Bleach Movie 1: Memories of Nobody

Well, this was a really good anime movie.

I really like the story, about the Memory Rosary, the bad dudes, and of course Senna. I really liked her interaction with Ichigo, and it made me start thinking of shipping IchigoxSenna. Of course, she was a movie-only character... unfortunately. I liked the beginning of the plot, and how it moved along during the movie.

Of course, they could've used at least twice the amount of time to give it some more meat around the bones, but they actually did pretty well the way they did it, and I'm satisfied with what came out.

So, this is a great movie, ... and if you like Bleach, you shouldn't omit watching this movie.

I found this movie to be very touching. It is best watched after episode 63, the end of the soul society rescue arc.

The first thing you will notice is that it feels like a movie, and not just because of the beautiful animation. When someone is sent to soul society in the series, most of the time it feels routine; just something they always do. In the first scene, however, everything is different. I was completely moved. The main reason for this was the way they cut into the title screen. As I watched the girls' spirit rise through the air, they began playing an ... original theme song. I always say that anything can be enjoyed more when you feel the connection between audio and animation. From the moment I heard that song, I knew this film was one to be remembered.

I liked how you get to see all the characters from the series again, most of whom were not seen after the end of the soul society rescue arc (Kenpachis' entrance is just awesome). Although most of them do not get much screen time, it is not a problem. The focus of the movie is on Ichigo, a shinigami named Senna, and these mysterious white figures. It does a good job providing us with the background of Senna. We get just enough information to keep us curious. The villains are somewhat typical, but I do not want to spoil anything. It is for this reason that this gets a 9

Bleach: Memories of Nobody is an unexpected treat that is very enjoyable, and does the series a great justice. An overall amazing movie.

--> Intro:
A generic, so Bleach-like story about blanks, a random girl getting kidnapped, and Ichigo going rambo one-man-army to save the poor kid. And yeah, expect to see the famous "we-hog-screentime" team, which is Hitsugaya, Renji, Matsumoto, Yumichika and Rukia. Byakuya makes a 1-minute appearance and Zaraki even gets cut!! Righhhhttt..

--> Animation (7/10):
Personally I found nothing really great in Bleach: Memories of Nobody (MoN). The animation is not bad, but it's not extremely good too. The backgrounds are well drawn and somewhat beautiful to look at. The character design and environments are well done too. There are some issues here and there about badly drawn ... things, specially body parts. Like ridiculously small feet for example, or ridiculously small hands. Nothing very serious, but who strike out at you if you are careful.

--> Sound (8/10):
As always, I never really pay great attention to sound in anime. I didn't find anything bad here too. The sounds fit the storyline. The action scenes are ok, although sometimes the music lacks the energy, or the punch to really highlight the action. Character voices are satisfactory. And SFXs are used in the correct places. Nothing to complain here. Complaining comes afterwards.

--> Story (6/10):
Now, I am gonna complain! I'm going to avoid spoilers, but I need to say it: The story is extremely predictable, if you have ever watched Bleach (anime) before. In fact, according to me, it's just the same as the Soul Society arc. Swap Rukia with Senna, swap Soul Society with the Whispers Canyon or whatever it was called. The 3/4 of the time of the movie is plain boring. They just elaborated on Senna and why the "Dark Ones" are around. No great details are given before the very end of the movie. You'll just sit there, and say "Why doesn't it go faster?". And yes, if you are careful, you can know from the beginning itself what role Senna plays in the story. As you might guess, since she's the main female lead, she's got the principal role. Same as Rukia in S-Society arc.
The ending of the movie, frankly, was expected. You have all the great battle scenes of the movie crammed in the last 20 minutes of the movie. Just Ichigo and the usual team fighting the bad guys, and a soul society intervention at the very last moment. Sometimes, you ask yourself what the hell these guys of S-Society have been doing all this time.

