Bleach: The Diamond Dust Rebellion

By Zach Goodier

In this feature-length movie, a valuable artifact belonging to the Soul Society's royal family is stolen in transit in the world of the living.  Captain Hitsuguya of squad 10, along with the unit he was leading to oversee transit of the "Royal Jewel," pursues the culprits in an attempt to get it back.  However, he goes off without orders, and he is assumed to have defected to the enemy, especially when it is discovered the one who stole the jewel is someone from Hitsuguya's past.  Ichigo ends up stumbling into the middle, and is forced to decide who to trust, and how to resolve this conflict.

Toshiro is essentially at the center of this movie, so whether or love him or hate him, he's getting the center stage in this one.

The main weakness that many features based off of a long-running series is that they have to create original stories, and that risks deviating from the style that the viewers are used to.  This is certainly a case of some deviation occurring from the standard Bleach formula in some ways, but in others it very much sticks to the style we have grown accustomed to. 

First, we start out simple enough, and of course once the attack occurs and the jewel is stolen we are left wondering about the identity of the culprits, and just what they're after.  Ichigo ends up being dragged into the middle of the fight as he almost always is with the affairs of Soul Reapers.  We build up to the final battle, with bankai and all the fast-paced action we'd expect, then the conflict is resolved.  Simple, right? Well, we rarely watch action shows for the plot, but Bleach has always managed to have a decent plot.  Our villain has a sob story, that does make you feel sorry for him, and it does add some righteousness to his cause.  However, we all know that he has to be stopped, so it does certainly add some depth and complexity to the story, and it does make you feel more invested in the plot. 

Our villain. Obviously working the whole "dark and mysterious" angle.

While the characters are important, they are almost all taken from the series.  The only minions are the female arrancars that more or less just take up space and allow for some extra action.  They don't have a lot going on, but they do make for some decent entertainment.  Our nemesis is much more thought out, however.  His story is rather intriguing, and he ties into the story nicely.  However, he still feels somewhat tossed in, and his while he adds some dimension to the Bleach universe in some interesting ways, he doesn't leave a lasting impression as a character.

Ladies please, I haven't even shown you my good side yet.

Overall, this movie is a decent entry into the Bleach franchise.  It sticks to what Bleach has always done: provide a fast-paced, action movie, that also provides some depth of story and character.  While this may not be the most inspired movie, it certainly sticks to the tried and true formula that Bleach goes for, and it does it well.  If you like the franchise, then this one should be an enjoyable movie for you.  If you don't like the franchise, then you probably won't like this one. 

Good:

-Fast-paced action that you expect from the franchise.

-Some decent story with one solid additional character to the existing lineup.

-Adds some interesting lore to the franchise, even if it doesn't come into play in the main story.

Bad:

-As one generally expects from original animation of an established series, this just feels like a "cut and paste" of what was done in the series.  It sticks to what's worked, but it does keep things from feeling entirely fresh in terms of style.


Scully Rating: 8 out of 10