BLEACH The Movie 2: The DiamondDust Rebellion – The Real Double Dragons

Two years ago I found myself excited to see BLEACH The Movie: Memories of Nobody, but after watching the film several times over I found myself underwhelmed by the story. Since then I’ve come to expect very little from BLEACH movies and shonen anime movie adaptations in general. I found myself so uninterested that it took exactly a year to actually watch BLEACH: The DiamondDust Rebellion after I downloaded the fan subs. It wasn’t until the current domestic release of The DiamondDust Rebellion on DVD that I found the motivation to watch the movie. I wouldn’t call it a great movie but compared to Memories of Nobody the plot, characters and in some cases, the animation, are an excellent improvement. Now I find myself rather disappointed that I didn’t take the time to see and perhaps review it a year ago, because the second BLEACH movie is quite good despite some shortcomings. 

In the overall BLEACH anime storyline The DiamondDust Rebellion takes place between seasons seven and nine. In the World of the Living members of the Soul Society’s royal family are transporting an important artifact known as the King’s Seal. Tenth Squad captain Toushiro Hitsugaya, along with his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, and various squad members are charged with making sure the procession arrives at its destination safely. Unfortunately, the procession never arrives with the King’s Seal as they are attacked and nearly wiped out by two female arrancar. Hitsugaya personally takes part in the fight against the powerful women until he’s stabbed by another foe wearing a Hollow mask. He clashes swords with the masked man and manages to get a glimpse of his face before the fight ends. Suddenly, the 10th Squad captain goes silent and turns to give Matsumoto a pained look of sadness before pursuing the masked man and the stolen King’s Seal.

The next day Ichigo Kurosaki happens upon the scene of the massacre and artifact theft while out making his rounds as a Substitute Soul Reaper. He meets up with the captain of the 2nd Squad, Soi Fong, who begrudgingly fills him in on some of the details. After the 2nd Squad leaves Ichigo is joined by his Quincy rival and friend, Uryuu Ishida. As Ichigo tells Uryuu of what he learned an injured and barely conscious Hitsugaya stumbles in front of them and collapses. Meanwhile in the Soul Society, the 10th Squad is put under house arrest as their captain did not return after the fight and has gone missing. Matsumoto feels as if Hitsugaya had some kind of connection with the masked man and implores Renji Abarai, and Rukia Kuchiki to look into the matter for her.

Meanwhile, an unconscious Hitsugaya dreams about his past when he was still a student learning to become a Soul Reaper. There he meets and becomes fast friends with a slightly older boy. The dream ends on a disturbing note as the boy is executed by the Soul Society right in front of his eyes. In the World of the Living, Hitsugaya regains consciousness in Ichigo’s room. Without saying much to Ichigo, Hitsugaya returns to sleep and sneaks out the next morning, leaving his captain’s haori behind.

Ichigo isn’t easily fooled and attempts to stop Hitsugaya from leaving. It’s then that Ichigo utters the name “Kusaka,” and demands to know if it has any connection to the stolen King’s Seal. Hitsugaya then attacks Ichigo without warning and sends the Substitute Soul Reaper reeling. (At this point the name “Kusuka” was never actually mentioned by anyone. How did Ichigo learn of it? The audience is simply left to assume Hitsugaya uttered it while unconscious. This is a minor plot hole but it is an annoying one.) Before Ichigo can recover he’s attacked by the same two arrancar women responsible for stealing the King’s Seal. During the attack he blacks out and when he wakes up Hitsugaya is gone. Instead he finds Renji and Rukia, and they inform him of the situation with the now rogue 10th Squad captain. Ichigo mentions the name Kusaka and returns Hitsugaya’s discarded haori to Renji and Rukia. Renji then returns to the Soul Society to find out about Kusaka.

