Bleach Movie 1: Memories of Nobody by VIZ VIDEO

Actors

• Johnny Yong Bosch
• Michelle Ruff
• G.K. Bowles
• Troy Baker

Format

• Animated
• Color
• NTSC
• Subtitled

Editorial Review

As the first of the three Bleach feature films opens, Ichigo and Rukia are having a typical squabble–with Kon-butting in–when hordes of “Blanks” appear: weird white creatures that look vaguely like snowmen with pink caps. Senna, a Soul Reaper neither of them recognize, bursts into view and destroys the creatures. Although he initially finds her irritating, Ichigo grows fond of this strange girl, who leads him into a deadly conflict with a rebellious clan banished from the Soul Society a century earlier. Ganryu, the leader of the clan, recognizes Senna as a Shinenju, an entity composed of the memories of thousands of lost souls. He plans to use her latent power to destroy both the Soul Society and the World of the Living. Ichigo stops him with the assistance of the Soul Reaper Captains and Lieutenants. Memories of Nobody (2006) intensifies the main theme of the Bleach series: Ichigo's desire to protect those he cares about. Although director Noriyuki Abe stages the fight scenes with his usual panache–and more special effects than a television budget allows–Memories of Nobody has a more melancholy tone than the more comedic series. As the film reunites most of the creative team from the program, it often plays like an extended TV episode, but a touching one that will please Bleach fans. A second disc of extras includes two standard making-of documentaries, trailers in Japanese and English, and copies of the storyboards. (Rated “Teen,” suitable for ages 13 and older: violence, grotesque imagery) –Charles Solomon