready to help others. She has very high emotional intelligence and can grasp when people are going through tough times.
Though she is academically brilliant, she comes across as aloof and clueless about what’s happening around her at times. However, Orihime Inoue hides a tragic past behind her easygoing disposition and cheerful smiles.
To understand her character in all her complexities, let’s take a look into her past in Bleach manga. Her past is absolutely crucial in understanding how and why she is the way she is.
Orihime grew up with her elder brother, Sora Inoue under two abusive parents. The mother was a prostitute while their father was an alcoholic. The household atmosphere was so toxic and depressing that Sora decided to save her younger sister from becoming more traumatized.
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So, the day he became 18 and when Orihime was only an infant, they left home and stayed happily. Orihime was practically brought up by her own brother and they lived for nine years together. Meanwhile, she suffered from bullying in school because of her orange hair colour, which was considered “weird”.
However, one day, Orihime rebuked Sora’s gift of hairpins because she found it to be too loud and childish. That very day, Sora died in an accident and because of her intense regret at her reaction to the gift, she has worn the pins every day.
Even after his demise, Orihime never stopped praying for her brother. She didn’t even miss a day praying for her brother and Sora was happy that he was still remembered.
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But with each passing day, Orihime started moving on and she made a lot of new friends like Tatsuki and Ichigo. She started praying with lesser frequency, which made Sora’s ghost bitter and resentful.
In the next article, we’ll be showing how Sora’s ghost became a Hollow and how it explores the philosophical depths of Bleach anime.
