User blog comment:Omega natsu2/Chapter 375: The Supernatural, Predictions./@comment-4829046-20140313110525/@comment-7418318-20140314111429

I don't dispute the facts you made, only the conclusions you drew from them... well... dispute isn't the right word, more like pointing out that other conclusions are also possible. Just because the way you interprete those facts makes sense, doesn't mean it's the only possible way to see it.

And there is something more to consider: From his interview we know that Kubo isn't planing ahead very much, but Orihime already had her crush on Ichigo long before it was used for the plot, so I seriously doubt that Kubo wrote her falling in love with Ichigo to set those events up, several arcs in advance.

Yes she thought about going to Tatsuki and decided to go to Ichigo because of her love, but if she was equally good friends with both, without loving any of the two, the scene could still be the same, without even seeming forced. While Tatsuki was like a sister to her, Ichigo did save Orihime's life several times already at that point and he saved her brother's soul from possibly being lost forever, rather than going to "heaven". That's got to count for quite a bit too, even without love.

Orihime was always the most emotional of Ichigo's companions, so trusting her emotions over her conscious memories would have made just as much sense as her almost breaking free due to the emotion being love.

As I see it, not having Orihime love Ichigo would require only minimal changes to the story and to still keep it the same.