Tite Kubo Used the Oldest Trick in the Book to Achieve the One Thing That Makes Bleach Far Superior to Naruto

Naruto and Bleach fans are always on each other’s throats on social media, arguing about which series is better. Figuring out which character is stronger is a never-ending debate that will continue till the end of time. So, the debate tends to shift to which character is overall better written than the other.

When it comes to Naruto, both One Piece and Bleach fans target the female characters and showcase how Kishimoto was unequipped to write them well. Well, that’s only partially true because characters like Tsunade, Kushina and Konan are written pretty well, but that isn’t the same case for people like Sakura. Though Kishimoto himself admitted that he isn’t very good with female characters, Tite Kubo isn’t a stalwart at writing them either.

But by comparing characters like Orihime and Sakura, fans can get an idea who writes female characters better.

The problem with Sakura in Naruto

When it comes to Naruto and Bleach, anime fans in general say that their main weakness is how female characters are written and point out Orihime and Sakura, respectively. Sakura is one of the most hated characters in manga history and there’s some truth to that. Putting aside the fact that she isn’t so strong to matter in the story, Sakura is an extremely annoying, selfish, short-tempered, and self-centered girl with a very shallow personality.

One time, she behaved pretty insensitively towards Naruto by making fun of the fact that he’s an orphan in front of her crush. She thinks by demeaning Naruto, she would get some attention and importance from Sasuke. It shows that her whole world revolves around Sasuke, her feelings towards him, and what he thinks of her, and she doesn’t give a damn about anything else that goes around her.

For instance, during the Chunin Exam arc, when Konohagakure was attacked and Gaara just crushed Sakura, and when she finally wakes up, she thanks Sasuke, thinking he saved her, instead of thanking Naruto, who literally saved the village. But the biggest hate for Sakura comes from the scene where she fake confesses to Naruto that she loves him but in reality, she loves Sasuke.

Sakura told Naruto that because she thought that Naruto was going after Sasuke for Sakura’s sake, so by telling him she doesn’t love Sasuke anymore, Naruto will quit looking for him and all the suffering will end. With this one manuever, Sakura completely forgot what Naruto’s character is all about. He doesn’t need a reason to save someone. If he finds someone in danger, he’ll go out of his way to save them.

That’s why Naruto saved Sakura many times, despite constantly being rejected by her. He has compassion and no other reason will stop him from helping others. Therefore, Sakura is merely playing with the emotions of Naruto and she doesn’t understand that. On the other hand, Orihime from Bleach is usually deemed as useless but she’s far from it.

What makes Orihime a better character than Sakura?

Orihime may appear weak at first but that’s how Tite Kubo tricked the fandom by revealing her powers later on. From Ichigo’s eyes, Orihime is as useful as they can be. In fact, she saved Ichigo twice in the anime.

While battling her brother, Acidwire, Ichigo was weakened by the foe’s acid attack, causing his grip on his sword to falter. Then, Acidwire lunged at him to deliver a lethal bite, but Orihime used her Shun Shun Rikka to shield Ichigo from the attack, and simultaneously reminded Acidwire that she still cared about him. Thankfully, this blow wasn’t enough to kill her, and her apology helped her brother pass on.

During Ichigo’s battle against Yhwach, the villain broke Zangetsu in the blink of an eye. As a result, he was completely crushed by the loss, giving into despair just as Yhwach wanted him to. Although she tried her best, Orihime wasn’t able to fix it.

This changed when Shukuro Tsukishima appeared and stabbed Ichigo with the Book of the End. In doing so, Tsukishima altered Ichigo’s past, which allowed Orihime to repair the sword. Seeing his sword whole once more revitalized Ichigo, as he finally had the means to fight Yhwach properly again.

Her usefulness in Bleach peaked when she used her healing powers to restore Grimmjow’s arm. That one maneuver managed to set off a crucial chain of events. Following that, Grimmjow proceeded to kill Luppi, who would have been a powerful enemy. He also saved Orihime from Loly and Menoly, and even forced Orihime to save Ichigo’s life after he had been killed by Ulquiorra.

If not for Grimmjow and Orihime, Ichigo would have remained dead. Even as a character, Orihime was completely supportive of Ichigo and his decisions to fight certain villains, which made Ichigo trust in Orihime to stand by his side and help him fight Yhwach. Orihime would continuously block Yhwach’s attacks, and she bought Ichigo time to use his new hollowfied form, which he brought forth with the help of Yhwach’s powers.

While the two still lost, Ichigo’s fight against Yhwach would have ended much sooner if it wasn’t for Orihime. In this way, Tite Kubo created enough scenarios for Orihime to be useful and a tolerable character, unlike Sakura, created by Masashi Kishimoto.

Naruto and Bleach are both available to watch on Netflix.