Yeah sure, there were things I disliked and casting that I couldn't quite digest (Byakuya and Renji look like home made cosplay, I won't go there), but It was fun watching this movie. I have mixed feelings, but the "good old Bleach feeling" is there. It's certainly better than most, if not all, anime/manga live action adaptation, it's not quite on Rurouni Kenshin live action level, but I like it. I also think, when doing live action, that they have to respect certain absolute things in manga/anime storyline, but also change a few things, and that's exactly what this live action adaptation of Bleach did. I also hope there will be sequel since the whole saving Rukia and soul society arc is the best arc in Bleach.
198 Reviews
A pleasant surprise
tenshi_ippikiookami2 June 2019
Taking into account how much live action movies based on manga have disappointed me in the past, I came into "Bleach" with low expectations (probably not the only one). However, this movie adaptation is funny, with acceptable action set pieces and relatable characters (on top of not stretching its running time endlessly and pointlessly (even if it falls a little bit into this trap in its third act)). And, even if you don't know anything about the manga, it is easy to jump into the story, as the movie does a great job of introducing the world and building it up from scratch. Totally worth watching!
Good adaptation from anime into the live action
softtama19 September 2018
This is my first time to write a movie review. Note that I have read/watched all chapters/episodes of Bleach before I watch this movie.
Let's be honest, everything in this movie is excellent in terms of live action adaptation! CGI of the special effects are done very well (the Hollows are too!). But of course there's no such thing as perfection out there especially when we are talking about anime live action movie. I can only complain two things here.
The portrayal of Byakuya and Renji, I think they could be way much better, especially at their hair style. The last from me, and one of the most important aspects of movie success, is the music. Throughout the entire movie, I don't feel the big hype with the music as much as when I'm watching the anime. I really hope they will bring some aspects from the anime OST to the sequel and that will be a huge yes from me!
7.5/10 👏
Let's be honest, everything in this movie is excellent in terms of live action adaptation! CGI of the special effects are done very well (the Hollows are too!). But of course there's no such thing as perfection out there especially when we are talking about anime live action movie. I can only complain two things here.
The portrayal of Byakuya and Renji, I think they could be way much better, especially at their hair style. The last from me, and one of the most important aspects of movie success, is the music. Throughout the entire movie, I don't feel the big hype with the music as much as when I'm watching the anime. I really hope they will bring some aspects from the anime OST to the sequel and that will be a huge yes from me!
7.5/10 👏
Fun to watch and definitely worth your time
JabbaTheHans19 September 2018
The movie focused on the 1st arc of the anime-- it remained loyal to the story, but changed some things too, so there's something to look forward to. Acting was not that great, but decent. Some plot holes and underutilized characters, but those can be forgiven. However those who haven't watched the anime / read the manga will have difficulty in understanding certain parts of the story because some of the explanations were incomplete (I think the writers assume viewers should have at least watched the anime already before watching the movie). When I first saw the trailer months back, I was worried that the CGI will be disappointing, but I was wrong. CGI was excellent and the hollows were awesome! This is a must watch for anime / manga fans!
Rest easy. Bleach is one of the best live action anime adaptations by far, with only minor issues.
leonthesleepy20 September 2018
Bleach (2018) wisely plays with a much smaller, and focused scope than most anime adaptations, and comes out as an enjoyable, and cohesive film that fans can enjoy.
Thankfully, the writers did not try to cram every story arc in season 1 into this film like Death Note did, but instead focused on the important stuff like Ichigo and Rukia. The actors all do a fine job, and as long as you dont expect a 1 to 1 recreation, i think fans will be pleased with how much respect it pays to the source material.
Now sure, its still extremely cheesy to see some sequences translated to live action. There isnt the iconic BANKAI sequence where you really see the outrageous power of a Reaper, nor do you get amazing action sequences. Plus, the PG 13 rating makes the action sequences surprisingly bloodless and tame by comparison. But what is here is more than serviceable, and its still pretty entertaining for what it is. Most of the humor also lands, and at its core the film has an emotional center along with an arc which it completes.
