Bayonetta: Bloody Fate is an anime movie adaptation based off the first Bayonetta game, produced by GONZO. The movie saw a two-week release in Japanese theaters on November 23rd, 2013, with a DVD and Blu-Ray on February 14th, 2014. It saw a North American release by FUNimation featuring the return of the entire original voice cast on October 21st, 2014.
Bayonetta is a witch with no memories, having been woken from a 500-year-long slumber at the bottom of a lake 20 years prior, with the only knowledge retained to her is that she is an Umbra Witch, and she needs to kill the Angels of Paradiso to keep Inferno happy. It's at this time that the president of the Ithavoll Group, Balder, who is also the leader of the Ragna religion seeking the resurrection of The Creator, Jubileus, sends an invitation to Bayonetta. Being pursued by a mysterious woman in red with the same witch powers as her, as well as a much less threatening Intrepid Reporter named Luka, Bayonetta sets her sights on the city of Vigrid in order to discover the secrets of her lost memories.
The anime is notable for being the first Bayonetta product to feature Japanese voice acting, and was so positively received by fans that the cast was brought back for the Japanese dub of Bayonetta 2 and a re-release of the original game for the Wii U. But despite its positive reception, the events of Bloody Fate are considered entirely non-canon because the official continuation of the franchise in Bayonetta 2 goes in a different direction.
Bayonetta: Bloody Fate provide examples of:
- Adaptational Badass:
- Irenic, a car-shaped angel, was only Cannon Fodder in the original game, literally added at the last minute so that a sudden driving section wouldn't be devoid of enemies. In this adaptation, it's capable of firing a lightning attack and launch a Macross Missile Massacre, forcing Bayonetta to summon something big just to get rid of it.
- Jubileus is depicted here as Queen Sheba's equal and fights her on relatively equal terms.
- Adaptational Comic Relief: Luka takes over Enzo's role as the comedic Butt-Monkey.
- Adaptational Heroism: Balder is a clear-cut Anti-Villain here, who is motivated by grief and a desire to make the world better. It still pales in comparison to what actually happened in canon.
- Adaptational Villainy:
- Jeanne is not Brainwashed and Crazy in the film and is actually performing evil for fun.
- Since his Butt-Monkey status was given to Luka, Enzo really comes out just looking like a greedy jerk, taking advantage of people by overcharging them for funerals with absolutely no karmic retribution to balance it out. Rodin even calls him a freaky, fat-ass undertaker.
- Adaptational Wimp: Luka is a lot less of a credible threat towards Bayonetta and just a Butt-Monkey abused by her antics.
- Adaptation Title Change: Bayonetta: Bloody Fate is based on the game Bayonetta.
- Adapted Out:
- Despite being major bosses in the game, Iustitia and Sapientia never make an appearance here (only Fortitudo and Temperantia do). In fact, the majority of angelic enemies are left out of the movie.
- Out of all the Infernal Demons to appear, Madama Butterfly is never summoned, despite her being the demoness Bayonetta has her actual contract with.
- Aliens Speaking English: The angels here don't speak in Enochian compared to the games. This was likely done because an English dub was expected, and the creators didn't want to add a language that would require Japanese subtitles, which would have to be subtitled again when released in other languages. Interestingly, Bayonetta still speaks Enochian for her demonic summons.
- Armed Legs: Downplayed, the only weapons Bayonetta uses on her heels are the Elfin Knight/Scarborough Fair; while she does use the Onyx Rose and Lt. Col. Kilgore, which do have leg options, she only ever wields them with her hands in this adaptation.
- Big Bad: Balder.
- BFG: Near the end of the final battle, Jeanne tosses one of her All-4-One pistols through a portal, causing it to become giant-sized for Queen Sheba to use. Sheba then uses her own godly powers to make the gun even larger, turning it into a Wave-Motion Gun.
- Bittersweet Ending: After killing Balder and Jubileus, Bayonetta (and Jeanne) have been missing for a year, Enzo is about to go out of business without Bayonetta to exploit, Rodin seems to have no desire to do anything, just calling himself a "bartender", and while Luka has successfully published his father's memoirs as a book, it's not selling very well and it's obvious that he's really missing Bayonetta. However, there is a Hope Spot once it's shown that Bayonetta and Jeanne are still alive, and Bayonetta seems to plan on returning to her old life after one last battle with the angels.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: Bayonetta is a witch who causes mayhem For the Evulz fighting a Fallen Hero who wants to kill God and rewrite reality.
- Clothing Damage: Towards the end of her second and final fight with Jeanne, Bayonetta manages to damage her outfit a bit.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: No ambiguity at all, Bayonetta outright says that killing angels and making their faces contort in pain really gets her excited.
- Compressed Adaptation: It took a game with several hours' worth of content and cut it down to a 90-minute movie, although it still gets the general story across pretty effectively. More strangely though, some of the crucial plot twists like Bayonetta being Balder's daughter are revealed in the first minutes of the film. Some expositions are also skipped (like the reason why Jeanne sides with the angels).
