#acidwire

[mechadeimos]

[laughing-moonlight]

[hootjiggle]

The Inoues doing their best!!!

[littleeyesofpallas]

can you do Bleach Name game for ichigo's friends in Karakura Town?

Ya know it's weird that i haven't done it already... I kinda thought I had, honestly. Yeah, let me resurrect this long dead series of posts...

Inoue Orihime[井上 織姫] read most literally as something like "Well+Top"(as in the top of a well(for water)) and "Weaving+Princess" but of course the name Orihime is just taken directly from the mythological figure behind the tanabata festival. It's possible the name Inoue in that context could be used to reference the Well Mansion, one of 28 categories of constellations in Chinese astronomy. Although in Tanabata Orihime refers to the star Vega, which as far as I can tell is not part of the Well Mansion.

In any case, the myth of Orihime and Hikoboshi was the basis of Kubo's original Bleach one-shot, which itself got reworked into the plot with her brother Sora, the hollow Acidwire. Ichigo lost prettymuch all of his associated hikoboshi themes in the transition from the one-shot to the serial title, so her name is kind of vestigial. The one lingering detail that was never built on was how her rejection powers were said to verge on the territory of god, and in the tanabata myth Orihime is the daughter of Tantei[天帝]:"Heaven Emperor" one of several epithets for the Jade Emperor, a figure hailed as a human ascended to immortal, the First God, and a supreme ruler over other gods. But despite that very slight thematic alignment, she was never given any divine origins.

Her bother, Inoue Sora[井上昊] reads, "Well+Top" and "Sky/Heaven," where Sora[昊] is a synonym with Ten/Ama[天]: "Sky/heaven" and both a synonym and homonym with sora[空]: "sky/heaven/void." (And it's a bit of a tangent, but that last one is the same word Kubo uses in the name Kuukaku[空鶴], Karakura town[空座町], and when Aizen says, Ten no za no kuuhaku[天の座の空白]: "The Throne of Heaven is Empty.") He was a rewritten from what was originally Orihime's late grandfather in the one-shot, which aligned more obviously with the father Heaven King role of myth.

Sado Yasutora[茶渡 泰虎] I think I've mentioned before, reads "Tea+Ferry" and "Peaceful+Tiger" which just seems to literally describe him as an immigrant(traded over on a boat, like tea) and as a gentlegiant type. It's also very possible Kubo just wanted to nickname him "Chad" and found a name he could squeeze into that, rather than worry about the meaning of the name first.

Arisawa Tatsuki[有沢 竜貴] I don't really know how to parse part of her surname here, "Posession/Existence+Swamp" seems to be the literal breakdown? It's also just an actual surname people have, as is Inoue --Sado by comparison however, is not. In any case, her personal name is "Dragon+Noble/<indicator of high rank or status>." This is why she and Orihime get a paired Princess and Dragon motif.

Asano Keigo[浅野 啓吾] reads "Superficial+Rustic/Unsophisiticated" and "Disclose+Me" basically just calling him surface level, simple, and open. He's exactly what it says on the label. Can be read like an open book. Then there's his sister...

Asano Mizuho[浅野 みづ穂] and her name is the phonetic MIDZU+"the ear of a plant/head of a spear/tip of a brush." There are kanji that could go with that but for one, I'm not just gonna take blind stabs, and besides if Kubo had wanted to ascribe obvious meaning to it, he'd have done so. No idea what to make of that one. Considering she's extremely minor and secondary to an already minor character at that, I'm willing to bet he just picked it to be aesthetically pleasing.

Kojima Mizuiro[小島 水色]: "Little+Island" "Water+Color," that is of course as in "Color (of) Water" and not to "water color paints," those have a different name entirely in Japanese. I don't know that his name really says much about him, but considering a lot of weird little details of his fairly minimal appearances across the series, I have my own crackpot theories about Mizuiro, but this isn't the time or place...

Honshou Chizuru[本匠 千鶴]: "Book+Artisan" and "1,000+Crane(s)" the association of paper craft and cranes points pretty obviously to origami, and 1,000 origami cranes (senbazura[千羽鶴]) which evokes a meaning of longevity and recovery from illness. Also the Bookishness vibe seems to be evoked in her general glasses girl design.

Kunieda Ryou[国枝 鈴]: "Country+Branch" and "(Small)Bell." "County" like a "nation/kingdom," not like "rural" as in Asano's name. The small bell evokes a clear but subtle ring, which is kind of reflected in her quiet and intelligent demeanor.

