Bleach Fantasy Round 8: Orihime Inoue vs. Serah Farron (Fighting for their friends and a future)

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DAYUM! That is one word you'll say if you ever come across these two beauties. One is orange-haired and the other is pink-haired: Who wants Oranges & Strawberries people? These two beautiful, strong, and caring women will do whatever it takes to ensure that their friends have a future and that their lives are protected from harm. Caretakers in their own right, these two will fight for what they believe in order for peace and harmony to reign. Today's BF post is Bleach's very own Orihime Inoue & FF XIII & XIII-2's very own Serah Farron. The following will be compared: Backstory/Role in Story, Powers/Abilities, & Verdict (By MechG2994). FF currently lead 5-2 against Bleach. As said before, my portions will be noted in Blue and MechG2994's in Purple. The titles are noted in Yellow.

Backstory/Role in Story (Orihime Inoue)

Where do I begin with this one? Aside from Orihime being one of the main characters and Ichigo's love interest, Orihime has been a central figure since the beginning of Bleach. Orihime would soon develop her own powers and be spiritually aware thanks to the influence of Ichigo (much like how Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro are now spiritually aware). Orihime, in a nutshell, is a funny gal, but is naive and at times clueless. She is often described as weird, but nurturing and caring. Orihime is a mixed bag of responsibility and childishness. Orihime's upbringing wasn't the best - raised by a drunken father and a prostitute mother, the two parents bickered and constantly abused their children, Sora & Orihime. It wouldn't be long before Sora and Orihime run away together and Sora becomes the paternal figure in Orihime's life. Orihime, however, was far from safe as she was constantly bullied at school for her orange-colored hair. One day, Orihime was given hairpins by her brother, but at first thought they looks childish. However, the same day she got into an argument with her brother about the hairpins, Orihime's brother died. As a result, Orihime wears the hairpins her brother gave her everyday. She wanted to showcase that she'll be happy from now on as she prayed for her brother everyday. However, after meeting Ichigo and making friends at Karakura Town, she suddenly stopped praying to her brother ~ which greatly angered him as Sora was turned into a Hollow and attacked Orihime, nearly killing her in the process. This is where Orihime first was spiritually aware as Ichigo saves her. As a result, she gained her own powers and fended off her first Hollow and managed to save Tatsuki as a result. Since then, Orihime owes Ichigo and remains as one of Ichgo's faithful friends and allies ~ helping him out, tending to his wounds, and being a member of Team Ichigo (alongside Chad & Uryu). 

Orihime first helps out as a member of Team Ichigo when trying to save Rukia. She practiced and trained with Yoruichi to harness and have control of her powers - Shun Shun Rika. She didn't play much of a role since Ichigo, Chad, & Uryu were doing all the heavy-lifting. Excluding the fillers, Orihime plays a pivotal role in the Arrancar & Hueco Mundo Arc, being praised for her "God-like abilities" as well as being used as bait for the Gotei 13 to abandon Ichigo in his hopes to rescue her. Before Orihime was threatened by the 4th Espada to leaving for Las Noches, she paid one last visit to Ichigo and says if she had 5 lives - all would in love for Ichigo (BEST ICHIHIME MOMENT EVER!) Orihime then is held hostage under Lord Aizen and is constantly at ends with various Arrancar including Nnoitra, Loly & Menoly, Grimmjow, & Ulquiorra especially. After seeing Team Ichigo rescue her, she becomes weary of their safety, especially Ichigo. Ichigo found valiantly against Grimmjow & Ulquiorra, but his hollowfication and close-to-death managed to scare Orihime as she warned him to not fight anymore and to protect himself. Listening to the damsel in distress's words, Ichigo calmed down and it wouldn't be long before all the Espada were taken down in Hueco Mundo & Fake Karakura Town. Orihime constantly worries over Ichigo's safety and she herself has proven to be the glue that holds Team Ichigo together. After Aizen's imprisonment, Orihime reappears in the Fullbringer Arc and, alongside Chad, is tricked by Tsukishima into thinking that they've known him for years now ~ implanting fake memories. Aside from not playing much of a role (since her main role was taken up in the Hueco Mundo Arc), she reappears in the current arc as a support and is doing anything she can to assist in the upcoming war. 

