Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Bleach the Movie 4: Hell Verse Blu-ray Movie Review

He sees dead people.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 11, 2012

Bleach is one of those franchises that feels like it’s been around forever, but which for whatever reason doesn’t seem to excite the same rabid fan reaction that some other quite similar anime do. As was mentioned in our review of Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black, Bleach weaves together a number of different elements which some anime fans may find awfully similar to such outings as Yu Yu Hakusho, Soul Eater, and Gungrave. Probably the most salient comparison is to Yu Yu Hakusho, for as in that popular anime, Bleach focuses on a young man who is tasked with keeping our dimension safe from invading malevolent spirits. In the case of Bleach, the hero Ichigo Kurasaki doesn’t have exactly the same “infirmity” as the lead character in Yu Yu Hakusho, but the same general conceit of battling demons from another realm is front and center in both, even if the two anime handle the subject in fairly different manners. Bleach has obviously been an incredibly popular enterprise, as is obvious from the tens of millions of copies of the manga version having been sold, and the anime having chalked up not just a formidable run but also having spawned several feature films, of which Hell Verse is the fourth. This 2010 installment in the long running Bleach story is certainly enjoyable on its own terms, but its relatively rote and predictable approach may be the most pointed argument that explains why there doesn’t seem to be the same level of intensity in Bleach’s fanbase as is routinely seen with other anime (this is obviously a gross generalization, and I’m sure there are “rabid” fans of Bleach who would vociferously disagree with this assessment).

Hell Verse plays a bit like what you might imagine would happen should some anime production company choose to adapt Dante’s Divine Comedy, or at the least the Inferno section of that famous trilogy, for in the film Ichigo does indeed need to storm the literal Gates of Hell in order to try to rescue his sister Yuzu. The opening of the film may in fact be a bit confusing for those coming into the franchise as newbies, as it’s a quick, not especially illuminating, recap of a previous battle that really doesn’t have a lot of information to impart about what is ultimately going to happen in this installment. But even for neophytes to the Bleach universe, once the main hellbound story kicks into gear, things are relatively clear and shouldn’t provide too many head scratching elements for most viewers.

We first meet Ichigo outside on a beautiful day when he suddenly becomes aware of three neighborhood rascals who have tipped over a flower pot that two distraught parents have left in an alley as a memorial to their recently deceased son. The vandals think they can easily take care of Ichigo, a young man who has a sort of nonchalant, unprepossessing air about him. They soon learn otherwise, in one of the kind of funny sequences in which Bleach loves to indulge. We also see Ichigo talking with the deceased boy’s spirit, telling him that until he chooses to move on, his parents can never move on themselves. This lets us in both on Ichigo’s supernatural abilities but also his basic decency, something that comes into play as the main plot arc unfolds and a series of attacks proves to be a ruse simply to kidnap Ichigo’s two sisters and take them to Hell. A counterattack by some of Ichigo’s cohorts manages to save one of his sisters, but the other is taken and held hostage in a manner of speaking, in the hopes that Ichigo will follow and free a whole crew of besieged souls who have spent untold eons in the fiery pit of Hades, chained and bound for eternity. There’s never any real compelling reason why Ichigo and only Ichigo can achieve this freedom for the afflicted hellions, but of course plots are built out of conveniences like this.

The bulk of Hell Verse appropriately takes place in Hell itself, where Ichigo is helped on his mission by a denizen of Hell named Kokuto. The design here is rather interesting, having been overseen by original manga creator Tite Kubo. CGI geometric planes that look kind of like something out of an anime version of Tron serve as the various “rings” or layers of hell, and Ichigo and Kokuto, along with a couple of Ichigo’s “usual suspect” supporting cast, jump from suspended geometric cubes kind of like they’re in a massive videogame (again, like Tron). The evil villains they meet in Hell are a motley bunch, as might be predicted, but there’s also a certain comic element to some of them, again in keeping with Bleach’s kind of oddly whimsical tone, something that might seem decidedly at odds with this particular outing of the franchise.

The interesting thing about Hell Verse is that even after Ichigo manages to rescue Yuzu (that really isn’t much of a spoiler, given his heroic status), things are far from resolved, and the film goes on to a rather twisty third act where trusted characters turn out to be duplicitous and Yuzu’s very survival seems to be far from a sure thing. This Bleach entry, like so much in this franchise, tends to be a series of huge battle set pieces strung together by a few more portentous character beats, but the wrap up to this film actually manages to develop some emotional resonance which will most likely be quite involving to whatever “rabid” Bleach fans there may be.

Bleach the Movie 4: Hell Verse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Bleach: Hell Verse is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Viz Pictures with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Much like Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black, this is another great looking high definition presentation, with crystal clear imagery and razor sharp line detail. The one kind of middling aspect here, and a rather surprising one, is the kind of "blah" CGI in some of the Hell sequences, where basic shapes are rendered without much feeling for depth or texture, looking for all the world like those very earliest CGI animated efforts that made "environments" out of globes, triangles and cubes. Other than that perhaps niggling failure, though, this is a wonderfully sharp, beautifully colorful, presentation that offers a lot to look at.

Bleach the Movie 4: Hell Verse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Bleach: Hell Verse 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. Both language tracks are virtually identical in terms of mix and surround placement, with perhaps just a tad less amplitude in the Japanese track, something that continues to happen on many of these anime releases. Both tracks feature some excellent LFE and surround activity in the action sequences. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is also very good on both of these well done audio options.

Bleach the Movie 4: Hell Verse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Production Art Gallery (HD)


• Illustration Gallery (HD)


• Japanese Trailers (1080i; 2:03)

Bleach the Movie 4: Hell Verse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bleach: Hell Verse isn't going to set the world on fire (no pun intended), but it's entertaining enough and will certainly be of interest to longtime Bleach fans. There's nothing too surprising here (even the "big twist" that happens toward the third act with regard to one of the characters), but the film is a good combination of bristling action sequences, a bit of heartstring tugging personal drama, and Bleach's rather peculiar sense of humor. The best thing about this film is its often gorgeous animation, which shines through exceedingly well on this Blu-ray. The audio mixes are also very well done. Recommended.