Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black - Kimi no Na wo Yobu

Cliched? Overbearing? Far too full of machismo? Has more plot holes than a colander?

I must be talking about Bleach.

The one thing that has always bugged me about most of the long running shounen anime is how creatively deficient they become over time. Bleach, like Naruto et al, is a prime example of the "anime-turned-cash-cow" phenomenon that seems to be occurring more and more these days, and this latest effort, Fade to Black: Kimi no Na wo Yobu (FtB: I Call Your Name), represents the series at it's worst.

Since this is a movie, I won't go into the details of the story proper as I ... don't want to give anything away. That said, I would dearly love to know how and why Takahashi Natsuko, who wrote the screenplay for shows like "The Daughter of Twenty Faces" and "Moyashimon", and worked on the script for the first two seasons of "School Rumble", could ever claim that the screenplay for this movie was some sort of achievement? The plot, which any long term, reasonably intelligent, watcher of the series will know is more of a secondary consideration these days, actually had a lot of potential. But, like so many other things that Bleach has touched upon during it's long run, the more interesting things are never explored as there MUST be a scene where Ichigo comes flying in to save the day. People don't really watch shounen anime for it's cerebral nature, but there such a thing as going too far in the other direction.

Anyway, the plot is full of holes. Period. There isn't any real way to hide or disguise that fact, and frankly, the movie doesn't even try. Here's one example, and this one has bugged me for so long that I'm throwing this question out to everyone. Seireitei is supposed to be protected by a barrier of some sort (if I remember the whole rescue Rukia from certain death arc correctly - oh wait, that describes 70% of the episodes), so if that's the case, how the hell do the bad guys keep getting in? In particular, how does something like a hollow from Hueco Mundo get in to Seireitei? One would think that they'd guard against that in particular, especially after the whole Aizen thing.

The movie touches upon a number of themes, the typical shounen themes of friendship and never giving up are there, but the driver for the story is Rukia losingher memories of being a shinigami. One would think that this was simply a case of supernatural amnesia, but for some reason the cause is able to affect existence on a near unviersal scale. If that's the case, then the cause of Rukia's memory loss is potentially more powerful than Aizen, the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 Yamamoto-Genryusai Shigekuni, all of the Bountos, the Vizard, the Arrancar, and just about everyone else in the world.

See what I mean about holes?

As it stands, the movie is actually better if you don't know anything about the series, which is unfortunate as I thought the whole point of things like this was to add to the whole instead of being a glorified advert for the series (congratulations marketing department, you win this round).

The art and animation is decent enough on the whole, however there's some glaringly obvious problems, one of which is the fact that the characters look angry or constipated for a lot of the movie (especially Ichigo, even when he's "happy" he scowls). The faces are sometimes unnaturally distorted when the character is feeling some deep emotion (grief, for example), something which is only exacerbated with close ups of the character in question. There's also a number of scenes that feature something I call "unnatural body position", which simply means that on occasion the characters will look "odd" in some manner (the most common one I've seen involves the shoulders - watch and you'll see for yourself).

Animation-wise the movie manages to at least attain some respectability. The characters do move quite well, and the various combat sequences are pretty decent, but Bleach fans will know that the series is capable of much better than can be seen in this movie.

Most people will be familiar with the voice actors, especially if they're regular viewers of the series. The cast do a decent job overall, but in the end this is still just another episode of Bleach so there is a distinct lack of passion in the characters, however this is mainly due to the scripting and screenplay rather than the cast's acting ability. Morita Masakzu (Ichigo), for example, has a problem in that his character is supposed to be almost perpetually angry at something, and lives with a huge chip on his shoulder. This may seem like an interesting character at first, but after playing the role for this long without any real development to Ichigo as a character, it's understandable how one would be "bored" by now.

Which leads me neatly on to the characters themselves. Oh look, the gang's all here (minus Chad, Orihime and Ishida - surprisingly). The problem with Bleach as a whole is that it never really looks at developing it's characters in any meaningful way, and this movie is no exception to that tried an tested (on morons), method. As a single movie it can get away with lacking anything in the way of real character development, even though there was a feeble attempt to highlight the "bond" between Ichigo and Rukia. As part of the greater series though, the lack of any real progression makes this seem more like just another episode of Bleach - it's just a bit longer than normal.