--> Characters (8/10):
The characters, if you have watched Bleach, have no secrets now, excluding Senna. If there was one thing I liked about MoN is the character development. It was well done, slowly and feeding you the details droplets by droplets. It's kind of nice, and keeps you stuck to your screen till the end of the movie. Even at the very end, there are some more secrets revealed. Check the end of the credits too. A few seconds of video, just to ease up on the dramatic ending. Senna is a fun character to know about. A nice blend of humor, suspense and action makes her a cool character. Only negative point: She completely loses her fighting role at the end of MoN.

--> Enjoyment (7/10):
Since the story was sooo predictable, I didn't really enjoy it. However, I appreciated the last battle scenes and the elaboration of the story. I've learnt not to expect too much from Bleach. Usually, the plots are very predictable and often mimic the Soul Society arc. MoN makes a good watch if you have nothing better to watch at that time (eg. no episode of your fav anime out).

--> Overall (7/10):
I gave 7/10 for some enjoyment value, beautiful backgrounds and good battle scenes at the very end. The story line is ok, although very predictable. And the Senna character is fun to watch evolve. Now, go check and rate for yourself. As always, thanks for reading my review!

Memories of an Irrelevant Movie

If you're a fan of the bleach series, this movie plays like an extended episode. For this reviewer, therein lies the problem.

While this movie is to the untrained eye mediocre, I find it to be tacked-on. At the end of this movie the story has progressed no more than where it started. In fact it may have regressed, leaving more questions than answers,questions that surely will never be brought up again in the series.

I am certain that no facet of this movie will even be mentioned by any primary, secondary, or even one of the huge numbers of 2D characters ... made up on the spot by the creators when they are needed to fill a plot-hole. The nail in this coffin is the fact that in the end of the movie, this is ensured.

This movie is a morbid waste of time if you are looking for a good story, I would recommend renting or borrowing it, this by no means implies that you should spend any money to watch it. Furthermore, I would recommend playing Pong in the time you have allotted to watch this movie, as it has a better plot.

I had kind of given up on Bleach.
I was bored one day, so I went to the library.
I saw this was just sitting there.
Since nothing else looked even remotely good, I checked it out.
....
I want to start reading Bleach again.
This movie was EXTREMELY good! The plot, the character "Senna", everything!
I'm not exactly amazing with words, but I wanted to say- this is just a really good movie, I definatly reccomend you check it out.

My thoughts about the movie:
The ending made me like cry for a third time in my life after watching a movie after robot boy,spirited away,and now bleach memories of nobody it just makes me cry to see how awsome is the movie,The second movie of this year that actually makes me feel happy after 300 of course...this movie should get in the hall of fame "put my glasses on cry a little and start smoking a cigar"
THIS MOVIE ROCKS SO IT GETS 100/10 from me!
Now let's get back to me explaining the action of the movie:
First let's start with the unspoiled stuff:
"Now there is ... your problem"[Myth. quote] of why the some anime BLEACH arts is so badly drawn, because the movie gets all the great animators from the BLEACH creation/animation team,and from the Studio Pierrot itself,I think they used some "SPIRITED AWAY" graphics[I know they didn't make "SPIRITED AWAY" in the same studio as "BLEACH:MEMORIES OF NOBODY"] in this one which makes the arts and graphics,which makes this movie comparable to the work of "THE LIVING LEGEND"or/and"WALT DISNEY OF JAPAN" A.K.A. "Hayao Miyazaki",Referring to the graphics section of course anybody could comment on my post anyway, I'm not against it(it's just one little tiny thought that's all), but I really think this movie deserves hall of fame because of the graphics...
Sound quality or/and voice acting:
Not a lot to comment around here,we just got the same main and secondary voice actors,except for the "special guests in this movie"
Special effects are A.O.K.,nothing new, or old to report or to post about them...
SOUNDTRACK:
Well they used kind of the same soundtrack as in the anime,nothing new for me [because i already downloaded it before I even saw this movie], but I saw there where some unofficial soundtrack features in this movie,that I didn't have,on my PC,for instance the ending credits song was played by "aqua timez"[recognized the voice from the beginning],and of course some non-album songs,that where recorded I believe at a philharmonic with a full orchestra band,Shiro Sagisu, has an outstanding past experiences explains us why he's so good at this.
DURATION OF THE MOVIE: [1:32:58] I think the duration time for the movie fits perfectly with the criteria that the BLEACH offers with the action or/and soundtrack of the movie and also with the story that is well made.
And now it's time for spoilers...
STORY:[A MASTERPIECE OF IT'S OWN,Masashi Sogo, and Titke Kubo done pretty well to furnish or to add stuff in the movie]
IMPORTANT NOTES:
-80% of the action of the movie is covered by the story of ichigo and "The other character"
-PLEASE WATCH THE ENDING AFTER THE CREDITS! thanks Viki. i couldn't have seen/saw it without you...
-ALL THE TOP 30(bleach) characters are included in the anime[excepting some bad guys and some good guys here and there]
-The special forces squad actually has zanpaktous[noted from soi fon]
-Ending soundtrack song is awsome! and it's player by aqua timez: Sen no Yoru wo Koete [made the ending awsome!]

