Bleach Movie 2: The DiamondDust Rebellion - Mou Hitotsu no Hyourinmaru

Assigned to protect a royal procession transporting a powerful artifact called the "Ouin," Squad 10 gathers in the human world as Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto observe the area cautiously. However, the caravan is suddenly struck by a group of assailants who wreak havoc on the procession, stealing the Ouin in the process. After a brief clash with one of the attackers, the distraught Hitsugaya pursues the escaping thieves, leaving behind Matsumoto and the disoriented squad. Following the incident, the Seireitei brands Hitsugaya a traitor for abandoning his post and puts Squad 10 on indefinite lockdown.

In the human world, Ichigo Kurosaki is investigating a spiritual abnormality when he stumbles across the injured Captain, but is caught off guard when Hitsugaya suddenly flees. Soon learning of the situation, Ichigo, Rukia Kuchiki, Renji Abarai, and Matsumoto set off to prove Hitsugaya's innocence and uncover the truth behind the theft of the Ouin. Meanwhile, a ghost from Hitsugaya's past haunts his thoughts as he chases down the true culprit.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kurosaki, Ichigo Main

Morita, Masakazu Japanese

Hitsugaya, Toushirou Main

Park, Romi Japanese

Matsumoto, Rangiku Main

Matsutani, Kaya Japanese

Kusaka, Sojiro Main

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Zaraki, Kenpachi Supporting

Tachiki, Fumihiko Japanese

Urahara, Kisuke Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Kuchiki, Rukia Supporting

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

Kuchiki, Byakuya Supporting

Okiayu, Ryoutarou Japanese

Shihouin, Yoruichi Supporting

Yukino, Satsuki Japanese

Kyouraku, Shunsui Jirou Sakuranosuke Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Simone, Jamie Producer

Hagino, Ken Producer

Aoki, Shunji Producer

Abe, Noriyuki Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Sep 7, 2008

TheLlama

Recommended

Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion takes place in the Bleach universe, as the title may suggest. It focuses mainly on 10th squad captain Hitsugaya Toshiro, so if you're a fan of him, you'll enjoy this movie, and if you're not, you might not find it interesting. If you're neither of the former, like me, you'll probably enjoy it too.

The story isn't the most original story you'll see, as it follows the theme of revenge based off of a grudge from the past. Said revenge will be executed by obliterating everything. So there's nothing special in that department. Toshiro gets involved in this act of revenge ... because he has a connection to the man who holds the grudge against Seireitei. One day, the King's Seal, a mysterious and powerful artifact, gets stolen from right under the noses of the squad protecting it (the 10th squad), and Toshiro ends up missing. Now, events that may change Seireitei begin to unfold. And that's where the movie starts off.

It gradually explores Toshiro's past with the man who wants to take revenge on Seireitei with sporadic flashbacks, that doesn't make a lot of sense at first, but they become more and more clear as the events in the movie unfold, and you soon get to learn the reason behind this man's grudge against Soul Society. While this way of telling the story is not something unseen, it works very well with this movie, and does give it some extra tension and entertainment value.

Long-time Bleach fans will probably enjoy this movie because we get to see many characters we've not seen fight for a long time fight. Among others, there's Zaraki at his craziest, Yoruichi and Soi Fon with their Shunko, and Ikkaku with his bankai. Of course, there's a lot of icy fighting courtesy of Toushiro.

Another thing I believe long-time Bleach fans will find enjoyable is the animation quality, which is at the very least astounding. With awesome lighting effects, very fluid character movements and high attention to detail, it surpasses the normal quality of Bleach's animation by many levels. If I could, I'd set the score to 15/10.

The soundtrack is awesome as well, with astounding tunes that fit right into the mood of the movie, amplifying the scenes and events as well as a soundtrack should. DDR's soundtrack is one of the few that gets the honor of being downloaded to my computer.

All in all, if you're a Bleach fan, don't hate Toshiro, and if you don't mind a classic revenge-based story, chances are you'll enjoy this movie.

To 'Not Helpful' voters (and you 'Helpful' voters too): Feedback greatly appreciated =)

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 4, 2023

ThatAnimeSnobRE

Mixed Feelings

Funny

Movies deriving from a series are 99% of the time just filler episodes with better animation, more action and a lame story. Did this movie escape this formula and offered something different for a chance? … Hell, no. Be prepared for simply another filler mission, with predictable plot and pseudo-serious matters. Of course, chances are you watch Bleach just for the battles as neither the story nor the characters are deeper than a rain pond; so this will not faze you in the least.

Animation and sound wise, the movie is very good. It uses cinematics greater than those in the initial episodes (how do I ... miss those) and makes the story to look dramatic, like a good samurai movie. The level of lining detail is more or less the same, though there is a higher spectrum of colors and a much lower amount of static images and repeating frames. I must say that as far as atmosphere in a title like Bleach goes, the movie did a wonderful job.