I will admit that as an action movie this isn't too bad. If the purpose of the movie is to "entertain" then it does just that - barely. One of the problems with Fade to Black is that it has a tendency to ramble at times, especially during the conversations (no one seems to have heard of getting to the point). There's also a distinct lack of urgency about the characters, almost as if they're trying a bit too hard. Since this is a movie I can forgive a lot more than I would have if this were a series episode, and it's only because of this that I didn't give Fade to Black a lower score.

On the whole though, this is not the best effort to come from the Bleach stable. Diamond Dust Rebellion was actually superior to this in many ways, so this is effectively a step down for the series. That doesn't mean it's not enjoyable, it's just that there's an almost juvenile feeling to the movie, almost as if it was designed to cater to wide-eyed 13 year old fanboys than the more hardened anime fan.

It's sad, but it seems like Bleach has finally run out of steam.

Diamond Dust Rebellion had to be one of the better movies, until now. The storyline is both interesting and enjoyable, reminding the viewer of the eventful days when Ichigo first stepped into soul society. The only down side for me is the lack of appearance of Ichigo with his hallow mask.

The story had similar elements from previous movies; in my opinion this worked in Fade to Black's favor.

The art was 10/10; fantastic all the way through. It was the pinnacle of the Bleach animation.

The soundtrack was a little too techno for my taste, but it went well. The action sequence sound bytes could have been longer. Overall it was highly enjoyable.

The characters are what make Bleach one of the best shonen animes ever made, and this movie everyone got to shine. I wish there was more of the supporting cast but there was enough to satisfy. The story ... focuses on Rukia and Ichigo as usual but it didn't dissappoint.

I thought the whole movie was done so well and lived up to the hype. Never a dull moment and my only complaint is that the movie wasn't 5 hours long. It was so good I wanted more, which is a mark of a great anime.

Overall for Bleach fans, or even first time viewers; you need not see the show to enjoy the movie. The importance of the main story line might seem a little trite if you haven't kept up on the series but the action more than makes up for it. So go and see this now!

Bleach movie 3: Fade to Black a.k.a Kimi no Na o Yubo, is nothing special but if you're a fan of the show as I am you'll probably enjoy yourself. Perhaps my expectations were a bit higher than they should've been for some reason...I thought it was going to be better than the movie 2 was but in reality they were about the same this time around being only a slight upgrade. Nevertheless I never found myself bored or uninterested and while the story was unsurprisingly pretty generic it was still a fun time. The plot, which I won't spoil was actually better this time ... around, having some more layers to it than I expected it to, which was good. I liked how it focused itself up on Rukia's past and there was a thing that happened to the characters which added depth to the story as well. The fight scenes were actually coriagraphed very well, the best one being the small skirmish between Ichigo and Renji which was executed beautifully in my opinion. However in the movie it feels like the creators just shoehorned in all the Captains and Lieutenants into it just to show them use their bankai and other powers as a way to add action into the movie. I think this could've been done more cleaverly using specific characters more important to the story instead of just everyone. As for the villains, I thought they worked fine. The female was rather annoying in the beginning but towards the end I actually found pitty towards her and the other antagonist. As well as having some minor plot holes and things that should have been explained or went into detail further, I thought the pacing was very good and for the most part everything flowed crisp and clean. Overall the plot had good structure. On another note, the animation was a signifigant improvement, especially the zanpakto transformations and fight sequences were very good. The shadows and sweat, everything was much more detailed and the surrounding area of the seireitei looked very smooth. This time around the movie didn't have a exclusive soundtrack, but the music from the show itself is pleasant to listen to as always so I didn't mind it.

