Bleach Movie 4: The Hell Verse

By: Robert Murphy

We open the movie on one of my favorite fights from the entire Bleach series as Ichigo has lost control of his inner hollow in his fight with Ulquiorra and completely over powers him in every way. But those who were there weren’t the only ones who witnessed the fight and Ichigo’s devastating power in that fight, no others were watching and this leads us to Bleach Movie 4: The Hell Verse. We now find ourselves in Karakura and Ichigo is enjoying some down time but we all know that it won’t last and we’d be right as he’s attack by robbed figures with unusual reishi. These characters are the Unforgiven and we soon find out that they are from the plains of Hell and want the power that is bubbling right under the surface of Ichigo.

At first glance, I saw everything that I would love about a Bleach movie, especially with the appearance of Ichigo’s hollow form once again which makes for some incredible action. Now for those of you who haven’t caught up to the Aizen saga of the show you may be a little lost with what’s going on with Ichigo as well as his power increase and his new appearance so this may not be a movie you can follow easily. The story follows Ichigo as he travels to the Hell Verse in order to save his sister, seems like he’s always saving some damsel in distress but this time it’s different because it’s his family and I wouldn’t want to mess with Ichigo’s family. The story also digs further into just how scary it is for Ichigo at times to use his powers because they can get out of hand and Ichigo cannot control himself once the hollow side takes over.

We also get the introduction of a new interesting character who appears whn the first Unforgiven appear but he helps Ichigo fight them back. His name is Kokuto and from the way he talks you wouldn’t think that he should have been banished to Hell for eternal punishment. He was in fact banished there for defending his sister’s murder and taking revenge against him for taking her away from him. This is all well and good but you can tell there is more to it than what he is saying and as for being a character we just met he immediately stands out.

Sadly, I feel the movie goes down from here, we see Ichigo unleash his inner hollow yes, interesting new characters and appealing story all over with the introduction of the Hell Verse but it sours from there. We already get enough of Ichigo’s bellyaching during the show about how dangerous his powers are and how hard it is to control them at times, we don’t need a whole movie about it. Then there’s the fact that somehow “Hell” as an entity chooses to be on Ichigo’s side at the end of the movie, transforming him and allowing him to beat his enemy and save his sister in the end. It will have you sitting there and asking yourself “what the hell just happened” it really made no earthly sense to it.

In conclusion, Bleach: The Hell Verse doesn’t really stand out as a movie which is upsetting because it boasted so much promise. We do see some incredible fight scenes especially from Ichigo’s inner hollow, who always is a great sight to see on screen as it destroys just about everything in its path. Then we have Kokuto who was an interesting character right off the bat and made for the only other strong attribute to the story. If it wasn’t for the way the movie ended it would have been a much more appealing addition to the Bleach universe.

Good:

- Hollow Ichigo causing large scale devastation

- Kokuto was is a stellar character

- The Hell Verse and the overall story was very appealing

Bad:

- A horrible and disappointing ending

- Ichigo gains a new form that defied logic and explanation

Scully Rating: 7.0 out of 10