Rukia Kuchiki - Reception

Reception

Rukia has ranked highly in the Weekly Shōnen Jump popularity polls for the series, placing in the top five most popular characters in all four polls. She was ranked as the second most popular character after Ichigo in the first two polls, and fell to third place in the third poll, being replaced by Tōshirō Hitsugaya. In early 2008, she was voted the second most popular character in Bleach, receiving 383 votes less than the front runner, Tōshirō Hitsugaya. Her zanpakutō, Sode no Shirayuki, ranked 2nd in the zanpakutō popularity poll of the series. The Japanese music distributor Recochoku has made two annual survey of which anime characters that people would like to marry. Rukia ranked 4th in the category "The Character I Want to Be My Bride" from the 2009 survey. In a 2007 character poll from the Japanese magazine Newtype magazine character polls, Rukia has been featured as one of the most popular female characters from any anime. She has also appeared twice in the Anime Grand Prix polls, ranking as one of the most popular female anime characters.

Merchandise based on Rukia's appearance has been released, including a key chain, a plush doll, and a figurine. Fumiko Orikasa, Rukia's Japanese voice actor, liked how Rukia was developed while fighting against the arrancar, noting her to be a hero during her introductions. However, she was saddened by how after Rukia defeats the first arrancar,(Di Roy Rinker) she is instantly stabbed by the arrancar Grimmjow. Michelle Ruff, Rukia's English voice actress, found Rukia to be a "survivor", due to how lonely she initially was and how she has been developed through the anime series as she had to start trusting people. She also liked how cool Rukia is when she is fighting but noted it challenging how to voice Rukia due to her various attitudes. Ruff was the winner in the category "Best Voice Actress (English)" from the 2009 SPJA Industry Awards for her work as Rukia. Rukia also won in the category "Best Female Character" based on her appearances on Bleach: Memories of Nobody.

Several publications for manga, anime, video games, and other related media have provided praise and criticism on Rukia's character. Although Chris Beveridge from Mania Entertainment noted Rukia's introduction in Bleach was typical in several others series, he praised how she interacted with her schoolmates and Ichigo. Anime News Network's (ANN) Melissa Harper praised the differences between Rukia and stereotypical shōnen heroines, asserting that Rukia's loss of her powers and subsequent dependence on Ichigo were "a great source of both drama and comedy in the show." However, the removal of the humor from Rukia's scenes as a schoolgirl due to the English translation was lamented, although Ruff was extolled for doing an "excellent job." Carlos Alexandre from popcultureshock.com regarded her as "less of a foil to Ichigo and more like the other side of the same coin". Her actions and words were also commented by Alexendre to make Rukia deserve the respect she commands. IGN called the scene where Rukia is forced to leave Ichigo Kurosaki and return to Soul Society as "touchingly beautiful" and celebrated Rukia's character development during her time in the human world. Her subsequent appearances in Soul Society were criticized by ANN's Theron Martin due to her lack of activity making them "irritating given how strong a character she was in the series' early going".