I doubt we will get a sequel since the Soul Society arc would be insanely expensive and effects heavy, but the ending wraps it up pretty neatly so there is at least closure at the end for new fans who just came into the series. It doesn't break new ground, nor is it amazing, but it is a rock solid adaptation of the first season.
The best praise i can give the film, is that it made me want to re watch the animated series again. Not because the live action remake was trash, but because it reminded me of why i liked Bleach in the first place.
Thankfully, the writers did not try to cram every story arc in season 1 into this film like Death Note did, but instead focused on the important stuff like Ichigo and Rukia. The actors all do a fine job, and as long as you dont expect a 1 to 1 recreation, i think fans will be pleased with how much respect it pays to the source material.
Now sure, its still extremely cheesy to see some sequences translated to live action. There isnt the iconic BANKAI sequence where you really see the outrageous power of a Reaper, nor do you get amazing action sequences. Plus, the PG 13 rating makes the action sequences surprisingly bloodless and tame by comparison. But what is here is more than serviceable, and its still pretty entertaining for what it is. Most of the humor also lands, and at its core the film has an emotional center along with an arc which it completes.
I doubt we will get a sequel since the Soul Society arc would be insanely expensive and effects heavy, but the ending wraps it up pretty neatly so there is at least closure at the end for new fans who just came into the series. It doesn't break new ground, nor is it amazing, but it is a rock solid adaptation of the first season.
The best praise i can give the film, is that it made me want to re watch the animated series again. Not because the live action remake was trash, but because it reminded me of why i liked Bleach in the first place.
Def worth watching
kristinakoj14 September 2018
I started the movie expecting yet another garbage live action,but found myself quite supprised. There were some changes that i didnt like compared to the original, but ll in all it wasnt bad. The casting of ichigo was amazing, however the other cast was so so. Also the lack of explanation about the bleach world could be confuaing to people qhove never seen the original. Either way you should give it a try!
Had potential but disappointing
denkigroove-6166916 September 2018
I've been a fan of the manga for some time now. With all the reviewers saying "must see", well I had to see it. Movie is really 30 minutes long if you take away all the pausing and staring scenes. Acting is subpar with characters being so lifeless. Like scenes where his family are held captive, he practically shows little emotion (just before a long pause) then runs into battle. I mean really, what's up with all these long pauses? Had some cool fight scenes but they dragged with guess what, more long pauses... Points for keeping characters and storyline close to the manga. I really wanted to like this movie but it just isn't good. I hope if there are sequel(s), they fix this problem.
Well, Netflix we want compensation!
daviddorovski7 November 2018
Well if you never saw The anime you won't understand what is going on there, but if you are a Bleach fan, this movie will make you angry!
The story line is awful! And they cut off alot from the story line, alot of charcters are missing, the shinigami and the Captain uniform looks like a cheap cosplay!
The actors are not matching their profiles, and what about the acting??? What the happening with Renji's and Biakuya's faces??? It looks like they came from FagSociety, they over acting with strange face expressions...
The music are preaty good, i loved it! But i wish there were more heavy guitars with different tracks.
The graphic effects are awesome!!!! Realy liked the holos!
Note for Netflix: Please make Bleach with the Original story line, make it as series, make evrey episode something like 40 minutes, with a real shinigami uniform and better actors, and don't delete charcters like Kun and Mizuiro, and don't skip the funny parts! Please Netflix make Bleach Great again!
The story line is awful! And they cut off alot from the story line, alot of charcters are missing, the shinigami and the Captain uniform looks like a cheap cosplay!
The actors are not matching their profiles, and what about the acting??? What the happening with Renji's and Biakuya's faces??? It looks like they came from FagSociety, they over acting with strange face expressions...
The music are preaty good, i loved it! But i wish there were more heavy guitars with different tracks.
The graphic effects are awesome!!!! Realy liked the holos!
