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Skygryphon

  • The Boundary
  • Joined Jun 7, 2009
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A warning: this review is extremely long and, as such, is divided into five sections: Plot, Animation, Music, Characters, and Themes/Symbolism, with some having sub-sections. Given how low the score is, I wanted to explain where I was coming from as best as I could. Despite its length, I hope you find it useful and can look past the ranting...I love Bleach, but I was just very, very disappointed with this movie. I apologize in advance if I come across as hateful. I wrote this right after watching the movie, so I was very worked up, especially at the beginning. Feel free to leave a comment and argue on the other side, if you'd like. I'm more than open to hearing others' opinions, and quite honestly I want to view this movie in a better light. If you can make me do that, you have my gratitude. :)

 

Plot: 1/10

Story

Plot…plot…what’s that again? Oh, that’s right. Lots of explosions and blood and flashy fight scenes. If that’s the case, then this movie had an outstanding plot, one of the best I’ve ever seen.
Okay, I’ll stop with the sarcasm. There was almost no plot to speak of, whatsoever. I can’t believe Kubo admitted he wrote the story for this movie. Here’s a quick rundown of the plot:

Several Unforgivens escape from Hell and invade the World of the Living. Specifically Karakura Town, of course (really, why does anyone even live there anymore?). Anyway, they kidnap Ichigo’s sisters and hold her ransom, demanding Ichigo help them destroy the Gates of Hell. Another Unforgiven suddenly appears and fights alongside Ichigo, helping him to rescue Karin. The Unforgivens escape with Yuzu, however, returning back to their base in Hell. Ichigo and his friends head into Hell with the help of the mysterious Unforgiven, Kokuto, to rescue his sister. While there, Ichigo notices his Hollow mask appears whenever he spams Getsuga Tenshou (maybe Kubo is trying to tell you something, Ichigo), and Kokuto warns him that his Hollow side could take over while he’s in Hell.

There’s the plot. As we all know, that last sentence there is the sole reason people were so excited for this movie (myself included). Before I get into that, though, let me explain what happens next: nothing. Literally. That summary you read above takes about 15-20 minutes in the movie, mostly due to the nonstop fight scenes. After that, we’re treated to nothing but fight after fight after fight for the rest of the movie. Yes, I love Bleach’s fights as much as the next person, but this is absolutely insane. There is honestly no story to speak of. To give you an idea, it’s exactly like the notorious FKT Arc. Now, if you liked FKT, then by all means watch this movie. To the rest who want a somewhat compelling plot and a story that requires at least a little thinking, move along.

Concept

It was a great concept, I’ll say that. Hell is the only realm Kubo hasn’t detailed yet, and this movie was the perfect opportunity to dive straight into it. Even without a plot, the movie still had a chance to redeem itself by exploring the setting and culture of this unknown world. After all, Bleach has always been known for its vivid and well-done folklore, which has been enough to pull it through its less-than-great moments at times. And yet this movie manages to fail even there. Besides for a brief explanation of what it’s like to live in Hell (being constantly eaten by the Guardians, being reborn, and then repeating the process until the soul is completely broken down), there is almost nothing here. The characters never interact with other inhabitants of Hell, either, so we don’t get to hear their take on it or see the effects of living in eternal damnation. As for the world itself, we see a few different layers of Hell, but the various realms and their purpose are never detailed or even mentioned. As a result, Hell never seemed like a horrible place. I never saw any true signs of suffering or despair, perhaps because of the distance between the viewer and its inhabitants. Honestly, it didn't seem like that bad of a place to live. Considering Hell is supposed to be the ultimate punishment, that's a bit of a problem. I’m not asking for The Inferno here, but this doesn’t even come close to Bleach’s normal quality of world building. That one-shot chapter Kubo released on Hell a year back had more development than this.

 

Plot Holes

Next: the plot holes. How a movie so devoid of plot can possibly have holes is beyond me...does that mean the score should be negative? Anyway, I’ve compiled a list of some of the holes I noticed below; they’re laden with spoilers, as a warning, so don’t read them if you actually want to watch this movie.

 

*****SPOILER WARNING******

NOTE: If you know the answer to any of these plot holes, please let me know! I admit that I was half-asleep while watching parts of the movie (long fight scenes tend to do that to me), so it's more than possible that I missed something.

