This review may contain spoilers
I was a bit worried about another live-action adaptation of an anime / manga, but I wasn't disappointed at all!Visually, it is very well done: CGI is great and characters seem "realistic" enough, if you can say that about manga characters (what I mean is they didn't overdo it with the orange hair ^^)
The visuals are similar to what you see in the anime, which I thought was really cool. It did feel a little weird during certain fight scenes, but considerering the crazy fights featured in the series, they did good job at bringing them to life.
Casting was flawless in my opinion: Fukushi Sota was a fantastic Ichigo (I fell a bit in love) and I really liked Sugisaki Hana as Rukia. They both showed the characters' emotions really, really well.
I loved the secondary characters too, especially Saotome Taichi as Renji, Mano Erina as Orihime, and Yoshizawa Ryo as Uryu. Miyavi as Byakuya was also a pleasant surprise!
Most of the movie follows the "main" storyline of the anime's first season (Ichigo and Rukia against Renji and Byakuya, sort of), although it had to be adapted for the movie format. For that reason, the ending is completely different and it gives a "proper" closure to the Ichigo and Rukia's storyline (no awful cliffhanger).
I am overall very satisfied with this movie, and I really hope they will make another one!
Except for the ending, it is a fair adaptation of the anime (I haven't read the manga, so I can't compare).
If you are a Bleach fan, I do recommend watching it! Just remember it's a one-movie format (so far), so they had to make a story adapted to that format. Keep your mind open and enjoy our beautiful Sota as ichigo ^^
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I've watched it when it came out on Netflix and I have to say that I'm kinda disappointed.
Let me point out first what I liked:
I really liked the choice of the actors because they actually really looked like the characters from the anime. I also was very impressed how they animated the Hollows which I was very curious about how they would do that. The action scenes with fights in it were really well made as well.
As for the story - that was the part I was really sad about. I know the story which they tried to cover and I'm so sad that characters which kind of need a development and depth really weren't considered as important. People actually got mixed up and didn't get the attention they deserved, e.g. Sado or Orihime.
Also the characteristics of some characters were really off, they didn't really fit or they tried to hard acting that it actually looked that way: trying too hard.
For a movie itself it wasn't bad but if you're a Bleach-lover like me you'll be disappointed, especially with the story line.
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This review may contain spoilers
SPOILER-free review:First, let me tell you the things I liked about this movie:
- cast (aesthetically, not regarding their acting)
- action scenes (not all)
- most of the movie until the part ~1:20:00
- Hana Sugisaki's acting
- Miyavi's talking voice
then the bad things I abhor:
- (sorry to his fans—he IS good looking tho) Fukushi Sota's acting
- everything after 1:20:00
Summary: Despite my low rating, THE MOVIE IS STILL WORTH WATCHING
If I were to make an alternate title it would be: SOMEBODY SAVE THE QUINCY
SPOILER-ful review (read at your own risk):
Around the middle part, I was quite impressed while watching and was already thinking of giving it a 6 or 7 or 8 and if I could end the movie already, I would end it at about 1:20:00 because that's when things went down the drain.
Everything was making sense, at least to me, until after Renji went and [SPOILER STARTS HERE] stabbed Uryuu (I WAS SHOCKED, SERIOUSLY. AND WHO THE F*** SAVED HIM) but that doesn't really bother me. I will tell you what as I go along. So after that of course they went on to fight and then since Renji couldn't slash with his sword anymore (WHY, it's not even broken Renji. so WHY), he decided to use his "Bankai" no problem with that ONLY it didn't look great at all and was like an awkward whipping slashing scene and Ichigo was dodging and all that. And. It's just awkward, for me. The more awkward part of the bankai thing happens after that (hint: Renji doesn't like slashing with his sword) but okay I'm not gonna spoil it for you, but to be real I really, really hated that part. Anyway.
After that some things happen and Byakuya enters the fight. [SPOILER-ful] For 3? times he goes and slashes Ichigo *lightning-fast* but Ichigo, being the complete idiot that he is, just goes on saying "I'll protect you" to Rukia like, are you trying to convince anyone here? Because .... Then he goes down 3? times. Miyavi does the sword-sheating thing 3x (I liked that actually because it looked pretty cool). Then Rukia (ILY Hana Sugisaki), being the sensible reaper that she is, convinces everyone to let Ichigo go in the most ... obvious (lie) way possible. But hey she succeeded because, other than Hana Sugisaki being a superb actress, somehow the movie has to end while I scratch my head, wondering. WHY—WHY—WHY does Byakuya even have to order/insist to kill Ichigo in the first place if in the end he's just gonna agree to let him go? What happened to the logic department? I know it's for the sake of the happy ending BUT for the love of what's holy why does he suddenly go backwards—I was already convinced that Miyavi is a RUTHLESS ONIISAMA but... yeah I'm really sad about this. As an audience, I really, really despise being treated like an idiot.
