Bleach: Fade to Black

Bleach: Fade to Black
Japanese theatrical poster
Directed by	Noriyuki Abe
Written by	Natsuko Takahashi
Based on	Bleach  by Tite Kubo
Starring	Masakazu Morita Fumiko Orikasa Kentarō Itō Ryōtarō Okiayu Romi Park Shin-ichiro Miki Fumihiko Tachiki Tomoko Kawakami Aya Hirano Hiroshi Kamiya
Music by	Shiro Sagisu
Cinematography	Toshiyuki Fukushima
Edited by	Hidetoshi Okuda Junichi Uematsu
Production company	Aniplex Bandai Co., Ltd. Dentsu Studio Pierrot Sega Shueisha Sony Computer Entertainment Japan TV Tokyo
Distributed by	Toho (Japan) Viz Media (North America)
Release dates	December 13, 2008 (2008-12-13)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese English
Box office	$6,032,296(Japan)[1]

Bleach: Fade to Black (BLEACH Fade to Black 君の名を呼ぶ, Burīchi Fade to Black Kimi no Na o Yobu, Bleach: Fade to Black, I Call Your Name) is the third animated film adaptation of the anime and manga series Bleach. Directed by Noriyuki Abe, the film was released December 13, 2008.^[2] The film's theme music was "Koyoi, Tsuki wa Miezu Tomo", performed by Porno Graffitti and its screenplay was written by Natsuko Takahashi, who is a screenwriter for the anime series. The DVD was released on September 30, 2009 in Japan, with additional footage of Ichigo, Rukia and Kon leaving for the World of the Living. The English dub was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 15, 2011 in the United States and on May 28, 2012 in the United Kingdom.^[3]

Plot

In the Soul Society, Mayuri Kurotsuchi is attacked in his laboratory by a pair of mysterious siblings wielding a scythe that erases his memories. In a frightened panic, Kurotsuchi damages a machine and causes a massive reiatsu explosion that covers much of Soul Society in a milky layer of reiatsu in the form of a giant rampaging river of serpents, killing and freezing many Soul Reapers, including Kenpachi Zaraki. Rukia Kuchiki is confronted and attacked by the siblings, erasing her memories and those of everybody that has memories of her, and is carried away to a rundown area of Rukongai by the siblings. Seemingly everyone in the Soul Society has their memories of Rukia erased.

In the real world, Ichigo Kurosaki briefly forgets Rukia but in a dream recalls her. Troubled, he and Kon go to Kisuke Urahara for information. He tells Urahara of the situation, but he does not remember Rukia despite having her listed as a customer at his shop. Ichigo and Kon go to Soul Society, where they are attacked by people who they knew, including Shuhei Hisagi, Renji Abarai and Sajin Komamura, after Ichigo is forced to use his Hollow powers, but no one remembers Ichigo. While attempting to flee, he is struck by Komamura's Bankai. Ichigo is branded an intruder by the captains of the Gotei 13. Rukia finds herself in Rukongai with no memory of being a Soul Reaper. The nameless siblings, a sister and a brother, remind Rukia that they used to be close friends living in Rukongai and Rukia was to give them names, although she has forgotten them. Ichigo is healed of his injuries by Hanatarō Yamada, who seems to have recalled healing him before. Ichigo then goes to Byakuya for help, but he does not remember Rukia either. After a direct confronting with Renji again, Byakuya directs Ichigo to his wife, Hisana's, birthplace in Rukongai, where they are briefly reunited with Rukia before the siblings flee with her from Ichigo and Kon.

