Yes. And I wish that he kills him too, for various reasons (you already know them, don't you?).

~Syn

Having a Bleach Beat single is a pretty strong argument but yes, I believe he will get killed by Ichigo. He seems so different than his usual, and having his enemy killed would be very unusal of Ichigo. meh, anyway, even if it won't be Ichigo, GJ still seems a goner, Ulqi or maybe Tousen?? Well, we'll see ^^

I voted no simply because it seems too soon to kill him, considering all the attention he's been given as a character.

Nope! Don't think so. Grimmy's been too built up, yes, but there's also the point Ichigo is at in his personal arc. He's holding the mask and having fun fighting! 'Hime thinks he's all dangerous! But he still hasn't totally lost it yet, so nope, Grimmy'll live. (Disappointed, but alive. And incidentally become the opponent of Ichigo's that he's faced the most.)

(...hmm, which makes me think the yes side is supported by the idea that Ichigo FINALLY kills an opponent, and how he has to recover from that. Will Grimmjow be Ichigo's Greed? But I don't quite think he's there yet, since he keeps protecting 'Hime.)

Accidentally voted from RP journal, so I'm not gonna vote twice. But: Absolutely Ichigo will kill Grimmjow. With the caveat that it doesn't have to be in this battle or story arc.

Nope, Kubo won't kill such an important character, or at least not now.

That'll be a yes love. I'd say no if Bleach steered clear of character death, but the Grand Fisher is dead, Ichigo doesn't even know it. Luppi is also dead, after "promising" Hitsu a re-match. I think building Grimm-mew up is just supposed to make it more resounding when Ichi goes postal on his ass. (without a shuvel)
*shrugs* But I read the Emma essay, and was horrified by the dawning realization that I've turned into my mother & aunts T_T
Actually when I read Emma, I didn't ship at all, 'cause I was filled with haughty-teenage-pride and wouldn't dare participate with those "women who had nothing better to do". I'll have to re-read it now, yay ~ But I did ship Eliza & Darcy, and Darcy is my fav Austen character of all time.

(has now read the responding essay)

It occurs to me now that Austen may have well been a Secret Genius. I blame not seeing this sooner on the Bronte sisters. I knew Austen's books were clever insights into human relations, but I never bothered to extend that into *shipping*

In the Harry Potter verse, I've shipped Harry/Draco since Book 1, so Ron/Hermoine were obvious to me, as well as Harry/Ginny (which I ignored, and still do, because Draco is teh pretty), even Draco/Pansy has little effect on my love of my little emo-wreckage-pretty-boy ship. It sails on the solid seas of Jupiter, Book 7 will only inspire more fic.

As shipping related thinking goes to Bleach and Ichigo/Rukia, I'd say it started out as prediction, and is now mixed with preferential. To be honest, this is my first het ship. Its not that I don't notice the obvious hetero couples that plot intends, its that they often don't hold much interest for me. My first hint of romantic cues for Ichigo/Rukia was the Memories in The Rain arc, and its prolly no coincidence that its Inoue's moving inner monologue/poem that narrates it. Obviously Kubo has intended for it to be a question in his readers' minds. Because I have a preference for IchiRuki, nothing that happens in canon affects it, but i also have a prediction-interest. I *want* a canon ending, because it would mean that the cues I picked up on were right.

But my interest in Bleach is more than ship related, since for me that's settled, so I keep re-watching and re-reading and finding different things. I'd never say that the manga is without Ichigo/Inoue hints, she's been a steadfast little scrit admirer/stalker, only in my mind the Epic nature of Ichigo and Rukia; and they way they interact with each other and cause changes in the others world, lead me to believe that that pairing is more likely.

There's a bit of anti-ship there too. Originally I ignored the character of Inoue, then when I noticed her continued attachment to Ichigo I started to actively not like her. (she was ignoring Ishida, can anyone really blame me?) But because of the current arc, I went back and focused on her which led to fascination. So I'm caught between being fascinated by what her character's intended role in all this is and being annoyed at myself (for not figuring it out), Kubo (for not giving me hints) and Inoue (for existing and being a conundrum, and thus causing me to spend time in the shower with my brain talking itself into a ditch) While I no longer actively dislike Inoue, I have a squick against seeing her end up with Ichigo. I stay away from all things related to that ship re:avoid like the plague When I see pics of it I cringe.
My active dislike for the ship is based purely on my Ichiruki preference. I also loathe all things RenRuki as it happens. Strangely enough, Ichi/Ren doesn't bother me, since my friends r still slash fangirls (and send me pics), and r supportive of my IchiRuki ranting. My ships r usually monogamous, and I tend to get squicked by others, even if they're canon.

~Luv

Yeah (actually I think Tatsuki's take was more my style, lol), that's the thing with that chapter. It freaked me out 'cause it seemed so invasion-of-privacy, I think if she had kissed him it would have been more tragic-love-we-must-part.

And weirdly I see *that* scene as the strongest indication that there's no IchiOri future, 'cause (forget later moments) that scene was not romantic to me at all. I realize that sounds like and Ichiruki train about to embark, but I've tried re-reading the chapter, and I always end up feeling *so* much pity for her during the confession, and wanting her to stop 'cause it seemed painful.

Ships aside, I expected more from Kubo after he put Inoue thru such a wrenching scene. It would have been so much kinder to her character. People seemed really to turn against her then, had she kissed him my IchiRuki heart would have been all "bitch, get ur hands off Rukia's man!", as it was I just felt sorry for her, and expected Kubo to make her go all "Phoenix", but its gotten to the stage where I feel like he's using her, to distract from the real story.

But am I reading it wrong, what's ur take on the scene as it relates to Inoue?

No.

I believe that Grimmjow and Ulquiorra as the two most developed Arrancar characters will not die, at least until this arc is at an end. And while I think Ichigo's chocolate dilemma need to be resolved, the oldskool shounen fan in me still can't believe a shounen hero actively, deliberately and willingly kill an opponent that hasn't done anything utterly unforgivable on-screen. Guess that can be called chickening out of me.

Besides, Grimmjow is hot and Suwabe Junichi's singing is, too. :D

Interesting articles on shipping. I've been of the opinion that to "ship" is to, at the same time, like a pairing, want it to be canon and think that it's where the canon is heading (at least up to a point of time in the story, in case of concluded stories). Which is why I think of myself as a RenRuki shipper, but an Ikkaku/Nemu fan, because I don't care at all about the latter's status in canon. Perhaps I might have been subconsciously influenced by the 3 Stages article when first reading it a few years back among the Harmony debacle.