Overall I liked the movie enough, it wasn't a huge improvement from movie 2 but it's a good time at that. It looked and sounded good...delivered a good enough story with some plot holes, things that should've been explained more, but some nice looking fights with functional villains. If you're a fan of Bleach, you probably won't be obsessed with this movie but you'll definitely like it and enjoy it the whole way through. If you liked my review give it a thumbs up! Thanks (:

the story actually revolves around rukia, 2 hollows in human form kidnap her so that they can be together. while that is happening the memories of rukia in all shinigamis starts to fade away, even ichigo's memories but luckily he remembered her. with no one on his side, ichigo is left to only one choice, fight seiretei and look for rukia alone. a really must-see anime movie. it didnt even make me blink an eye. :D

The movie is rather worthwhile to watch. So I'm going to try not to spoil for anyone so you guys can watch it for yourselves. First of all, the story was mediocre. It didn't really contain the BANG! movie watchers would want to have and even seemed unworthy of the long wait for the subs to come out.

However, I loved the art. As always, Tite Kubo is a great artist, although his story might not be great, looking at the characters is always cool. The sound was not especially good, and I wouldn't say it was too bad either. I'd give it a fair really, ... if you ask me. I much rather the action scenes have more boom and bang but it was okay.

The characters were original... but I didn't really enjoy Homura, who was quite bitchy about everything. Shizuku was a great character though but he played a rather subtle role so it didn't really work out. I didn't particularly enjoy Dark Rukia though. The character progression was too fast, it was like they were trying to rush everything. That's one part of the movie that was really a letdown. They should have let Dark Rukia get more screen time. I think the movie was fairly enjoying, although I wouldn't say very. It was crafted such that it can be appreciated and watch a few times over but its not really the kind that you'd whip out when you're yearning for a great movie. Overall, I think the movie was quite good, thanks to the art, sound and enjoyment level, although the plot and character development still lacks in some areas.

But what can I say? Just watch the movie yourself and you'll understand what I mean.

Well what can I say for this movie.This is the 3rd Bleach movie.In the start of the movie there is something strange hapening in the Seiretei , then when Rukia comes to help she is being stolen.After that everybody forgets about her , unles Kurosaki Ichigo and Kon.From then on Ichigo and Kon face all of the people in the Seiretei.But as everybody doesnt know about Rukia , even she loses her memory as well but only when she starts to be a shinigami.

I am kind of surprised other recurring Bleach characters were not shown in this film. Regardless, i enjoyed this movie. Though its a filler movie, its got some interesting bits of information on certain Bleach characters. This movie was also the most destructive as the soul society gets destroyed.

The movies plot was not the most original but tolerable. Art wise it remains the same as the other Bleach movie though new angles can be noticed if you pay attention to detail. The soundtrack is possibly the best compared to the other Bleach movies, of course thats my own personal opinion/taste. If you are a ... Bleach fan then this movie is a nice side story and well worth your time.

Its worth a watch.

So Bleach, the good old Bleach, one of the most important Shonen series right now. Bleach Fade to Black is the third movie of the Bleach franchise being preceded by The Diamond Dust Rebellion and Memories of Nobody. First and before all, if you don't like the series then I doubt you will enjoy this movie.

Story: As a side story the story of this movie doesn't relate to the main story. By some odd reason Captain Mayuri is experimenting on something and somehow a white liquid appears and start freezing shinigamis. Meanwhile, Rukia Kuchiki who was in Soul Society at that time is impacted ... by a weapon and she loses all of her memories and all the people that know her also lost the memories of Rukia... Well, almost everyone, the only one that wasn't unaffected was Kon and some minutes later Ichigo. Ichigo embarks on a journey for discover what happened to Rukia. I'll put to the story a 6 out of 10.

Art: The same as the anime but it adapts pretty well on the events that happened to Soul Society. 7/10

Sound: The same seiyuus and same music but some new ones that really goes well with the movie. 7/10

Characters: well, again the same as the anime so you will see the impatient Ichigo, the mother caring Rukia, the cold Byakuya, etc. 6/10

Enjoyment: For being a movie based on a Shonen serie you will see alot of interesting battles. Even if you don't like Bleach, you cannot say that the fights are quite good and we can see characters that hardly appear on the manga or in the anime fight so thats a good point of its favor. 7/10

Overall: The story isn't that interesting but the enjoyment of watching Ichigo, Renji and others fight for save Soul Society and at the same time save Rukia's memories is what gives life to this movie. It isn't as interesting as the second or first movie but it holds great; although it is forgettable. The only thing I didn't like of this movie is how Ichigo over abused of his bankai (although he tends to do that in the main series) and that Ishida, Sado or Inoue didn't appear at all nor are mentioned. 7/10 is the overall for this movie. Good for watch and waste like two hours but not worth watching again.