Note for Netflix: Please make Bleach with the Original story line, make it as series, make evrey episode something like 40 minutes, with a real shinigami uniform and better actors, and don't delete charcters like Kun and Mizuiro, and don't skip the funny parts! Please Netflix make Bleach Great again!
It's decent
chintok9117 September 2018
We all know feature films of animes are trash. Dragon Balls, Full Metal Alchemist, Attack on Titan etc. But this one is decent. I think Japanes just starting to find that grey area between movie and anime. /Blade of Immortal, this one/ I would give this movie about 7 stars, but I gave 8 because, I know there are people who would just give a star only for sake of being picky.
Entertaining movie...
paul_haakonsen25 December 2018
I happened to find the live action movie "Bleach" on Netflix. But I am only familiar with the franchise by its name, as I haven't read the anime, nor have I watched any of the animations. So I sat down to watch "Bleach" with a blank canvas left open to impressions, so to speak.
And not being familiar with the franchise, I have no idea how true the movie is to the animations or anime in general. So I will not even venture there.
I found "Bleach" to be entertaining enough for what it turned out to be. Sure, it had some shortcomings, but it was an overly entertaining enough movie.
The storyline was nice and quite straight forward. It required very little attention from the audience actually to stay up to speed with the movie. Perhaps it was a little bit too simplistic and streamlined. But hey, it made for adequate entertainment, which is why we watch movies after all.
I liked the characters - well most of them anyway. I think they had a good ensemble of actors and actresses to portray the individual characters on the screen.
The CGI in the movie was actually quite good, and that was something that I was really impressed with. Because for a movie such as this, CGI was a make or break situation. Luckily they opted to throw cash into proper CGI and the result was fantastic. They had some great creature designs and the creatures looked very realistic and actually turned out menacing on the screen.
One of the drawbacks of the movie was the music they had in it. It felt somewhat out of place given the presentation and mood of the movie. But music can easily be tuned out, so it wasn't something that dragged the movie down.
Has this 2018 live action movie placed a seed in me that urges me to start delving into the anime or animations? No, not really. It was a good movie, good but not fantastic.
Personally I don't really understand the title of the movie and franchise; "Bleach". It made absolutely no sense to me, and it wasn't explained throughout the course of this 2018 movie.
And not being familiar with the franchise, I have no idea how true the movie is to the animations or anime in general. So I will not even venture there.
I found "Bleach" to be entertaining enough for what it turned out to be. Sure, it had some shortcomings, but it was an overly entertaining enough movie.
The storyline was nice and quite straight forward. It required very little attention from the audience actually to stay up to speed with the movie. Perhaps it was a little bit too simplistic and streamlined. But hey, it made for adequate entertainment, which is why we watch movies after all.
I liked the characters - well most of them anyway. I think they had a good ensemble of actors and actresses to portray the individual characters on the screen.
The CGI in the movie was actually quite good, and that was something that I was really impressed with. Because for a movie such as this, CGI was a make or break situation. Luckily they opted to throw cash into proper CGI and the result was fantastic. They had some great creature designs and the creatures looked very realistic and actually turned out menacing on the screen.
One of the drawbacks of the movie was the music they had in it. It felt somewhat out of place given the presentation and mood of the movie. But music can easily be tuned out, so it wasn't something that dragged the movie down.
Has this 2018 live action movie placed a seed in me that urges me to start delving into the anime or animations? No, not really. It was a good movie, good but not fantastic.
Personally I don't really understand the title of the movie and franchise; "Bleach". It made absolutely no sense to me, and it wasn't explained throughout the course of this 2018 movie.
Good movie which feels like an expensive pilot episode
sakakidash30 September 2018
Being a great fan of the manga i looked forward to this movie which gives you exactly what you expect and more untill the very end. That is where anyone will realize the story is "to be continued." And left at a stark end. The last minutes of the movie is a desperate attempt to cut ot a story short which no one will believe even if they read the manga or not.
The acting is superb. The character portrayal is epic. You feel involved and engulfed in the world of Bleach and you are left traped there.
The acting is superb. The character portrayal is epic. You feel involved and engulfed in the world of Bleach and you are left traped there.