Ogawa Michiru[小川みちる] "MICHIRU" is phonetic so no attributed meaning, but her surname just means "brook/stream" (lit."Small+River") a very on the nose nod to her diminutive size. I never noticed until now but she always has different sheet music notation hairpins.

Natsui Mahana[夏井 真花]: "Summer+Well" (again, like with Inou, the structure you fish water out of, not the adverb) and "Pure/Genuine+Flower." She's an extremely minor character so I don't see there really being much overt meaning to this. Summer seems to evoke her tan*, and Flower beauty, and she's a busty tan girl. (*you know I said that on reflex, but now that i think about it, I don't know that Kubo himself ever actually drew her in color... that may have been an anime thing.)

Ochi Misato[越智美諭]: "Surpass+Wisdom" and "Beauty+Admonish" which I guess I've never looked at before now. It's not that she isn't a cute character design(and I've got a thing for kind of homely teacher characters anyway...) but I didn't realize Kubo was trying for, like, a "hot teacher" thing with her?

And those are basically all the important ones, and frankly a couple not so important ones... I'm not getting into any of Kubo's little inbetween doodles, or god forbid that ridiculous number of random Karakura High students he dumped into Burn the Witch.

(sorry i got lazy and didn't finish digging up pics for everyone, but I at least made sure to have reference for the obscure characters that some people might not remember)

[againstboredom]

My favorite Bleach arc.

@rayereil, asked what my favorite arc was.

It’s the first. I love the cop-buddy formula, the fact that Ichigo is a flowed hero, that  banter and cooperation between Ichigo and Rukia works so well.

I love how bigger mysteries are established like Rukia remembering Kaien, and HM.

I love to see how Rukia, a death-god-samurai, has values, norms and an understanding of honor different than our own.

 She is both relatable enough and alien enough to be interesting.

I love how she never had a childhood in the Rukongai and now she compensates with Ichigo and his,( later their) friends.

I love how Orihime, whom was set up as a classic damsel fights Sora for Tatsuki. Even if she couldn’t do much about him, she TRIED.

Which is why I don’t like HM Orihime, is not that she doesn’t win, is that she doesn’t even try.

That powerless girl, that attacked Acidwire, had the potential to become a hero, and when she saved Tatsuki, she became one.

I love how she’s drawn with big boobs, but still proportional with her body, and not like the hentai parody of herself that she later became.

I love how the large supporting cast did not overshadow Ichigo and Rukia.

I love how Ichigo sometimes acts just so age-appropriate. I love his interracial friendship with Chad and how he and Tatsuki are good enough friends that they visit each other’s homes.

 Keep in mind, that until high-school Tatsuki won every sparring match they had, so he wasn’t ashamed to be bff with a girl that could, and was, kicking his but.

The power scaling made sense, without you having to be an engineering student or use flow charts.

And the setting. The world seemed impossibly large. Then we have the same damned houses and same little claustrophobic streets of the Seratei, over and over and over again. How did Death Gods Central manage to look LESS impressive than the world of the leaving?

Then we have the dragged out, bleak, annoying and repetitive nature of most of the terrain and fights in HM.

 Although incredibly large, both SS and HM seem claustrophobic most of the time.

We got Uryu trying to save Rukia, one of my favorite moments in all of Bleach, although he knew he can’t compete with a captain.

His and Ichigo frenemy with a dash of ho yay, was perfectly established. Later we got spammed with Renji, which usurps by turn and sometimes all at once , Uryu, Chad, Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, and by the end the co-protag herself. I wouldn’t be surprised if for the anime Kubo changes the ending and makes Renji the protag and turns all the other main characters, including Ichigo, into his harem.

The legendary bond between a shinigami and a boy.

The fact that they didn’t split the main cast all the time.

The promise of Bleach was that it would be urban fantasy with occasional glimpses into a larger universe.

The promise of Bleach was that Ichigo and Rukia would be a team.

The promise of Bleach was that all Ichigo’s friends would be badasses.

That’s what the promise of the first arc, and then the later arc mostly failed to deliver.

[pocky123546]

A Let's Play of Bleach Brave Souls- Hollow Acidwire/Yasutora Sado

[quincygami]

If you’re having a bad day, watch this video of Sora Inoue dancing

[hopen4e]

[buzzsawbrando]

yeah im rewatching bleach. literally my childhood anime. anyway acidwire my beloved

[troius]

This is a great addition to all the “heart” stuff I discussed before-- Acidwire thinks that the sound of his voice should be enough to snap his relationship with Orihime back in place, but he is unrecognizable, because his “heart”-- the love and care he showed his sister-- is missing.