*end rant*
Sorry for the rant. But other than that. The movie was pretty great as I already said just before the ~1:20:00 part. And it's worth the watch. It's short, so do it. It's on Netflix. My saving graces were Hana Sugisaki's acting (I couldn't stress this point enough) and Miyavi's talking voice (mhmm).
P.S.:
WHO SAVED URYUU COULD ANYONE ENLIGHTEN ME?
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The cast is all Japanese, and they tried to keep them as close to the original characters as possible while still keeping them realistic and not full on cosplayers. I was pleasantly surprised by the actors of Ichigo, Chad and Renji.
The music is not the same as in the anime, but it still has this badass vibe to it that I always loved in the anime.
The storyline is fairly good considering the amount of story they're trying to put into 1 movie. They definately tried to keep it canon, but obviously some things have changed. It was nothing that bothered me too much though. The only thing I kind of missed where the returning gags from the anime like Orihime's cooking or Ichigo's reactions to Rukia's drawings.
Overall I enjoyed the movie. If you're a fan of Bleach and you can accept that some things will be different, I'd definately reccomend you watch this movie.
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This review may contain spoilers
[WARNING: the rating and review I give have the possibility to be subjective due to my preference for the genres, scenes or casts]As a fans of Bleach anime, I'm quite disappointed with the live action. The cast didn't meet my expectation, especially Byakuya. There's no noble aura in him, he looks like a punk ( ̄  ̄|||) In Bahasa I will say, "Kayak preman pasar atulah!" For the story, I try to understand that there's no way the live action took a 100% anime or manga, but why they choose Grand Fisher to become the most feared hollow? How about the menos grande? But, to entertaining me, the techniques are good, I love the quincy's bow (^_^)
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Now, coming to how I felt about this movie-
it is DAEBAK. Yea I loved every moment of it. How Ichigo complies to undergo reaper training from rukia and together how they faces the hollows- all of it is just awesome. I enjoyed it from the start till the end.
You got school romance, action, supernatural- yea many of the genres you like combined--that is this movie.
At first you think it could be a supernatural one. Then you think could be a rom com? Then you are like oh no no it is action packed!!! Yesss ss you got all that here.
I liked the part where each time his classmate tells the rest of the class "An accident happened to Ichigo and he died" and at that exact moment Ichigo turns up and says " I am still alive." I found this part funny and at the same time liked it very much. How Ichigo never gave up when fighting rukia's brother - that is another DAEBAK part.
It is a pity that I could not watch this in a movie hall. For me, this movie does not have a single boring moment. Watch it if you like the genres mentioned above.
If you don't watch it, you are missing something important.
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But now that that is out of the way what an incredible live action anime/manga adaptation the way they did the action and rendered the hollows i was impressed the fighting was really good it felt fluid and not tacked on awful cgi as someone who grew up on bleach it will always have a soft spot on my heart and they really killed it on that aspect for me it was my biggest worry going in
i hope this gets turned into a trilogy and do the soul society & aizen arcs ( like many bleach fan the last anime arc would be best forgotten but the last manage arc :) )
great job on the casting everyone was pretty much spot on
(yes i know kon is missing and chad is supposed to be mexican but i have no problem with those over look same goes for rukias hair and why so many people hated it in the previews i thought it looked good and it was realistic same with ichigos hair the only thing that semi bothered me was a dark haired orihime since she is my favorite it bothered me but i liked the casting of the actress)
ost was good it's way different then the anime but overall i liked it and even added a few songs from it to my playlist but something about not hearing ichirin no hana dissapointed me to be quite honest but i think some of the changes were made to be different then the anime on purpose to set itself apart (since like i said some of the changes alterations add fans mad before it even finished shooting and came out) so in the end its maybe not a bad choice ?