Bleach Movie 3 Fade to Black is a movie where almost every character get amnesia forgetting about Rukia Kuchiki and since Ichigo's powers are still connected to her also about the main character. Thankfully Ichigo Kurosaki and Kon, a plush lion, remembered her thanks to a letter and go to Soul Society to safe her. Due to a crisis happening in the world of the shinigami that leads to a lot of misunderstandings with allies considering Ichigo as an enemy.
Basically the movie is about stopping the real badguys which are two siblings and rescue Rukia while also helping everyone to regain their memories.

Simple concept ... and a simple premise which sounds great. Rukia and Ichigo's relationship are some of the best things about Bleach and having allies being enemies now gives the opportunity to see some fights we didn't see in Soul Society arc that could have happened. That is pretty much the main appeal of the movie and before its release it was advertised who will Ichigo encounter and fight.

Sadly that is also the weakness of Fade to Black and what many prior Bleach movies suffered: too many characters. Of the main characters that Kubo usually like to push but not really only Ichigo and Rukia are involved. No Sado. No Ishida. No Inoue.
Even then the cast is still crowded with the directors wanting Ichigo to get some favorites as his allies back to safe Rukia such as Renji. But considering the movie has only a runtime of about 90 minutes, nothing really stays long enough to leave an impact.
There are a bunch of powers used. A bunch of Bankais released. Seiretei gets endangered by something big like in the previous movies. It is pretty much a mess, even if the animation and soundtrack are stellar.
Honestly fanservice itself is kinda a mixed bag since whenever the captains release bankai or Kenpachi removes his eyepatch, we will see a generic slaughter you have probably seen for the 3rd time if you are watching Bleach movies in order. Even down to the disrespect put on Soifon having her make an amateur mistake so someone saves her.

The enemies have the power to cut memories, bonds and a weird teleportation technique which might not be teleportation. It is weird and confusing. The memory cutting ability never plays a role in combat and while the final fight is entertaining to watch, it just doesn't stick even with the homage to episode 1 of the anime series.

Speaking of homages, there are a lot of nods to the first two Bleach arcs. We see also how Byakuya acts a bit different from his usual self we are used to and Rukia trying to figure out who she is.
Other characters aren't much different despite their memory loss.
The antagonists may be the weakest part of the movie. They are siblings who have a tragic past and have personal connection to Rukia, but they aren't very likeable. Especially the elder sister who is the only one calling the shots while the brother does what she says. He reasons sometimes but doesn't feel like he has any agency as a character himself.

Overall this movie like all Bleach movies can't reach its full potential. It can't decide if it wants to tell a compelling story or put a bunch of fan service to fill the much needed runtime that could be used to give the younger brother more agency. And the ending while being symbolic is very confusing in why it worked and if other characters couldn't have done the same thing if Ichigo just told them.

Perhaps my score of an 7 intrigues you? Because everyone else has pushed it to the side like you do your asparagus or brussell sprouts (if you like these, then please think of the vegetable you hate most)?

Honestly folks, were we really thinking this movie would be something other than fan service? Come on! It's so typical for shounen, especially long running shounen to mass produce pieces of work that highly resemble your Great Aunt Babette, the one who's always pinching your cheeks, or commenting on how big your...ahem. Well I'm sure you get the picture. It's meant to be a filler! I can't help ... but do this, but these movies are ranged in the area of the Naruto movies (which are by FAR the tackiest things I've ever witnessed). Although Bleach gets a certain amount of respect from me, in that it is much more mature than Naruto. Anywho, for the review.