[obsidiennes]

Profile: Tatsuki

VITAL DATA

BASIC INFORMATION

Name: Arisawa Tatsuki (有沢竜貴, 有沢たつき, Tatsuki Arisawa)

Gender: female (cis)

Race: Human (“Substitute” Shinigami)

Ethnicity: Japanese

Place of Birth: Karakura, Western Tokyo, Japan

Date of Birth: July 17, 1985

Actual Age: 38 (in 2024)

Apparent Age: 29

Hair Color: jet black

Eye Color: brown

Skin Tone: light sand

Height: 157 cm (5′2″)

Weight: 53.0 kg (116.8 lbs)

Measurements: [CLASSIFIED]

Bust Size: C cup (US), C cup (EU), C cup (UK/AUS), D cup (JP)

Build: wiry (athletic, lithe)

Figure: triangle

Blood Type: O+

Handedness: right

Voice: Noda Junko

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Religion: none (culturally Shinto-Buddhist)

Education: Bachelor of Science in Health and Physical Education / Sports Management (2004–2008: University of Tsukuba)

Orientation: pansexual (female-lean)

Spoken Languages: Japanese, English (some)

Chinese Zodiac: Yin Wood Ox

Western Zodiac: Cancer (Sun), Scorpio (Ascendant), Cancer (Moon)

D&D Alignment: Chaotic Good

Official Theme: hàl - Mō Aoi Tori Wa Tobanai

Main Theme: Backstreet Boys - Larger Than Life

Ultimate Theme: Combichrist - Get Your Body Beat

CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION

Relationship Status: committed (Matsumoto Rangiku from 2016, @rangikuxmatsumoto)

Residence: Karakura (空座町, Karakurachō), Tokyo (Western Tokyo), Japan, Earth

Known Affiliations: Urahara Shōten, Unagiya Shop, Earth, Gotei 13

Profession: Substitute Shinigami, Independent Contractor

SPECIFIC DATA

SUMMARY Following the defeat of Aizen—having variously: survived an attack by Acidwire, resisted the kikanshinki, survived Numb Chandelier, survived Yammy’s Gonzui which killed her entire karate team and hundreds of other residents of Karakura, witnessed Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and his Fracción attack the town, witness Ichigo departing for Hueco Mundo, and survived (and perceived the power of) fusion Aizen himself—Tatsuki would approach Urahara Kisuke and demand some means of protecting herself and contributing to the defense of Karakura.

Reasoning that Tatsuki’s spiritual constitution was rather unique given all the aforementioned feats, as well as her apparent transdimensional connection with Inoue Orihime—Kisuke would eventually assent to her trying Shinigami power transference in the same fashion as Kuchiki Rukia had attempted with Kurosaki Ichigo. He soon ‘persuaded’ Abarai Renji, who was eager for ways to increase his own power, to do the job.

Despite lacking the lineage of Ichigo, Tatsuki survived the process, becoming a true “Substitute Shinigami”—the first known example without the aid of other power sets (principally Fullbring) or outside intervention. (Although the origins of the technique which Rukia used raise some doubts as to Tatsuki being the first purely human Substitute Shinigami ever...) She would be given an asauchi and promptly commit herself to intense training alongside Orihime, Chad, and Renji, and became notable for her incredibly high durability.

She continued her training over the subsequent year plus, soon achieving Shikai and taking over many of Ichigo’s duties. She did not see combat versus Xcution, but was present in the Seireitei for both the first and second waves of attacks by Wandenreich, doing quite well against their Soldat and gaining a reputation among rank-and-file Shinigami for her performance. In early 2004, she was involved with assisting the Kurosaki family during the Tsunayashiro's attempted coup. Following the defeat of the latter, she returned to focusing primarily on her studies, graduating from Karakura High School and attending the University of Tsukuba; during this time her spiritual activities were quite sparse.

In 2009, a year after completing her degree, she returned to Karakura, complaining of a growing restlessness. While using her education to pursue a legitimate career (variously coaching, teaching, and training in different venues) she also began to take side-jobs for both Unagiya Ikumi, Ichigo’s former employer, and Kisuke. She eventually became the unofficial point woman for the Shōten as she was willing to take on jobs too mundane (or uninteresting or boring) for Shihōin Yoruichi to trouble herself with, although she always does so at her own discretion.