Backstory/Role in Story (Serrah Farron)

Born three years younger than her older sister Claire (Lightning), Serah shared the same tragic fate as her sister as their parents died from unknown circumstances when they were little. Serah spent the majority of her childhood life being raised by Claire, who later changed her name to “Lightning” as she got older. However, after enlisting in the Guardian Corps to try and support for herself and her sister, Lightning started to spend little time with Serah, leaving Serah to try and step up in her life without Lightning to guider her all the time. She did exactly that, excelling in her academics and enrolling in the University of Eden to study history, while balancing her social life falling in love with a hunk in Snow. While intrigued by the Vestige in the seaside shore of Bodhum, Serah accidentally opened the entrance leading her to the fal’Cie, Anima, who branded her as a Pulse l’Cie. Knowing that becoming a l’Cie makes her an enemy of Cocoon and not completing her Focus turns her into a Cieth, Serah went into full panic mode, attempting to break up with Snow, but Snow insists on staying with her to protect her to figure out her Focus together. One night before Lightning’s 21^st birthday, Serah received a proposal necklace from Snow to be his spouse, which she gladly accepted without Lightning’s approval and again, Snow would promise to protect her at all costs, no matter what happens. The next day, Serah showed her l’Cie mark and revealed her marriage plans with Snow to Lightning, but Light was fueled with anger on her sister and caused a disagreement with Snow. Later the same day, Snow and Serah were caught by PSICOM soldiers, after they quarantined Bodhum in the midst of the presence of the Vestige and Serah, after getting from Snow to get on the Vestige’s ledge during the chase, was suckered inside.

At the start of FFXIII, when Snow and Lightning reached deep into Anima’s Vestige in the Hanging Edge, Serah pretty much fulfilled her Focus to bring Snow, Lightning, Vanille, Hope, and Sazh together by fate to save Cocoon, crystallizing her and that build up the fact that the five heroes would also be branded by the same fal’Cie. Though Serah didn’t play too much of a role after that, her reference is still a framing device for the struggle of Lightning and Snow to get along, as well as handling a majority of both their character development. After Lightning, Snow, and the rest defeated the Cocoon fal’Cie, Barthandelus, the creator of Cocoon itself, Orphan, and when Fang and Vanille turned into Ragnarok to save Cocoon from total destruction, Serah was awaken from her crystal sleep along with Sazh’s son, Dajh, to reunite with Lightning, Snow, Hope, and Sazh to live happily ever after. Or did they? Well turns out that in FFXIII-2, Serah didn’t share a happy moment with her sister as Lightning was dragged into Valhalla to be Etro’s champion, erasing her from history and that left Serah to break down and cry considering she just saw her for a split second and the party didn’t even know about it. Years went by since Lightning disappeared and Serah still carried on with her aspirations, becoming a grade school teacher. XIII-2 is when we actually see Serah’s involvement in the XIII story arc under the guidance of a young man in Noel Kreiss and a moogle, Mog in an attempt to find her sister as well as to find Snow since Snow left her hanging to find Lightning for her by himself. She finds herself traveling across the timeline with Noel to restore the timeline that was messed up by Yeul, a seeress that see the future until the end of the world and her guardian, Caius, the immortal who’s Yeul’s protector who fights Lightning in an infinite loop in Valhalla. I really don’t want to go in depth considering how XIII-2’s plot is so convoluted; in short: Serah, along with Noel travel across time via the Historia Crux to resolve paradoxes, they briefly help Hope to get some artifacts to know more about the paradoxes and to benefit Hope’s purpose of creating a new Cocoon, they fight Caius and encounter Yeul across the timeline, Serah eventually reunites with Snow and Lightning for a brief moment, and she fights and defeats Caius in Valhalla with Noel’s help, restoring the timeline to its normal and ensuring the birth of the new Cocoon. However, it was revealed that Serah also has abilities as a seeress and by messing with the timeline like Yeul before her, she dies and the worlds of Gran Pulse and the resurrected Cocoon is swallowed in by Chaos. In LR (short for Lightning Returns), she reverts back to a framing device again for the plot as Bhunivelze’s bargaining chip for Lightning to become the Savior and save the souls in Nova Chrysalia within 13 days in order to save Serah. During Lightning’s battle with Bhunivelze, Serah’s soul was eventually freed and participated along with Hope, Fang, Vanille, Snow, and Noel to help Lightning take down the almighty god and bring the souls to a new world without the intervention of gods.

