At the time this movie was released Rukia was criminally underused so it was refreshing to see an entire movie about her. Ichigo fighting the Soul Society in the beginning of the film was a nice contrast and mirrored the first bleach story arc pretty well. This movie is pretty heavy on the emotional side and doesnt have as many battles as you might expect from a bleach story, but the intense climax makes up for that. And even then they dont forget to include the emotional aspect. Personally I prefer Diamond Dust rebellion becuase of my Hitsugaya bias but as a movie Fade to Black is actually the better one, mostly because it doesnt have any huge plot hole and the things they added to Rukias past didnt really contradict what has already been shown in the show. (show less)

Of course you can’t expect something too involved with the original plot in movies - those are side stories and can’t be dramatically involved as they basically have to stand on their own. (As long as they don’t draw a direct connection, that is.) And if you expect something utterly involved with the Bleach series, you might be disappointed in this.

Next, you won’t find 90 minutes of nonstop action here either. “Fade to Black / I Call Your Name” focuses on plot and characters, and there it definitely scores higher than most other Bleach movies for me.

Once the plot is revealed, this movie proves to be well thought-out, and for me is the best of the four Bleach movies. It is predictable in a way, and granted, the beginning really reminded me of the anime’s first arc (Ichigo pitted against Soul Society? Where did we have that before?) but it doesn’t leave greater plot holes. Focusing on Rukia this time, “Fade to Black / I Call Your Name” reveals quite a cute aspect of Rukia’s past. If you like Rukia, you might just happen to love this movie. :)
FYI, there are a lot of flashbacks as this concentrates around occurrings in the past. I could deal with those easily as they do play a role in the plot, but if you happen to hate flashbacks...

Character-wise, the general screen time appears more balanced between different characters in this movie as Ichigo’s placement seems to have been done carefully.

The dialogue is well-done, and although it still has its corny moments, there is a tiny touch of philosophy Bleach was always missing IMO. (Yup, I just happened to like Urahara-san’s thoughts on memories XD)

Genre-wise, this movie has more of the drama/tragedy/friendship aspect with adventure/suspense; there’s definitely less action than e.g. in the previous and following movies. (Looking for obvious romance is generally kinda futile in the series, lol.) Even though this is rather relaxing than too action-heavy, the animation amazes with details. The soundtrack is finely done once more.

Entertainment: "Fade to Black" provides some nice situational humour, and a few moments actually had me rolling on the floor. The part of Rukia’s past that is revealed here was quite heartwarming to me. This is definitely a change of pace from the usual series, and quite soft for a Bleach side story, so-to-speak.

If you’re watching (or by now have watched) Bleach for action only, or if you are expecting something deeply involved with the original plot, this might disappoint you. However, I found this to be a relaxing change from an otherwise quite battle-heavy series -- don’t get me wrong, I like action, but I don’t watch anime for action only -- and I definitely recommend this to Rukia fans out there.
For me, the best out of the four Bleach movies! (show less)

Stop calling kishimoto and kubo trolls you idiots. Tite kubo is not a troll. The fullbringer arc is realy good and i hope to see hollow ichigo soon in it. And naruto,s war only sucks because all other animes already had a war so all good ideas are taken. Kishimoto even took some ideas from the whitebeard war i think thats proof enough. Its hard to be a mangaka you idiotic kids. I am a fan mangaka and i put all my effort in my story but its nothing neas as good as bleach.

So stop this fucking nonsense they,re not trolls they do their best to entertain the people and keep the story going (show less)