In 2014, shortly after her 29th birthday, Tatsuki chose to permanently leave behind her mortal body for a gigai instead, deciding there was no point in aging if she didn’t have to and figuring that she was only getting older. While the move was permanent in her eyes, she did have her real body placed in suspended animation and held in secure storage at the Shōten, just in case. As for explaining her lack of aging... she’d work that out later.

She can contemporaneously be found in either Karakura, the Seireitei, or Rukongai, depending on what she happens to be busy with at any given time.

[mechadeimos]

[evilkitten3]

When did Rukia and Orihime become friends and why are they so close?

during her stay in the human world, rukia attends ichigo’s school. while she usually hangs out with ichigo, sado, keigo, and mizuiro, she does spend some time with the girls in ichigo’s class (orihime, tatsuki, chizuru, mahana, ryō, and michiru) in between acidwire’s defeat and orihime’s awakening of her own powers (and presumed return of the memories rukia erased)

however, they’re on pretty good terms from the start. while rukia doesn’t realize they’re in the same class when ichigo first introduces them, they’re both quite friendly toward each other. initially, rukia’s mainly just worried about the hollow that attacked orihime, but i imagine she was able to relate to her after learning about her and sora’s backstory.

however, they still aren’t particularly close, even by the time rukia goes back to soul society. the whole group pretty much notes that they’re there because of ichigo, the only one to have gotten the chance to form a real friendship with rukia.

but why was orihime there? the others are obvious: ichigo is there for his friend (rukia), sado is there for his friend (ichigo), ishida is there to beat up some shinigami and repair his bruised ego after renji knocked him on his ass, ganju is there because his sister told him to be and also to beat up shinigami, and yoruichi is there because someone needs to supervise these kids.

but orihime? at the time, she wasn’t particularly close to any of them. they were her classmates, sure, and she had a small crush on ichigo that was still mostly just gratitude and admiration, but she was risking her life for someone she’d known for less than a month, and not all that well.

so why? the way i see it: it was because rukia was in danger and there was something orihime could do about it. orihime’s greatest strengths have always been her compassion and kindness, and rukia was someone in need of help. it’s likely she learned about byakuya offscreen, so it’s also possible that she understood the feelings of your older brother trying to kill you. but mostly? she got super powers and she was gonna use them to help people.

of the three non-ichigo humans, orihime actually had the least connection to rukia at the time of the ryoka invasion. rukia and sado had teamed up against shrieker, ishida had declared her an enemy and unintentionally got her dragged back to soul society (although that wasn’t fully his fault, since the bait had been tampered with), and inoue had.... talked to her a couple times. and rukia took her memories once.

orihime can be considered the heart of the group, and “the heart” is a major theme for her character line during the hueco mundo arc. who else do we know who holds “the heart” in great esteem? rukia, thanks to kaien.

this comes full circle in the hueco mundo arc when rukia, just after defeating aaroniero (and her own heart-related grievances), struggles to get to orihime in spite of her injuries. orihime risked everything to save rukia, and she refused to do anything but give her all to return the favor.

during this scene, there’s something that a lot of the fans overlook: the walls are made of seki-seki, so you can’t sense reiatsu through them. that’s why ichigo didn’t know how badly rukia had been hurt. but you know who did? orihime. there’s no way she should’ve been able to sense that, especially since she’s never shown sensing anyone else through the rocks. it’s explained in the manga that this is because of aaroniero sharing his death with his allies, but that doesn’t make any sense either, so i think ulquiorra was just trying to convince ichigo that orihime had swapped sides.

one thing i love about their relationship that doesn’t really connect to the rest of this: after orihime realizes her feelings towards ichigo, she becomes upset with herself for feeling jealousy towards rukia, who she felt had a closer relationship with him than orihime herself did. her frustration was mostly directed at herself, for daring to feel something even a little negative towards someone she admired and cared about so much. not long after rangiku comforts her about that, rukia herself ends up comforting her about her inability to kill in their first real one-on-one conversation (before orihime gets dragged off by hiyori). starting then, and continuing in pretty much every interaction they have afterwards, rukia looks at orihime like she’s the world.

however you choose to interpret their relationship, there’s no denying that they absolutely adore one another.

plus they have some of the gayest moments in the series

[littleeyesofpallas]

YUMICHIKA: ...あ 虚(ホロウ)の匂いだ 片してく?

