Orihime Inoue (井上 織姫, Inoue Orihime^?) is a fictional character and major figure in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. She is a classmate and friend of Ichigo Kurosaki, the main character of the series. Like many other friends of Ichigo, she quickly develops spiritual powers of her own after Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper. Her given name is taken from a Japanese legend that the festival Tanabata is based on. On a chapter cover in Volume 1 of the manga, the word Vega, a star that symbolizes Orihime, the weaver princess from the Tanabata legend, is printed to show the connection. She ranked 8th in the most recent Shonen Jump poll, surpassing Izuru Kira by 123 votes.

After Ichigo Kurosaki gains the powers of a Soul Reaper, his interactions with his classmates begin to have unforeseen side effects. Orihime, after being saved from a hollow by Ichigo, finds herself endowed with the Shun Shun Rikka, six spirits that inhabit her hair pins and help her during battle situations. After Rukia Kuchiki is taken back to Soul Society to be executed, Orihime joins Ichigo and some of her classmates in an effort to save her. Upon arriving in Soul Society, their group is split up, and Orihime wanders the city with Uryū Ishida. After Rukia is saved by Ichigo, Orihime heals his wounds with her Shun Shun Rikka and returns to the human world.

During the Bount invasion, Orihime and Chad are kidnapped by Kisuke Urahara to test Ichigo's abilities for the ensuing Bount threat. Once Ichigo passes the test Orihime is released unharmed. Orihime accompanies Ichigo and her friends for the duration of the invasion, battling alongside Kuroud and Shuhei Hisagi against the Bount Mabashi and a manipulated Rukia, and heals their wounds after their battles are won.

Soon after the Bount are dealt with, arrancar begin to invade Karakura Town. During a battle with the Espada Yammy, the attack component (Koten Zanshun) of Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka is destroyed, making her unable to help in the oncoming battles. After sitting on the sidelines for the second arrancar invasion, Orihime has her Shun Shun Rikka restored by Hachigen Ushōda, and Orihime goes to Soul Society to train for the next arrancar attack. After a month of training, Orihime returns to the human world with Rukia (due to a second attack by the Arrancar, which is a ploy by Aizen to lure Orihime out into the open). While traveling between the two realms, she is met by Ulquiorra Schiffer, who threatens to kill Ichigo and her friends unless she agrees to go to Hueco Mundo. Orihime complies and, after secretly saying goodbye to Ichigo, joins the arrancar.

Upon her arrival in the arrancar base, Orihime is introduced to Sōsuke Aizen, a former Soul Reaper and current leader of the arrancar. Aizen explains that he intends to use Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka to restore the Orb of Distortion, though she decides to use her powers to destroy the Orb instead. Before she can act on her plans, Ichigo and a group of others arrive in Hueco Mundo to save her. When Ichigo is injured during the rescue, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, wanting to battle Ichigo at full strength, frees Orihime from her confinements so that she can heal him. When he is well enough to fight, he battles with Grimmjow and ultimately claims victory. Just as Ichigo and Orihime prepare to leave, Nnoitra Jiruga arrives to stop them and they are unable to fend him off until Kenpachi Zaraki arrives to save them. As they try to recuperate, Orihime is once again captured by Aizen. With this, he explains that his reasons for kidnapping her have always been to draw the Soul Reapers to Hueco Mundo, keeping them preoccupied while he destroys Karakura Town.

Abilities

Orihime's power manifests itself as the Shun Shun Rikka (盾舜六花, Shun Shun Rikka^? literally "six flowers of the shielded hibiscus," translated in the English anime as "six princess-shielding flowers"), six fairy-like creatures that reside in her hair-clips (shaped like six-petaled flowers, each fairy is two points on a given clip) when inactive. The nature of Orihime's hairpins have been compared to that of a zanpakutō. Through various combinations of the six fairies, Orihime has the power to deny reality, expressed in the final part of her incantations: "I reject!". This power can be used for attack, defense, or healing (depending on the combination). Orihime's mood directly influences the effectiveness of her powers. Feelings like doubt or worry makes them weaker, while conviction makes them stronger. At their height, her powers resemble those of a deity in strength.

Orihime's powers initially manifested during the duel between Ichigo and Uryū while trying to protect her friend Tatsuki from Numb Chandelier. She was trained by Yoruichi Shihouin in their usage before attempting to rescue Rukia Kuchiki from being executed in Soul Society. Curiously, Orihime's spiritual energy and powers resemble those of the vizard Hachigen Ushōda (who even compared her Shun Shun Rikka to a zanpakutō.) Orihime mainly functions in a healing capacity, due to the nature of her powers. Despite her ability to inflict lethal damage, she is a pacifist and will only harm opponents to save someone's life.