Powers/Abilities (Orihime Inoue)

Stated by Aizen himself, Orihime's power is considered a phenomenon rejection ~ limiting, rejecting, and denying things that happen to certain objects. In other words, it allows things to go back to the way they wee before it happens. Aizen went so far as to say that Orihime's power - Shun Shun Rika is greater than turning back time or reverting space, having the ability to overturn the events set by GOD himself, and finally ~ her power "impinges upon God's territory." Before, however, Shun Shun Rika were 6 manifestations of Orihime's spirit that allows her to fire projectiles, form shields, and, as Aizen said it best, allows things to go back to the way they once were. Honestly, Aizen's explanation of Orihime's power sum her up. 

Powers/Abilities (Serah Farron)

Considering the majority of this section is emphasized on her XIII-2 abilities, Serah shows that she is more than just a pretty face. Despite having no prior experience in combat, she has a tremendous amount of agility and speed, which is why the majority of her fighting style is similar to or modified from Lightning’s agile fighting style in XIII (it runs in the family, boy those Farron parents might have had some crazy @$$ genes). Her strong paradigm roles are Commando, Ravager, and Sentinel and her stats put heavy emphasis on magic abilities. She can summon and command monsters as she defeats them along the way. Her weapon is a bowsword that transform into a sword for close combat personnel or into a bow for long range opponents. Her ATB skill is Ultima Arrow, a Ravager-type skill, in which she fires multiple arrows simultaneously at her opponents, increasing their stagger gauge for even more damage. For a little miscellaneous icing on the cake, just like Lightning, she can throw a hissy fit when things don’t go her way or when some people don’t take her seriously, but she is also decisive when it comes to choosing her own path (like I said, it runs in the family).

Verict (By MechG2994)

And the winner is..

After quickly evaluating the two, there is no doubt that both characters had tragic upbringings, protected under the care of their siblings, and they are devoted to their men in shining armor, but in terms of story, powers/abilities, Orihime takes the cake in this matchup. Like I said, Serah didn’t play too much of a role in the XIII story arc until part 2 and XIII-2 was pretty much a fan service to develop her character more so that she doesn’t up being a waste of space in terms of FF characters. For Orihime, I feel that she has done more to the Bleach story arc and I find her backstory to be more tragic. However, equivalently both backstories are tragic because losing parents or being raised by abusive parents are both tragic, like 1A and 1B, but by assumption, I could tell the Farron sisters have been raised very well before their parents’ death, but for the Inoue siblings, not really considering they were raised by an abusive father and a prostitute and Serah didn’t lose Lightning at all whereas Orihime lost Sora in a tragic hit-and-run leading him to become a Hollow because Orihime stopped praying to him for guidance and Orihime has been bullied in school whereas Serah, not so much because she was the smart girl and fell in love with a hottie in Snow (tell me I did not just say hottie). In terms of abilities, Orihime may not be as agile as Serah, but since she has god-like powers, checkmate. Another thing is that, Orihime has concern for her lover, Ichigo and a thing what makes a video game/anime couple organic is the concern for each other and it is apparent that Orihime has concern for Ichigo and Ichigo with Orihime. For Snow X Serah, I won’t deny that they are one of the premiere couples of the FF franchise, but I really didn’t find their love story to be that organic. Snow was willing to protect Serah, do everything for her, but he left Serah hanging just to find Lightning for her. The thing that boggles my mind is that Serah didn’t even protest to Snow’s decision to find Lightning by himself and she could’ve just tagged along saying like “let’s find my sister together, sure I have my aspirations to educate kids, but family is more important to me than my occupation”, but NO, didn’t happen, just went along in her life until Noel arrived to finally get her involved. Repeating in short, in terms or story, abilities, and as a lover: Orihime Inoue is the victor in my opinion.

So who do you think would win a fight? Orihime Inoue from Bleach or Serah Farron from FF XIII/XIII-2? Comment below and let us know. As always, look forward to Bleach Fantasy posts every Monday & Friday all throughout May posted between 8am-11:59pm. Stay classy Bleach fans! FF leads 5-3 against Bleach (As of May 5th, 2014). 

