Story: Now we all know that the Naruto movies don't deliver anything special, (i'm using Naruto to compare because of the similarities to Bleach.) I think in contrast this movies overall plot was a bit better than what i've seen before, so i'll give it that. However the story didn't really provide a great deal of depth or something that really surprised me so i'll call it average. This isn't really a bad thing though, there's a good deal of enjoyment to be found here asuming you actually LIKE the show itself. The movie does a good job at giving characters that we don't normally see alot a small little time to shine, without feeling completely shoehorned in. The plot focuses in on Toshiro Hitsugaya, in my opinion one of the show's stronger characters, and delivers a decent telling of a portion of his past. It did some unique things and had some nice flashbacks with cute moments involving Ichigo's past as well, but like I said if you're looking for a very deep and complex story you won't really find it here. There were quite a few times my friend and I were able to predict the plot fairly easily.
Animation: I will admit the animation is one of the movies highlights despite the show's animations being just sub-par. The environment especially I think looked fantastic for a movie released in 2007. The overall vibe was very grim and Bleek and felt like a gloomy monday. There were some great looking nighttime sequences in the Soul Society and flashbacks with the sunset over a lake that looked gorgeous. The character animations looked great as well, looking very lively and their movements being very fluent and full. The animation did a very good job making karakura town very detailed and lush during parts in the forrest. Overall I'm very happy with the animation from the movie it surpassed my expectations by alot.
Sound: The sound quality is what you would expect, everything sounds as it should from the show and everything's crisp and clean. The Movie included some OST's from the show which were nice to hear in a few scenes, and the soundtrack from the movie exclusively was nice too, it fit the overall vibe well. The movie's soundtrack did what it had to do and i'd have no problem downloading it to my phone and listening to it on the regular so rest assured.
Characters: Now as I mentioned before the movie did a good job and including alot of the characters like the Lieutenants that normally don't get much screen time and giving them a reason to be there. Not for EVERY character here, but with most that's the case. The main antagonist was average nothing really stood out about his character design or his power, but what I do like is his past connection to captain Hitsugaya and while his power isn't UNIQUE, it's kinda cool to see him having something like that...without spoiling it i'm saying this of course. There were two other villians but for the most part they weren't really relevant they were just kinda there. I like what the story did with Toshiro, giving him a bit of a rebellious side which was nice to see. And how Ichigo had a connection with Toshiro as well.
All that said I think there's plenty of enjoyment to be found here. The movie is far from perfect and it's not the greatest anime movie out but if you're a fan of the series I think you'll agree that it's a good installment of the series with the exception that it's not canon of course. There were plenty of moments that surprised me a little or made me laugh and watching all the members of the Soul Society fight is always fun to see. The story may be average but it's easy to overlook that when you're given beautiful animation and some well delivered action sequences. Giving the movie an 8 may be a little too generous, but nonetheless I enjoyed the movie just the same. As I said if you're a fan of Bleach you'll find enjoyment plenty here. If you're not this probably isn't going to change your mind but perhaps you'll like it anyway who's to say.
If you agree with my review or found it helpful give it a thumbs up! Thanks (:
