"Bleach: Memories of Nobody" is the first feature film to be part of the Bleach series. It was launched to Japanese theaters around fall of 2006. Currently, there are no English-dubbed versions of the movie. It looks as if this story is not mentioned in the manga. However, this movie looks to take place with the Bount-arc which only took place within the anime and the manga. The Bount-arc was merely a filler arc so that the anime series will not catch up with the manga. Filler arcs are very common in various anime series. To promote the movie, scenes from Memories of Nobody were put in both the opening and closing credits of episodes 106-109.
This series looks to have nothing to do with monsters called "Hollows" except for the beginning of the movie as the main protagonists Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki follow one of those things through the park. Before that, Soul Society receives signals about a bunch of unknown entities that have made their way to the world of the living. They dispatch the Hollow and leave the park and go out on the open streets as Rukia opens up her special device and senses mysterious spiritual entities present. These aren’t Hollows or regular spirits. Normal soul sending techniques do not work on these mysterious beings as Ichigo and Rukia attempt to attack them. However, they are saved by a mysterious Shinigami with the powers of wind and lightning. She effortlessly takes out those creatures.
The mysterious girl is named Senna who seems to be a more hyperactive and cheerful version of Rukia. Rukia heads back to Soul Society and Ichigo chases down Senna who decided to play a game of "tag." He then runs into Toshiro Hitsuguya and Rangiku Matsumoto. Urahara explains to them about the Severed World and how a new dimension is forming there. Then they talk about spiritual beings called "Blanks." The Blanks are very different from Hollows. These Hollows are separated from their "memories." Spirits bound to memories of the past turn into Hollows.
It’s revealed that the Valley of Screams made up Blanks is expanding and connecting both worlds. The main adventure involves Ichigo and the other Shinigami to go find a being known as the "Memory Rosary" which is formed from all the lost memories. Watching the movie, it looks to be a very fresh course and direction. Memories of Nobody is a very fresh and original concept as it somewhat expands into the Bleach universe. It shows that the creators and writers of Bleach can go beyond the typical Shinigami versus Hollow conflict. The movie looks to bring a fresh new concept. It’s looks to be an interesting change in pace while fans of Bleach wait to see what’s going to happen ever since Sosuke Aizen revealed himself to be a traitor.
In the movie, the Blanks make for a refreshing concept. This is a very interesting adventure that can possibly count as a side-story to what’s going on in Bleach. While Hollows are attracted to souls especially souls with strong spiritual energy, Blanks are attracted to memories. The villains look to be inspired by Chinese mythology due to their garbs and appearance. Basically, if Ichigo can get to the Memory Rosary, they can prevent the living world and Soul Society from colliding and destroying each other. They pose a big enough threat as Aizen and his army of Arrancar.
It looks as if Senna is the key to everything as she has all these memories. Though it’s already been released to theaters across Japan, you’d have a better chance by going to a theatre that shows anime. Only major theater that shows anime would be the Sony Metreon. But it’s unknown if and when there will be an official North American release of Memories of Nobody.
It might be a good year or two before Memories of Nobody is released. When that happens, one can bet that Johnny Yong Bosch will reprise his role as Ichigo Kurosaki and Michelle Ruff will reprise her role as Rukia Kuchiki. There’s a second movie called "Bleach: The Diamond Dust Rebellion" to be released to theaters across Japan on December 22, 2007.
There’s a chance that there are more Bleach movies to be released within the next few years.