Bleach Movie 2: The DiamondDust Rebellion - Mou Hitotsu no Hyourinmaru

Assigned to protect a royal procession transporting a powerful artifact called the "Ouin," Squad 10 gathers in the human world as Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto observe the area cautiously. However, the caravan is suddenly struck by a group of assailants who wreak havoc on the procession, stealing the Ouin in the process. After a brief clash with one of the attackers, the distraught Hitsugaya pursues the escaping thieves, leaving behind Matsumoto and the disoriented squad. Following the incident, the Seireitei brands Hitsugaya a traitor for abandoning his post and puts Squad 10 on indefinite lockdown.

In the human world, Ichigo Kurosaki is investigating a spiritual abnormality when he stumbles across the injured Captain, but is caught off guard when Hitsugaya suddenly flees. Soon learning of the situation, Ichigo, Rukia Kuchiki, Renji Abarai, and Matsumoto set off to prove Hitsugaya's innocence and uncover the truth behind the theft of the Ouin. Meanwhile, a ghost from Hitsugaya's past haunts his thoughts as he chases down the true culprit.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kurosaki, Ichigo Main

Morita, Masakazu Japanese

Hitsugaya, Toushirou Main

Park, Romi Japanese

Matsumoto, Rangiku Main

Matsutani, Kaya Japanese

Kusaka, Sojiro Main

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Zaraki, Kenpachi Supporting

Tachiki, Fumihiko Japanese

Urahara, Kisuke Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Kuchiki, Rukia Supporting

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

Kuchiki, Byakuya Supporting

Okiayu, Ryoutarou Japanese

Shihouin, Yoruichi Supporting

Yukino, Satsuki Japanese

Kyouraku, Shunsui Jirou Sakuranosuke Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Simone, Jamie Producer

Hagino, Ken Producer

Aoki, Shunji Producer

Abe, Noriyuki Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Feb 21, 2024

Drakestalker

Recommended

DiamondDust Rebellion holds a special place in my heart as the first shounen filler movie I wholeheartedly liked as a teenager. Both in terms of writing, and especially animation, it represents an improvement of leaps and bounds over its predecessor. Does it hold up today? In a sense, yes, in others, no.

The production value comes off as perfectly adequate, but there is precious little here that will impress you by today’s standards. I remember being in awe of the animation at the time. Whether that was down to me being a dumb teenager who didn’t know any better, or it really was that impressive – ... that is anyone’s guess. The point is that the visuals didn’t age as well as I would have liked.

DiamondDust essentially adds 2 things on top of the Bleach canon. The first is a MacGuffin. It’s literally a textbook MacGuffin. I’m going to be frank. It’s stupid. There’s really nothing more to say about it. It’s just idiotic. It does exactly what a MacGuffin does, which is essentially anything and everything the plot needs it to.

The second is an apocryphal backstory for Toushiro Hitsugaya. I thought that Hitsugaya’s character arc was so compelling, I found myself wishing it were canon. Indeed, there is a part of me that considers it so. It is rare for filler to garner that kind of response from me, with the notable exception of One Piece’s Condoriano. Naturally, DiamondDust Rebellion‘s lore has too many holes to be sanctified as canon, but what I’m trying to say is that even in spite of its flaws, it’s just that attractive as an idea.

Toushiro is such a beloved character, you are likely to enjoy the movie simply by virtue of the fact that he is the deuteragonist.

Where the movie fails is in its handling of Ichigo. There really isn’t any reason for Ichigo to exist in this story. The effort to include him and write him into the plot only served to confuse and convolute the narrative. I can only imagine an alternate version of the movie where Hitsugaya is the de facto main character. I almost want to cry over just how much better that version of DiamondDust should, would, and could have been. It could have easily been a prequel happening before Ichigo ever became a Soul Reaper.

Alas, in the real world, in the version of the movie we’ve actually been given, Hitsugaya is nerfed and sidelined for 80% of the movie in order to give Pierrot enough time to convince you that, bro, trust me, bro, Ichigo is the main character, bro, he is totally necessary in this movie, bro, the plot would not work without him, bro. Inevitably, the story puts Ichigo on a path that leads to conflict with the Soul Reapers of Soul Society again, because that’s the only kind of conflict Bleach filler writers can come up with. Bleach fillers can’t exist in the absence of Soul Society treating Ichigo like dirt.

Update on the Supreme Commander: Still useless? Yes. Still creating pointless friction just to be an asshole? Yes. Oh, look! Right on schedule – it’s bullshit o’clock! Please do nothing useful and then say something asinine just to piss me off. The story absolutely requires it.

The 3rd act is also weak. Nothing happens, really. The plot just creates a big arena for Pierrot to masturbate in the audience’s faces showing off various characters’ abilities and shit, but none of it means anything, because they’re mostly just killing random, nameless fodder.

The main villain’s definitive defeat is also supremely disappointing and he’s got to have the most unimaginative henchmen I’ve ever seen.

