Bleach Movie 2: The DiamondDust Rebellion (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Of all the characters in the popular manga/anime "Bleach," Toshiro Hitsugaya is amongst the most popular.
And he even got his own movie: "Bleach Movie 2: The Diamond Dust Rebellion," a beautifully animated anime that takes the ice-slinging child genius into an encounter with his own past (along with Ichigo and the others, of course). It has some basic canon flaws (since when can Ichigo fly?) but the storyline and animation are truly lovely.
While the Ouin is being transported, the procession is attacked and robbed -- and Hitsugaya unexpectedly takes off. Being an old fart who loves to blame people, Yamamoto puts the entire division under house arrest.
Meanwhile, Ichigo shelters an exhausted, badly-injured Hitsugaya -- only to have the boy-captain run away after one night, after muttering something about "Kusaka." His friends start sniffing around for evidence of this Kusaka, while the wounded Hitsugaya is tottering around Karakura -- and an execution order has been put on his head.
Then Captain Kyoraku is nearly killed by Hyorinmaru, at the same time that Hitsugaya was fighting Kira and Hisagi. During a battle with the mysterious Kusaka, Ichigo realizes who he is and why the Soul Society tried to kill him -- and how much power the Ouin his given him. Now Hitsugaya is determined to stop Kusaka, but Ichigo is determined that he won't be the only one to fight...
Perhaps the biggest problem with "The Diamond Dust Rebellion" is that it plays fast-and-loose with some of "Bleach's" canon, such as the idea that two people can have the same zanpakuto's spirit.
But if that can be overlooked, then "The Diamond Dust Rebellion" is a pretty brilliant piece of work -- more focused and intense than the first "Bleach" movie, and beautifully animated. The animation is precise, detailed and smooth, and everything is bathed in pale frosty light and wintry clouds, augmented by explosions of ice and blasts of mist and snow.
And it has plenty of amazing action sequences (a moonlit fight at a shrine) and some lovely visuals (the ornate cloud-borne procession in the first scene), right up to a spectacular climactic fight between Kusaka and all the most powerful Soul Reapers. Fortunately to keep things from becoming too grim, the writers also included a bit of comic relief -- namely Renji's method of "resuscitating" an unconscious Ichigo. Let's just say it doesn't involve mouth to mouth.
Obviously Hitsugaya gets the most development in this movie -- he's always been an icy loner, but here we get a glimpse of his past losses and a lone friendship. And once more, he tries to take on all the responsibility so others will be spared. Thankfully, the flashbacks are oblique enough that at first we don't realize what he's doing, or why.
Ichigo comes in a close second, since he's had that lone-wolf/tough guy act in the past, and it seems pretty natural that he'd want to help out someone who has the same emotional problems. But a lot of other characters get little spurts of attention -- the kindly Ukitake, shrewd Kyoraku, his uptight lieutenant Nanao (who loses her cool after he's injured), rough-edged Renji, and many others.
Even the villain is well done, since you can see how he ended up so bitter and vengeful -- although his little sidekicks are basically cannon fodder.
"Bleach Movie 2: The Diamond Dust Rebellion" is a far smoother ride than the previous "Bleach" movie, with brilliant animation and a stunning ride into Hitsugaya's clouded past.

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When a caravan transporting the King’s Seal is attacked, Toshiro Hitsugaya and Squad 10 are on the ready. As they prepare to protect the treasure that holds immeasurable power, Hitsugaya suddenly abandons the scene alongside the thieves and becomes one of the accused. In response, the Soul Society calls for his capture and execution.Upon hearing the edict, Substitute Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki is immediately suspicious and determined to uncover the facts. But when Hitsugaya refuses to defend his actions and fights against his comrades, it seems his fate is all but sealed. Can Ichigo uncover Hitsugaya’s motives before they destroy his honor, his life, and the Soul Society?

