So I got to see the Bleach live action’s U.S. premiere at Japan Society last night, and I honestly e
So I got to see the Bleach live action’s U.S. premiere at Japan Society last night, and I honestly enjoyed the movie so much. The audience was audibly enthusiastic in cheering for Ichigo and Chad, laughing for Isshin and Rukia, and gasping for Ishida. Director Shinsuke Sato, who attended for a Q&A and apparently observed the crowd from the back, remarked that we reacted as much as he’d hoped we would. I’m not going to write a play-by-play here because I really don’t want to spoil the movie’s freshness for those who eventually see it, but here are my general impressions (admittedly, a lot of this is about Ichigo and Rukia):The action, CGI, and special effects were great and as ideal as I could’ve hoped for. Rukia’s kidō binding spell, the Hollows, the juxtaposition shots of what normal civilians would see versus those with reiatsu…all satisfying. I kept contrasting the movie’s style with that of DC films. During DC movies, the saturated palettes and excess of green screen tend to make me feel visually exhausted or too emotionally detached from the fight scenes. Thankfully, the Bleach live action didn’t have an overabundance of CGI, but rather, felt grounded in the real world with splashes of the paranormal and otherworldly making you more curious and hopeful for a sequel (Director Sato said he was interested, though box office concerns might cut him off there).Appreciated the careful selection of props. Rukia’s Denreishinki resembles not a cell phone as in the manga/anime, but instead, a high-tech Tamagotchi gadget in the movie. Loved Hana Sugisaki as Rukia. Initially, I was concerned because while I like Hana in her interviews, I didn’t care for her Rin Asano character in Blade of the Immortal and doubted how well she would do in action scenes against Sota Fukushi, who was very much her swordplay superior in Blade of the Immortal. Here however, I loved watching Hana’s choreography in the training Ichigo scenes, and I hope she does more action roles. Sota Fukushi fittingly captures Ichigo’s inexperienced fighting style and tenacity (lots of audience laughter and even a small smile from Byakuya for how Ichigo just keeps trying to get up in the climax fight). Admittedly though, I preferred seeing Sota’s action scenes in Blade of the Immortal. Granted, Ichigo’s sword style is supposed to be unrefined/in development at this point and the fight against Renji and Byakuya is supposed to be an Ichigo smackdown, but you don’t quite get the sense that this movie Ichigo has had martial arts training since childhood (probably cause there’s no relationship with Tatsuki here to convey that). By the movie’s conclusion, Ichigo’s fighting style still predominantly appears as wild hacking and slashing whereas for example, Star Wars’ Force Awakens had a more memorable climax fight between lightsaber beginners Finn and Rey versus Kylo Ren.Ichigo and Rukia (totally will admit that I’m biased for these two, but if you like the pairing, I’m predicting your heart will be as full of squee! as mine was):I read somewhere that someone involved in the movie described Rukia as a maternal figure for Ichigo. Certainly, there’s a lot of thematic mirroring about Ichigo’s trauma over not protecting his mother and what he sees as his failure to protect Rukia. The movie also teases however that everyone else thinks Ichigo and Rukia are secretly dating or too emotionally involved with each other. Renji tells Rukia, “I think I killed your boyfriend,” and Byakuya lectures her that “a human and a reaper shouldn’t get emotionally involved.”Curiously, Renji mentions that both he and Rukia were adopted into the Kuchiki clan. Either a mistranslated subtitle, or a tweak to ease explanation of character relationships.My favorite moment was when Rukia, sitting in Ichigo’s closet, questions, “Is a familial bond so valuable?” and shares that she has no parents. Meanwhile, Ichigo’s lying on his bed, critiquing the soul reaper code for seeming so restrictive, and tells her, “You could stay here. I can be your friend.” She dismisses the idea, but thanks him nonetheless for how the idea made her feel happy. The movie really conveys that following the soul reaper rules is the dominant purpose in Rukia’s life and that she’s lacking emotional connections, but she keeps refusing to kill Ichigo and take back her powers because she’s found an emotional connection in Ichigo.During the Q&A, an audience member compared Bleach to a fairy tale, saying that she viewed Rukia as renouncing love to save Ichigo.The director then responded that for him, the essence was the boy meets girl story of how this woman and young man struggle and have to part ways. Thoughts on other characters:Chad: Huge cheers when he saved his classmates from a giant chunk of debris. The hints of him and Orihime starting to detect the spiritual disturbances are quite exciting in how they imply the budding of an awesome future team. Isshin: Toned down from the manga/anime, but still hilarious and a perfect familial anchor for the movie.Orihime: The constraints of Orihime’s role during this arc didn’t give Erina Mano much to work with, but a brief exchange with Urahara and her smile to Ichigo at the end convey that she starts to see Ichigo as more than just the guy at the center of gossip/rumors.Tatsuki: Her character is basically just Orihime’s friend here. Miss her manga personality.Urahara: Kinda wish that the movie added a black cat’s presence by his side. -- source link
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