Story: Seriously, there's not much there. It's all action and Ichigo screaming Rukia's name and fighting some kids who have a history with Rukia and managed to get into the Soul Society to cause some serious damage. Does this sound original to you? Didn't think so. Your probably wondering how these two white kids got into the Soul Society as well as why they waited until NOW to find Rukia and make them 'theirs forever.' Don't bother. This movie is here to serve the masses. Don't let this crush your soul! Welcome to the world of shounen.

Art:...um what's there to say? It's the same as the show (except for those despicable episodes they call the Bount arc (fillers, EW)!) I mean the characters all looked the same to me. Although I got to see Urahara without his hat on for an extended period of time and was highly pleased. Look, there's nothing special to it. And I'm not all into the art unless it WOWs me and this movie didn't wow me with anything special. It was just Bleach's look.

Sound: Okay so I was moved by the music. I take anime music very seriously and it's usually my deciding factor for just about anything. And I don't know what it was about this soundtrack but I was moved folks. Absolutely pleased. I was giddy with joy whenever I heard the music. It's dark and compelling. I believe it fit perfectly well with each scene the music was incorporated with. It's definitely what made me like this movie so much.

Character: None of the humans are here (Chad, Orihime (thank god), Uryu). It's all Shinigami, all the time. Large doses of Rukia, of course this movie is about her, Ichigo, Kon, Kisuke, Renji, Toushiro, Byakuya. We even have smaller doses of Rangiku, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Ukitake, Cherry blossom man (because I cannot for the LIFE of me ever remember his damn name!), Old man commander, ?Shuuhei? (hmmm...purple hair, black mark on face, resembles Ichigo), Mayuri, Yoruichi, Soi Fon, and Kenny of course (I laughed when he went berserk), and quite a few more. I mean, seriously. Can we say FAN SERVICE?

Enjoyment: I really enjoyed this. Haha I know sounds contradictory right? Well I knew what I was expecting when I went into the movie. Hell I even expected something a little less (more goopy mush if you really want to know) and was surprisingly delighted when I was given exactly what I wanted. Hinting at Ichigo and Rukia and a walloping 90 mins of action, a plot you have to read between the lines to find, and all of our favorite Bleach Shinigami.

So if your a Bleach fun SUCK IT UP and just watch the damn movie. Don't go in all "Oh my god, this one HAS to be better." Your gonna be disappointed folks.

It's all the same stuff. Same shit, different day.
Get over it and move on.

Review 23: Bleach Movie 3, Fade To Black.

Once again..... Another quick, funny action packed film to add to the collection that we've gathered so far.

In the begining of this film we see the freakest squad capitain Mayuri, losing his mind after the realisation of creating "an amazing" invention that will help the soul society.

Ok, ok he doesn't lose his mind that easily. But you have to pay attention as it happens quickly. Two mysterious people appear, one without a weapon and the other with a Scythe.

When hit with the scythe it makes you forget certain little parts of your memory which are important to ... the soul society and will help the mysterious duo take away what's more important to them and Ichigo.

The only reason these two mysterious villians are willing to destroy the soul society and all of its inhabitants is because of one person.

Rukia. Yes that's right our beloved side kick who's finally regained most of her powers is kidnapped by these two mysterious people. But before she's kidnapped she's hit with the scythe..... This is what sets the rest of the film up.

Every one forgets Rukia, and soon Ichigo to. This sets up the scene, storyline and atmosphere for the rest of the film as Ichigo has to force Everyone to remember him and Rukia...... Which you will all find out how it goes when you see the film.

All the way through the film there are epic twists, realistic flash backs that fit in with the original episodes and amazing fighting scenes all the way through.

The film is amazing through out and is amazing through out all of the action. its yet again must see film by the creators of Bleach and deserves to be living constantly on the shelves of hmv but is available to order online.

Saturday 2nd March 2013. 9:18 pm. ~AmyXxx

I honestly don't know what I was expected with this movie, but I was highly disappointed nonetheless. Fade to Black was actually highly boring to me. Now, I don't know if it's because I watched The DiamondDust Rebellion right before I watched this one but I can honestly say that this movie wasn't entertaining at at all. To be honest, the storyline didn't really make any sense.