"-Just what is with you and heights?
-I don't know, I like it when I'm up high. All the things that seem confusing or messed up, suddenly become clear"

This is a part of a dialogue between Ichigo and Senna. For all those who haven't seen this movie yet, Senna is the main character. She's not some mature soul reaper, neither some hot but stupid girl. She's normal. So normal, everyone likes her. She's normal in a crazy way.
Still, the story is predictable. At least for those who usually watch a lot of shounen. And the fights are kind of boring. Still, the movie is great. The ... relationship between Ichigo and Senna is moving ( notice that I'm an Ichigo x Rukia fan, still I like Senna XD )
I have a recommendation. If you want to see an action movie, don't watch this. The action plot is bad. This movie feels more like a josei ( mature shoujo ).
For me, it's one of the best anime movies I've seen.

This is the first Bleach movie and I must say it ended up being better than I expected. As far as movies go, you can of course expect far better production values and flashier battles. Yet it has something more than just an excuse for a parade of special attacks. It is by all means nothing more than a filler mission but it had a metaphysical aspect that went beyond the simple plot of “Let’s save Soul Society for the millionth time”.

First of all, if you haven’t watched any episodes, stay away from the movie. You won’t understand the new twist to the cosmology of ... the setting without prior knowledge of the general story and cast. Plus, the action may mislead you, as it hardly gets so good in the series.

Second, if you do know of the series and go for this movie, chances are you watch Bleach just for the battles as neither the story nor the characters are deeper than a rain pond. Still, the main idea behind the Blanks and the Memory Rosary are very good as an extra aspect of the otherwise simplified and polarized good souls – bad souls and it would be quite catchy if they had it inserted in the main story from the beginning. It would leave room for side stories in the Valley of Screams and excuse a lot better those out of place fillers. Too bad they didn’t.

Animation and sound wise, the movie is very good. It uses cinematics, greater than those in the initial episodes (how do I miss those) and makes the story to look dramatic, like a good samurai movie. The level of lining detail is more or less the same, though there is a higher plethora of colors and a much lower amount of static images and repeating frames. I must say that as far as atmosphere in a title like Bleach goes, the movie did a wonderful job.

Of course, most will not care about this as much as the action part. Yes, there is action and it generally good. If you are into superpower battles, you will not be disappointed. Still, don’t expect any realism or decent choreography, as the whole deal was, and still is, just people yelling the names of their attacks and then their swords magically change shapes and spit all sorts of elemental spells. Thunders and lightings fill the screen and buildings crumble and dimensions merge. Still, the showdown was very disappointing as the villains in the story weren’t much of a threat in close combat and only their run-of-the-mill “Let’s destroy Soul Society from afar” plan was their only slight change of winning.

What else… Ah, yes; voice acting. Can’t say it was any better than in the series. It is still mostly one-liners and yelling of the names of transforming swords and spells. The dramatic tension is almost lost because of all that. Thank goodness there were some semi-psychological dialogues around existentialism issues that saved the movie from complete boredom. I never say no to some intellectual flavoring to a fighting shounen.

