This Bleach pairing, also known as GinRan, is one of the ships in the fandom that fans badly wanted more scenes of. The implied romance between Gin and Rangiku also serves another important point which is to highlight Gin’s character development.
Gin’s Complicated Relationship With Rangiku
We gradually get to delve into a more in-depth look at Gin’s character from the flashbacks featuring Rangiku and him.
They both knew each other as small kids and this slight peek at their shared history makes fans understand them better as people and their actions also gain a more nuanced meaning.
The flashbacks make for a really compelling part of Bleach and truly offers us the reasoning behind Gin’s betrayal. This was Kubo’s way of saying that maybe Gin is not a completely evil character after all.
He wanted to defeat Aizen and even martyred himself up for the job because he thought he was the only one capable of doing the deed- all this to avenge Rangiku and make Aizen pay for stealing a part of Rangiku’s soul in the past.
Is the Relationship Between Gin and Rangiku Ever Confirmed?
There is no explicit confirmation as such. But it’s heavily implied in their various interactions that Rangiku and Gin had feelings for each other. Gin’s poem is also one huge indicator that this was a romantic pairing. It was quite basically a love confession.
Rangiku’s last words about Gin can also be interpreted as a romantic confession. There are scattered moments throughout the Bleach series where you’d feel that Kubo heavily implies a romantic angle between these two characters.
For instance, in the Soul Society Arc, it is only when Rangiku steps in and threatens to fight Gin if he tries to kill Hinamori, that Gin backs down and leaves. Rangiku evidently worries about where he is off to again, as he always had a habit of disappearing on her without telling her where he was going.
In the Fake Karakura Town Arc, when Gin’s arm is cut off by Aizen, Gin apologizes to Rangiku in his head, possibly confessing his love for her. We also see Rangiku devastated at the sight of Gin who is almost dead, she howls and cries her heart out leaning over his body.
Final Thoughts
Without direct confirmation, it’s easy to tear down this pairing. However, for fans who appreciate subtext and close interpretations of media, Gin and Rangiku’s story offers plenty of interesting gaps that our imagination can fill.
The only sad thing is that the pairing’s story was not developed further, otherwise more fans would indulge in the irresistible, tragic romance of Rangiku and Gin.