Now I don't want to get into any spoilers for the movie because that's not allowed, but the ending was terrible (along with the rest of it). The explanation for why the bad guy(s) of film did what ... they did honestly made no sense to me. Their entire motivation was actually kind of stupid.

I really want to know who though this (filler) movie was actually a good idea. I fully stand by the 3 that I gave this movie. Now if you want to watch this, go right ahead. I won't stop you. But I really wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

Maybe it's just from hollywood dragging standards down, but I'm shocked this movie understands making people forget about someone doesn't erase physical records. They even have things tied to Rukia forgotten, like Renji's bankai. It's a nice touch. The soul reapers are dumbasses though, so it's accurate to the show. It's like the soul society arc. The only one with any intelligence is Byakuya, because he unlocked his brain after the soul society arc.

The fight at the end is paced well, you can tell what's going on, as opposed to The Diamond Dust Rebellion that kind of became a mess toward the end. Overall I'd ... say Fade to Black is the best bleach movie. Also as far as certain plot holes people have mentioned, they should rewatch the ending where certain powers are explained. I'm not going to put spoilers in the review, but it's outright stated in the movie, and shown.

Oh Bleach, if there isnt any other way to describe this movie then thats where I will leave it at.

I feel like this movie is something we have already seen before in the series just happening to different characters. In other words, its more of a repeat.

Let me break it down;
-Memories of people from her past, Rukia loses her memories because of some people from her past.
-Ichigo like always, must find a way to save this person while they deal with the ghosts from said past.
-All the captains unite and try and save Seiretei.
-The present is restored and everyone is happy again.

The End.

As this movies storyline is very much centred around Ichigo's and Rukia's bond I found this to be a very enjoyable watch. The animation is very good and the characters that are included in this one are all worth their contribution. The best of the four movies in my opinion because of it's basis. A recommended watch if you were a fan of the series and especially if you were interested in the two main characters, Ichigo and Rukia, relationship. An interesting plot and overall worthy watch. Out of the four movies it's plot and concentration in the connection of Ichigo and Rukia share is ... it's strength in my opinion and what made it the best of the four.

First of all, this follows the standard Bleach movie rapsheet. Massive conspiracy/major problems happen in Soul Society, things are fine in the Human world. Ichigo goes to Soul Society to help clean up mess, so on and so forth.

If you have seen Bleach: Diamond Dust Rebellion, it is essentially the same thing except different characters.

I can't explain my problems with the movie as to, I would be spoiling.

All in all, I enjoy the artwork and the music. I like the characters that Tite Kubo has created.

The storyline is essentially a filler story-arc summed up in an hour/half, like the other anime movies out there.

I'm not ... saying, "Don't go see this movie", nor am I saying, "Go watch it nao, it is teh greatest anime movie evar." Go watch it if you're bored, and you have nothing else to do.

Another year, another tired Bleach movie. I have to say, after the Second outing I was hoping that the Bleach films would continue to improve, but unfortunately the third film falters again, and while it has it's fair share of enjoyable material, it's just not as fun as it should be.
Normally in a review I'd start by talking about the story, but god knows if the story to this one makes sense. There's some kids that are...I dunno, something like Bleach's version of the Nobodies from Kingdom Hearts, and they steal Rukia's heart and memories, and make everyone forget ... her because...god, I dunno. Anyway, it makes everyone forget her and Ichigo, so Ichigo tries to save her but because no one remembers him he has to fight a bunch of people all over again just like the Soul Society arc, only about a thousand times more lame. And then Rukia starts to become a hollow or something...I really don't know. The story in this one is an absolute mess, and while I know it's supposed to an excuse to have cool fight scenes, I just couldn't care because I was trying to make sense of this absurdly convoluted storyline. I can deal with convolution to a point(hell, I loves me some Square-Enix games' storylines, and those are about as convoluted as you can get), but this one was just unbearable. The art and sound were okay, and the fights were above average, but I really couldn't say I'd recommend this one for anyone that's not a hardcore Bleach fan. If you want some okay action, go for it, but if you're looking for a satisfying story then look elsewhere.

