Bleach Movie 3 Fade to Black is a movie where almost every character get amnesia forgetting about Rukia Kuchiki and since Ichigos powers are still connected to her also about the main character. Thankfully Ichigo Kurosaki and Kon a plush lion remembered her thanks to a letter and go to Soul Society to safe her. Due to a crisis happening in the world of the shinigami that leads to a lot of misunderstandings with allies considering Ichigo as an enemy. Basically the movie is about stopping the real badguys which are two siblings and rescue Rukia while also helping everyone to regain their memories. Simple concept and a simple premise which sounds great. Rukia and Ichigos relationship are some of the best things about Bleach and having allies being enemies now gives the opportunity to see some fights we didnt see in Soul Society arc that could have happened. That is pretty much the main appeal of the movie and before its release it was advertised who will Ichigo encounter and fight. Sadly that is also the weakness of Fade to Black and what many prior Bleach movies suffered: too many characters. Of the main characters that Kubo usually like to push but not really only Ichigo and Rukia are involved. No Sado. No Ishida. No Inoue. Even then the cast is still crowded with the directors wanting Ichigo to get some favorites as his allies back to safe Rukia such as Renji. But considering the movie has only a runtime of about 90 minutes nothing really stays long enough to leave an impact. There are a bunch of powers used. A bunch of Bankais released. Seiretei gets endangered by something big like in the previous movies. It is pretty much a mess even if the animation and soundtrack are stellar. Honestly fanservice itself is kinda a mixed bag since whenever the captains release bankai or Kenpachi removes his eyepatch we will see a generic slaughter you have probably seen for the 3rd time if you are watching Bleach movies in order. Even down to the disrespect put on Soifon having her make an amateur mistake so someone saves her. The enemies have the power to cut memories bonds and a weird teleportation technique which might not be teleportation. It is weird and confusing. The memory cutting ability never plays a role in combat and while the final fight is entertaining to watch it just doesnt stick even with the homage to episode 1 of the anime series. Speaking of homages there are a lot of nods to the first two Bleach arcs. We see also how Byakuya acts a bit different from his usual self we are used to and Rukia trying to figure out who she is. Other characters arent much different despite their memory loss. The antagonists may be the weakest part of the movie. They are siblings who have a tragic past and have personal connection to Rukia but they arent very likeable. Especially the elder sister who is the only one calling the shots while the brother does what she says. He reasons sometimes but doesnt feel like he has any agency as a character himself. Overall this movie like all Bleach movies cant reach its full potential. It cant decide if it wants to tell a compelling story or put a bunch of fan service to fill the much needed runtime that could be used to give the younger brother more agency. And the ending while being symbolic is very confusing in why it worked and if other characters couldnt have done the same thing if Ichigo just told them.