What's Your Anime Character Name? Mine is Michiko Mori...

Bleach The Movie: Memories of Nobody

I was in high school when I began my love affair with anime. I fell in love first with Zenki, the mischievous alien being who changes from a child creature to a handsome hunk, who was intriguingly controlled by a pretty high school girl through a powerful bracelet. I must admit I got hooked on Zenki. I just had to go home early just to catch the show after class everyday.

Later after Zenki left I moved on to other animes: Ghost Fighter, Dragonball Z, Ranma 1/2, Card Captor Sakura, Hunter X Hunter, Naruto... the list seems endless. Of course, I don't just watch animes; I also watch other cartoons like The X-Men, Batman, and Justice League. But Japanese animes captivated me more than the American cartoons. So what's with Japanese anime that got me hooked?

For one thing, Japanese anime characters have interesting names. "Ichigo" actually means "First Guardian" or "He Who Protects". If I were asked what name I would adapt for myself if I were an anime character, I'd choose Michiko Mori, which roughly translates to "beauty and wisdom in the forest".

Another thing that I like is that Japanese animes have better artistic appeal. The appearance of the characters are more fantastic and imaginative than your usual superhero genre. Anime or manga characters have supernatural powers connected with some otherworldly dimension unseen by many but exists in parallel with our dimension. This what-if scenario and secretive nature of many anime plots make the stories more interesting to fans. Just like the plot for the coolest anime of this generation, Bleach.

Bleach is the story of a simple high school student named Ichigo Kurazaki who one day discovered the existence of Death Gods or Soul Reapers and the lost souls (Hollows) they hunted down and put to rest. Soon Ichigo found himself converted as a temporary Death God or Shinigami to aid the wounded Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki. By touching Rukia's sword and using it against a Hollow, Ichigo accidentally absorbed Death God status and powers, making him duty-bound to taking over Rukia's job as one of the Shinigami.

The story line is full of action and intrigue, especially when other Death Gods discovered Ichigo's existence. They vehemently opposed having a human serving as a Death God. This caused a lot of chaos among Soul Society denizens and its rulers, the Shinigami.

Now the anime series has been turned into a movie, Bleach the Movie: Memories of Nobody. This time the plot begins at the most recent point of the anime series' storyline. After unidentified beings known as "Blanks" start popping up, they are soon followed by a Soul Reaper named Senna who makes them disappear. Puzzled by these unknown beings and the even more mysterious girl, Ichigo and Rukia set out to learn more, but uncover an evil plot when a menacing clan tries to kidnap Senna. Banished from the Soul Society long ago, the clan's leader is sending the World of the Living and the Soul Society on a collision course, and Senna seems to be the key to his diabolical plot for revenge.

This short synopsis is taken from the movie's page at Fathom Events where moviegoers and fans of Bleach can find ticket prices, showtimes and the theaters that will be showing this Bleach the Movie on June 11th and 12th.

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A brief vacation

I have just got back from UP Diliman for a week of respite. I had training for trainers at UP SoLaIR (School of Labor and Industrial Relations). It was a working vacation. At least I had time to slow down and not think of work for a few days. It was good! Really felt good to be taken cared of by the University Hotel staff.