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)