I love Bleach
premmanas22 September 2018
Missing crucial parts
jasonmondelus20 September 2018
The movie was not bad it's just there was lotta details missin like Karin actually had blond hair Ichigo has orange hair since he was born we didn't get to see who wins the challenge between Ichigo and Uryu regardin' who coud eliminate the most hollow Orihime had Orange hair just like Ichigo Yuzu is more like a tomboy she is a lot like Ichigo n' we didn't get to see the clinic of Ichigo's father
Insult to the original
danishalishimajiri16 September 2018
Bleach anime and manga were epic though it fell hard over the years and then got cancelled. Have to say that i was very excited that live action was being made and couldn't wait to watch it, now i regret watching it. Characters are nothing like the original, story and concept changed as well which makes this live action feel like it is a rip off of the original.. This was truly an insult to the original anime series and manga, as a fan of Bleach series this was very hard to watch and wouldn't recommend any bleach fan to watch.
A must see.
claudiu11120 July 2018
For an adaptation, not bad
toastytherapy19 September 2018
Summary: Great movie for a bleach casual fan or new to it
The Good: The Story and character development is good, the Hollows were surprisingly well made, the action was 8/10, the changes from manga/anime story was acceptable. Ichigo was almost spot on, Chad was pretty cool, Inoue is cute, I had my doubts about Rukia and Ishida but they do fit as the character.
The Bad: Netflix subtitling isn't great; some Japanese emotions were subtitled when they just needed expression; "Howl Zabimaru!" became "Hear the Zabimaru roar!"; soul reaper,/shinigami cut to just reaper (reaper makes me think of the hood and the scythe). Costumes were great (except Rukia's latex glove) until Renji and Byakuya. Good costumes for a people who don't fit the characters. I just wish Urahara, was more witty and cocky but i can let that slide.
The Ugly: Renji is MUCH shorter than Ichigo, face is roundish and does not feel like a rough and tumble, fighter and survivalist he is supposed to be. Actor over exaggerated the simplest of emotions and was just awful. Best role for him would be Keigo instead. Best replaced by the current Byakuya which would be perfect. Byakuya should be played by the actor for Ishida or someone more sophisticated and elegant.
I would like to see more but the ugly parts need a lot of improvement since the next portions give these character more pivotal parts in the story.
The Good: The Story and character development is good, the Hollows were surprisingly well made, the action was 8/10, the changes from manga/anime story was acceptable. Ichigo was almost spot on, Chad was pretty cool, Inoue is cute, I had my doubts about Rukia and Ishida but they do fit as the character.
The Bad: Netflix subtitling isn't great; some Japanese emotions were subtitled when they just needed expression; "Howl Zabimaru!" became "Hear the Zabimaru roar!"; soul reaper,/shinigami cut to just reaper (reaper makes me think of the hood and the scythe). Costumes were great (except Rukia's latex glove) until Renji and Byakuya. Good costumes for a people who don't fit the characters. I just wish Urahara, was more witty and cocky but i can let that slide.
The Ugly: Renji is MUCH shorter than Ichigo, face is roundish and does not feel like a rough and tumble, fighter and survivalist he is supposed to be. Actor over exaggerated the simplest of emotions and was just awful. Best role for him would be Keigo instead. Best replaced by the current Byakuya which would be perfect. Byakuya should be played by the actor for Ishida or someone more sophisticated and elegant.
I would like to see more but the ugly parts need a lot of improvement since the next portions give these character more pivotal parts in the story.