 

Plot Holes:

-Kokuto’s betrayal made absolutely no sense. There was no foreshadowing, it was completely sudden (literally one second he’s a “good guy,” the next he’s skewering Ichigo with his blade), and his actions/reactions had no basis whatsoever. So, let me get this straight…his sister was killed, and now he wants to get revenge on…who, exactly? Everyone? He already killed the guys who murdered her, so what’s going on here? And he wants to break free of Hell and doesn’t care if he turns the world into Hell in the process. Meaning he would still, technically, be trapped in Hell even if he DID manage to escape. Doesn’t make sense?  Don’t worry, I don’t get it either. He is the worst villain in the movies to date, enough said.  Heck, he’s the worst villain in the entire Bleach world to date. I’d take Butterflaizen over him any day. At least he’s good for laughs.

-Why did Kokuto hate Shuren? This was never explained, even though Kokuto said countless times “those guys get on my nerves.” Then again, nothing about Kokuto makes sense, so I suppose this shouldn’t be an exception.

-Last time I checked, Renji shouldn’t have seen Ichigo go VL before. Actually, Renji shouldn’t even know Ichigo has an inner hollow in the first place. So someone please explain to me why Renji acts completely nonchalant when he goes VL right in front of him. If one of my friends suddenly transformed into a demon, I’d probably freak out. Just saying.

-How did Ichigo and his friends get out of Hell? The movie never bothered to explain this. One second, they’re in the depths of Hell surrounded by hordes of Guardians, the next the ending music plays and, lo and behold, they jump out of the Gates of Hell.

-On the note of escaping Hell, how on earth did Shuren, his minions, and Kokuto escape from Hell in the first place? Once again, this was never touched upon. Considering the whole movie revolved around Hell, I think this is rather important. If Hell is this easy to break out of, you’d think the Shinigami would be a little more concerned about it.

-What on earth was this new form of Ichigo about?  He goes from VL to that without any explanation. The most that was said was some cryptic explanation about how “Hell was helping him.” Think I’m exaggerating? I’m not. When Renji asks Ichigo what’s up with his new form, Ichigo replies, “This? I don’t really know either.” I’m not joking, that’s how poorly the movie was planned.

-There was no consistency with the Soul Chains. The main reason Kokuto searched for VL Ichigo was so that the chains binding him to Hell could be broken; obviously for someone to go to all that effort, it can’t be easy. Yet Yuzu, who was considered to be beyond help and officially owned by Hell after her Soul Chain appears, recovers instantly for no explained reason and suddenly returns to the World of the Living. Then there’s Rukia, who dies while in Hell and is reborn with a Soul Chain; according to the folklore in the movie, this should mean the person is bound forever in Hell. Instead, Ichigo rips off the chain in one second flat, and that’s the end of that. Where’s the consistency here?

I could go on, but I think you get the point.


*****END OF SPOILERS*****

 

VL Ichigo

Now, on to the moment you’ve all been waiting for: that last sentence back in the summary, VL Ichigo. I am here to tell you that yes, Ichigo does indeed go Full Hollow. And it’s a huge disappointment. The fight lasts for about two minutes, and all VL Ichigo does is stand in one place while shooting Cero after Cero. Then Renji sends him back to the World of the Living after realizing his fight was a complete let-down and all the angry fangirls were about to rip him to bits(okay, I made that part up, but he DID send him back to Karakura to keep him from going completely out of control). And that’s it, people. We never even got to see Ichigo go on a Hollow rampage. Actually, Ichigo almost goes VL again at the very end, but he stops himself last minute, so that doesn’t even count. In other words, the single reason this movie may have been worth watching went down the drain.


“But wait, what about the Ulquiorra vs VL Ichigo remake?” Actually, that is the only thing this movie did right, as out of place as the scene is. It takes place right at the beginning of the movie and is pretty much a two minute summary of the fight. It’s very fast-paced and brief, but the animators did a spectacular job with it. It’s downright amazing; actually, I watched it over five times before heading on to the rest of the movie (not joking). This is what the original fight should have been like. The animation is smooth and fluid, the colors are both suitably dark and brilliant when needed (Ceros and the flames), and the intensity will have you on the edge of your seat. This part alone is worth watching; my only regret is that it wasn’t longer, but I’m happy with what we got. Since I don’t want anyone to waste their time on this movie, I’ve uploaded the fight to Youtube (I apologize for the video quality; I’m not sure why Youtube butchered it like that. I’ll try to fix it…it really lost its impact). Just a warning, though: if you haven’t watched/read the original fight, don’t watch this. Since it’s a fast-paced summary of sorts, you most likely won’t be able to tell what’s going on.

