Customer Reviews

Bleach Movie 1: Memories of Nobody

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Many anime movies based on a TV series are basically like extremely long episodes, though often with with better animation and music.

And such is the case with the first movie based on the hit anime series, "Bleach: Memories of Nobody." It's not a perfect movie adaptation -- several regulars are reduced to brief cameos -- but it is graced with some extremely solid action sequences, lovely animation, a solid mix of comedy and tragedy, and a nice little storyline for the perpetually stressed-out Ichigo.

After disposing of a Hollow, Ichigo and Rukia encounter puffy creatures with pointed red heads. When the things start getting pushy, a strange Shinigami girl named Senna appears and wipes many of them out.

Turns out these things are Blank (amnesiac) souls from the Valley of Screams in the Severed World, and the only way to get rid of 'em is to find the Memory Rosary, a being that contains all their memories. As Ichigo struggles to keep an eye on the flighty Senna, he is charged with finding the Memory Rosary and protecting it from the mysterious man who is leading the Blanks.

Guess who the Memory Rosary is. I'll give you a hint: it's someone not in the regular cast.

Anyway, a bunch of Soul Reapers are dispatched to bring the Memory Rosary back with them, only to have her snatched away by a strange man named Ganryu, who has a grudge against the Soul Reapers. Ichigo and Rukia discover the portal into the Severed World -- but there's only an hour before the worlds of the living and the dead collide, with devastating results. And even with the help of all his Soul Reaper friends, Ichigo may not be able to prevail...

Anyone not familiar with Tite Kubo's "Bleach" series will probably be utterly lost during "Memories of Nobody," especially given the vast cast of Good Guys who show up without introduction. The entire movie plays out like a very long anime filler episode, but with a lot more new characters, villains, and introducing an entire dimension between the Soul Society and the living world. And an accidental Ichigo-Kon kiss.

Fortunately "Memories of Nobody" does a good job preserving the flavor of the "Bleach" anime series. It starts off rather lightweight and a bit talk-heavy until Ganryu decides to show himself, leading into a clash between the Soul Reapers and his nasty little minions. Those rapid-fire battles are astounding -- quick, lethal and full of special powers (including Ichigo riding on Renji's zanpakuto). And the climax is simply spectacular -- a bloody savage duel between Ganryu and Ichigo on a vast leafless tree, even as the Severed World starts falling apart.

And the writers strike a good balance in "Memories of Nobody" -- we have acrobatic battles, flashy powers, a bit of Hollow-slaying, and some poignant moments for Ichigo and Senna. Fortunately amid all this serious stuff, there's some humor as well -- including a running gag about ambulance crews trying to resuscitate Ichigo's soulless body, which he has a bad habit of simply dropping any old place. I've always wanted to see that happen.

Even the animation has been souped-up here. It's a little more detailed and defined than animation for a weekly TV show, and there are some lovely visuals -- sprays of maple leaves, the nighttime lights of Karakura, and the explosive battles between Soul Reapers. And the soundtrack -- particularly the violin solo -- is simply lovely.

The characterization is one weak spot, though. Most of the main cast -- including Uryu, Chad, Orihime and all of Urahara's little gang -- are reduced to standing on a bridge waiting for Ichigo to come back. And somehow Ganryu is never quite compelling -- we never find out why he was exiled, or what motivations he has beyond wanting revenge on the Soul Society.

But this is a well-written story for Ichigo Kurosaki, -- his gruff, slightly awkward personality is captured beautifully, as well as his iron-clad determination to protect anybody he's become fond of. Senna is a character so completely flaky that she makes Orihime look like Eeyore, but she does manage to be likable and good-hearted despite that.

"Bleach: Memories of Nobody" is not quite as good as it could have been, but it's a solid adventure for Ichigo and his assorted Soul Reaper friends. An entertaining, fast-paced little ride.

Bleach is the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, an obstinate high-school boy who became imbued with the powers of a Soul Reaper. Soul Reapers come from the afterlife, an alternate dimension known as The Soul Society and it is their job to police our world, bring peace to errant souls, and destroy those back go mad, becoming massive soul-devouring monstrosities known as Hollows. So basically, the them is a blurring of the line between life and afterlife. It's chock full of action, sports a cast of characters so massive I can't recall most of their names at any given time, and an extremely complex history and series of rules that it operates by. These things make "Bleach" one of the outstanding ongoing anime series, but they also make it extremely hard on new viewers. "Memories of Nobody" does as good a job as can be expected in welcoming Bleach newcomers, but it will mostly appeal to fans of the television series as an interesting and charming standalone addition to its canon.