PLEASE MAKE THE SOUL SOCIETY SEQUEL
deathcomingtoaschoolnearyou18 September 2018
This was so gooooooood. I fell in love with Bleach back in 2009. I was thinking that Netflix was going to mess Bleach up like they did with Death Note, but NOPE! It was literally perfect. Warner Bros did an amazing job with all the characters and they made sure that the story stayed true to the anime/manga. Please please please please make a sequel to this. I really wan't to see the Soul Society arch. Make it into a series if you have to. It would be an amazing series with 45 minute to an hour long episodes. Either way I'm really impressed with what they did and I hope they make the sequel.
another great anime destroyed by the movie
robert-8266415 September 2018
As a fan of the anime and the manga this movie was garbage. they changed the personalities and the way they interacted. they just jumped all over the story arc combining things together that had nothing to do with each other. changed major parts of the story. to me this movie is as true to the manga as the Deathnote movie that came out a while back. another case of someone altering the characters and story because they never followed it or researched it before they did this
Boring
TheOneThatYouWanted8 March 2022
Well, at least the end has good action. Yup, and that is all I can say positive about this film. Also the actors do a good job but man, do they skip and drag on plot points and etc. If you're a fan of the Bleach anime, bring a pillow.
It could have been worse
vladcotorogea30 November 2018
I don't usually write reviews but this is a special occasion because I am a huge fan of Bleach. The movie was overall good. I loved how they introduced the characters in such a small amount of time, however the problem was how they portrayed the villains. Renji looks extremely fidgety here. In the anime he is very determined but here he looks like he has a problem with everyone. Of course, it's the actor's fault. The same for Byakuya. Here he is extremely talkative and the acting was done very badly. I remember Byakuya not showing any emotion whatsoever. There was a review that perfectly described the bad guys: cosplay. The CGI was better than I expected. Overall a solid movie, but with bad character development (too less screen time for certain characters).
Unexpected, in a good way!
shoogeweegen-9016918 September 2018
For a 'Live-Action' adaption from an anime-series, it was in my opinion a very well made movie contrary to my expectations.
Many movie adaptions, be they from games of animes, usually leave me dissapointed. This mainly while they can never really translate the story or feeling behind the original work as well on the big screen. Which made me very dubious about the quality this movie would be when I spotted it on Netflix today.
While Bleach (the movie) is not a cinematic master-piece like 'The Shawshank Redemption, or any other Hollywood movie in that regard, it should actually not be compared to those standards. While Bleach is a 'from-anime-to-movie'-adaption, it had me very sceptical at first. Those doubts where quickly expelled a few minutes in, when I really became engrossed and decided to grab a bag of popcorn to watch it with.
The story and characters were believable, and the typical japanese over-dramatical acting kept to a minimum. The movie tried to put about a seasons worth of anime into roughly two-hours of movie, and I got to say they did it quite well! Within the time constraints a movie is expected to last, and the budget they had available, I can positively say that this is the best movie-adaption of an anime-series I have seen to date.
This may not be the most enjoyable movie for those wanting realism, expecting a cinematic master-piece (or perfect copy/paste of the animes plot), or generally not into asian/anime-themed plots. Everyone else I would definitely recommend giving it a try, and seeing it for yourselves!
Many movie adaptions, be they from games of animes, usually leave me dissapointed. This mainly while they can never really translate the story or feeling behind the original work as well on the big screen. Which made me very dubious about the quality this movie would be when I spotted it on Netflix today.
While Bleach (the movie) is not a cinematic master-piece like 'The Shawshank Redemption, or any other Hollywood movie in that regard, it should actually not be compared to those standards. While Bleach is a 'from-anime-to-movie'-adaption, it had me very sceptical at first. Those doubts where quickly expelled a few minutes in, when I really became engrossed and decided to grab a bag of popcorn to watch it with.
The story and characters were believable, and the typical japanese over-dramatical acting kept to a minimum. The movie tried to put about a seasons worth of anime into roughly two-hours of movie, and I got to say they did it quite well! Within the time constraints a movie is expected to last, and the budget they had available, I can positively say that this is the best movie-adaption of an anime-series I have seen to date.
This may not be the most enjoyable movie for those wanting realism, expecting a cinematic master-piece (or perfect copy/paste of the animes plot), or generally not into asian/anime-themed plots. Everyone else I would definitely recommend giving it a try, and seeing it for yourselves!