Link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3mWKcTL9Gw

 

Animation: 8/10

The only decent part of the movie. Hell Verse is nothing but fights, but I will say the director went to great pains to make sure they look amazing. Everything is smoothly animated, crisp, and filled with lots of tiny details. The fights themselves also showcase lots of interesting angles that are simply too expensive or time-consuming to draw in the actual series, and I respect them for trying something different. Why, then, the two points knocked off? Quite simply, the design of Hell was a let-down. Many of the layers were drab and plain, to the point where you could tell Kubo wasn’t even trying. Those that were a tad more exciting were still utterly unmemorable; I just watched this movie yesterday, and I can’t remember anything about what the world looked like. How Kubo managed to make Hell boring is beyond me.

 

Music: 6/10

There’s no denying that Hell Verse has a great soundtrack. It’s a notch up from Shiro Sagisu’s previous work, filled with epic full-orchestrated tracks and opera vocals. The problem lies in the repetition of these songs. The same handful of songs is played over and over again throughout the movie, to the point where they grated on my ear. I can only handle the same song for so long, despite how amazing it might be. I still don’t know why this was an issue, since the soundtrack had plenty of variety (I’ve listened to the entire track online). It really is a pity, considering how easily this could have been fixed.

 

Characters: 1/10

New Characters

I’ll start with the new movie-only characters. First, most of the character designs were sloppy and distasteful, if not downright disturbing. I’m not talking about Szayel or Aaroniero “disturbing,” which I consider to be tasteful and well done. I mean simply revolting to the point of wondering what Kubo was on at the time. All, for the record, are fodder characters that have an irksome habit of resurrecting whenever they feel like it. FKT, anyone?

The two main characters (Shuren and Kokuto), on the other hand, actually had very good, unique designs. It’s a pity they had no personality to match. Shuren, who is supposed to be the main villain initially, has about one minute of screen time overall and disappears halfway through without any warning. Even when he does appear, all he ever says is “Destroy the Gates of Hell, Ichigo! Then, we will be free!” *insert insane laughter here.* Now, on to Kokuto. Initially, Kokuto started out as a very interesting character with a decent backstory. The reason he was sent to Hell is compelling and harkens back to one of the original themes of Bleach: blurring the lines between what’s good and evil. He was actually a very likeable character…that is, before he fell apart. Kubo completely butchered his character and turned him into a convoluted, confused mess. I won’t go into the details here due to spoilers and the length of this review, but if you’re interested read the first Plot Hole I mentioned in the Plot section. It goes into some detail about Kokuto’s degeneration.

 

Original Characters

On to the regular characters: Ichigo, the nakama, and the Shinigami. The movie revolves mostly around Ichigo and his friends (including Renji and Rukia), though none have any characterization or interaction to speak of. All they do is fight, yell, and break stuff. Had the movie actually had meaningful interactions it would have made up for the lack of a plot a tiny bit, but even that is nonexistent.

I would also like to mention that the Espada and Arrancar are not in this movie whatsoever. Besides for the brief redone Ulquiorra fight, the Arrancar aren’t shown. This wouldn’t be such a big deal (after all, none of the previous movies mentioned them), but considering Kubo advertised this movie using the Arrancar, it’s a huge letdown. All of the promotional ads, the one-shot chapter, and those full-color pages showcased the Arrancar; if Kubo never intended to have them in the movie, he shouldn’t have displayed them in the advertisements.

As for the Shinigami, they don’t appear until the last twenty minutes of the movie and are hardly shown even then. Actually, I respect the director for doing this; the last two movies threw in those super-long fight scenes at the end as an excuse to show off all the Shinigami, and I’m grateful they didn’t take that route in this movie. That being said, I wish the Shinigami had appeared more; perhaps it would have led to greater character interaction. However, the one time there was interaction (between Byakuya and Ichigo), the former was completely out of character. Since when does cold-hearted Nii-sama try to comfort Ichigo? After he left his beloved sister in Hell, no less. Sorry, but I’m not buying it. The only good part in this movie, character-wise, was Rukia screaming in agony while being squeezed to death. It was, dare I say it, very satisfying. No, I’m not usually a Rukia-hater; let me explain. Normally, I absolutely love Rukia (she’s the main reason I watch Bleach), but like her older brother she suffered from Out-of-Character syndrome. She acts more like Orihime than her usual self, standing around helplessly and screaming out for Ichigo over and over again. Remember that scene at the end of the trailer when Rukia screams Ichigo’s name? It gave me the shivers and made me even more excited for this movie, though I was worried it wouldn’t be in the movie itself (as often happens with anime trailers). No need to worry: it is, and not just once. I lost track of the number of times she screamed “Ichigo!” Come on, Rukia, you didn’t scream like that when you were being crucified or stabbed to death by Aaroniero. Pull yourself together already. It’s rather sad and a mark of how poorly done this movie is when I start to hate my favorite character. Even Rukia couldn’t save this mess.