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Bleach Uncut Season 2 Box Set Review

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(More customer reviews)While there are several other reviews regarding the show itself, I'm going to focus primarily on the technical aspects of the box set. After all, I figure if you're looking for season 2, you already know what the show is about.
The box set itself is sharp looking and made the same as the first season. It's made in 'book' format, which, in my opinion, is a lot more easy to handle than the usual fold-out box sets. While the first season had a poster of Ichigo with character reference sketches on the back of it, this Ichigo poster is blank on the back. There is no inclusion of a paper with the episode titles, which I wish they did. While all you see on the screen are episode numbers, each one does, indeed, have an official title that would make locating favorite episodes much easier.
The special on this set focuses on four voice actors: Michelle Ruff (Rukia), Wally Wingert (Renji), Spike Spencer (Hanataro), and Dan Woren (Byakuya). They discuss their opinions on their characters, as well as voice acting itself. I'm not sure how long it was, but it was long enough to enjoy.
If you are looking for good subtitles, these are mediocre. They pretty much keep to the dubbing 'rules'. For example, they don't keep character names as the Japanese VA says them, but always their first name. Chad is always put as 'Chad', even if Ichigo is not the one speaking. They also leave off any honorifics (-kun, -san, -chan, etc) in the subs. If you're picky about that (as I am), it can be pretty irritating. Viz releases always seem to be this way, however.
They sub the opening and ending themes as well.
While they claim the episodes are uncut, and the main body of the episodes are indeed whole, they do not include the Shinigami Golden shorts. I'm not sure if the Japanese DVD releases have them, but I know that they've started by now, even if all these particular episodes only are character introductory ones. I only hope that when they actually are little side stories, Viz includes them on the DVDs. This complaint is particularly confusing as they even dubbed Kon's announcement that they would start soon in one of the episode previews.
All that aside, $40 (as of today) is a fantastic price for an entire season of a great anime.

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Ichigo and his friends make the perilous journey to the Soul Society and are promptly set upon by the guardians of the spirit world. As they dodge one foe after another, they gradually draw nearer their goal: to rescue Rukia from the tower cell where she awaits her death sentence. But their presence threatens the very order of the Soul Society itself, and they must face the ultimate opponents--the captains of the guard squads whose Spiritual Pressure is unmatched, even by Ichigo himself!Special Features Include:*Bonus Materials: Behind the Scenes of BLEACH*Bilingual (Japanese & English)*Contains Episode 21-41 (Original and Uncut)

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Bleach Uncut Box Set 7 Review

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(More customer reviews)The arrancar are threatening the world of the living, and Ichigo's only chance of defeating them lies with the visoreds. And "Bleach Uncut Box Set 7" kicks off around round of shonen-action training -- this time focused on whipping the teenage protagonists into some kind of fighting shape.
Ichigo finally comes to the visoreds for help controlling his inner hollow, and soon discovers that it's not his choice but theirs whether he'll learn from them. Before long, he's been thrown into a pitched battle with his inner hollow -- and as his monstrous body fights with the various visoreds, he goes through a terrifying ordeal inside his own head, with his life and soul in the balance.
But he's not the only one trying to learn: Chad goes to Urahara and asks him to train him, and Uryu keeps struggling to get back his Quincy powers. And in the Soul Society, the Soul Reapers have discovered the core of Aizen's malevolent plan, which could give him control of the worlds of the living and the dead...
There's a grim, desperate undercurrent to all the episodes of "Bleach Uncut Box Set 7," especially when we discover that Aizen isn't just planning to rule over Hueco Mundo. There's still plenty of funny moments (especially Ikkaku in his pinky fluffy T-shirt), but it feels like the tense grey moments right before a storm breaks.
This arc starts off strong, especially since the training episodes are surprisingly solid and interesting, especially when Ichigo's hollowfied form goes on a screeching rampage against all the Visoreds. The episodes become a little weaker near the end, since the writers tack in some filler episodes involving a ghostly brat who causes trouble for the Soul Reapers. But I gotta admit, it's fun to see Ikkaku and Hitsugaya engaging in some spots (soccer and kendo).
So what's the biggest downside of this boxed set? It's only twelve episodes! Again! It's three bucks an episode! What is UP with this?!
Ichigo obviously gets the most attention in these episodes -- basically he's thrown headfirst into the darker corners of his soul, and has to become stronger by conquering and training his hollowesque abilities. And there's some solid development for the girls when Orihime gets depressed over being told not to fight, and Rukia rises to her defense. It's nice to see two very different female characters who share a strong friendship.
Also, the Visoreds are fleshed out at last... and they're about as peaceful and orderly a group as you'd expect from a random gang of ex-Soul Reapers. We've got a thug, a flake, a gentle giant, a fop, and so on and so forth.
"Bleach Uncut Box Set 7" suffers from a distinct shortage of... episodes. But fortunately what content there is is of good quality -- some middling filler meshed with outstanding main stories.

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