Ichigo and Kon are attacked again by captain-class Soul Reapers Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa, but are saved by Renji Abarai, who follows his gut instinct to trust Ichigo. Commander-Captain Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and other captains arrive to capture Ichigo, but Urahara arrives dressed in his old uniform when he was a captain prior to his exile. He sends Ichigo, Renji and Kon off to save Rukia, and explains to the captains that he studied a parasitic Hollow which could erase memories with its scythe-like tentacle, but it escaped and appears to be influencing the siblings' actions to an extent. The siblings go to Kurotsuchi's lab in order to fully destroy the Soul Reapers with the reiatsu weapon they had used previously, under the belief that the Soul Reapers were responsible for taking Rukia away from them. Rukia objects to this, and Ichigo and Renji's arrival prompts Rukia to remember them. The female sibling succumbs to rage, and she forces herself, her brother and Rukia to all fuse into one, creating "Dark Rukia". Dark Rukia, seemingly hollowified, unleashes the reiatsu weapon upon Soul Society before battling Ichigo.

The reiatsu weapon takes the form of a giant, deformed monster, and the Soul Reapers fight against it, including Yoruichi Shihoin who had arrived with Urahara and a freed Kenpachi. Ichigo fights Dark Rukia and holds back initially to refrain from injuring her. Byakuya arrives and claims that he should be the one to finish this, but Ichigo intervenes and manages to free her with his own similar reiatsu, destroying the Hollow, while Byakuya and Renji destroy the reiatsu monster. Rukia regains her memories, but the siblings are left mortally wounded, though they are regretful for their actions. Urahara arrives and explains that the Hollow attacked Rukia and the siblings while controlling a Soul Reaper's body, but when the body was destroyed, the siblings trapped the Hollow in their bodies and were sent to Hueco Mundo for a time, managing to escape after a hundred years to reunite with Rukia because of their strong desire to be with her. Rukia tells the siblings their names, Homura and Shizuku, but the two die from their wounds, much to Rukia's despair.

Ichigo asks Rukia at the hill shrine where she previously visited before, about the shrines were made in remembrance of her childhood friends who died during adolescence due to poverty), reminding her that her memories of the siblings will not fade. Kon, who was frozen during the climactic battle, breaks free and cries out to not be forgotten by everyone, especially Rukia.

New Characters

• Dark Rukia (ダークルキア, Dāku Rukia)

Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English)
Dark Rukia is a Hollowfied form of Rukia created when Homura, enraged by Ichigo's attempts to restore Rukia's memory, wished to merge herself, Rukia, and Shizuku into a single being. The process ended when Ichigo infused Rukia with his reiatsu and she regained her memories.

• Homura

Voiced by: Aya Hirano (Japanese), Laura Bailey (English)
Rukia and Shizuku's "sister". She and her brother died defending Rukia from a parasitic Hollow, but were revived by absorbing it into their bodies. She is able to grant any wish Rukia makes. She received her name after Rukia recovered her memories.

• Shizuku

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (Japanese), Richard Cansino (English)
Rukia and Homura's "brother". He and his sister died defending Rukia from a parasitic Hollow, but were revived by absorbing it into their bodies.

Cast

Novelization

A full coloured novelization has been published.^[4]

Reception

The film opened in second or third place at the Japanese box office (sources vary)^[5] and held a top ten location until its fifth week.^[6]

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Bleach: Fade to Black - Kimi no Na o Yobu (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Bleach: Fade to Black at the Internet Movie Database

Bleach by Tite Kubo Media Manga Volumes 1–21 22–48 49–current Anime Episodes Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Soundtracks Musicals Films Memories of Nobody The DiamondDust Rebellion Fade to Black Hell Verse Video games Blade Battlers series Nintendo Home Consoles series Heat the Soul series The Blade of Fate Dark Souls The 3rd Phantom Flame Bringer Soul Resurrección Characters Ichigo Kurosaki Rukia Kuchiki Orihime Inoue Yasutora "Chad" Sado Uryū Ishida Renji Abarai Byakuya Kuchiki Gin Ichimaru Kenpachi Zaraki Sōsuke Aizen Tōshirō Hitsugaya Mayuri Kurotsuchi Soul Reapers Hollows Related Trading card game Loituma Girl Jump Super Stars Jump Ultimate Stars J-Stars Victory VS Book • Category