Bleach: Memories of Nobody

The promotional poster for the film.

Directed by Noriyuki Abe
Written by Masashi Sogo
Tite Kubo (original manga)
Starring Japanese:
Masakazu Morita
Fumiko Orikasa
Kentarō Itō
Ryōtarō Okiayu
Romi Paku
Shin-ichiro Miki
Fumihiko Tachiki
Tomoko Kawakami
Chiwa Saitō
Masashi Ebara
English:
Johnny Yong Bosch
Michelle Ruff
Wally Wingert
Dan Woren
Steve Staley
Michael Lindsay
David Lodge
Karen Strassman
G.K. Bowes
Troy Baker
Music by Shiro Sagisu
Editing by Hidetoshi Okuda
Junichi Uematsu
Distributed by Toho Company, Ltd.
Release date(s) December 16, 2006
June 11, 2008
October 20, 2008

Running time 90 minutes approx
Country Japan
Language Japanese
Followed by Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion


Plot
In Karakura Town, unidentifiable spirits begin appearing en masse. While attempting to deal with these strange souls, Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki meet Senna, a mysterious Soul Reaper who wipes out most of them. Senna refuses to answer any questions, so Ichigo is forced to follow her while Rukia tries to find out what's going on.

Meanwhile, in Soul Society, the real world is suddenly reflected in the sky, so Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto are sent to investigate. They meet up with Ichigo and discuss the events at the Urahara Shop, where Kisuke Urahara explains that a dimension between Soul Society and the real world, known as the Valley of Screams, has expanded to the point that it is connecting the two worlds.

The souls Ichigo saw earlier are known as "Blanks," souls that were lost in the space between the worlds and have been stripped of their memories. The Valley of Screams is composed of these Blanks, but they alone could not be responsible for the size to which it has grown. He goes on to explain that the lost memories of the Blanks will have formed into a single being known as the "Memory Rosary," and he has Ichigo track this being down.

Senna is eventually revealed to be the Memory Rosary, and a fair amount of the Gotei 13 shows up to deal with the problem. However, a mysterious group appears, identifying themselves as the "Dark Ones," and set their sights on Senna. The ancestors of the Dark Ones belonged to the Ryuudouji clan, who were one of the strongest noble families in Soul Society before they were exiled. Despite Ichigo's efforts, they succeed in capturing Senna.

Within the Valley of Screams, the Dark Ones attach Senna to a device powered by the Blanks. As concurrently explained by both the Dark Ones and Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the Blanks are naturally attracted to memories, which they lack. Senna, being composed of nothing but memories, will attract the Blanks, causing a chain reaction that will collapse the entire dimension. This in turn will cause the real world and Soul Society to collide, potentially annihilating both. The Dark Ones explain that their actions are to get revenge on Soul Society: they were Soul Reapers over a millennium ago, but were exiled and have since adapted to the Valley of Screams.

Unwilling to give up on Senna, Ichigo finds the portal into the Valley of Screams on the river. As he enters it, Rukia heads to Soul Society to get reinforcements. Since the only available portal into the Valley of Screams exists in the real world, and the process that will destroy both Soul Society and the real world will complete within an hour, General Yamamoto orders that the Kidō Cannon be fired at the dimension to obliterate it first. Yamamoto refuses to order a rescue mission with such a tight time frame.

Within the Valley, Ichigo finds himself overpowered by the sheer number of Blanks the Dark Ones have at their command. He is saved by the timely arrival of Kenpachi Zaraki, with lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi on his back. Aside from Zaraki, Soifon, Hitsugaya Tōshirō , Izuru Kira, Kuchiki Byakuya, Matsumoto Rangiku, Tetsuzaemon Iba, Shūhei Hisagi, Ikkaku Madarame, and Yumichika Ayasegawa have also arrived to help. The group makes short work of most of the Dark Ones, leaving Ichigo to battle their leader, Ganryu. Though it takes Ichigo longer and takes a larger toll on him, he is victorious as well.

Despite having stopped the collapse of the Valley of Screams, the process is far enough along that the effect persists. Senna, now in control of the Blanks, sacrifices herself to use their power to push the two worlds apart once more since she did not want Ichigo to die, thus saving the inhabitants of both Soul Society and the real world.

Extremely weak, Senna asks Ichigo to take her back to the graveyard so that she can see her name on her gravestone. Though the gravestone does not have her name, Ichigo tells Senna that her name is on it. Content that she once lived in the town and assured of her own separate existence, Senna evaporates. Rukia explains that once the power of the Blanks has faded, their memories of Senna will fade along with them. However, after the credits, Ichigo seems to remember Senna when the red ribbon he bought her floats down from the sky to him, and a girl resembling Senna is seen running past him.Trivia
Senna appears in the PSP video game Bleach: Heat the Soul 5 as a playable character.

