Live-Action 'Bleach' Is a Delightful Surprise

I didn’t have high hopes for the Bleach live-action movie.  First, the manga’s messy end almost erased my love for the property to the point that I no longer felt any excitement for its new product.  Second, live-action anime adaptations never had a good batting average.  Odds indicated that it was going to be either mediocre or atrocious.

To my delighted surprise, it turned out being great.  At the very least, it’s at the same level as the first Assassination Classroom live-action movie.  But at its peak, I even felt it could be somewhat comparable to the Ruruoni Kenshin  live-action movies.

The film basically crams to itself the plot of the first season of the anime series.  Thus, depth is almost non-existent and several characters are not that well fleshed out, as the narrative tends to jump from one plot point into the next rather quickly.  It also somewhat cheats with its storytelling by expecting the audience’s familiarity with the source material to fill up the blanks for them.  Still, all things considered, the story is generally coherent and enjoyable.

In addition, it’s nice for it to revisit the romantic undertones between Ichigo and Rukia (I’m still salty that they didn’t end up together at the end of the Bleach manga).

I don’t know how the movie fares when watched in a theater, but it looks really good in home media.  The costumes are spot on, and the CGI is pleasingly decent most of the time.

Meanwhile, the casting is fantastic.  Not only were the actors believable live-action representations of the respective characters they were playing, but they also embodied the personalities quite effectively.

My only nit to pick is with the actor for Renji Abarai.  In my opinion, he went a tad overboard in projecting the character’s hooligan-ish attitude, and he looks somewhat ugly for the part.  However, he (or his stunt double) did make up for these with his impressive swordsmanship.

Which brings me to the action – it’s.  So.  Kickass!  There are times when it gets shaky and dense, but never does it become hard to follow.  The swordfights are particularly eye-popping, especially the duel between Ichigo and Renji.

Lastly, I would have loved it more if the movie just copied the anime’s awesome soundtrack, but its OST is nonetheless dope.

Truly, live-action Bleach is a must-see.  It’s imperfect, no doubt, but it’s an exhilarating watch overall.  In the end, it will go down as one of the greatest anime live-action adaptations of all time – maybe only second to the Rurouni Kenshin live-action movies.

Postscript:

The movie ends in a manner that makes the possibility of a sequel open but ultimately optional.

I’m split about it.  On one hand, it’s a cop-out of an ending.  I think it would have been more emotionally resonating if it ended in the same way the anime had wrapped that chapter up.  But that would have made a sequel imperative.

On the other hand, I’m not sure I would approve of a sequel.  Yes, the filmmakers succeeded in making a worthwhile live-action adaptation of Bleach this time around.  But if there’s going to be a follow-up, the most probable source material would be the Soul Society Arc – hands down, one of the greatest arcs in anime ever.  And I don’t think a live-action adaptation will ever do its epicness justice.

Maybe the filmmakers should quit while they’re ahead?  Still, I would be glad to be proven wrong about this.