Bleach: Fade to Black, I Call Your Name

‘Fade to Black’ is the third feature film based on the Bleach franchise and like the previous movies, it feels like just a long episode of the series. Little is explained to the casual viewer, so it’s a difficult sell to those unfamiliar with the Bleach universe.

But if you are already a fan of the series, it is easy to get hooked by it and part with your hard-earned money to see the beautiful animation they did on this one. Like the previous movies, this one has greater production values than the TV series, and although it’s not the greatest animation out there, it is quite refreshing to see what Bleach would look like with a bigger budget.

The film has Japanese dubs with English subs and English dubs. As in the previous films, the subtitles play automatically with the Japanese dubs and won’t play at all in the English dub. This disc, unfortunately, has no extras, which is quite a shame, considering that the first film had some very nice extras in it, such as interviews with the creative team and production sketches.

The film opens with Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi at work in the research lab and feeling glad with his accomplishment, until he is attacked from behind with a scythe which simply goes through his neck, but causes no damage at all. After the attack, Mayuri doesn’t seem to remember where he is and when Nemu comes to check on him, he takes her for someone who is there to arrest him. He starts destroying his laboratory, while his attacker unleashes some white fluid that takes the form of serpents with high density spirit particles that attack Soul Society, causing a huge commotion.

As Rukia is trying to reach the area of the attacks, she is stopped by a blond girl who announces that she will erase Rukia’s life and Mayuri’s attacker appears behind her and slashes her with the scythe, once again, causing no damage. Rukia falls unconscious and the duo just watch Soul Society crumbling under their attack.

In the meantime, in the world of the living, Ichigo finds Kon reading a note from Rukia, but he doesn’t seem to remember her and is unable to read the coded message she has left. As he lies down to sleep, he dreams of past encounters with Rukia and his memories of her return. He immediately consults with Kisuke Urahara, who also doesn’t seem to remember Rukia, but can find her name on his records. Urahara tells him about the troubles in Soul Society and Ichigo asks him to send them to the Soul Society. Once he gets there, he meets Hisagi and his squad who also don’t seem to recognise him…

This is the setup for ‘Fade to Black’, which out of the three Bleach films to be released is the least predictable one. It has its moments, but no awe-inspiring fighting scenes such as the ones in ‘The Diamond Dust Rebellion’. While the film is a nice companion to the TV series, it’s not unmissable.