At this point, DiamondDust Rebellion also does something with regards to its protagonist that so many stories do, and it’s got me fucked up to no end – hype without action. All throughout the 3rd act, all of the supporting cast will, ad nauseam, tell Ichigo that he has to go on, that it’s all down to him, because he has to be the one to reach the main bad guy and save the day. They act as nothing more than sidekicks paving the way for Orange Naruto. Why? The quintessential example of this is Ron at the end of The Philosopher’s Stone. “Harry, it's you that has to go on. I know it. Not me, not Hermione – YOU!” Ehhh... Again... Why??? Is this an unofficial 4th wall break? Are they all aware that they’re just characters in a story? Do they know Ichigo is the main character?

Still, in spite of its problems, like I said, DDR is a breath of fresh air in that it invents an actually compelling story related to a character we’ve got a preexisting attachment to. That means we’re not wasting 75% of the movie struggling to give a shit about some newfangled contrivance, only to then, as always, end with a smorgasbord of flashy moves we’re already familiar with.

To fans of the franchise, it is guaranteed to be an entertaining 90 minutes. If, on the other hand, you’re not already familiar with Bleach, I don’t know that I would recommend starting here, seeing as you wouldn’t know who any of the characters are, but surprising no one more than myself, I will admit that it wouldn’t exactly be the worst place to start. I can absolutely see you getting into the franchise after watching DiamonDust.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 4, 2023

ThatAnimeSnobRE

Mixed Feelings

Funny

Movies deriving from a series are 99% of the time just filler episodes with better animation, more action and a lame story. Did this movie escape this formula and offered something different for a chance? … Hell, no. Be prepared for simply another filler mission, with predictable plot and pseudo-serious matters. Of course, chances are you watch Bleach just for the battles as neither the story nor the characters are deeper than a rain pond; so this will not faze you in the least.

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 spectrum 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 is freaking awesome. 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 and… Well, it looks epic, who cares about logic.

Story and 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. So, once again, Soul Society is in danger, 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… Actually, the story is not very different than the Hueco Mundo ark. Same basic plot, same pattern in battles.

I can only say that the shift of protagonist from the dorky lead Ichigo, to the white haired boy Hitsugaya was not very successful. Being a filler mission, it doesn’t matter how much they try to flesh him out. Sure, he is less pathetic than Strawberry Boy, but still, he is just another guy shy around women, wielding a magic sword. As for his tragic past and movie rival, it was quite ridiculous as you never quite see how his childhood friend managed to survive, raised a huge army of ghosts and invaded Soul Society like there was no protection at all. Or why the heck doesn’t anyone do something about the ever-present scheming leaders of Soul Society and just kills all those who try to change things. Anyways, Ichigo was still the one to beat the baddy, so what’s the point? Why don’t they just make a movie about Zaraki picking his nose and slaying monsters from beginning to end? It will be far more interesting and it will not even need a story. Anyways, as a whole it is about every character in the series showing off his powers before Ichigo predictably wins. Nice action, boring plot.

Value and enjoyment … or the absence of them. I lost interest in shonen that are nothing more than brainless action and lame attempts at drama. There are far more interesting shonen, as there are far more dramatic and realistic samurai movies. This movie is more or less a waste of time. Something to watch when you just want to see pretty lights filling the screen. At best you can enjoy yet another uninspired movie about yet another series that went down the drain after a while.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Apr 13, 2021

lethargilistic

Not Recommended

I remember trying to watch this when it came on American TV sometime in the late 00s. I fell asleep within the first few minutes even though Toshiro was one of my favorite characters. Watching it as an adult, I turned it off after about 30 minutes and then got back to it when I got back to it. There's nothing here.

The backstory about the other character with the same sword as Toshiro is so stupid and nonsensical that they have multiple characters ask "how could the Soul Society have done this?" The answer is always the same, boring one: "That is the tradition. It ... has always been like that." No other examples are given, but it would have still been stupid if they had bothered. It's really just an excuse for Ichigo to give the requisite Main Character In An Anime Movie Speech about how the Soul Society's rules are Bad and the Soul Society's leadership is Bad for enforcing them. True and completely banal. Yawn.

There isn't even any compelling action in this one to make up for the vacuum of a story. I wanted to see this just so I could say "I've seen all the Bleach movies" without the asterisk, but it really wasn't worth it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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	Poll: Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) BishounenTatsumi - Sep 6, 2008	162 replies	by phantom346 »» Nov 19, 4:20 PM
	Bleach the Movie 2: The Diamond Dust Rebellion U.S. DVD Release Date KidRyan - Jun 21, 2009	7 replies	by KidRyan »» Sep 1, 2009 2:31 PM
	Bleach falling into dismay - Yachiru missing! Guess - Sep 9, 2008	21 replies	by Hypeathon »» Aug 31, 2009 11:56 PM
	All the fakes atlantiza - Apr 1, 2008	29 replies	by Reveriesian »» Aug 29, 2008 11:24 AM
	Diamond Dust Preview episode 152 MattyD - Dec 13, 2007	18 replies	by vizard_love »» Jul 18, 2008 11:03 AM