Bleach: Fade to Black, I Call Your Name Movie Review

Now, I know that this probably isn't the best site to post this review on, as I doubt that many Gather members are anime fans, and for the most part, neither am I. But every so often, one of my anime fanatic friends will tell me about a certain series, or mini series, and tell me that I have to check it out. So of course, I do.

Three fourths of the time, my reaction, is "eh." I don't usually like it, and my friend ends up looking at me with their mouth open, totally in shock that I didn't like their new favorite anime show.

But there are those few times when I end up really enjoying the show, much more than I ever thought I could. Bleach is definitely one of those experiences. There were three or four of my friends who were huge fans of the series, and kept pestering me to check it out.

I thank them for it.

I really enjoy the plot and characters in this series. It is without a doubt one of the best animes I've ever seen. It's not exactly an original story, but the way it's handled, and the artistic style of it certainly is.

Of course, I had to see the films made off of the show, which the creators have been releasing a new one every December since 2006. The first film is "Bleach: Memories of Nobody", and it is easily one of my favorite animated films...period. The voice acting was great (Though I don't speak Japanese, and had to listen to the tone of voice to make up my mind about it), the art was amazing, and it had one of the best stories in an anime that I'd ever seen.

HOWEVER, the sequel, "Bleach: The Diamond Dust Rebellion" was a major letdown. The concept was great, even better than the first, but it had very poor execution. They bring up a whole lot of questions that never get answered, and they make it seem like there's a big mystery going on, when really, there isn't. I think the worst part about it, is that the final battle is almost thirty minutes of non stop fighting, and it starts to get tedious after a while.

After seeing the preview for the third, and newest film in the franchise, "Bleach: Fade to Black, I Call Your Name", I was frigging hyped. It has the best concept of all three films, and the new characters had amazing designs to them. I was really looking forward to it, and since I have to wait a full year after these films come out in Japan before I can see them here, would it be worth the wait? Would it be better than both of the first two films?

Well, it's somewhere in between. It's better than the second for sure, but I still prefer the first. And by the same token, it has a lot of the same flaws as the second film. It's brings up a few questions that don't get answered, the ending is rather abrupt, and the new characters aren't exactly what I had hoped they would be.

The story is that one of the main characters of the series, Rukia has had her memories wiped from existence, and while she's still alive, she, and everyone she knows, have forgotten everything she's done.

Now, the plot of the entire series, is that Rukia is a soul reaper, or more commonly reffered to as Shinigamis. She travels the world, looking for lost spirits, and guiding them to Paradise. Her and all of the other shinigamis have to fight hollows, which are basically monsters created from evil souls.

Our main character, Ichigo, is a teenager who can see these spirits, but until one attacks him and his family, had never seen a hollow. When it attacks, Rukia shows up, and gets injured, to the point where she can't fight it off. She then decides to transfer a part of her powers to him, so that he can protect his family. From that point on, Ichigo must take on the duties of a shinigami, and Rukia and him have to work together, despite having nothing in common.

So, since Rukia gave Ichigo his powers, and no one remembers her, or anything she's done, no one remembers Ichigo either. He realizes this, and as the only one who can remember Rukia, he has to find those who have caused this whole mess, and fix everything; one problem: his peers think he's an intruder, and are trying to kill him.

It's an interesting story no doubt, but it just wasn't what I wanted it to be. It has a ton of flaws, and while it wasn't bad art, it looks more like an episode of the show than the first film.

I do have to credit it as having some of the best action scenes in any film I've ever seen, but they're no where near as long or tedious as the final scene of the last film. I do like this film, but I suppose that my expectations have just been set too high once again, and I was let down.

Check it out; it's a good film. Just don't be expecting a great one.