 

Themes/Symbolism: 6/10

It's rather strange that the Themes section gets a higher score than Characters and Story combined, but at least the themes brought new, interesting material to the table, even if they suffered from being under realized. The themes in this movie are smothered by all the non-stop fighting, but they are there. I mentioned the main one before: blurring the lines between what's really good and evil. Unfortunately, this theme fizzles out toward the end similar to how the theme of humanity disappears in the Arrancar Saga, but it still makes for some interesting discussion. Did Kokuto really deserve to be sent to Hell? More importantly, did Ichigo have the right to banish him once again to its depths? What makes Kokuto's actions any different than Ichigo's? (Ichigo killed Ulquiorra out of revenge, after all. I believe this is why the animators decided to include the Ulquiorra vs Ichigo fight at the beginning). If Kokuto and Ichigo really aren't that different, then does that mean Ichigo is destined for eternal damnation? If that's the case, wouldn't that mean that many of the other Bleach characters are also doomed? It's a pity these questions weren't developed more in the movie itself (hence the lowered score), but I still enjoyed thinking about them. It made the movie a bit more thought-provoking.

 

Overall: 4.5

Hell Verse embodies Bleach at its worst: no story or characterization, tons of meaningless fights, horrible character designs, and plot holes galore. I wanted to love this movie, but even being a diehard Bleach fanatic I could find nothing to enjoy. I’m sorry to say it, but Hell Verse is one of the most disappointing movies I’ve seen in a long time. The only way I could recommend it is for the themes alone, as I admit I found them to be fascinating. If the themes mentioned above generally interest you, then you may find something to enjoy beneath all the fights. Otherwise, just watch the Ulquiorra vs. Ichigo fight and let the rest go. You won't be missing much.

 

EDIT:

Well. I take back all the bad things I said about Kubo. Everything I said about this movie still stands, but Kubo isn't to blame. Click the link below and go to the middle of the page...you'll see what I'm talking about.

http://bleachasylum.com/threads/17464-Bleach-Movie-4-%28v2%29/page43

Poor guy. I honestly feel for him. I'd be upset, too.

 

 

1/10 story
8/10 animation
6/10 sound
1/10 characters
4.5/10 overall

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LeaT Dec 24, 2011

I am sorry it became so lengthy :(

LeaT Dec 24, 2011

I think you were cruel on the plot rating. For being a Bleach movie, it has a substantially better plot than the other 3 and you can tell that Hell Verse actually tries, but as usual, fan service gets in the way.

I'll attempt to some of the "plot holes" you mention too, while I am at it.

1. That Kotuko was going to betray Ichigo was foreshadowed but done so poorly I understand your WTF reaction. How? He was in Hell! This is how we know it was foreshadowed, because if Kutoko was just a good guy who just wanted to redeem himeslf there was no way in hell (haha no pun intended) he would've been in Hell. If anything, I can imagine him as a hollow but not in Hell.

As for your comment about Kotuko not caring about that if he made the living world into Hell he would still be in Hell. Yes, I thought about that too. I guess it all boiled down to one thing: he was supposed to be mad. Or appear as mad anyway. Let's take a look at what he tells Ichigo and friends when they enter Hell: people eventually go mad.

Anyway, I think that's a point that could've been much stronger and better reinforced. I don't think the problem here necessarily lies in Kubo's writing per se (I don't know how the script looks like after all), but the film's length. It's of course also questionable how much Kubo did to the script. All I know is that he overlooked the production more than with the previous movies. If Kubo had written it all by himself I am sure it would be considered canon but it's not in my knowledge. Further, Hell Verse had been best made if it had been in OVA format, not a film running at 95 min. One and a half hour wasn't even close to what Hell Verse needed to be good story telling, I can tell you that much.

Ah, I thought as much. Bleach Wiki states this: It is directed by Noriyuki Abe, while the screenplay was written by Natsuko Takahashi. Tite Kubo is the production director and character designer is Masashi Kudo.[1]

This means Kubo didn't write the script, he just had some input on it, so please don't put all the blame on Kubo. I can tell he had a hand in the production because the story telling is still significantly better than previous movies, but I can also tell he didn't write the whole script himself.

2. Shuren. I don't know why Shuren and co were there. They magically disappeared at some point even to never be heard of again. I do however love the back humor they added when Kotuko kept stomping on what I presume was Shuren's corpse attempting to reform itself. That was win beyond words. I wish there was a bit more of that in Bleach overall.

