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Thursday, September 20, 2018

Sheep Movie Review: Bleach (2018)

Bleach (2018)
Initial release: July 20, 2018 (Japan)
Netflix release: Sept 14
Director: Shinsuke Sato
Writers: Tite Kubo (manga), Daisuke Habara (screenplay)
Stars: Miya
vi, Hana Sugisaki, Sôta Fukushi 

Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Adapted from: Bleach
Genres: Adventure fiction, Occult Fiction
Ichigo Kurosaki is a High School student, living in Karakura town. He is able to see ghosts, as well as hollows. Later, he meets up with Rukia Kuchiki, a Death God or Soul Reaper (Shinigami in Japanese). Later, he finds out that he himself is a Soul Reaper as well. Ichigo Kurosaki, now with the power of a Soul Reaper, is able to protect Karakura town from hollows.


For those who don't know, Bleach is a Shōnen manga (teenage boy demographic) written and illustrated by Tite Kubo that started in 2001. There are currently 696 chapters collected into 74 volumes. It is the ninth best-selling manga of all time.

Bleach is about Ichigo Kurosaki, a high schooler, who can see ghosts. His ability lets him see Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper (Grim Reaper, Shinigami). She gets wounded fighting a Hollow (vengeful spirit) and must transfer her Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo to save them both. This leaves him with powers he doesn't know how to use and her in a human body. The new live-action movie is about how this happens and the repercussions for Ichigo, Rukia and a couple of others drawn into the story.
Ichigo and Rukia

Before watching the live-action Bleach movie, I knew nothing about the manga. I've seen it around, it is pretty iconic in the manga world and the characters are popular with cosplayers. So I went into this with zero expectations, except to see some awesome fantasy action. I enjoy live-action adaptations of manga/anime and love the Japanese film-making style. It can be a hit or miss, but Tokyo Ghoul live-action blew me away. Avatar: The Last Airbender...WTF?
 Ichigo from the manga
Ichigo, Rukia, and others from the anime


Bleach didn't have the killer special effects like Tokyo Ghoul, but it made up for its lack of CGI budget by focusing on the emotional side of the story. The connections between the characters and with the moviegoer.

Ichigo as a Soul Reaper. Rukia as a Soul Reaper vs human form

I should mention the movie is in Japanese with subtitles. Some people don't like subtitles.

I enjoyed the movie. There is a balance between the humor and the darker moments. I had no problem picking up on the world building mythos. So if you aren't familiar with the manga, you will have no problem understanding what's going on. There are cool weapons and sword fights. My favorite is the spirit-weapon used by the Quincy (humans that fight Hollows), a magical bow.

4 "Zanpakutou-wielding " Sheep 





SharonS

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