- Distracted by the Sexy: When Bayonetta steps out of her bath while Luka was poking through her room, the sight of her naked body makes him stumble over his words and then stumble out the window.
- Dragon with an Agenda: While she was Brainwashed and Crazy in the game, this adaptation of Jeanne is willingly working with Balder because they ultimately want the same thing — for Bayonetta to get her memories back.
- Evil Versus Oblivion: Bayonetta, a witch who loves stirring up trouble, combats Balder, a fallen sage trying to kill God and the universe.
- Fanservice:
- As usual, Bayonetta gets naked frequently. She even takes it one step further during the aforementioned scene where Luka sees her naked, teasing him by saying that even though she's not eager to raise a child, she would enjoy having sex with him and letting him get her pregnant. Even though it was merely a joke to tease him and he stumbles and falls out of the window.
- Jeanne joins in near the end of the film too.
- Godiva Hair: Just like in the game, this happens whenever Bayonetta summons any of her demons, but she and Jeanne also end up like this during the final battle where their combined summoning of Queen Sheba causes their hair to cover up all their important bits.
- Head Blast: This movie's version of the Irenic can fire lightning bolts from its face.
- Karma Houdini: Enzo doesn't suffer at all in this game and continues his corrupt activities.
- Letting the Air out of the Band: During Bayonetta's first battle against a group of Affinities, Rodin is revealed to be playing the cathedral's pipe organ for ambiance... until one of the Affinity tries to attack him from behind and he promptly stops playing to crush the angel's neck, all while chastising that it's not polite to interrupt a man while he's playing.
- Love Makes You Crazy: After being forced apart from his wife and newborn daughter, Balder seriously went off the deep end. He wants Jubileus to create a new reality because he is convinced that a world capable of tearing him away from his love wasn't worth saving.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Balder is revealed to be Bayonetta's father.
- Mythology Gag:
- Jeanne is stated to be a high school teacher, a nod to the tongue-in-cheek flavor text of her Laser Blade weapon, Bloody Moon, wherein that is her Secret Identity when she's not fighting crime as the Magical Girl Cutie J.
- When Bayonetta returns the shattered Elfin Knight pistols to Rodin, she offhandedly remarks that she hopes the next versions will be better, otherwise she may have to attach a chainsaw to her arm. When you visit the shop in the game, Rodin might mention that no matter how many times Bayonetta asks, he's not putting a chainsaw on her arm.
- There are references to original game elements that were left on the cutting room floor. For instance, the designs of the Elfin Knight pistols were the last concept designs before the finalized art used for Scarborough Fair. Another comes when Enzo remarks that "Bayonetta" was just the nickname Rodin gave her, which was originally going to be a plot point in the game but was left out.
- The anime doesn't show the Bayonetta: Bloody Fate title until after Bayonetta's fight at the cathedral, which is just like how the game didn't show the Bayonetta title until after the Prologue chapter with Bayonetta fighting angels in the graveyard.
- Jubileus is killed, in part, with Bayonetta summoning a giant wooden horse with a whip to bind Jubileus down for Queen Sheba to make the final shot. This is pretty much the exact same way Bayonetta kills Joy angels in the game when performing a Torture Attack, which makes sense because Joys look extremely similar to Jubileus.
- Naughty Nuns: Like in the game, Bayonetta disguises herself as a nun and strips a lot. By the end of the film, she informs Jeanne that she's going to continue disguising herself as one while having her nightly fun.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: After her guns get destroyed, Bayonetta attempts to fight Jeanne's four pistols with her Shuraba katana, and gets her ass handed to her until Rodin can arrive with replacement guns.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Balder, whose ultimate plan is to kill God and all life in order to rewrite reality his way.
- Shout-Out:
- Tagalong Kid: Young Bayonetta becomes this to herself.
- Title Drop: At one point, Rodin tells Bayonetta he'll prepare her a "Mysterious Destiny with an olive" as a drink in his bar; "Mysterious Destiny" is the theme song of Bayonetta, and was just playing in a previous fight in this adaptation.
- Tempting Fate:
- While in pursuit of the titular witch, Luka says to Cereza that the only thing that could stop them from finding Bayonetta would be if the airport wasn't still intact. In the very next scene, Bayonetta and Temperantia's fight is laying waste to said airport.
- After the Elfin Knight pistols fail her, Bayonetta hopes the rest of Rodin's arsenal is up to par: otherwise, she muses she may have to "put a chainsaw on her arm". In the very next fight, she needs to do just that when she summons a massive chainsaw via her Torture Attack to finish off a heavily armored Ardor.
- Wrestler in All of Us: In her first fight prior to getting her Elfin Knight pistols, Bayonetta beats the tar out of the Affinity angels with her bare hands, including performing a flying piledriver on one.
- Your Size May Vary: In the game, Queen Sheba was a planet-sized demon who dwarfed Jubileus; here, she's the same size as Jubileus, and as expected from this turn of events, they actually fight as opposed to Queen Sheba just being a One-Hit Kill summon.