The characters are, as expected, more shallow and uninteresting than in the series. Not by too much though, as all of us who know of Bleach are aware that there was never much meat around those bones to begin with. It is a filler movie and you get nothing extra, other than seeing all the captains attack and do a cameo parade of special attacks before Ichigo storms in and saves the day in the same fashion as always. The movie villains were all talk and no personality. Unless you consider a “kill everyone as revenge” attitude as personality. Senna on the other hand was quite an interesting character, both as a girl fooling around the serious Ichigo but also as a character with issues around the meaning of life and being. I actually sympathized with her more than almost anyone else in the whole series.

The story has a simple and expected plot. Soul Society is in danger; Ichigo to the rescue, everyone fights the minions and lets the lead take on the boss. But the main idea behind the otherwise simple plot was very interesting. Imagine being given a bunch of memories, not of your own. Are you a different person than before because of them? Are your thoughts the thing that defines your soul? Great food for the mind although it is not really looked upon and you’d probably care more about the battles than this issue. Still, the story overall is quite weak as you hardly believe these Nobodies (literally speaking) were actually a real threat for the captains of Soul Society, with their imba cannon and their imba bankais and the imba lead on their side. By the way, everybody was just trying to deal with the villains that were created by the very misdoings of their leaders and no one seemed to think how getting rid of their scheming leaders would stop bringing their world to the brink of destruction every 2 months. Not to forget to mention that once again Ichigo was fighting to save a chick and not to save the world. Somebody needs to explain to him one day that a random chick he has no real interest in is less important than the rest of the world.

Value and enjoyment ain’t much. I lost interest in shounen that are nothing more than brainless action and lame attempts at drama. There are far more interesting shounen, as there are far more dramatic and realistic samurai movies. So this movie is more or less a quick watch without something to remember it for.

The story in this movie, sadly follows in the path of anime movies before it. The story is half baked and full of holes and yet I still found the movie very enjoyable. Mainly because what the movie lacks in a decent plot it makes up for in great fight scenes and a new interesting character who they do a good job of developing in 90 minutes. Good watch for bleach fans, otherwise you may not like it.

A movie I find difficult to believe anyone would truly enjoy. The hardcore bleach fan will see it as a drawn-out filler episode, the shounen fighting fan will see the action as predictable as it can possibly be, and the rest of anime fandom will see it devoid of any production value whatsoever.

[b]Art[/b]
This is a movie. We have characters that don't blink, that each have their own permanent expression plastered on their face. There are many scenes in which the background is completely static while displaying people in the midst of conversion or actions. And this while 'rustling and mumbling' background ... effects play. It looks ridiculous and akin so something the History channel does when it displays still photographs. Again, this is a movie, not some episode they had 2 weeks to pump out. The shortcuts are distracting and ill-used.

[b]Story[/b]
There isn't anything you wont understand even if you only have the most cursory knowledge of Bleach. I have nothing more to add that wasn't already said in the opening statements. Plus, I am not a fan of spoilers.

[b]Character[b]
Typical Bleach. If you don't know what that means, then substitute bad shounen action a la Naruto. The dialogue is predictable. The reactions expected.

[b]Overall[/b]
For a 2006 production, this movie falls well below the standard. We are talking about the year of Haruhi and Code Geass. This movie seems as though it took about zero time to throw together, and as such is a poor final product.

Wait............What. This is better than the original storyline.
Is what i caught myself thinking througout this movie.
I never thougt in a million years that Bleach was going to make me feel anything other than adrenalin pumping throug my veins.
To my suprise it made me feel moved by the acctual storyline. And the soundtrack ohhhh the soundtrack, dont even get me started on it, it was so awesome. The movie is acctually more brutal and tragic than the show. Like in the movie Ichigo cuts an arm of someone, with blood going everywere.
I think that if the show went in the same direction as this ... movie it could have become so much better than it was.
All in all if you like Bleach you have to watch this movie, it is just awesome.

