Sora Inoue (井上昊, Inoue Sora) was Orihime Inoue's older brother who, after being killed in a car accident, became the Hollow Acidwire (アシッドワイヤー, Ashiddowaiyā).

Appearance

In his life as a Human, Sora was a tall, slim man with chin-length brown hair. He wore a blue suit.^[3]

Acidwire is a large nāga-like Hollow with shoulder-length black hair and a skull-like mask with narrow yellow eyes; beneath this lies his original Human face.^[4] The majority of his muscular body is dark brown in color, but his arms are a deep red, and a black pattern resembling sawblades on a thick strip starts on the small of his back and runs down the length of his tail, the tip of which is completely black.^[5] His Hollow hole is in the center of his chest, near his collarbones.^[6]

Personality

As a Human, Sora cared deeply for Orihime Inoue from the day she was born, considering her a daughter more than a sister, and did his best to shield her from their abusive parents, eventually fleeing with Orihime when he turned 18 to care for her on his own.^[1] After dying, Sora listened to Orihime's daily prayers to him and had his suffering eased by it, but grew jealous when Orihime befriended Tatsuki Arisawa and Ichigo Kurosaki because she stopped praying for him and instead talked about her friends all the time. Though he knew that Orihime was trying to prevent him from worrying by telling him about her life, Sora did not want her to stop because her heart was entirely his when she prayed to him,^[7] and the loneliness and anger sparked by this eventually led to his Hollowfication.^[2]

As the Hollow Acidwire, Sora retains his love and affection for Orihime, but it has been twisted by the corrupting nature of Hollowfication. He seeks to take Orihime with him so they can live together once more and initially explains his motivation to her instead of taking her by force,^[8] but he is also willing to harm both Tatsuki and Ichigo to get her back because he believes they are trying to tear him and his sister apart,^[9] and whenever Orihime resists his attempts at reunion, he grows violently angry with her,^[10][11] eventually attempting to devour her soul so no one else can have her.^[12] However, after Orihime embraces him during his attempted lethal attack and reveals that she was telling him about her happiness in life so he would not be sad, and after Ichigo reveals she has been wearing the hairpins Sora gave to her every day since he died, Acidwire experiences a moment of clarity about his actions and voluntarily purifies himself with Ichigo's Zanpakutō, bidding farewell to Orihime as his Human self.^[13]

History

When Sora was fifteen, his sister Orihime was born. The siblings were raised by a drunken father and a prostitute mother who always argued and beat their children; Sora did his best to shield Orihime from their wrath. Fearing that their parents would kill Orihime, when he turned 18, Sora ran away with Orihime and raised her from then on.^[1][14] When Sora was twenty-seven, he and Orihime had an argument over the hairpins he had bought for her. The next morning, Sora left for work, but did not speak to Orihime.^[15] That day, he was injured in a car accident and he died in the Kurosaki Clinic.^[16]

For the following three years, Sora listened to Orihime's prayers and stories about her friends, which eventually left him feeling lonely and resentful of her friends for taking her attention away from him.^[2]

Plot

Agent of the Shinigami arc

Acidwire attacks Ichigo Kurosaki in his bedroom, but flees when part of his mask is cut off by Ichigo.^[17] Shortly afterward, he goes to Orihime's apartment, where he separates her soul from her body. As he attacks and pins down Tatsuki Arisawa, Orihime pushes his arm off of her. As Orihime pleads with Tatsuki to get up, Acidwire tells her that Tatsuki cannot hear or see them, prompting Orihime to ask how he knows her name. Angered by Orihime having apparently forgotten his voice, Acidwire tries to attack her, but Ichigo arrives and blocks his attack, prompting Acidwire to ask if Ichigo believes he can stop him.^[18]

When Ichigo wonders why he can see two Orihimes, Acidwire explains that he is looking at her soul and proclaims that she is dead before attacking Ichigo, who is sent flying outside the apartment and into the street below. Turning his attention to Orihime, Acidwire shows her the part of his face left exposed by his damaged Hollow mask, which leads her to recognize him, and claims that Tatsuki and Ichigo were tearing her away from him. Acidwire explains how Orihime praying for him initially helped him rest in peace and how her befriending Tatsuki and Ichigo, whom she started talking to him about instead, made him grow lonely and bloodthirsty. After pinning Ichigo against the wall when he re-enters the apartment, Acidwire asks Orihime to come with him once more, Orihime asks why he hurt her friends instead of telling her and declares that her brother would never do this. Enraged, Acidwire begins crushing Orihime in his grasp while blaming her for his condition and threatening to kill her, only for Ichigo to cut off his arms and most of his tail before lecturing him on what it means to be a big brother, leading Acidwire to demand to know why Ichigo stands in his way.^[19]

