@eleamaya: nah, trust me, Bleach and FFVII(R) are vastly different on tropes used. Ichigo and Orihime weren't even childhood friends, they just met once. There was absolutely nothing and it's telling how Ichigo waited that Rukia got married to ask Orihime out. It's really bad, in every point of view. When you have Ichigo wondering if he can keep going on when Rukia isn't here to have him end with Orihime, you see the disconnect that has gone live between the two moments, and when Kubo changed his mind.
@The Twilight Mexican: I understand perfectly what you're saying, trust me LOL - I did not have that reading at all, still don't. I just say that's how some JP fans felt when they saw Aerith's resolution. As I was saying it's probably more a side effect of how Cloud answers.
Apologies if I shouldn't be keeping this discussion going here, but I don't think your take on Bleach is entirely accurate or fair, and I think it goes entirely too far to say "there was absolutely nothing" or that it was bad "in every point of view". Say what you will about Bleach's writing in general, and I think there's a lot to be said, but regarding the main pairing, Kubo has stated that he was able to write the final chapter he had in mind since chapter 1, a statement that is heavily supported by both the manga and the original one shot. In the latter it was entirely obvious that Ichigo and Orihime had feelings for each other, and while several things changed from the one shot to the story we have now, it should at the very least serve to show that Kubo DID consider the pairing even back then, even before the story was published. Add to this the fact that Orihime was shown to have a crush on Ichigo from as early as chapter 2, her introduction far as I recall, and that Ichigo is particularly protective of and gentle to her specifically when compared to his interactions with others, and it shouldn't come as a surprise that they ended up together.
Moreover, while the term childhood friends isn't accurate, "they just met once" is overly reductive. Ichigo knows her from the start of the manga, is close to Orihime's best friend and by then is already regularly fussing over her injuries, shown by his angrily commenting on their frequency and offering to walk her home shortly after. That, coupled with Orihime's already existing fondness for him at that point certainly implies that there is already some level of care present for each other at that stage, even if they're yet to grow very close to the other (which the main story certainly rectifies).
Add to this the fact that the only person who is explicitly shown having romantic feelings for Ichigo throughout the story is Orihime and that this becomes the major focus of at least one arc, and that the final arc, spanning over 200 chapters, hardly has Ichigo and Rukia interact while both the Rukia/Renji and Ichigo/Orihime pairings spend a lot of time together and have some very blatant ship tease...it's just, why do people insist on claiming that Kubo changed his mind when the signs were all there? Apologies if this sounds rude, but perhaps one ought to give the author the benefit of the doubt when he claims the ending was the one he envisioned from the start, especially when this IS supported by the text, rather than assume the opposite because of feelings of disappointment? I just think that, if one rereads the manga knowing how it all ends, it should seem obvious in hindsight or at the very least plausible.
The anime certainly worsened things by cutting out multiple moments between Orihime and Ichigo, and adding tons of Rukia-centric filler, and I do think that has contributed to people feeling confused and left out when the final chapter dropped. Rukia's and Ichigo's dynamic being central to the story is another matter that has caused people to go all on in on that ship, but much like with Bulma/Goku, this doesn't mean they should be together romantically, that's not what their relationship was ever about, even if it drove the story for a while.
Regarding the novel and the Rukia/Renji marriage, that once again feels like a rather uncharitable reading. By then Orihime was already clearly a familiar presence in the Kurosaki home, as evidenced by Yuzu and Karin commenting on how much they liked having her around and are happy when she stays for dinner. Moreover, Renji specifically calls out Ichigo by asking him if he was in love with her, and upon seeing Ichigo failing to properly answer tells him not to keep her waiting too long, to which Ichigo replies that he understands that, but that he shouldn't be hearing this from Renji, who only managed to confess to Rukia after several decades. What we can glean from this is that Ichigo, while embarassed and unsure how to approach the situation, does in fact have feelings for Orihime, and that it's simply his lack of experience that's causing his failure to act (mirrored by Renji doing the same, and we certainly don't doubt that Renji's been in love with Rukia for a long time now, do we?), rather than any non-existing unresolved feelings for Rukia. It has only been 3 years since the end of the final battle after all, both Ichigo and Orihime are young, inexperienced and busy with college/work, so it hardly comes as a surprise thst their relationship doesn't immediately take off. Even so, the novel ends with Ichigo mustering his courage and asking Orihime to make time for him later, with the implication that this is when he confesses to her. And I think it's rather awful to suggest that he specifically chose to wait until after Rukia was married, as if he held onto some hope until then, and I certainly don't think that was Kubo's intention. ...or, actually, the novel's writer, who was someone else (though I do believe they received supervision from Kubo, and he DID illustrate it.
Anyhow, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Ichigo/Orihime is a perfectly written romance or that anything else is not, but rather simply that the evidence for it was already there before it became canon, and I find it rather unfair to act otherwise or as if it was all meaningless, especially when the author himself has chimed in on it saying that it absolutely was intended from the start. I certainly think there's a difference between liking one pairing more than another and denying the other's very basis and validity.
...once again, sorry for the distraction. I tend to lurk on these forums every now and then, but never really commented because you all were doing fantastic and were much better informed than me, but since this hasn't gotten any replies, and I feel I am at least somewhat qualified, I decided to try my luck.
Since I'm already here though, I'll add that I agree with the sentiment that it would be nice if we could finally resolve this specific love triangle. I can't say I wouldn't be at least slightly disappointed if the answer turned out to be Clerith, but still, this is the perfect time to be giving a conclusive answer (until the debates of Remake vs Og canon start). I'm already frustrated enough by Steins;Gate's developers for refusing to resolve its much more blatantly obvious main pairing and keeping them in an eternal hell of being tsundere to each other, for literal years, so it would be nice if at least one of these headaches could be cleared up.
).
. Let one rest together in Soul Society and let another in human world.