When i first began to watch Bleach: Memories of Nobody i quickly became distracted and was unable to watch it , but recently i found the spark to watch watch it. At first glance you would expect the usual Bleach fare, and your not far from the truth. However it does succeed in introducing a new character that shows excellent design, and that character is Senna. Without revealing too much she is a shinigami currently located in the human world. It is a shame though that she is still basically a filler character, because her character would've made a welcome addition to the main storyline. ... I found that the plot of the story was well written, and easy to follow, and the action scenes were beautifully animated. I did find that the main antagonists were very generic and easily forgettable, while often watching the movie i found myself thinking "how can these guys even be considered a threat". Despite these qualities that may serve to hold the movie back, it still manages to be a great great movie. Another thing i found unusual is that anything related to Bleach could be this emotional, so in closing i highly recommend watching Bleach: Memories of Nobody.

The movie details were amazing. The story going on and on with the anticipation of what will happen at the end. You can't wait to see it. The graphics were amazing as well, and the way the evil guys plan their ultimate plan, but is ruined by the hero. Yet the ending was sad, but happy. I cryed at the end.

Story: The story is basically about two worlds ending, and its up to Ichigo and co to stop it from happening. Basically, this is an hour and a half filler episode that has some of the same old recycled stuff from any other shounen jump filler. Also, the fight scenes weren't very good either, which is basically what anyone watches Bleach for in the first place, right?

Art: The animation was nice, nothing amazing, but it was better than the tv show which is to be expected.

Sound: It was great hearing "Number one" again, and the ending theme song was pretty awesome too.

Character: Same characters ... from the show along with the stereotypical anime filler villains.

Enjoyment: Hardcore Bleach fans will enjoy this, but for the casual Bleach fan like myself, you'll probably get bored and just want it to end.

Overall: Meh, If you're a hardcore fan, you'll check it out regardless, but if you're just a casual fan, your time is better spent watching something by Miyazaki, Kon, or Shinkai rather than this long, drawn out filler episode in movie form.

Memories of Nobody is a side-story set in the Bleach universe, taking place before the Arrancar entry arc in the Bleach series. While patrolling Karakura Town, Ichigo and Rukia come across strange white creatures and a female soul reaper named Senna. Senna is able to dispose of these creatures, and though she claims to be from Soul Society, her story does not match up with any records. As the plot progresses, the Dark Ones, a clan banished from Soul Society in the past, are revealed as enemies seeking to destroy the two-world system by using Senna. Ichigo and friends will have to travel to the ... Valley of Screams to save Senna and the world.

Bleach movies, unlike many offshoot movies of super-popular anime series, have tended to be very good. Memories, the first Bleach movie, sets the bar high with an interesting plot, a touching love story, and some enjoyable Bleach fights. Fans of the series will love the movie simply for getting to see the Captains kick ass, but for those that aren't all about bankai there is much more here that should satisfy. Viewers will see a new element added to the Bleach universe (the Valley of Screams) and there is some notable character development for Ichigo due to his relationship with Senna.

There are still a few faults that are typical of the Bleach series: the enemies, for all the hype, prove to be no match against the Captains, and the final battle between Ichigo and the leader of the Dark Ones is pretty brief. Senna's English voice is also shrill and sometimes annoying. But really, to harp on these minor (and for the most part, expected) elements is just to show that the story and overall package are very good. Memories is a must-see for Bleach fans, and if you don't mind spoilers, first-time Bleach viewers should find it entertaining as well.

Overall Score: A-

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I thought this movie was a good side story. What I really liked was the fact that we got to see Ichigo and Rukia killing hollows and people of Karakura actually being there. We get to see their reactions, and what happens when Ichigo just leaves his body lying around.

We are introduced to a character named Senna. I didn't really feel for Senna because she was just too happy-go-lucky for me. But I did like how Ichigo was forced to follow her around. The scenes of her memories really pulled me into wanting to know her past, but we find out who she ... really is near the end. Although it was sad and a bit disappointing to see her fate, the ending was beautiful, I really liked it.

A few things could have been improved on in this movie (too many characters that weren't really needed). this movie is not as action packed as the series. Might be a good watch for some people, but its nothing special.