So, Bleach Fade to Black... the fighting was good, the storyline flowed nicely, the animation was as expected but it seemed to be lacking the greatness you'd expect of a movie from this series. Perhaps it's because they're trying to pump out as many Bleach related side stories as possible.. who knows... the best part about it was Kenpachi Zaraki's unleashing of wildness.. I wasn't awed..

Fade to Black is essentially DiamondDust Rebellion all over again. Does that mean it’s worse? Better? Which is it?

Both.

Fade to Black is executed much better than DiamondDust, and feels more engaging from a narrative structure point of view, but the concept is much weaker.

We are once again introduced to a MacGuffin. It is an apparently dangerous creation of Mayuri’s and the villains steal it. Why is it dangerous? I don’t know. What does it do? I have no idea. I don’t even think it’s ever given an actual name in the movie, which makes calling it a MacGuffin somehow even more appropriate. Alas, the main ... reason for me calling it that is because it seems to just, uh, do whatever the plot needs it to do at any given time. You wanna attach it to yourself and make yourself stronger? Sure. You wanna use it to do the Dragon Ball Fusion Dance? Go ahead. You wanna put it in this other nondescript contraption and bring about the apocalypse? Why not? It can do fucking anything.

Accordingly, we once again receive an apocryphal backstory for a beloved character. This time it was Rukia, however, and that’s where the problems start. Toushiro is a sidecharacter with no backstory to speak of. As such, giving him one doesn’t feel grating. Rukia, on the other hand, by virtue of being the literal deuteragonist of the franchise, has backstory coming out of her ass. I at no point thought to myself: “Man, of all the Bleach cast, you know whose past I’d like to know more about? Rukia’s! Tell you hwhat, the main series sure did leave me wanting.” Whom does this serve? Who asked for this?

She did not need any more previously-unknown backstory to be revealed in a surprising twist that doesn’t make any sense. Honestly, it just comes off as unnecessary fat. Besides, even if it didn’t serve to convolute Rukia’s origin story, the timeline doesn’t add up. The canonical information we have about Rukia’s past growing up in the Rukongai leaves no opportunity for the events suggested by the movie to take place.

Regardless, the movie effectively begins with the villains erasing Rukia from everyone’s memories. Cue drama.

I will reiterate that even though the concept of Fade to Black is weaker, the execution is much better. At the very minimum, we are given a good reason for Ichigo to be the protagonist – not a great reason, mind you, but a good one. Due to his spiritual connection to Rukia, what with his powers coming from her, he is the only one who is able to eventually remember her existence.

This is neither here, nor there, but I got the distinct impression that, at this point in the Bleach story, Pierrot did not yet know Kubo intended to ultimately make Ichigo hook up with Orihime, so they were laboring under the delusion that Orange Naruto would eventually end up with Rukia. A lot of scenes in this movie felt as though they were ever so subtly laying the foundations for that.

Naturally, the plot once again revolves around manufacturing conflict between Ichigo and the Soul Society, except that rather than a vague rip-off of the Rukia rescue arc, given that we’re actually trying to rescue Rukia this time, it’s explicitly the same arc all over again. The crux of the conflict is that everyone in SS has also forgotten who Ichigo is and once again call him “ryoka”. I was mildly entertained by the concept of him trying to make these people, who are his friends and allies, remember who he is. Even more engaging was watching the Soul Reapers themselves cope with the inconsistencies in their memories.

Update on the Supreme Commander: Still useless? Yes. Still creating pointless friction just to be an asshole? Yes. Funnily enough, upon being informed that Ichigo received his powers from another Soul Reaper sharing hers with him, he immediately exclaimed that such a transgression constitutes a capital crime. I burst out laughing at that point. Oh, yes, please, by all means, let us dredge up that old drama all over again. I’m on pins and needles.

Your enjoyment of Fade to Black will be largely contingent of how you feel about amnesia (and the like) being used as a plot device. If you like it, you will have a good time. If you don’t, you won’t.