In the World of the Living Hitsugaya continues to wander the streets alone, even as Ichigo and friends search for him. In the Soul Society, Renji passes on the name Kusaka, and with help begins to research the name. A few Soul Reapers discover the importance of Kusaka’s name when all information pertaining to him is altered or missing. In the meantime, a group of Soul Reapers track down Hitsugaya and order him to return to the Soul Society. Instead the boy captain resists and attacks the squad, escaping with further injuries in the process. This act labels him a traitor and a swift order for his execution is given. At the same time Ichigo figures out why Hitsugaya has gone rogue and vows to find him before he’s killed by the Soul Society.

All in all, The DiamondDust Rebellion is satisfying to watch. The plot is much more enjoyable and less predictable than Memories of Nobody. With that said, I did have a number of objections with the story largely centered on unresolved plot points. The biggest part of the story was poorly explained, or just outright unexplained. When Hitsugaya and Kusaka originally formed their zanpaktou (or swords) from their souls, they both ended up wielding Hyourinmaru. Was it implied their friendship was so close they ended up with the same powers? Was it just an amazing coincidence? Or a little bit of both? Did Hyourinmaru serve as one entity for two Soul Reapers or was he born twice from Hitsugaya and Kusaka’s souls? Furthermore, why is such a thing frowned upon in the Soul Society? There was never any real evidence to suggest that two Soul Reapers having the same exact abilities was a problem. Since these little facts are a major driving force behind the movie I would have expected them to be better explained. Instead everything is largely left to audience speculation.

The rest of the movie is handled well, as battles are fast-paced and always fun to watch. A majority of the Soul Reaper cast makes an appearance in this film. Just like the first movie much of it is fan service, but because the story is better developed having multiple characters around no longer feels like simple pandering. Some fans may be disappointed by how slowly the first half of the movie unfolds versus the action-packed second half. I had no problems with the sl
ower dialogue focused pacing, but your enjoyment may vary.

Character development was limited in this movie but at the very least everyone was in character. In a movie based on a popular action series it’s rare to see any kind of character development at all. The movie did a nice job of exploring some of Hitsugaya’s past while simultaneously revealing the lengths the young Soul Reaper will go in order to pursue his beliefs. At the same time Ichigo’s received some development as he found himself most able to understand and relate to a forlorn Hitsugaya.

For the most part the animation was fluid and generally looked better than the anime series. Some scenes looked a bit strange with an animation quality on par with the regular series. Generally the animation started off very strong and then became weaker toward the end of the movie before regaining its quality. It wasn’t a huge issue, but at times I found myself wondering if I’d really just sat through a movie that originally had a theatrical release. Shiro Sagisu returned to work on The DiamondDust Rebellion’s musical score and as expected the instrumental songs are excellent. Orchestrated violin pieces help set the movie’s more somber moods while action-themed guitar pieces highlighted the movie’s numerous battle scenes. Of the music, the orchestrated violin score remained unique to the film. The rest of The DiamondDust Rebellion’s score was incorporated into the anime starting with episode 168.

Because this review only covers the subtitled version of the movie I’m not able to comment on the dub– as I was unable to a year ago with Memories of Nobody. All of the dub’s voice actors reprise their roles for this film. So if you enjoy hearing the BLEACH anime in English the DiamondDust Rebellion is more of the same. If you dislike the dub, then you’ll want to stick to the subtitled version of this film.

Film adaptations of popular anime series are rarely epic, and are often little more than an interesting side story or adventure. The DiamondDust Rebellion is certainly a little better than the average Shonen anime movie adaption, but it’s far from being a masterpiece. If you hated the fairly predictable plot of Memories of Nobody the second BLEACH movie is a refreshing change of pace that occasionally keeps you guessing. The story and character development aren’t completely focused on Toushiro Hitsugaya, making it a decent watch for anyone who’s not a huge fan of the silver-haired Soul Reaper boy. But if you absolutely hate Hitsugaya as a character this movie may not be for you. For anyone else who follows BLEACH in some form on a regular or moderate basis The DiamondDust Rebellion is worth watching at least once. A major plot issue aside, this film rises beyond the typically low expectations of a Shonen anime film.