Bleach: Memories of Nobody is the first of the so-far three Bleach movies to be released (despite some confusion, Sealed Sword Frenzy, though predating this movie, is an episode-length OVA and for all intents and purposes a "non-canon" episode). For those fans, particularly English-speaking fans who follow the dub on Adult Swim, who are used to the rather drawn-out storyline and fights of the series, this movie may come as bit of a surprise and even shock. Although following the conventions of the series, Memories of Nobody still offers quite a few tricks up its sleeve that has caused quite a stir within the more ... casual fan communities.

Story: 7 - Good

The story, frankly, is just passable enough to be considered good and in some parts even gets in the way. If you've seen enough of one of the lengthy Bleach story arcs, or even if you're generally familiar with shounen-to-movie adaptations, you can probably see the plot coming from a million miles away - there is a person/object/McGuffin that has ungodly power, there is a group who wants to obtain said person/object/McGuffin in order to rule the world/universe/whatever (M. Bison: YEEEES!) and our heroes of whom we're all very much acquainted with already thanks to the series must go and save them in typical fashion. Specific details will be covered in the other sections, but there isn't much to talk about in terms of the plot, and perhaps would benefit from a greater running time in order to see development. That said, other elements aside from the plot work to elevate this movie beyond the Bleach average, but once again those elements will be addressed in the proper sections.

Art: 8 - Very Good

The art is strangely interesting because, at least in my case, rather than compare it to other anime movies or movie adaptations of the same time period my knee-jerk reaction was to compare it directly to the anime from the series, and it's definitely noticeably upgraded. The typical details that are merely glossed over at most - background details, establishing shots and scenes and even the in-betweens - are much more lively, detailed and animated in the movie, to what I would even go so far as to compare to Knockin' on Heaven's Door (the Cowboy Bebop movie). Overall, the animation is noticeably more fluid and detailed than that of the series - not overly so, and it still retains the distinctive Bleach style, but just enough to make it "pop" that much more. It's clear the animators knew what to do with their budgets.

Sound: 7 - Good

The sound is pretty much what you would expect from Bleach. In the English dub, all the voice actors reprise their roles, and surprisingly enough the voice of the most prominent new character seems to be a relative unknown, with the only significant contribution she's done is the voice of Kiyal from the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann English dub. That said she pulls it off very nicely. The voice acting is where this movie shines in the sound category, especially since really all it has to do is make sure it uses the same voice actors as the series. The music isn't particularly noteworthy, or at least nothing sticks out in my mind, but it's certainly nice.

Character: 9 - Great

The movie doesn't really develop the characters from the series all that much - which is fine, since those characters are already as developed as far as they're really gonna get in a shounen action series like this, and it is a mostly plot-driven movie falling vaguely somewhere in the series (reportedly just after the Soul Society arc and before the Bounto/Arrancar arc, if you really must know). In fact the only character from the series that has any real focus at all is main hero Ichigo - even those characters that help make Bleach Bleach such as Rukia, Orihime, Ishida and Renji are all forced to take a back seat or barely appear at all. Some secondary yet important characters are probably lucky to appear in the movie at all (Kenpachi does get treated to an awesome fight scene, however, totally fitting his character to a T).

The real treat, and perhaps focus of the movie involves new character Senna and her development and relationship regarding Ichigo. To make Senna not only a believable but enduring character, they had to put in the introduction, development and conclusion of a character within the space of roughly two hours, and yet they somehow succeeded. In fact Senna may ironically be one of the most well developed characters in the entire Bleach mythos - she's sweet without being cloyingly so and has an animated personality. She's also given a surprisingly deep, if not truly deep character complete with fears and desires and palpable confusion about herself, and they weren't afraid to pull any punches regarding a troubled past either - well, as far as Bleach is willing to go. Either way, it's clear that Senna is the highlight of this movie.

Enjoyment: 8 - Very Good

Mostly because of that final point, Memories of Nobody truly is, as Tite Kubo himself had hoped, "a story you would be able to keep in your heart." It's not quite Ghost in the Shell or 5 Centimeters per Second, but it's perhaps as close as Bleach will ever achieve.