Bleach better have my money
kosmasp17 April 2019
That is if you still buy discs or even the digital version of movies of course. Silly joke about a rap song aside, I have not read the source material this is based on, so I can't tell you how close it portrays the characters. What I can say, is that the movie here has good stunts and action scenes overall. The mystery works for the movie as does the story.
You have to like this kind of stuff otherwise you may feel annoyed or irritated. And overall I would call this a decent effort, which makes me curious about the overall bleach universe - I reckon it will be quite complex. If I find time I might check it out.
You have to like this kind of stuff otherwise you may feel annoyed or irritated. And overall I would call this a decent effort, which makes me curious about the overall bleach universe - I reckon it will be quite complex. If I find time I might check it out.
Require better casting and more budget
bernardsia16 September 2018
Trying not to give away spoilers
1) really poor cast of actors, hardly anyone internalize the individual character issues. the Quincy dude was the worst, followed by rukia. best actor went to the dad.
2) pretty low budget. couldn't do the season 1 arc on the bait gone wrong. too many monsters mean too much CGI. lets just say it wimped out. overall effect timing was seriously off, especially the main scene where ichigo got his powers
3) so instead of that major fight sequence between hollow, quincy and ichigo the director replaced it with a bunch of scenes not related to the anime. zzz...
4) seems like the director did it as a one off. may as well, coz it could have been better.
Worth the watch. An issues of time.
kenball-5911815 September 2018
I'd like to break it down a bit. It's a good showing with some problems. It's a product of genre, not the film.
The actors selected are good. Ichigo is great. Many of the other actors are great or good. Excellent casting. It's hard to live act an anime, when so many things are exaggerated. I think the cast did a good job normalizing actions that aren't normal, and over the top. Some of the costumes (Byakuya) are hard to duplicate in the real world, and be believable. Good work with what could be done.
The story: the story somewhat follows the anime. Pieces of it match the anime, though in a different order or setting. We've seen the anime and read the manga, so a little variance isn't so bad. What's the point of telling the same story we've seen, in the same way. The result is much the same, just arrived to in a different way.
The visual: The graphics are not bad, though not great, it's a Netflix show after all. It does well as a visual showing, but wouldn't be considered a big budget movie.
The big issue: Time. The fact is, they shoved many episodes of the anime into a relatively short movie. Much of the plot, especially the character interaction, has to be crammed into a small amount of time. Compared to the anime, which could run several episodes to establish the relationships, they had a short amount of time to do so. Because of this, many of the relationships from the show, had to be rushed in this movie.
Overall thought: The movie is good, though suffers from many of the issues that come from making a live action movie based on an anime series (dragonball z and fullmetal alchemist). I'd be interested to see more movies made, especially if they were able to bring back the same actors as this one.
If you read this, thanks, and I hope it helps
The actors selected are good. Ichigo is great. Many of the other actors are great or good. Excellent casting. It's hard to live act an anime, when so many things are exaggerated. I think the cast did a good job normalizing actions that aren't normal, and over the top. Some of the costumes (Byakuya) are hard to duplicate in the real world, and be believable. Good work with what could be done.
The story: the story somewhat follows the anime. Pieces of it match the anime, though in a different order or setting. We've seen the anime and read the manga, so a little variance isn't so bad. What's the point of telling the same story we've seen, in the same way. The result is much the same, just arrived to in a different way.
The visual: The graphics are not bad, though not great, it's a Netflix show after all. It does well as a visual showing, but wouldn't be considered a big budget movie.
The big issue: Time. The fact is, they shoved many episodes of the anime into a relatively short movie. Much of the plot, especially the character interaction, has to be crammed into a small amount of time. Compared to the anime, which could run several episodes to establish the relationships, they had a short amount of time to do so. Because of this, many of the relationships from the show, had to be rushed in this movie.
Overall thought: The movie is good, though suffers from many of the issues that come from making a live action movie based on an anime series (dragonball z and fullmetal alchemist). I'd be interested to see more movies made, especially if they were able to bring back the same actors as this one.
If you read this, thanks, and I hope it helps
See also
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