Insisting that Orihime is his, Acidwire attacks Ichigo and declares that she should die for him if she will not live for him before moving to devour Orihime. However, Acidwire is shocked to find Orihime embracing him as he bites her, and stands in disbelief as Orihime tearfully explains how she only started telling him about her friends so she could share her happiness with him. As Orihime collapses, Rukia Kuchiki reveals she can still be healed and returned to her body while Acidwire admits that he always knew Orihime was only trying to make him happy. When Ichigo reveals that Orihime has been wearing the hairpins Sora gave her since the day he died, Acidwire experiences a moment of sanity and uses Ichigo's Zanpakutō to cut off the rest of his Hollow mask, to his shock. Sora explains that he wants to pass on now so he does not attack Orihime again, and Rukia supports his decision, as Hollows can never revert to Humans and the Zanpakutō cleanses them of sin so they can go to Soul Society. As Sora stands over her and begins to disintegrate, Orihime recalls the fight they had on the day of his death and tearfully tells him to have a nice day, leading Sora to smile as he disintegrates into the sky.^[20]

Powers & Abilities

Enhanced Strength: Fitting of his considerable size, Acidwire possesses much strength in his tail, allowing him to smash Ichigo Kurosaki through a wall and into the concrete road below with just two strikes.^[21]

Enhanced Durability: The scales on Acidwire's tail are fairly tough, initially preventing Ichigo from cutting through them when Acidwire attacked him;^[22] however, Ichigo eventually managed to cut through them and much of his tail after becoming sufficiently enraged.^[23]

Flight: Acidwire can fly through the air, resembling a Chinese dragon while doing so.^[24]

Tail Shaker (テイルシェイカー, Teirusheikā)^[25]: Acidwire can use his long tail as a whip to attack opponents.^[21]

Vitriol Shot (ヴィトリアルショット, Vitoriarushotto)^[25]: Acidwire can spit acid a considerable distance. This acid is potent enough to harm Ichigo's hand, forcing him to drop his Zanpakutō.^[26]

Censorship

• When Ichigo Kurosaki was battling Acidwire and was hit by the latter's tail, he began to bleed from his forehead before having his hand burned by the Hollow and slammed to the ground.^[27] In the anime, however, Ichigo did not start bleeding from the forehead until he was slammed into the ground by Acidwire, and his hand was not left with burn marks by the acid.^[24]
• In the manga, Ichigo sliced off both of Acidwire's hands and parts of his tail,^[28] but in the anime, Ichigo only cut off one of Acidwire's hands.^[24]
  • In the anime, Acidwire, after having his hands and parts of his tail cut off by Ichigo, did not cry tears of blood^[24] as he did in the manga.^[29]
• Orihime and Sora's past was toned down in the anime. In the manga, their father was an alcoholic and their mother was a prostitute who would beat their children whenever they cried, and Sora ran away with Orihime to protect her from them.^[30] In the anime, their parents simply abandoned them when Sora was 18.^[24]
• In the anime, after Acidwire bit her, Orihime was not bleeding profusely^[24] as she was in the manga.^[31]
• When Sora purified himself with Ichigo's Zanpakutō, his face was not bleeding^[24] as it was in the manga.^[32]

Trivia

• In the anime, Sora is dragged to Hueco Mundo by two Hollows, where he is turned into a Hollow at the behest of Grand Fisher.^[33] This is not shown or even suggested in the manga.
• In the original official English-language manga translation, Sora was given the name Kakei, as his real name had not been mentioned at that point, but he is still called Sora in the character popularity polls, as well as in the collector's edition and all subsequent appearances.
• In the manga, when Ichigo attacks Sora for the first time and lands a shallow blow on his face, he cuts off part of his mask,^[34] exposing a Human left eye underneath.^[35] However, in the anime his mask remains undamaged, and the two clash further until a later attack from Ichigo breaks it, at which point Sora displays the ability to restore his mask by returning to Hueco Mundo.^[33]
• Despite Hollows usually transforming into Arrancar when their masks are removed, Sora was one of the only Hollows that didn't become one when Ichigo removed his mask.

References

Navigation

Hollow
Hollow Abilities	Cero • Kūmon • Negación • High-Speed Regeneration
Notable Hollows	Fishbone D • Hexapodus • Acidwire • Shrieker • Grand Fisher • The Demi-Hollow • Bulbous G • Numb Chandelier • Metastacia • The Menos Grande • Cuerno • Bawabawa • Runuganga • Angila • Ayon • Hooleer • Guardians of the Forest of Menos • Zonzain • Battikaroa • Michel • Tapeworm Hollow • Yōsuke • White • Ikomikidomoe
Notable Places	Hueco Mundo • Forest of Menos • Las Noches