Cassie's Character Corner: Rukia Kuchiki

So, I've been considering writing a character corner post on Rukia for a while now, but having heard that a friend who loves her isn't feeling well, I figured this would be an ideal time to post this to cheer him up.

I never liked Rukia. From the beginning of the series I found her mildly irritating and just never really got her. However, recently things have shifted a bit, and while she's still not one of my most favourite characters ever, I do now actually quite like her. Things that I once found irksome are now what make me like her so much (I suspect my intense hatred for Orihime has largely contributed to me opening my eyes to Rukia actually being pretty damn cool).

She has many entertaining aspects to her personality, in particular her violent tendencies towards Ichigo and Kon. Her smackdowns for the lusty plushie certainly make for entertaining viewing, after all, Kon is bloody annoying so seeing him repeatedly smashed into the floor or kicked out a window is good. Likewise, although she demonstrates plenty of light violence (whacks round the head, or the occasional flying kick - OK maybe not THAT light), my favourite part of Rukia is her... um... "artistic" ability. From the very opening episodes her rather unique drawings become a running joke. While she has the right idea of trying to illustrate things in order to make it more simple for Ichigo to understand, combining that with her love of cute bunnies nad her inability with a pencil is a dangerous, dangerous thing.

Look Ichigo, doesn't this make it easier to understand? No? Pfft, what's wrong with you?!

Unlike many of the other higher ranking Shinigami, Rukia doesn't have one defining quirk, she hasn't got the arrogance and pride of her brother, Byakuya; she's not criminally insane like Mayuri; and she's not a drunk flirt like Kyoraku (or Matsumoto for that matter); but this actually works in her favour. Though I personally prefer the more outrageous and wacky characters, I honestly think that Rukia's more normal demeanour is for the best. The series needs a certain number of personalities with more muted eccentricities in order to allow the true freaks to revel in their quirks. In my mind, when it comes to Bleach Rukia is one of the characters who does this best. That she isn't ruled by her oddities means that she can perfectly flip flop between the victim role required for the Soul Society arc and the kick-ass shinigami icing her opponents into oblivion in later stories, all while making us smile with her chibi-sized antics along the way. And it's that versatility in her character that has made me finally appreciate her as a solid and damn good character.

She may be small, but Rukia will kick your arse into next Tuesday if you mess with her.