3. Did you watch it until the final credits roll? Then you'll see that they leave through the hole Ichigo created just before it closes.

4. I don't think they were concerned since the thingies (I forgot the name) could reach them anywhere because of the invisible chains that were attached to the inhabitants of Hell. However, I agree with you that it is a point that needs more development and wasn't explained properly at all in the movie.

5. I wouldn't say this is necessarily a plot hole because it lacks information, but yes, it bugged me too. Although, the design didn't even look nearly as good in the movie as it did in the manga :(

6. I assume the reason why it disappeared on Yuzu was because she was now in the world of living and her body therefore regenerated by its own, but yes, it's another weak spot in the story that wasn't properly addressed. It's important to note though that neither Yuzu and Rukia had the same invisible chains attached to them, though.

I didn't even notice the music except the Nr. One remix that I for once thought was all right <.< I also noticed some ambient sound tracks but I easily forgot it all. Surprised you didn't mention the voice acting. Morita overdid the screaming as usual :P

I agree. Shoren and Kotuko had great designs. I wish there had been just as much character development to go with them. You can notice that Kubo initially designed them for Studio Pierrot. The rest did indeed look sloppy but I don't mind so much about characters I won't see again. I did like the guy with the mouth though (whatever his name), but mostly for pure comedic factor.

I agree that Kotuko was interesting during the first half of the movie. The first half of the movie was the better half though. It quickly degenerated and it felt very rushed after that. I also felt like the anime team was trying to cream out as much fan service as humanly possible in the remaining 45 min they had. Well, I did like the fighting in the first half. It was well choreographed and not just slash and getsuga tensho spamming that we usually get. The animation was top notch during the fighting scenes as well and for once, Ichigo's character actually looked kind of... consistent for most of the part. I could stand looking at him, hah.

About the nakama - you forget ONE very peculiar interesting scene: when Orihime almost hugs Ichigo and tells him to return. Dangit, had this been canon material the IchiHime shippers would've gone mad! If Hell Verse had primarily consisted of scenes like this, it had been fucking amazing if you excuse my language. Not because I ship IchiHime, but because it showed interesting character interaction that created drama and tension.

The VL part of Hell Verse is so corny. I wish they would've excluded it or rewritten it in a way that made more sense. There was zero build up. In The Lust, the build up to Ichigo's defeat had been going during the whole HM arc and Ulquiorra proved to be a much better a villain (he's probably my favorite so far) overall. The emotional turmoil and despair going on in The Lust explains why IchiThing happened. In Hell Verse, not so much. It was just there for fan service and I wish I could rewrite out of my memory. Corny, poor, horrible fan service.

The Ulquiorra battle remake was great, actually. Not 100% canon, some new scenes were added I am not sure I enjoy, but the quality of animation easily makes up for it. Fantastic stuff.

Anyway, I agree with your points about animation. Hell Verse is watchable for the animation quality alone. Not much else, though unfortunately. As I wrote above, it's one of few examples where Ichigo manages to look almost 100% consistent in his character design (some scenes are still goofy, but they were few enough for me to cope with them). I know Kubo finds him hard to draw which means others will likely find him hard to draw as well but seriously, SP, not being able to consistenly draw the main protagonist in one of the main franchises you animate is just BAD.

And I second Rukia. Very much. Can't they like... write a story with Rukia being at her esse, for once. I liked her fighting scene and the way she won it, but sheesh, I am getting tired of having Rukia saved in every non-canon material we get.

As for Ichigo killing Ulquiorra out of revenge: you miss one thing. Ulquiorra was a hollow. Killing hollows as a shinigami is fine. You can't deny Ichigo's shinigami status even as IchiThing. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to use Tensa Zangetsu. Should Ichigo go to hell for fighting against Grand Fisher out of revenge, too? Hardly. But yes, we needed to know Kotuko's backstory. The idea that maybe he wasn't a bad guy and didn't deserve to be interesting was underdeveloped as hell (no pun intended again!). I do like that Kubo often try to write his villains in a way to make them not evil for the sake of evil but merely people who are on the wrong side, but it doesn't make them bad people. Hell, I even pity Aizen. It was hard to feel sorry for Kotuko though when I don't even know what he did.

"Well. I take back all the bad things I said about Kubo. Everything I said about this movie still stands, but Kubo isn't to blame. Click the link below and go to the middle of the page...you'll see what I'm talking about."

Right. Maybe I should have read your whole review first before I commented. Discard my statements about Kubo then if you knew :)