Final score for Bleach: Memories of Nobody:

8 - Very Good


Also, don't forget to join the Senna Appreciation Club! ^_*

Memories of Nobody is the quintessential example of everything that’s wrong with non-canon shounen movies.

Bleach’s worldbuilding is not exactly top tier to begin with, but that’s fine. It’s not that kind of story. I mean, there are no two ways about it. Tite Kubo’s ambition as a youth was to be a fashion designer. It’s not an accident that the element Bleach is best known for is its character design. The guy is a visual artist, first and foremost. Storytelling and worldbuilding are very much secondary skillsets. So far, in the canon, we’ve got the World of the Living, our world, Soul Society, the world ... of pure souls, Hueco Mundo, the world of corrupted souls, Hell, the world of sinful souls, and the Precipice, a sort of in-between world that separates it all. In principle, these are just fancy sets for Kubo to showcase his cool ass characters wearing all manner of fancy clothing in various locations and environments. They’re paper-thin and mostly just for show.

However, such as it is, Bleach’s worldbuilding works just fine for the story Tite-sensei wants to tell. It’s serviceable.

Alas, on top of that already tenuous worldbuilding, Memories of Nobody attempts to tack on even more cosmology. The movie adds 1 extra realm, the Valley of Screams. The problem with the Valley of Screams is that it’s just completely ill-conceived and doesn’t mesh with the larger Bleach cosmology. Urahara explains what the Valley of Screams is and how it works fairly early on. I listened to him, paid attention, and by the end of his monologue, it still didn’t really make sense. After listening to him explain it for a second time, I just gave it up as a bad job. Shit just doesn’t make sense. It’s exactly the kind of thing I would expect a fanfiction writer to come up with. “Hey, what if I came up with a new character called Sailor Sun???”

I also can’t really analyze any of the movie’s unique elements, because to talk about them would be to spoil them, and truth be told, the mystery of all of the new shit is the only thing keeping Memories of Nobody alive. Without you constantly asking “What the fuck is this? What the fuck is that? Who the fuck are you?”, the movie’s story instantly dies. Every aspect of the film is one-dimensional. As soon as something is explained, it’s like “Oh.” and that’s it. It doesn’t ever get any more development or complexity.

This is especially true of the villains. They’re neither Soul Reapers, nor Hollows, nor Arrancar, nor Quincy, nor regular humans. As such, you may find yourself thinking, oh, wow, I wonder who they are and what they’re about. The reveal is just about as generic as you can possibly think of and goes no further afterwards.

Have you ever looked at the way a character is designed and thought to yourself, man, you look like a filler character? That is effectively the malady plaguing all of Memories of Nobody’s villains. The main dude looks kind of not terrible, but also not exactly someone you will remember by tomorrow. “Hey, you know that guy Aizen? – Yes. – Well, let’s make that guy again, but worse in every way.” That’s how I roughly imagine the main bad guy’s design meeting went.

You have some limited involvement from the larger Bleach cast, but in true filler fashion, you get fanservice showing off only powers and abilities you’ve already seen in the show, but nothing beyond that. Additionally, the reason I call it fanservice is because I, at no point, got the impression that the Captains who used their bankai needed it. Are they weaker than the Caps who won their fights without using their bankai? No, it’s just that the latter group hadn’t gotten theirs revealed, whereas the former did, so you get to gratuitously see them again. It’s not difficult to hypothesize how these filler fight scenes are conceived. The studio cba coming up with a compelling reason for you to get hyped up about the action, so they’d much rather you just gawk at the shiny thing they’ve already shown you before, but now with 0 effort behind it. “Ooo, they did the thing!!!” Don’t ask questions. Just consume product and get excited for next product.

I would also like to comment specifically on the Supreme Commander. Fillers seem to have no idea how to write the guy. In almost every single Bleach filler I’ve seen, he seems to exist to just be an asshole and to antagonize Ichigo (and by extension, the audience) from the background. I say background because he never actually does anything, of course.

