SYNOPSIS: 

Kurosaki Ichigo (Sôta Fukushi) is a high school student who has the ability to see ghosts. One night, a Shinigami (Soul Reaper) named Kuchiki Rukia (Hana Sugisaki) suddenly appeared in his bedroom and his house and family was attacked by an unknown creature known as a Hollow. Situation required Ichigo to take Rukia's powers and become a Shinigami. 

Bleach is easily one of my favorite manga. Even after it suffers a downfall after the Aizen arc ended, I loyally continued reading it until the very last chapter. I have to admit, I had concerns when I learned that there's gonna be a live action movie of Bleach. Many manga/anime adaptations fail to capture the real essence of the manga and therefore I was worried that the movie would ruin the manga for me. 

To my surprise, this movie is quite well made. 

My first concern was pacing. Fitting in many chapters of a manga into one movie is tough and might result in an overly fast pace. However, the director clearly knew what he was doing. The pacing is just right. It is not rushed but at the same time, it manages to cover a whole arc. 

The fact that the story line is a bit different from the manga helps. Yes, there are key scenes that copies the manga which is awesome but it is refreshing to see some variety and differences. 

It feels good to see how the characters have room to showcase their growth and affections towards each other. The nice pacing gives audience room to really feel and love the characters.

Speaking of characters, I think that all of the actors and actresses did a great job in portraying their roles. I love Sota Fukushi's portrayal of Ichigo. Hana Sugisaki needs to be more silly when it comes to being Rukia but overall, she nails the emotional and temperamental parts of her. 

The side characters are also lovable especially Chad (Yû Koyanagi) and Orihime (Erina Mano). Seeing these two makes me smile. They are cute and the bond between them and Ichigo can clearly be seen.

Uryu Ishida (Ryô Yoshizawa) could have been a better character if given more action and screen time. The casting for Renji is perfect. Taichi Saotome nails the looks and character of the gangster Shinigami. Lastly, Miyavi as well did a good job as Byakuya. 

Apart from that, the action parts are very engaging. I love the part where Rukia trains Ichigo because the movements seems fluid and believable. They seem to possess fighting skills probably due to real life training. 

The sword fights seem visually cool. Come on, Japanese katana fights have always looked cool. Attatatatatata hiyaaa! Slash! and the loser falls. Not gonna lie, most of the fight scenes gave me goose bumps. 

The fight with hollows are also engaging but they're not the main focus. This movie is more towards Ichigo's fight against the Shinigami monarchy. 

I definitely want a sequel because so far, I am entertained by Shinsuke Sato's work. My concerns for the sequel is the overabundance of CGI since it would take place of Soul Society. I am hoping that Shinsuke Sato would make it simple yet engaging by focusing more on character development rather than the visual effects like in this movie. 

4 out of 5 stars.