Bleach Fantasy Round 7: Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez vs. Seymour Guado (The Trouble Upbringings)

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Look at these two badasses - doesn't their hair say it all? One is the former  6th Espada under Aizen's army & the other is a major antagonist in FF X. Cruel and willing to do away with just about anyone, both Grimmjow & Seymour, with their spiky turquoise/purple hair, are fearsome in their abilities and pose as a true threat to our heroes. Today's BF post is the two badass antagonists with a troublesome past - Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez vs. Seymour Guado. The following will be compared: Backstory/Role in Story, Powers/Abilities, & Verdict (By Stillmattic). FF currently leads 4-2 against Bleach. As said before, my portions will be noted in Blue and MechG2994's in Purple. The titles are noted in Yellow.

Backstory/Role in Story (Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez)

Before Grimmjow had any affiliation towards Aizen, he was an Adjuchas-class Menos. Roaming about the land of Hueco Mundo, he attacked and ate just about anything that stood in his path in pursuit of power and wanting to become a Vasto Lorde-class Menos. It wasn't long before he became affiliated with what would become his Fraccion - Shawlong Koufang, Edrad Liones, Yylfordt Granz, Nakeem Grindina, and Di Roy Rinker. These then Adjuchas-class Menos were in awe of Grimmjow's abilities and just like Grimmjow, wanted to become Vasto Lorde-class Menos in pursuit of power. However, it would be awhile for all of them combined to go through such lengths for power and it seemed as if the the 5 Adjuchas-class Menos were about to give up. That is, however, until they asked Grimmjow to devour them so that he could become a Vasto Lorde. Grimmjow called them cowards, but reluctantly ate a portion of the 5 who then would become his Fraccion later on.

Grimmjow is first introduced in his Vasto Lorde form when the 4th and 0 Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer & Yammy Llargo, came back to inform Aizen of the events that took place in Karakura town against Ichigo, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and especially Orihime. Grimmjow and his Fraccion commented that leaving Ichigo & the group alive is a sign of weakness and if it were him, Grimmjow would've mopped the floor with them. However, Ulquiorra states that it was sort of a test to see if Ichigo truly was a threat to Aizen and it seemed like Ichigo wasn't "yet" at the peak of his performance. Grimmjow, angered by this, set out towards Karakura town in hopes to do collateral damage on the enemy side - only to lose his Fraccion and be summoned by Kaname to Aizen for his disobedience and recklessness in losing his Fraccion and attacking Ichigo without permission. Grimmjow was stripped of his title and temporarily replaced by Luppi Antenor. Luppi, Yammy, Wonderweiss, & Grimmjow set out again on order to Karakura Town. Ichigo was beaten badly by Grimmjow, but it wouldn't be long before Grimmjow fights him once more only to lose again because Ichigo's Mask broke and thus he lost the momentum. However, Grimmjow & co were bait for Aizen's true purpose - Orihime. Grimmjow's arm is healed by Orihime (upon Ulquiorra retrieving her) and he kills Luppi and earns back his title as 6th Espada. So far Grimmjow has beaten Ichigo twice and came to a draw with Shinji, but he fights Ichigo once more and this time, it seems as if Ichigo will prevail this time around. But before Grimmjow could fight Ichigo a 3rd time, Ulquiorra interrupted because of Grimmjow's rescuing of Rukia and hurting Loly & Menoly for his amusement. Grimmjow temporarily traps Ulquiorra and in the meantime, he has his final battle with Ichigo ~ finally releasing his Resurrecion. However, Grimmjow was beaten badly and just as Ichigo was telling Grimmjow to not fight anymore, Nnoitra attacks Grimmjow out of nowhere and that is (as of now) the last we see of Grimmjow. BUT - some speculate that Grimmjow was the one who saved Kisuke in the current Arc and he'll definitely appear in this arc - this time, as an ally.

