Just
what was Warner Bros in Japan thinking when they made and released Bleach the
Live-Action Movie. It was suppose to be based on Tite
Kubo's popular manga and equally
successful anime series "Bleach". However, it did not seem like it.
Most manga/anime that go from print/television
to live action movie's adaptations usually follow the series in the order is
which the manga/anime was created by the artist. However, with bleach several
scenes were out of place. Like the opening scene in the movie of the young Ichigo Kurosaki
and his mother. This scene in anime came near the close of the first season as
a way to explain to Rukia Kuchiki why he was reluctant to
attend his mother annual funeral ceremony.
In
addition, some of the dialog was changed and many scenes and the relationships
with the character appeared forced. The close bonds between the characters did
not mesh as well as in the anime. And the actor who played Chad could have looked
more Mexican and Japanese descent, as in the series, but he did not. In fact in
the movie, he looked short, slim, shaggy and demented.
As
a diehard Bleach fan on my second viewing of the anime, Warner Bros should have
remain faithful to the manga and the anime. However, what we as fans got was a
very loosely based and choppy viewing of a still very popular international work
of creative art.
This
film deserves a makeover to make it into what Tite
Kubo created and what we as fan expected.
If you are new to Bleach and would
not mind the inconsistencies with the film, it is streaming now on Netflix.
In addition, I have not been able to
find the film on sale.