TLDR
-If you loved bleach don't fear it it's pretty darn good if you can overlook some things and not be nit picky its not a 100% copy of the anime/manga does it's job as a nostalgic start to bleach and makes you wanna relive the ride all over again and scratch that itch in a different way then the anime/manga
If you aren't a bleach fan it's a pretty good introduction into bleach to make you decide if you wanna take the plunge into the anime/manga material
what was shown in the movie was condensed quite a bit and some things altered the the soul of bleach and the gist of it is there nonetheless
In closing
hopefully maybe a new generation of fans can fall in love with bleach and enjoy the heck out of it like so many fans did while it was on air and be on production
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This has done better than most live action anime adaptations by a mile.
Some differences of course but this can't be helped. Music and background soundtracks fitted well with movie, overall sequences to scenes and key points in this arc were also done quite well.
While it may not hit everyones ridiculously high expectations this was a wonderful effort,and i loved it personally. ( wouldnt even mind seeing a sequel)
I'd recommend giving this a try if you are die hard bleach fan as it will remmerse you in a story we all know and love as well as characters we love.
However, if you are simply a movie enthusiastic or anime fan looking for another live action you might not appreciate this movie to the degree - some might but i still say give it a try. You never know you might just like it!
And on the rare occasion you havent seen the anime or read the manga before watching this movie do not base your thoughts off this production alone. Give the anime and manga a try first embracing the story as it was originally intended to be told.
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I am a massive anime freak. I have been since I was a kid. I was truly looking forward to this film & I'm still waiting for the 2nd edition to rectify this atrocity. I had to watch this twice to find out why there was a problem for me and this film. As you can see from the title it just left a horrible aftertaste for me. It's the same feeling I had when I saw Infinity Wars. There's disliked them both but I had to watch them several times to figure out what it was that irked me.Storyline wise I felt they kept that intact. I had no problem w/ that; b/c it was live action you want to make the story tie directly w/ your lead vs. introducing the characters through the Hollows and Orihime. However, this is where it suffered the fate of the Inifity Wars (and I'm jumping ahead a bit; then jump back) - We didn't need to see the introduction of anyone but Byakuya & Renji as mentioned. I have no damn idea why they introduced the Quincy - Ishida, okay. Quincy, not necessary. Uruhara not needed just yet. There was an overwhelming number of characters that filled the screen.
It was fandom porn - FOR fandom. If you're not a fan, it's overwhelming and a damn mess. I'm a fan and I found it way too messy. I felt they dropped the ball on Renji (my favorite character) - he didn't get the valuable air time and quality lines he could have - the actor hurt my soul. They completely destroyed Byakuya (IDK where they found him). They wasted energy on the unecessary to fill fandom hype rather than give real depth.
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Things that surprised me...
1. They hinted at the Ichigo/Orihime relationship a bit more overtly - which surprised me.
2. Chado character was perfectly picked - Wow to that one.
3. I was impressed by the CGI Hollows (I might be in the minority)
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What a fun ride!
I've watched this around 4 or 5 times so far. This is one of my absolute favorites to watch when I need to take a break. I have no experience with the original manga so I came into this with no expectations. The movie has everything I love about this genre of Japanese movies/series. Awesome eye candy, incredible music, unbelievably good sfx. Sota Fukushi is so good as Ichigo in this. He completely lives his character. Hana Sugisaki is fantastic as Rukia. The montage of her teaching him how to fight is just so fun. I only wish there were more movies and/or a series with the same characters, especially since they mention the Soul Society Arc. Give it a try and hopefully you'll find it as fun as I did. 🥳NOTE: I'm definitely not an impartial reviewer. I tend to leave reviews and ratings for only things I love which means almost everything is a 10 for me 😉
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I picked up this movie because I realized that Yoshizawa Ryo played my favorite character from the manga/anime, Ishida Uryu. And must say I wasn't disappointed because he was awesome, though I wish he played a bigger part. But the CGI of his bow was simply marvelous! Yes, I have a soft spot for archers.But also for swordsmen and Fukushi Sota was just as fantastic as Kurosaki Ichigo! I think I found yet another J-actor to follow. Great. His character was the perfect combination of funny and ballsy. And he played the part wonderfully! I could really understand why all the others would feel drawn to him.
Also, I didn't realize that Sugisaka Hana (Evergreen Love) was in this. Or Eguchi Yosuke (Rurouni Kenshin)! He was so awesome as Ichigo's dad. He's a great actor so you could really feel his undying love for his dead wife and for his kids, the delinquent Ichigo in particular. I loved the scene at the grave, when he asked his dead wife, "Could you tell Ichigo that it wasn't his fault?" Gosh...
And though we only caught a glimpse of the Soul Society, again, the CGI was breathtaking! I didn't expect it to look like that!
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