Naruto Uzumaki
Naruto character

Naruto Uzumaki in Part I by Masashi Kishimoto
First appearance Manga Chapter 1
Naruto Episode 1
Voiced by Junko Takeuchi (Japanese)
Maile Flanagan (English)
Profile
Age Part I: 12[1]-13[2]
15 in Part II
Date of birth October 10[2]
Known relatives Minato Namikaze (father, deceased)
Kushina Uzumaki (mother, presumed deceased)
Jiraiya (godfather)
Ninja rank Genin[2]
Ninja team Team 7
When creating Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto incorporated into the character a number of traits he felt made for an ideal hero: a straightforward way of thinking, a mischievous side, and many of the attributes possessed by Dragon Ball's Son Goku. He also made sure to keep Naruto "simple and stupid", since he doesn't like smart characters. Naruto himself isn't modeled after anyone in particular, being conceived as childlike with somewhat of a dark side as a result of his harsh past. Despite this, Naruto is always positive, making him unique in Kishimoto's eyes.[3]

Naruto's wardrobe is based on clothing Kishimoto wore when he was younger; using a preexisting design wouldn't have made Naruto unique whereas something original would have made him stick out too much.[4] The orange coloring of his costume is used to make Naruto "pop", with blues often being used to complement the orange.[5] Because Naruto is associated with spirals, swirl patterns are incorporated into his costume.[6] Initial illustrations of Naruto had him wearing boots, but Kishimoto substituted these for sandals since he likes drawing toes.[7] The goggles that Naruto used to wear were also replaced with a forehead protector, because the goggles themselves were too time consuming to draw.[8]

In the Japanese versions of Naruto, Naruto often ends his sentences with the addendum "-ttebayo" (which gives a similar effect to ending a sentence with "you know?"). Kishimoto wanted to give Naruto a childlike phrase, and "dattebayo" came to mind. It compliments Naruto's character, and serves as a verbal tic that shows he's kind of a brat.[4] Throughout the beginning of the series, the English anime replaced "-ttebayo" with the phrase "Believe it!" to mirror the effect, as well as to match the character's lip movements. The phrase has since fallen out of use aside from promotional use.


[edit] Character attributes

[edit] Background
Naruto was born the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.[9] His name was inspired by the main character of his godfather Jiraiya's book, The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya (児雷也豪傑物語, Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari?), a persistent ninja who Minato and Kushina intended to raise him like.[10] Soon after his birth the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked their hometown of Konohagakure, leaving destruction wherever it went and killing many of the ninja that tried to stop it. In order to stop the fox's attack Minato sealed it within Naruto's body, giving Naruto access to its great power at the cost of Minato's life.[11] Before his death, Minato requested that Naruto be viewed as a hero of the village rather than a container for the fox. Many villagers chose to ignore this request, leading to the enactment of a law forbidding anyone to speak of Naruto as the fox's host.[12]

With his father dead and his mother presumably sharing the same fate, Naruto has never known his parents. Although knowing that Minato sealed the fox within him, Naruto is currently unaware of their relation to each other. Despite this, Naruto is the spitting image of his father and many characters confidentially find the two have a number of other similarities. The abilities he learns and begins to utilize as he gets older are also reminiscent of those used by both of his parents during their lives.[9]


[edit] Personality

Naruto as he appears in Part IIHaving been an orphan for all of his life, Naruto has always needed to look to others for attention. At the start of the series, many villagers outwardly hate him for being the container of the demon fox and refrain from socializing with him. To force them to acknowledge him, Naruto acts as a prankster and commits various misdeeds throughout the village, though this only furthers the villagers' perception of him as a menace.[11] Wanting both recognition and respect, Naruto's dream has become to gain the title of Hokage, the village's protector, hoping that it will bring him both of his greatest desires.[12] As the series has progressed, many characters have reached the conclusion that Naruto will someday be an excellent Hokage.[13][14]

To further him along the path to Hokage, Naruto is depicted as having a fierce determination; whenever faced with a challenge, Naruto looks at it from a positive perspective, puts his all into it, and guarantees that he can complete the task. This often results in him promising more than he can live up to, such as stating that he would be able to perfect the attack, Rasengan, in three days.[15] In these situations where Naruto is unable to meet his own expectations, he readily asks anyone for help in achieving the goal.[16] Even if unsuccessful in fulfilling his promise, Naruto maintains the belief that he will someday complete the task he has been set, such as vowing to someday return Sasuke Uchiha to Konoha at the end of Part I.[17]

