Ranked #423

Bleach - The DiamondDust Rebellion

Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion takes place in the Bleach universe, as the title may suggest. It focuses mainly on 10th squad captain Hitsugaya Toshiro, so if you're a fan of him, you'll enjoy this movie, and if you're not, you might not find it interesting. If you're neither of the former, like me, you'll probably enjoy it too.

The story isn't the most original story you'll see, as it follows the theme of revenge based off of a grudge from the past. Said revenge will be executed by obliterating everything. So there's nothing special in that department. Toshiro gets involved in this act of revenge because he has a connection to the man who holds the grudge against Seireitei. One day, the King's Seal, a mysterious and powerful artifact, gets stolen from right under the noses of the squad protecting it (the 10th squad), and Toshiro ends up missing. Now, events that may change Seireitei begin to unfold. And that's where the movie starts off.

It gradually explores Toshiro's past with the man who wants to take revenge on Seireitei with sporadic flashbacks, that doesn't make a lot of sense at first, but they become more and more clear as the events in the movie unfold, and you soon get to learn the reason behind this man's grudge against Soul Society. While this way of telling the story is not something unseen, it works very well with this movie, and does give it some extra tension and entertainment value.

Long-time Bleach fans will probably enjoy this movie because we get to see many characters we've not seen fight for a long time fight. Among others, there's Zaraki at his craziest, Yoruichi and Soi Fon with their Shunko, and Ikkaku with his bankai. Of course, there's a lot of icy fighting courtesy of Toushiro.

Another thing I believe long-time Bleach fans will find enjoyable is the animation quality, which is at the very least astounding. With awesome lighting effects, very fluid character movements and high attention to detail, it surpasses the normal quality of Bleach's animation by many levels. If I could, I'd set the score to 15/10.

The soundtrack is awesome as well, with astounding tunes that fit right into the mood of the movie, amplifying the scenes and events as well as a soundtrack should. DDR's soundtrack is one of the few that gets the honor of being downloaded to my computer.

All in all, if you're a Bleach fan, don't hate Toshiro, and if you don't mind a classic revenge-based story, chances are you'll enjoy this movie.

To 'Not Helpful' voters (and you 'Helpful' voters too): Feedback greatly appreciated =) read more

Story: I don't want to give any spoilers, but basically if you've seen the trailer, you've seen the majority of the plot. It's not that the plot was bad at all; there were just a few random plot devices that were a bit strange, especially in the beginning with Ichigo's initial involvement in the story. If one compares it to the first Bleach movie (which of course is inevitable), this movie's plot was much better. There were a good amount of flashbacks which were done nicely as well.

Art: You can really see the difference here between the TV series and the movie. There were some excellent camera angles, scene changes, and special effects. At times, the camera took Ichigo's viewpoint; other times it took a grand, panoramic view of the scene. Of course, other movies have done that, but with such camera work/framing it gave the movie a more serious, artsy feel to it. It's good if you're like me and enjoy that stuff.

Sound: It has all the major themes of the series, plus a choral piece that gave me shivers, and several distinctly Japanese pieces that set the tone of the film exactly right. The seamless blending of sound and sight was perhaps the best part of the movie for me.

Character: Well, of course all of the Bleach characters are in character...with almost every soul society member and human (and quincy) making at least a cameo appearance. The villain was suitably well developed and somewhat sympathetic since he is featured in most of the flashbacks. Hitsugaya fans will enjoy getting a glimpse under his "icey" exterior during the flashbacks as well. I wasn't so fond of how emo he was, but it was at least tolerable and not too overdone.

Enjoyment: The reason why I didn't give a 10 for enjoyment (and why the overall score is a 9) is because there's not very many good battles in the movie. Let's face it, one reason Bleach is so great is because of the epic fights. I went to the movie specifically in the theater to see that epic quality on the big screen, and was a bit disappointed. There were a few somewhat boring "henchmen" fights, and the final battle was kind of anti-climactic. However, I did like the fact that the climax took place in Soul Society, where the captains could show off their full powers (though again, you don't get to see anything new or really exciting stuff happen).

In all, however, I very much recommend seeing this movie, whether you be a die hard fan or new to Bleach, or even if you don't like the series very much. This movie takes most of the good points from the series and puts it into one and a half hours of good entertainment. read more