Bleach the Movie: The DiamondDust Rebellion

A treasure being transported is seized on the road, and the only person to leave the scene is Hitsugaya. He disappears without explaining himself to anyone. Soul Society declares him a fugitive and issues an order to kill. Ichigo wants to know why he ran. The subject is not the theft but Hitsugaya carrying a debt from his past. The flight is not a crime but a choice; he will not hand his own business to anyone else, and that stubbornness builds the whole tragedy. The form is unusually cold for the series. Ice and snow sit at its visual centre; the palette is locked to blue and the fights take place in wide empty spaces. It is the second Bleach feature. The narrative does not connect to the main story and the new characters do not return. Its most argued-over aspect is that much of the main cast is left at the edges while the narration focuses on a single character; that narrow a focus is rare in the series. Noriyuki Abe directs. Romi Park voices Hitsugaya and Masakazu Morita voices Ichigo. Who it is for: viewers following the series who like Hitsugaya. Who it is not for: newcomers; the film explains nothing and cannot be followed without prior knowledge.