And in Orihime's case, she actually developed and wasn't just defined by her feelings for Ichigo, but her kind and sweet nature, even if she also was a good bit flighty. It never made sense to me in the slightest why Hinata became so damn popular outside of people who just felt sorry for her in spite of the fact if you remove her from the story, it basically could be the same more or less, outside of the awful ending ruining everything.
In Bleach's case, the only reason people hate the ending feels like it's because of their pairing not being canon, even if you need to pay attention to see that there's hints to Ichigo and Orihime getting together like there is with Rukia and Renji. Plus here's the other thing; if Ichigo did end up with Rukia, we're talking about the fact he'd have to possibly give up being human by going to Soul Society to be with her, and that isn't who Ichigo is. He's always valued his humanity, and the fact too even as close as he and Rukia were, I don't see for them what I saw with Ichigo and Orihime at times.
Inoue always try her hardest to be at Ichigo side, fighting together with him. She know her limit , she know that she is weak , but she try her hardest to train and she NEVER EVER jump into battle because she knows that she only become a burden for Ichigo.
Hinata was like :
And she only jump in when Naruto is about to die. She like seeing Naruto suffer from behind a tree because , for her Naruto is just like an actor in a hero movie. She likes to see him die try and triumph.