Tite Kubo Sings Praises of Live-Action BLEACH
The live-action adaptation of Bleach will hit theaters in Japan this Friday and many fans are excited. I can’t wait for a US release (Come on, Netflix!). Should fans be excited though? Most live-action adaptations of anime are pretty garbage. That’s why many are not expecting much from Bleach. There have been things that point to this being a bit better than most. A film critic praised the film earlier this year. Hiroyoshi Koi is attached to the project and he also worked on the praised adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin. Finally, Tite Kubo has given his stamp of approval. I know a lot of people don’t care about that last point, but it says something to me since he wasn’t involved in this film. Kubo was too busy with finishing the series and he was curious to see what the director, Shinsuke Sato, would do.
In a recent Twitter post, Kubo posted a picture of a letter he wrote praising the film. This letter is where we find out why he wasn’t involved with the film, and he goes on to explain that he wasn’t planning on writing a reaction. Then, he saw the movie and liked it so much, he decided to urge fans everywhere to watch it.
“Honestly, I said, ‘I will not write a comment of this movie if I don’t like it.’ Now, I wrote this with happiness. Please go to a theater and see how it is.”
As far as the story, Kubo does say this:
“Although the story has some points of change from the original as it is summarized for the movie, many battles are connected to the stories. A sense of speed and big action reaches a new level as a Japanese movie.”
I’m not surprised that they made some changes since they’re trying to cram about 20 episodes into a 107-minute movie. Does Kubo’s joy get you excited for the film?
Bleach will be released in Japan on July 20, 2018, with two screenings in New York on July 28, 2018.