Orihime Inoue is a student from
Karakura High. She goes to the same
class as Ichigo. She likes to
daydream a lot which makes her a
little hyper. Her crush is Ichigo and
her best friend is Tatsuki. Orihime
also had an older brother named
Sora. (In the VIZ manga, Orihime's
brother was named Kakei.)
When Orihime was still a baby her
parents would give her beatings to
make her stop crying. Kakei is 15
years older than her. When he turned
18 he took Orihime with him and
moved to a different place. He then
died in a car accident when Orihime
was 12 years old. She got angry at
him because he gave her some
hairclips she didn't like. The day
Kakei died is the 日 she swore to
always wear the hairclips.
Because of the overflowing spirit
energy coming from Ichigo
(particularly during his contest with
Uryu), Orihime eventually awakens to
her own spiritual power: the Shun
Shun Rikka ("Six Princess Shielding
Flowers"). The hair clips she wears
transform into six spiritual
guardians that assist Orihime by
creating shields that literally reject
enemy forces and energies. They are
activated when she summons their
names, chants a kotodama (a spirit
chant), and calls out, "I reject!", which
activates the chant. Three of them
(Hinagiku, Baigon, and Lily) create
Santen Kesshu ("Sacred Tri-Linked
Shield")--a defensive shield that
protects from outside attacks. Two
of them (Shun'o and Ayame) can
form Soten Kishun ("Sacred Dual
Return Shield")--a shielded zone that
reverses unwanted effects inside it
(in essence, it can be used to heal
someone from attacks--this
particular power will draw some
trouble for her later). The last one,
Tsubaki, creates Koten Sanshun
("Sacred Solitary Cutting Shield")--in
which he enters an enemy then
rejects from both sides at once,
slicing the enemy in two. With her
new powers, Orihime will accompany
Ichigo into the Soul Society to save
Rukia.
Orihime performs very well in high
school, and was near to the 上, ページのトップへ of
the 年 in exams. She is also a
member of handy-crafty club with
Ishida. She also made a promise to
Tatsuki to never cut her hair again.
All six names in the Shunshun Rikka
are all flowers. This is what their
names mean (except for Lily, which is
already in English):
Hinagiku (火無菊) - デイジー (it literally
means "fireless crysanthemum")
Baigon (梅巌) - Ume (it literally means
"solemn ume")
Shun'ō (舜桜) - Althea
Ayame (あやめ) - Iris
Tsubaki (椿鬼) - Camellia