Of course, most will not care about this as much as the action part. Yes, there is action and it is freaking awesome. If you are into superpower battles, you will not be disappointed. Still, don’t expect any realism or decent choreography, as the whole deal was, and still is, just people yelling the names of their attacks and then their swords magically change shapes and spit all sorts of elemental spells. Thunders and lightings fill the screen and buildings crumble and dimensions merge and… Well, it looks epic, who cares about logic.

Story and characters are, as expected, more shallow and uninteresting than in the series. Not by too much though, as all of us who know of Bleach are aware that there was never much meat around those bones to begin with. So, once again, Soul Society is in danger, all the captains attack and do a cameo parade of special attacks before Ichigo storms in and saves the day in the same fashion as always… Actually, the story is not very different than the Hueco Mundo ark. Same basic plot, same pattern in battles.

I can only say that the shift of protagonist from the dorky lead Ichigo, to the white haired boy Hitsugaya was not very successful. Being a filler mission, it doesn’t matter how much they try to flesh him out. Sure, he is less pathetic than Strawberry Boy, but still, he is just another guy shy around women, wielding a magic sword. As for his tragic past and movie rival, it was quite ridiculous as you never quite see how his childhood friend managed to survive, raised a huge army of ghosts and invaded Soul Society like there was no protection at all. Or why the heck doesn’t anyone do something about the ever-present scheming leaders of Soul Society and just kills all those who try to change things. Anyways, Ichigo was still the one to beat the baddy, so what’s the point? Why don’t they just make a movie about Zaraki picking his nose and slaying monsters from beginning to end? It will be far more interesting and it will not even need a story. Anyways, as a whole it is about every character in the series showing off his powers before Ichigo predictably wins. Nice action, boring plot.

Value and enjoyment … or the absence of them. I lost interest in shonen that are nothing more than brainless action and lame attempts at drama. There are far more interesting shonen, as there are far more dramatic and realistic samurai movies. This movie is more or less a waste of time. Something to watch when you just want to see pretty lights filling the screen. At best you can enjoy yet another uninspired movie about yet another series that went down the drain after a while.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Sep 7, 2008

fosskers

Not Recommended

I'm going to have to disagree with the various positive reviews posted here.

First off, as a quick and painless summary, I must say that this movie does not in any way measure up to the quality of the first. By the end, I can honestly say I was bored. View a breakdown of the various subsections below.

The plot was not overly interesting. I, being a rather strict advocate of manga canon, was not overly enthused by "One zanpakutou, two owners" idea. In the movie's defense, however, I appreciated their portrayal of the Central 46 as strict and unwavering in their ideology. There were plot ... holes, as well as various cliched themes which recur commonly in anime, which would not have required that much effort or good writing to fix.
Ichigo going to Soul Society to fix all their problems for them is a theme which has been much overdone by this point, and frankly, is no longer interesting.

The animation was very underdone. At several points during it I found myself saying aloud, "Is this not a movie?" Let alone other animes, Bleach itself has had better animation during certain episodes. A large portion of the movie had standard "Bleach filler" animation quality. Even the more high budget scenes could have been better.

Why does Yoruichi pop into Soul Society whenever she feels like it?
Character stereotypes were whored to the point of being annoying. Yamamoto was a thick-headed idiot until the truth had clearly come to light. Soi Fon was still a Yoruichi fan girl who seemed to enjoy ripping off her robes every time something provoked her slightly. Hitsugaya was cold and unfriendly. Ichigo yelling at people solved all their problems once again. Ikkaku would NOT use bankai in that situation. And of course, the enemy is ridiculously powerful by some unknown means or by very little effort.

I did not particularly enjoy this movie. Compared to Memories of Nobody, I would consider it a near write-off. Memories of Nobody had a solid story, a worthy enemy, and emotional connection, all of which were simply absent in DiamondDust Rebellion.

Fade to Black, I shall hope you don't disappoint me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) BishounenTatsumi - Sep 6, 2008	162 replies	by phantom346 »» Nov 19, 4:20 PM
	Bleach the Movie 2: The Diamond Dust Rebellion U.S. DVD Release Date KidRyan - Jun 21, 2009	7 replies	by KidRyan »» Sep 1, 2009 2:31 PM
	Bleach falling into dismay - Yachiru missing! Guess - Sep 9, 2008	21 replies	by Hypeathon »» Aug 31, 2009 11:56 PM
	All the fakes atlantiza - Apr 1, 2008	29 replies	by Reveriesian »» Aug 29, 2008 11:24 AM
	Diamond Dust Preview episode 152 MattyD - Dec 13, 2007	18 replies	by vizard_love »» Jul 18, 2008 11:03 AM