The fairies are separate manifestations of Orihime's spirit, each with its own unique appearance and personality, and each named after a flower:

• Ayame (あやめ, Ayame^?)—Voiced by: Tomoe Sakuragawa (Japanese), Philece Sampler (English)

Ayame is a shy female spirit covered in a dress larger than her body. She is capable of healing together with Shun'ō.

• Baigon (梅巌, Baigon^?)—Voiced by: Kiyoyuki Yanada (Japanese), Liam O'Brien (English)

Baigon is a bald male spirit with a mask that covers the bottom of his face. He is capable of shielding Orihime from attacks along with Hinagiku and Lily.

• Hinagiku (火無菊, Hinagiku^?)—Voiced by: Daisuke Kishio (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English)

Hinagiku is a male spirit with a large eye patch that ends in a horn. He is capable of shielding Orihime from attacks along with Baigon and Lily.

• Lily (リリィ, Rirī^?)—Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (Japanese), Kate Higgins (English)

Lily is a female spirit with bright pink hair, transparent yellow goggles, and a blue thong bathing suit. She has a tattoo on her backside. She is capable of shielding Orihime from attacks along with Baigon and Hinagiku.

• Shun'ō (舜桜, Shun'ō^?)—Voiced by: Junko Noda (Japanese), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English)

Shun'ō is a friendly female spirit with a topknot. She and Tsubaki are usually the ones who talk to Orihime. She is capable of healing together with Ayame.

• Tsubaki (椿鬼, Tsubaki^?)—Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese), Wally Wingert (English)

Tsubaki is a fiery male spirit who is the only Shun Shun Rikka capable of direct attack. He often strikes anyone who gets on his nerves (including Orihime). Because he is primarily focused on attacking, he is vulnerable to counter-attacks and has been injured several times. The stronger Orihime's anger and killing intent, the more powerful he becomes. However, Orihime's timid nature limits his overall power and has contributed to his injuries in the past.

 

Techniques

Orihime's techniques involve incantations manipulating the Shun Shun Rikka into three different groups. Though Orihime initially needed to chant an incantation to use her techniques, further training has rendered this unnecessary. Her incantation consists of voicing the names of the members involved, followed by the technique name and the phrase "I reject" (私は拒絶する, watashi wa kyozetsu suru^?), a reference to the nature of her powers.

Santen Kesshun (三天結盾, Santen Kesshun^? literally "triple heavenly linking shield") is Orihime's defensive technique. The incantation arranges Hinagiku, Lily, and Baigon into a triangle, forming a barrier capable of repelling anything on the far side. Because the barrier rejects negative events, it can also function as an airbag of sorts, allowing Orihime and anyone else nearby to survive a potentially lethal fall unharmed.

Sōten Kisshun (双天帰盾, Sōten Kisshun^? literally "twin heavenly returning shield") is Orihime's healing technique, though it goes well beyond simple healing. The incantation summons Ayame and Shun'ō to form a half-oval barrier around whatever or whomever Orihime wishes. While active, the barrier repels all negative events inflicted upon anything within the barrier. No matter how extensive the damage may be (whether used on living beings or inanimate objects), the barrier can restore it to full working order by reversing space and time around the damaged area, making it as if the object was never damaged in the first place. It can even resurrect the dead. Objects inside the barrier are unable to leave until the process is complete.

This is the aspect of her power that piques Sōsuke Aizen's interest in her since, in Aizen's words, she "violates the realm of gods." At first it was believed the technique required that Orihime have some piece of what she is healing to restore what's missing. She was unable to heal Tsubaki after his destruction because he was shattered into pieces too small to find. However, it has been suggested by Hachigen Ushouda, a vizard with similar powers, that Orihime should be able to restore anything she wants without actually having a piece of it. It is also known that the healing of one of their own kind takes longer.

Koten Zanshun (孤天斬盾, Koten Zanshun^? literally "solitary heavenly cutting shield") is Orihime's offensive technique. The incantation summons Tsubaki, who forms a thin barrier on either side of himself. By flying at an enemy, forming a shield within the enemy and rejecting their physical bond formations, thus cutting through enemies like a sword. While Tsubaki can cut through basically anything, Orihime's general dislike of combat and hesitance to use lethal force degrades the effectiveness of the technique, making him easy to counter and equally easy to injure. This also suggests that the full effectiveness of this technique has yet to be seen.