History Film / Bleach

* SequelHook: Shinsuke Sato has stated that he hopes to make a trilogy, with the second film adapting the Soul Society arc, and this film establishes set-ups for potential sequels. Byakuya tells Renji that the order to capture or kill Rukia came from "higher up", indicating that they're just TheHeavy for the real BigBad; Chad and Orihime begin to awaken their own supernatural abilities, sensing Ichigo's presence during his fight with Grand Fisher; and at the film's conclusion, [[spoiler:Rukia is taken back to Soul Society to be punished for her "crimes," and erases Ichigo's memories of her. However, he finds [[CheckovsGun the note she wrote in his textbook]] the day she came to his school, which seemingly restores his memories]].

* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance:
** Byakuya and Renji are introduced much earlier than in the manga. Renji even confronts and tries to kill Ichigo midway through the movie, but is stopped by Uryū.

* AdaptationDyeJob: The '''entire''' Kurosaki family (sans Isshin and Karin who were already dark-haired).

* AdaptedOut: An unfortunate consequence of trying to [[CompressedAdaptation compress]] 8 volumes worth of manga into a less-than 2 hour-long movie is that a lot of the supporting cast had to be kicked to the curb.

** It's [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]] for Ichigo. Given that a flashback shows him with ''black'' hair as a child, his current day hair is a darker shade of orange than its manga counterpart, and Sota Fukushi's black roots clearly are showing, it appears that Ichigo isn't [[ImplausibleHairColor a redhead]] in this continuity but actually has black hair and dyed it orange.

** Souken Ishida is not even mentioned. As a result, Uryu holds a grudge against Soul Reapers because they wiped out his tribe, not because they murdered his grandfather.

** Orihime's feelings towards Ichigo weren't revealed until the Arrancar Arc, here, her ''very first scene'' has her stating to Tatsuki why she finds him attractive.

* MundaneAfterlife: Soul Society is evocative of Edo-era Japan, with the samurai-like Soul Reapers ruling over the unruly slums of the Rukongai from the fortified city of Seireitei.

* BigBraToFill: Orihime doesn't have her ImpossibleHourglassFigure from the manga, and while Chad is certainly tall enough, he still lacks his sculpted physique.

* AdaptationalCurves: Inverted. Orihime doesn't have her [[BigBraToFill infamous hourglass figure]] and while Chad is certainly tall enough, he still lacks his sculpted physique.

%%** Senbonzakura -- Byakuya's Zanpakuto -- can transform into [[FlechetteStorm a flurry of miniature blades]] evocative of cherry blossom petals.

* MadeOfIron: When Grand Fisher lobs a large metal sign at Ichigo, who was knocked into the eatery where his classmates were having lunch; Chad is completely uninjured after using his body to shield Orihime and his other classmates from it.

* TheRival: As the self-proclaimed last Quincy -- who had an antagonistic relationship with the Shinigami -- Uryū Ishida takes an immediate dislike to Substitute Shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki.

* HeroicBystander: Ichigo and Grand Fisher's battle starts wrecking the city. Chad shields his friends from a sign that gets thrown at his friends, then he and Orihime lead all the stunned civilians to safety.

* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: Grand Fisher is given a BelatedBackstory that differs from its manga self. In the manga it was a masculine Hollow with an unknown backstory other than that Soul Society had been hunting it for fifty years; [[spoiler:but in the movie Rukia reveals that it was originally a young girl -- whose form it uses as the default appearance of its lure]].

* ConspicuousCG: The Hollows Fishbone, Hexapodus, and Grand Fisher are all blatantly CG. However, it ''works'' in conveying how unnatural and monstrous they are.

* EntertaininglyWrong: Ichigo's classmates see Rukia training him in swordsmanship so he'll be a stronger Soul Reaper. Chad assumes Rukia is teaching him to defend himself from the punks he beat up earlier, who had sworn they would be back with friends for revenge.

** Shinigami are psychopomps who inhabit the feudal Japanese MundaneAfterlife of Soul Society, tasked with hunting Hollows and sending Pluses to the afterlife.

* EnergyBow: The Quincy -- of whom Uryū Ishida is the last known member -- could manifest energy bows that fire arrows of light called Heilig Pfeil.