...a. It smells like Hollow. Do you want to get rid of it?

IKKAKU: 放っとけ面倒臭え車谷とかいうのがるだろ

Leave the troublesome smell to, I think, Kurumadani

YUMICHIKA: ...うん そうだね ...でも 虚(ホロウ)の匂いにしては何か...... 

...un. sure ...but the smell of this Hollow... Is something else(it’s different)......

TATSUKI: ...ナニ ずーっと悩んでんだ... ...あたし... ...バカみて... ...バカみて...

HOW long has this been worrying me...  ...STUPID...

I hate that this scene is all of like a page and a half and gets so easily overlooked.  More so given that back in the day, when this chapter first dropped, uploading sites would, and still do, layout pages one at a time rather than two at a time; This breaks the flow of good panel layout and page design. (which at this point in his career, Kubo was very much into)

When you read this properly the scene actually transitions really smoothly from subject to subject, and here’s how it visually reads...

Renji is the last of the Shinigami to leave Ichigo’s house, there’s some back and forth between Ichigo and Rukia as the “camera” pans up from the Kurosaki clinic doors to the evening sky.  The subject of the sky links us to the panel of Yumichika smelling the air.  He comments on an indistinct “Hollow smell” and ominously trails off mentioning how it’s “different” implicitly meaning from a normal Hollow.   In the context of the plot right now, an unusual Hollow would suggest an Arrancar, but the issue is dropped as Yumichika stares off into the distance, where the scent is coming from...  Once again the sky transitions us to a new location within Karakura: a house.  We see the subject of the scene, the thing that smells like a hollow: Tatsuki.  HARD CUT

NOW we see Tatsuki in her own scene after turning the page.  We zoom in.  Her flashbacks are of the recent events where the Shinigami arrived at Karakura High and Rukia grabbed Ichigo to go fight a Hollow and get his mojo back.  We already knew, but this reestablishes that Tatsuki can see Hollows and Shinigami, and she’s aware of Ichigo’s secret, although no one else knows she knows.  She vaguely talks about a nondescript “this” that has been bothering her.  This part is a little harder to read; it could mean Ichigo and his secret and the existence of Shinigami in general, but it could also refer to her actual ability to see them.  We cut scenes again, not thru the sky, but hard to a picture of Sora, Inoue’s dead brother... (haha “Sora” is written 昊 meaning “Sky”)  Orihime’s scene transitions to another with Chad through windows looking out at the sky, and the sky again is used to transition from Chad to Keigo and Mizuiro.

So the way I’ve always read this scene is that Tatsuki’s concern is about her powers, not about Ichigo and the Shinigami specifically, and the fact that her look of anguish transitions to a picture of Sora tells me that the common subject bridging the cut isn’t The Sky and The Sky, it’s Tatsuki’s Hollow powers and the Hollow that gave her those powers; Sora’s attack on Orihime and Tatsuki as the Hollow Acidwire was the first encounter Tatsuki had with Hollows way way back in the first volume of the manga, and by the time Tatsuki tried to fight Numb Chandelier with Orihime, she could already begin to see Hollows, if only barely.

Like with so much of the set up of the Arrancar Arc, Kubo actually did this VERY well.  And he didn’t just leave it at their either.  He left us with a little cliffhanger on Tatsuki’s trajectory for this arc... but then just never came back to it.

[hootjiggle]

Together again

When I was 15, my sister was born. She was more like a daughter to me than a sister.

Our parents were truer monsters than I am now. The kind of monsters who would silence a baby's cries with beatings. I hid her, quieted her cries where they wouldn't hear.

In March when I was 18 I took my three year old sister and fled that cursed house.

-----------------------------------------------

I wanted to share them, fun things at school, the happy stuff, things I liked, people I liked at first, all I ever did was pray every day, but I thought that was wrong.

I didn't want you to see my sadness, I didn't want you to feel my pain. So I hid it from you! I only shared my happiness with you! So you wouldn't suffer for me!

I didn't realise it made you feel lonely...I had no idea Sora I'm sorry I hurt you. I love you.

-----------------------------------------------

Acidwire is the next familiar in BBS so he'll be able to join his sister on all the BBS related shinagens.

[zanguntsu]

sometimes ffn is a goldmine in that ive seen a bleach memorial day fic And a fishbone d x acidwire fanfic