Since his introduction, Naruto's determination has resulted in some of his traits rubbing off on those around him, such that in Part II his teacher, Kakashi Hatake, notes this to be Naruto's unique power.[18] This trait has caused Naruto to be a catalyst for change amongst many characters introduced in the series, whose beliefs and views are completely altered as a result of their interaction with Naruto. Neji Hyuga learns that fate is not predetermined and that people can choose their own destiny.[19] Gaara discovers that true strength is found in fighting for one's friends, not for one's self.[20] Tsunade is shown that the seemingly impossible can become a reality and that dreams really are attainable.
As the container of the demon fox, Naruto has access to its great strength. Prior to learning of the fox's presence within him the only utilization of its abilities are his rapid recovery from injuries and fatigue, though Naruto never considers this odd.[31] Once learning of the fox Naruto begins making better usage of its advantages, specifically by performing jutsu that someone of his skill and rank would ordinarily be incapable of using.[11] To do so, Naruto must tap into the fox's reserves. He can submit to rage, allowing the fox's power and violent personality to leak out and influence him.[32] Conversely he can enter his own subconscious, meet with the fox, and ask (or demand) for a donation of its strength.[33]

As time has gone by and the seal keeping the fox within him has weakened, Naruto has gained additional access to the fox's power. As he draws upon more and more of the fox's strength the fox begins to manifest itself through a fox-shaped shroud that surrounds Naruto. The level of strength Naruto is tapping into is indicated by a number tails that appear with this shroud. For the first three tails Naruto can maintain control over his mind. At the fourth, Naruto loses all sense of self and the fox takes over, readily attacking friend and foe alike.[34] Though Naruto can prove an equal match for the likes of Orochimaru at this level, the danger he poses to those he cares for has caused him to limit his own usage of the fox's power.[35]

Naruto first takes advantage of the fox's presence with the Shadow Clone Technique, which creates any number of physical copies of the user.[11] Because the user's current level of strength is evenly distributed amongst all of the clones, most ninja only create a few clones to keep from depleting their chakra. Because Naruto has the near-limitless potential of the demon fox, he can create hundreds (and on ocassions thousands) of clones at once without worrying about tiring out.[36] He has found a number of uses for these clones, such as overwhelming an opponent and scouting a large area in a short period of time.[37] His ability to summon toads in battle also relies on the fox's reserves, as he can only summon larger toads with the fox's help.[33]

Rasengan, a concentrated ball of spinning chakra first created by his father, is one of Naruto's few abilities not directly reliant on the fox's strength.[15] When performing the technique Naruto creates one or two shadow clones to help him form the attack, one clone providing the chakra and the others spinning it into shape.[38] Naruto uses the clones for simplicity's sake, whereas most other characters perform it singlehandedly. While devastating by itself, capable of grinding into whatever it touches and causing great damage, Minato created the Rasengan with the intention of infusing it with his own elemental chakra.[39] He was unable to do so prior to his death, but Naruto has since begun to complete his work. Through repeated training with his shadow clones, Naruto has been able to infuse the Rasengan with his wind affinity.[40] Though currently incomplete, Naruto can form this new Rasengan into a shuriken that damages what it hits on a cellular level. Even though this is extremely effective at defeating opponents, the hand he is performing the Rasengan with is damaged in the process. Should he continue to use this technique, Naruto will be unable to perform any more jutsu.[41]


[edit] Plot Overview
As the main character of the series, Naruto is present in every arc and typically plays a prominent role for its duration. During Part I, Naruto's involvement in the plot is relatively indirect, as he spends his time bettering his ninja abilities and pursuing his own goals while the overarching events occur elsewhere. During the Return of Itachi arc, Naruto is introduced to Akatsuki, a criminal organization that seeks to extract the demon fox from his body. Though Jiraiya drives them off during this first meeting, Akatsuki's interactions with Naruto become a more central conflict in Part II. It is not until the Sasuke Retrieval arc that Naruto takes a direct part in the plot, joining a team of ninja dedicated to stopping Sasuke from joining forces with Orochimaru. Naruto and Sasuke ultimately have a one-on-one battle. Naruto claims that he will bring Sasuke back to Konoha, even if he has to break his arms and legs, though he is ultimately unable to bring himself to do so. This gives Sasuke the advantage and although he defeats Naruto, knocking him unconscious, he is likewise unable to bring himself to kill Naruto. The two go their separate ways, but Naruto does not give up on Sasuke, leaving Konoha with Jiraiya for two-and-a-half years of training to prepare himself for the next time he meets Sasuke.

In Part II, Naruto receives less attention than he did in Part I. As other characters begin to receive additional development and the plot begins to cover multiple incidents across large distances, Naruto's role in the story is considerably lessened. Upon his return to Konoha, Naruto begins to more actively deal with the Akatsuki threat. He first saves Gaara from Akatsuki's clutches, and in a subsequent arc proves instrumental in the downfall of Kakuzu. Most of Naruto's actions, however, are dedicated to finding and retrieving Sasuke. He and the rest of his team are briefly able to locate Sasuke during the Sasuke and Sai arc, but Sasuke's rapid development leaves them no match for him. After creating his new Rasengan, Naruto and company try once again to find Sasuke, and are currently in the process of following Sasuke's trail and fighting the Akatsuki.

Though Naruto is unaware of this, his mentor Jiraiya has realized that he is the child of a toad monarch's prophecy, who will either destroy or revolutionize the ninja world. Naruto's part in this is as yet unclear.