That leads me to another point. Memories of Nobody starts the tradition of Bleach fillers reinventing some kind of conflict between Ichigo and the Soul Reapers of Soul Society. “Hey, you know how everyone loved the Rukia rescue arc back when Ichigo and the Soul Reapers were enemies? – Yes. – Let’s do that again, but worse in every way.” That’s how I roughly imagine every single filler arc plot meeting goes.

Just about the only sorta good thing about the movie is the newly added main heroine, Senna. Again, I can’t really talk about her without spoiling, and the mystery of her identity is pretty much the entire lifeline of the movie, but a good chunk of the fandom seems to be fairly enamored with her. It’s not difficult to see why. She has a pleasant design that feels very derivative of Yoruichi. That’s not criticism, mind you. Yoruichi looks great, so it stands to reason that any character inspired by her would be nice, too. Bitch could very well be her daughter.

My only issue with Senna is that I found her personality and temperament obnoxious. This is not to be confused with me saying she’s unrealistic or anything. She is very realistic, but that’s part of the problem. I have entirely too much personal experience with women who are just as fickle and self-centered as her to have any patience left for the character. The perennial expectation is for everyone else around them to deal with their mood swings, whims, and tantrums, and if you don’t, you’re the asshole. Why? Because they’re hot? Yeah, sorry, she was cute, but not that cute.

Her entire character arc essentially amounts to Ichigo saying “Hey, please help us, this is serious! The fate of the world is at stake!” and her going “Lolno, watch me dance, teehee!”

In conclusion, if a movie that lives solely on the notion that it is confusing and mysterious sounds appealing to you, then I could potentially see you being tempted to watch Memories of Nobody, but given that every reveal feels ultimately pointless and superficial, I can’t recommend it in good conscience.

A fair number of people seem to like the film, but I can only guess it’s a consequence of not really having seen that many anime. Sure, if Bleach and Naruto are the only anime you’ve ever seen, perhaps you could watch this and have a milquetoast time, as I did when I first saw it in high school, but why would you? There is so much better content out there for you to occupy your time with.

If you’re not already a Bleach fan, would this sell you on the franchise? Doubtful.

P.S.: The supernatural shit that was being thrown around by the main bad guy during the climax (no pun intended) of the movie was some kind of white paste that looked like... well, you know exactly what it looked like.

This movie is better than the show itself, i'll start off with that. I would give Bleach itself a 7 or 7.5 but i gave this movie a 9. Why? Well, a lot of it is because of my enjoyment but there are other reasons as well. It's easily seen that they put alot more effort in this movie than they would in a regular episode. Senna, the main female in this movie, makes a amazing entrance. There are also other scenes where it's also very well done. Senna is also one of the best Bleach characters, ever. She is, in my opinion, levels ahead ... of Orihime and Rukia. Reasons being, she does things at her own pace without being annoying like Rukia and she isn't as timid as Orihime. The ending for the movie is very touching as well. I almost shed a tear or two. Aqua Timez plays Sen no Yoru wo Koete during the credits, which i think matches the movie VERY well.

One of the things that struck me at point while watching this movie was that certain scenes had very...mediocre animation quality. Overall, it's a pretty good story, your typical characters, though a lot of them get very superficial screen time, but my one major gripe about it is that, being a movie it *CANNOT* interfere with the main plot, and thus they had to pull a "it was all a dream" - style ending. (Sorry if that spoils it, but if you thought ahead you'd realize it had to be the case) Since you know that, you can sort of figure out a few main ... plot points before things even begin.

From this point of view, if you're a Bleach watcher, there is zero room for character development, or really any kid of new information/ability that will be in any way pertinent in the future. If you haven't watched Bleach, well, not sure why you'd want to watch this, you would basically get the idea I suppose, but you probably wouldn't appreciate it nearly as much, and if you have watched Bleach you might end up a little frustrated like me with the inability for any meaningful development.

The overall rating being lower is more or less a reflection of my irritation towards the "OMG we don't remember anything" part of it.