First off, as a quick and painless summary, I must say that this movie does not in any way measure up to the quality of the first. By the end, I can honestly say I was bored. View a breakdown of the various subsections below.
The plot was not overly interesting. I, being a rather strict advocate of manga canon, was not overly enthused by "One zanpakutou, two owners" idea. In the movie's defense, however, I appreciated their portrayal of the Central 46 as strict and unwavering in their ideology. There were plot holes, as well as various cliched themes which recur commonly in anime, which would not have required that much effort or good writing to fix.
Ichigo going to Soul Society to fix all their problems for them is a theme which has been much overdone by this point, and frankly, is no longer interesting.
The animation was very underdone. At several points during it I found myself saying aloud, "Is this not a movie?" Let alone other animes, Bleach itself has had better animation during certain episodes. A large portion of the movie had standard "Bleach filler" animation quality. Even the more high budget scenes could have been better.
Why does Yoruichi pop into Soul Society whenever she feels like it?
Character stereotypes were whored to the point of being annoying. Yamamoto was a thick-headed idiot until the truth had clearly come to light. Soi Fon was still a Yoruichi fan girl who seemed to enjoy ripping off her robes every time something provoked her slightly. Hitsugaya was cold and unfriendly. Ichigo yelling at people solved all their problems once again. Ikkaku would NOT use bankai in that situation. And of course, the enemy is ridiculously powerful by some unknown means or by very little effort.
I did not particularly enjoy this movie. Compared to Memories of Nobody, I would consider it a near write-off. Memories of Nobody had a solid story, a worthy enemy, and emotional connection, all of which were simply absent in DiamondDust Rebellion.
Fade to Black, I shall hope you don't disappoint me.