Backstory/Role in Story (Seymour Guado)

Born to the Maester of Yevon, Jyscal Guado and an unknown human mother, Seymour’s birth was originally a means to establish an even stronger relationship between the Guado and the humans. However his existence made the tension between them even more intense and he became a source of pure hatred for both. As a result of this, Jyscal asked his retainer’s wife to take Seymour and his human wife out of Guadosalam and bring them to the Baaj Island to live in exile. In childhood, Seymour went to Zanarkand with his mother so that her mother could become part of the fayth and Seymour could use her Aeon incarnate, Anima as means to defeat Sin and bring the Calm so he can win the hearts of Spira. However, Seymour was overcome with grief after losing her mother once she became one with the fayth, refusing to accept company of people and spent the rest of his life in isolation. By the time Seymour grew up, his exile was revoked and he was brought back to Guadosalam and killed his father to become leader of the Guado and become the next Maester of Yevon and he vowed to become Sin to release Spira from the suffering of existence.

Seymour first encountered Yuna and her guardians by secretly enacting a fiend attack in Luca, interrupting the blitzball tournament and used it as means to win respect by summoning Anima to vanquish them. During the conclusion of Operation Mi’ihen, Seymour protects Yuna from the Sinspawn Gui before killing it with the aid of her help and Auron’s help. Seymour then gives Yuna a little lecture that to be a summoner is to be a beacon of strength to the people of Spira. Seymour grew intrigued by Yuna’s potential and offers her to let him be her beacon. While Yuna and her guardians stayed in Guadosalam, Seymour shows a sphere of Zanarkand before its ruins and Lady Yunalesca. After, Seymour asks Yuna if he could marry him as justification that Spira needs something to celebrate in the midst of the cycle of Sin. Departing to the Macalania Temple, he notices Auron’s unsent state and said that the Guado like scent of the Farplane. As Yuna entered the Farplane to perform the sending of Jyscal, she finds out that Jyscal’s murderer was Seymour himself and Yuna accepted Seymour’s marriage proposal. As soon as Seymour and Yuna ended their Cloister of Trials in the Macalania Temple, Yuna’s guardians confronted him and killed him and defeated his Aeon, Anima. Although Seymour dies, his strong ties to Spira and Yuna’s refusal to perform the sending made Seymour an unsent. During the wedding in Bevelle, when Yuna’s guardians crashed the ceremony, Seymour labeled them as traitors to Yevon and put them on trial to the rest of the Maesters. Yuna successfully convinces the Maesters that Seymour was the one who murdered his father. Seymour then starts revealing his true intentions, killing Maester Kinoc and explaining that is goal was to use Yuna and become the next Sin to kill everyone to save Spira. Seymour transforms into Seymour Natus after absorbing nearby pyreflies of dead souls and eventually was defeated. As Yuna and her guardians ventured on in the pilgrimage, Seymour encounters again in Mt. Gagazet and overhearing about Tidus’ father, Jecht being the current incarnation, Seymour extends his offer to Tidus by freeing his father and transforms into Seymour Flux, but he’s eventually defeated and vanishes again. During the final battle against Sin, Seymour reappears again inside the beast in hopes to control it from the inside and eventually he is defeated once and for all in his Seymour Omnis form and Yuna finally sends his soul off to the Farplane.

Powers/Abilities (Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez)

When first seeing Grimmjow's fight with Ichigo, he is seen being an expert hand-to-hand combat and Sonido as he blocked all of Ichigo's attacks and did a number on his face. As an Espada, he possesses incredible Spiritual energy, enhanced strength, hierro (Steel Skin), and is perceptive in his fight against as Ichigo as he was able to easily discern Ichigo's movements just from observation. With any Espada, he is capable of two things - Cero & Resurrecion. However, Grimmjow showcases an even upgraded version of Cero called Gran Ray Cero - a attack that is forbidden in Hueco Mundo because of the damage it could do to Las Noches. Grimmjow's true power lies in his Resurrecion - Pantera. Taking on the form of a Pantera-like being, Grimmjow's agility, hierro, and strength are greatly amplified. Grimmjow's attacks include firing bomb-like projectiles and his trademark Desgarron (Panther King's Claw) - his claws composed of Reishi representing a blade that can hurled at a maximum of 10 at a time. This attack acts as a ranged claw attack pretty much. 

