The manga "Bleach," a huge hit both in Japan and abroad, has been turned into a dynamic live-action film with exciting CGI.
Directed by Shinsuke Sato, the action-packed film stars Sota Fukushi as high school boy Ichigo Kurosaki, who becomes a "substitute soul reaper" to fight evil spirits. It's based on the fantasy manga by Tite Kubo, which ran in the Shonen Jump weekly manga magazine from 2001 to 2016. In book form, the manga reached 74 volumes, with more than 120 million copies printed in and outside Japan.
A TV anime version was broadcast from 2004 to 2012, and "Bleach" has also been adapted into an anime for theatrical release and a musical.
Ichigo is an ordinary high school student, except for his ability to see ghosts and spirits. One day, his sister is attacked by an evil spirit called a Hollow. Ichigo borrows some power from soul reaper Rukia Kuchiki (played by Hana Sugisaki) and defeats the Hollow, after which he agrees to fight the Hollows as Rukia's substitute until she regains her full strength.
Yet looming before them are Renji Abarai (played by Taichi Saotome) and Byakuya Kuchiki (played by Miyavi), other soul reapers who want to punish Rukia for breaking their code.
To fully get into the role of Ichigo, Fukushi started by trying to make himself look like the character, who has a striking appearance with orange hair and brown eyes. The actor decided to use color contact lenses for the eyes, but not a wig for the orange hair. Instead he had his hair bleached and dyed three times at a stylist to get the right color, each time checking it with the director and other crew members.
Despite some people's concern that the color might not match well with Ichigo's school uniform, Fukushi said he wanted to keep going until he was satisfied with the color.
"In the end, everyone said it suited me," he said.
Fukushi's biggest problem during the shoot was getting used to handling Zanpakuto, the long, heavy sword Ichigo wields in battle. It's almost as long as his height. Several versions were prepared for the film, each with a different length to fit in a different scene, but they were all heavy.
"It was definitely heavier than swinging a broom. Just swinging the sword was good muscle training," Fukushi said chuckling.
One of the film's highlights is its excellent blend of live action and computer-generated images. For the actors, however, that meant fighting against invisible foes in battle scenes involving the Hollows, who were created with CGI.
There are many scenes where the Hollows attack Ichigo with unpredictable, spooky moves. But all Fukushi could see in front of him was a photo of a Hollow on top of a stick. The director and other crew explained how the Hollow would move, and he played the scene using his imagination. "I tried not to worry too much. I just trusted myself and moved with all my strength," he said.
The swordfights with soul reapers were not simple, either, even though an actor playing the opponent was in front of Fukushi. In a battle against Renji, Fukushi made his very first attempt at "passive acting," in which he had to act as if he was being attacked with a peculiar, whip-like weapon. It reportedly took two weeks to film this scene.
"It was difficult to convey how powerful the opponent was as I was being attacked," he said. "It was physically very tough, too. But I was totally committed to the action. I hope many people will come see the film in theaters, where you can also appreciate the sounds and dynamism that you could only imagine in manga."
The film premiered in Tokyo in late June, ahead of its July 20 release date. The main cast members, including Fukushi, Sugisaki and Ryo Yoshizawa, appeared on stage.
Yoshizawa plays a so-called Quincy, who uses a bow and arrows to fight the Hollows. "I've been doing kendo for nine years, so when I got the offer, I thought, 'At last I've got a chance to show off my skills!' Then I found out I'd be playing a Quincy ..." Yoshizawa revealed, drawing laughter from the crowd.
"The film depicts not only cool action but also friendship. The last scene should be very moving, so I hope you'll watch until the end," Sugisaki said.
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