The star of the show is a girl named Senna, who Ichigo and Rukia encounter while investigating a creepy phenomena of faceless apparitions gathering in the world of the living. While humans can see none of this, it is a bad omen of things to come and while the Soul Society researches on their end, Ichigo and Rukia have to attempt to sort things out in the world of the living. Senna is easily among the most instantly lovable characters in the Bleach pantheon. She embodies all that is carefree and charming about anime characters. But while she jerks Ichigo around, the Soul Society comes to a staggering conclusion about her and sends several powerful Captains to take her into custody. A typically good-hearted and hard-headed Ichigo resists, but before a fight breaks out several powerful and mysterious warriors appear to claim Senna as well. The end result is a potential cataclysmic collision between the worlds of the living and the dead, eradicating both. Bleach fans, start your engines.

As with most anime films based on ongoing series', the story is set up not to affect existing continuity in any way. However, "Memories of Nobody" makes for a surprisingly poignant tale. Bleach usually keeps the tone fairly light and tends to focus on the humor and idiosyncrasies of the characters as well as the perpetually escalating multiple plotlines. Here, the focus is almost entirely on Ichigo and Senna and their story produces some surprising results. The idea of the blank souls combining and searching for lost memories was both interesting and tragic. The action is pretty sweet here with ban-kais (powerful attacks used conservatively but spectacularly in the series) being unleashed left-and-right. Several of the Soul Society's finest make appearances in the climax and show their stuff. New viewers can either enjoy the eye candy or spend that time saying "who's that? And that? What was that thing she just did?" and the like. Lots of little cool character moments -including one between Rukia and her brother, who was once intent on executing her- will be lost on them, but fans will cheer. The ending was extremely emotional -though a bit confusing- and left me pretty shellshocked which is what really caught me off guard about this film. I was expecting fluff and got some genuinely moving drama. Not too shabby.

"Memories of Nobody" is a definite must-see for fans of the anime, but newcomers would be advised to watch "Bleach" at least through Season 2 to know what the hell is going on a lot of the time. Fans of Chad, Uryu, and Orehime: sorry. Better luck next time.

I enjoyed Memories of Nobody very much. I thought the story was strong and got back to the kind of elements the show had during the attempt to rescue Rukia. The action and story were well done. My only regret may be that I didn't get to see it in the thearter. I would recommend it to Bleach fans in the US.

One of the best parts of the special features was seeing the behind the scenes of the show. Especially the voice actors. It always amazes me how the picture you have in your head based on a voice is never anything like the people in real life.

This was a great buy.

Really good service. Item arrived within a couple of days from ordering it. Conditions where as described. I'm very happy with my order.

I was disspaointed by this movie. I just CANNOT get into it and see why most Bleach fans such as myself love it so much and think it's the best film in the series. My main problem of the film was the plot. It was too confusing, I kept getting mixed up with the whole blank and valley of screams thing, too mind boggiling. The action was decent, but there wasn't enough in this film imo. The whole movie seemed to focus on Senna and Ichigo running around. BORING! The final scene was okay, the banished clan got defeated quite to fast, which was stupid since they didn't even have much screentime. This movie is blah.

first off lol i had no idea that this was the same movie i saw pieces of on cartoon network a few years back, though im glad i didnt watch the whole thing cause when i first saw it i thought it was dumb and it made no sense to me, a friend told me to try bleach and i did and that night on cartoon network is what i saw. since then i got netflix and decided to watch the series, i loved it from the get go, im on season 8 now and i watch 'em in japanese so i can watch all the way up to the newest episodes into season 16. when i got the moive it came in the day after i ordered it but i didnt pay for overnight delivery so that was cool, anyway the dvd was used like i ordered it cause i only had a few bucks on my gift card left but the dvd is in prime condition only the plastic sheild sleeve that goes over the cardstock dvd case was a bit damaged the disc was perfect both of them and i watched the movie just now and not a single skip and enjoyed every minute of the movie, i also like how they partially explain how the movie doesnt affect the series, it takes place just after the bount saga when rukia, rengi, and ichigo are in the world of the living and ishida no longer has his powers. but if you watch the series dont worry this wont ruin it, at the end pay real close attention when rukia speaks to ichigo about memories, that will explain everything. overall great purchase, and shiping. i look forward to ordering from them again

I LOVE BLEACH! I think it is the best anime to come out of Japan EVER! This movie is one of the best! I suggest that anyone looking to buy this movie, watch the WHOLE series first. There are hints of the series throughout the movie. Wouldn't want any spoilers happening...Enjoy!

I saw this on [adult swim] a while ago, but did not get to watch the entire thing. The movie is amazing and the case it came in is equally awesome! The artwork on the case is beautiful, but the names and descriptions and such usually take away from that, but with this one, it has a plastic case around it that is removable, taking all the writing with it! It also prevents any scratches so that's an added bonus.
A welcome addition to my Bleach collection. =]

Im an avid avid bleach fan and this is the first movie in the franchise and its awesome. Ive seen all 3 movies and read all the manga seen every episode and love it all(even filler arcs). Since it is the first movie in the franchise hes not able to use his hollow form but he is bankai. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who follows the manga/anime

I was expecting a longer version of the tv series, but this one took a different turn an introduced a different character besides the normal gang. I enjoyed it a lot and found the new character, Senna to be refreshing. The ending was a little sad though.