Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Bleach the Movie 3: Fade to Black Blu-ray Movie Review

Memories fade to nothingness in this 'Bleach' OVA.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 24, 2011

The genre of anime might be thought of as defined largely by its stylistic elements, but there’s certainly a case to be made that it’s content at least as much as style that helps categorize any given offering as an anime. For better or worse, there seems to be a fairly finite set of ideas and subject matters that at least most animes tend to deal with, even though of course various animes are split into subgenres like shonen or mecha or any number of various other descriptors. Take the case of Bleach as a fairly salient example. Putting aside for a moment whether any of the following franchises came before or after the Bleach mangas, animes and OVAs, one can assemble a pretty heady list of other offerings that feature several elements that are also on display in Bleach. Among these (and this is only a partial list) are: Yu Yu Hakusho, Xam'd: Lost Memories, Soul Eater, Gungrave, and The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Bleach is yet another anime outing that features a group of characters who have transmigrated to the “other side,” or in the inimitable words of none other than Monty Python’s Flying Circus, “aren’t quite dead yet.” The chief story arc of Bleach concerns a Soul Reaper named Rukia Kuchiki who transfers some of her powers to a teenager named Ichigo Kurasaki during a battle with a demon where Rukia can’t quite summon enough energy to defeat the beast. That unfortunately breaks one of the cardinal rules of the Soul Society, a kind of anime Valhalla where spirits have gone to regroup before reincarnating. The Soul Society therefore punishes Rukia with an initial sentence of death (wait a minute—isn’t she kind of dead anyway?), which spurs Ichigo into action, whereby he storms the gates of the Soul Society, uncovering a labyrinthine conspiracy that leads to one of the main conflicts that make up large swaths of both the anime and the manga (this review will refrain from posting too much material so that those who want to check out the back story won’t have their experiences marred by spoilers).

Rukia and Ichigo are still the central characters in Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black, though those with no prior immersion in the franchise are probably going to be mightily confused by most of the goings-on in this outing, especially since a major part of the plot deals with yet another conspiracy to more or less erase Rukia from everyone’s memory, including her own. While that presents some opportunity to divulge some elements of Rukia’s back story, Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black presupposes a fairly extensive knowledge of the various characters and especially their interrelationships which helps anchor the viewer through what is at times a really convoluted plot.

Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black manages to posit some fairly thought-provoking ideas in terms of what memory means and how human (or even Soul Reaper) emotion is so indelibly linked to certain past experiences, but the film also defies simple logic at several turns. If one accepts the “given” that all memories of Rukia have more or less disappeared, it brings into question why several preexisting relationships between the characters are still more or less the same as they always were. Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black cheats in a none too subtle way with regard to this conundrum, for it has several characters, most notably Ichigo, have just the faintest recollection of Rukia that helps them to rebuild their world as it was before the memory erasing which starts out the film.

It’s probably no mere coincidence that Yu Yu Hakusho and Bleach feature the same director, Noriyuke Abe. Abe seems preternaturally concerned with the afterlife, ghosts and spirits, and as in Yu Yu Hakusho, a lot of Bleach, including Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black plays with the dialectic between the living and the spirit worlds. There’s little doubt, though, that Bleach is the more convoluted property, and the various echelons of Soul Society as well the often complex tangle of relationships between the major characters remove this franchise from the “battle of the week” feeling that Yu Yu Hakusho often fell into. This is not to underemphasize the fact that Bleach, including this OVA, is filled to the brim with fairly traditional battles, but Bleach seems to rely less on the action and a bit more on the actual characters and their very involved back stories.

Things build to a rather overwrought third act in Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black, especially with regard to two lost souls who have been reunited with Rukia in order that she might recall their names, something that will evidently help them move on to their next chosen plane of existence. While there actually is some emotional content in this plotline, the final scenes of Rukia and other characters crying so much that virtual streams are pouring down their faces will probably strike some as unintentionally giggle worthy. But Rukia's character arc over the course of the film is surprisingly affecting, even though her final moments of dialogue with Ichigo sound like something out of the Dummies' Guide to Philosophy 101 as written by Love Story's Erich Segal.

Bleach the Movie 3: Fade to Black Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Viz Media with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Bleach the series isn't known for its outstanding animation, so fans of the series may well be pleasantly surprised by both the care the animation has received on this film (for the most part, anyway), as well as how nicely and clearly it pops in high definition. The bulk of this outing offers very crisp line detail, nicely saturated color and a generally excellent level of sharpness. There are a couple of things viewers should be aware of, neither of which are directly related to the transfer itself. First of all, several long sequences play out in various characters' memories, and those are overlaid with an intentionally gauzy look to differentiate them from the "current" sequences. Also, Rukia finds herself in a fog and mist enshrouded environment, which also lends a deliberately hazy look to a lot of her sequences. Those items aside, this is a very nice looking transfer that should easily please the franchise's fans.

Bleach the Movie 3: Fade to Black Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black offers both the original Japanese language track in a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix, as well as a very good English dub, similarly in a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. (It should be noted that it is impossible to toggle between the audio options, or in fact to access subtitles, via the appropriate remote buttons. All choices in those regards need to be made directly from the Setup Menu and remain in force until you exit and access the Setup Menu again to make a different choice). Both language tracks are virtually identical in terms of mix and surround placement. The Japanese language track sounds a bit "younger" (for want of a better term), though the English language track boasts some very fine voice work as well. Both tracks feature some decent LFE in some action sequences and there is some excellent immersion in many sequences, notably some of the segues to Soul Society, when sound effects wash through the surrounds from rear to front channels as the characters descend into new territory. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is also very good on both of these well done audio options.

Bleach the Movie 3: Fade to Black Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Japanese Trailers (SD; 4:23)
• English Trailers (SD; 1:56)
• Production Art Gallery
• Trailers for other Viz Media Releases

Bleach the Movie 3: Fade to Black Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's hard if not impossible to come right out and recommend Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black as a discrete, individual title, because a great deal of what goes on in the film requires some grounding in the back stories of most of the characters featured in this outing. Those with at least some semblance of knowledge of the Bleach universe will probably be pleasantly surprised by this film's very nice looking animation, and will be able to put up with some of the sillier aspects of the plotline. Those with little to no knowledge of Bleach may at least enjoy the visuals and the well rendered audio, but are probably going to be scratching their heads at the convoluted storyline, which barely makes much sense even with some understanding of the long Bleach saga. For non-fans who are curious, it's probably best to try to rent this first, or at least to get a handle on the Bleach series before jumping into this enterprise. For Bleach fans, this is a great looking and sounding film which may not exactly set the bar incredibly high in terms of story (not to mention comprehensibility), but which is a kind of fun and entertaining "alternate universe" for Rukia and Ichigo to spend an hour and a half or so in. For fans at least, this release comes Recommended.