Speaking of memories, though, take this as a public service announcement. If you are an action story writer, you might be tempted to write a big climactic fight between your protagonist and one of their friends or loved ones. The reason said friend or loved one is fighting the MC can be anything from amnesia, to magical corruption, to mind control, to any other some such contrivance. If you then make the entire fight boil down to the protagonist not actually fighting back, because they don’t want to hurt this person, so your main character is just on the defensive the whole time periodically saying lines like “Remember who you are! Wake up! This isn’t you! You’re better than this! Come back to your senses! Fight it! Resist it! Remember [insert piece of backstory trivia here]!”, then stop. Just stop right now. Get some help. Put down the pen and go get a day job, because this gig isn’t for you.

As a not-at-all insignificant aside, something that was somewhat of a minor cosmetic problem in Memories of Nobody, becomes full-blown kink wish-fulfillment in Fade to Black. The main threat the villains pose to the Soul Society is by way of using some gizmo to activate a doo-hickey that makes mountainous amounts of uncontrolled spiritual energy run amok in Seireitei. Now, that part is... fine. The problem is that this wild spiritual energy takes the form of giant snakes made up of white goo, which break, crash, and splash all over the place covering everything and everyone in white goo... It looks like... Ok, come on, bro, you know exactly what it looks like. We’ve all seen enough hentai to know exactly how that sort of thing is animated, and this is just... fucking identical.

It looks so much like cum, I refuse to believe it’s mere coincidence. Pierrot tried to be funny and get away with something cheeky here. During the second act, you get to see the aftermath of the initial outburst. There are loads of smatterings of puddles and ropes of hardened white goo all over the rooftops and walls and shit. It is such an insanely evocative image, that I am almost convinced that one of the animators literally jerked off on a table or a wall, and unironically used that visual as a basis for the background art. I’d be willing to bet money on it. There’s just no way. I mean, get real, the snakes don’t even look like snakes anymore during the 3rd act. They straight up look like gross dickheads – I’m not joking – and they spit out white goo... The honest-to-God climax (no pun intended) of the movie is the main cast literally fighting against giant dicks shooting cum!

This isn’t my fault! Miss me with the projection shit. I’m not taking responsibility for this. My mind is not in the gutter. Studio Pierrot are just a bunch of degenerates.

One of the villains also annoyed me something fierce. I’m talking about the kind of villain who has every expectation to get their way, and acts incredibly callous when it comes to causing death and suffering to others, but otherwise behaves in the most genuinely cutesy and innocent way imaginable. The moment, the second anything even remotely threatens their peace and happiness, they will instantly drop to their knees and cry tears of deep personal tragedy, as though they’re the victims of some great injustice. It calls to mind the image of a petulant old child. The most recent example of a similar villain that I can think of off the top of my head is Jack the Ripper from Fate/Apocrypha.

In all fairness, villains like these can be used to great effect for an extremely cathartic pay-off moment when they get righteous comeuppance for their extreme levels of hypocrisy and for the pain they’ve caused others. Where this type of villain loses me is when the narrative expects me to sympathize with them. Fade to Black not only presents them as pitiable and sympathetic, but goes a step further and even grants its villains undeserved redemption at the end. “Oh, they’re just kids who didn’t know any better!” It’s your fucking job to know better before you start a genocide.

Easily my favorite part of the movie was the fact that, for the first time since his introduction and character arc resolution in episodes 6 and 7, Kon is given something to do. For some reason that is never explained, he is the only one who retained his memories of Rukia and never lost them, not even temporarily. Why? How? Couldn’t tell you. This is straight up just a plot conceit. The fact that he is a mod soul does not satisfactorily explain anything, because Ururu and Jinta, the 2 kids from Urahara’s shop, who are also mod souls, forgot about Rukia and Ichigo just like everybody else.

Kon doesn’t play a huge part in the plot, but he sticks around for the duration of the film as a mascot. I enjoyed that. He’s a fun character to spend time with.

All in all, I am hard-pressed to say that there’s any reason for anyone but the most hardcore Bleach fans to watch Fade to Black. It won’t add anything to your enjoyment of the setting or its characters. Rukia’s extra backstory doesn’t change or enrich her in any way, just adds convolution, and the final fight between Ichigo and the main antagonist is probably the most pathetic, most disappointing display of a superpowered battle I’ve ever seen.