Powers/Abilities (Seymour Guado)

Seymour is a unique FF character because he is a temporary playable party member as well as serving as one of the main antagonists in the game. As a temporary playable  character , he knows a handful of low level white magic and black magic spells and his weapon, the Seymour Staff, has the piercing ability to deal heavy damage against defensive-minded foes. His Overdrive attack, Requiem, deals some heavy non-elemental damage. As one of the main antagonist, he is fought in four forms: his mortal form, as Seymour Natus, Seymour Flux, and Seymour Omnis. As he goes from one form to another, his white/black magic spells increase in every form, his attributes/abilities add on from the previous form to the next such as having the ability to eject Yuna’s Aeons from the battlefield when summoned, and become more immune to certain physical and magic attacks. In his mortal form, his Aeon, Anima fights alongside him and Anima’s most effective attack is Pain, causing instant death to a party member regardless if HP is at full strength or near depletion.

Verdict (By Stillmattic)

And the winner is...

After quickly evaluating this, I knew that Seymour would take the cake on this one. He has more of a role in FF X than Grimmjow does in Bleach + Seymour has 4 forms. 4 FORMS! That means he progressively gets stronger offensively and defensively whereas Grimmjow only has 2 forms. 2 FORMS! That is not enough. And to top it off, SEYMOUR IS UNDEAD! Is Grimmjow undead? I don't think so. Grimmjow's story is not as sad as Seymour's upbringing because Grimmjow actually is sort of content with who he was whereas Seymour wasn't content at first and slowly began to realize his views through witnessing his Mother's "death" and having killed his own father to become a Maester. To me, Grimmjow is Aizen's B!t#h much like Barragan - he is powerful in his own right, but not on par with someone whose undead, has 4 forms, and is a major antagonist in FF X. Grimmjow, I love ya, but in a battle of upbringings, powers, and goals - Seymour wins. This victory clearly goes to Mr. Seymour. 

So who do you think would win a fight? Grimmjow from Bleach or Seymour from FF X? Comment below and let us know. As always, look forward to Bleach Fantasy posts every Monday & Friday all throughout May posted between 8am-11:59pm. Stay classy Bleach fans! FF leads 5-2 against Bleach. 

Throwback #38 - 2 against 1

 In the Rescue Arc of Bleach, Kenpachi Zaraki reluctantly sided with Team Ichigo not only for feeling exhilerated when fighting him, but because he respected Ichigo as a warrior and as a friend. As such, any friend of Ichigo's is a friend of Kenpachi's. Kenpachi fought against then-Captain Kaname Tosen & Sajin Komamura because Kenpachi, in his mind, believed that he can take on just about anyone....even if it's against 2 Captain-level Shinigami w/Bankai. These 2 Captains had no respect or admiration towards Kenpachi - they saw him merely as a monster with no purpose but the thrill of fighting. Kenpachi mopped the floor with Kaname, easily finding a way to thwart Tosen & his Bankai whereas Kenpachi's fight with Komamura was interrupted. Overall, this fight came to showcase that in the scenario where Ichigo's involved - Kenpachi would always ally with him, even if it means going against his own. However, over the course of Bleach - the Captains would follow suit as they too sided with Ichigo. Ichigo's very existence has a pivotal effect on just about everyone - Human, Shinigami, Quincy, Arrancar, etc.

I hope you enjoyed this week's Throwback. Look forward to BF post later on today. As always, you all stay classy now.

RBT #20 - Damsel in Distress (A Ichihime moment)

 What's up everyone, feels like it's been awhile since I posted (2 days to be exact). As you are well-aware, yesterday for Japan was a Holiday so there wasn't a new Bleach chapter. But, I digress. Today's RBT is what I'd call - the Damsel in Distress. In a Bleach filler episode, Orihime is snatched by up by a watermelon looking Hollow and her first response is to yell out the name of her savior and her love interest- KUROSAKI-KUN! First things that come to mind are - Orihime is hella sexy in this clip and this comes to show the Ichihime projection (Orihime genuinely believes Ichigo is the only one who can save her). Though short, it's another welcoming installment to the Ichihime Projection. Ichigo is Orihime's prince after all.

Hope you enjoyed this week's RBT and look forward to tomorrow's back-to-back posts: BF Post + Throwback. Until then, you all stay classy now!