Well I'm a little bored, but more than that I'm just thinking about the Bleach openings a lot. I'm trying to figure out why I did not like the Bleach op 7, but I liked the Bleach op 5. So I ended watching both version, season and movie versions for the openings to see if there was similar issues that I could find. But from what I could find was that it was just really that it came down to poorly connecting the images with the music.
After watching the op 5 and movie op 5 back to back the movie actually started off badly in terms to working with the music and making it better. But then they had great moments that just really sync up with the music enhancing. Plus the op 5 for the season did a lot of while placed symbolism that worked out nicely that a lot of the more recent ops have been doing for Bleach. That was something that was a little lacking in the 7th as well. But placing both season 5 ops together they are equally strong for different reasons.
However, at least for me as I said before the 7th just does not work. It just felt off constantly after the first 15 seconds or so. It is very action oriented song too, so it works better with either action and movement or good camera work that moves around and quick cuts. That was just completely lacking in the 7th op though. There was several quick cuts in the beginning, but then it dragged out shots showing the Espada and Ichigo and company. After that it was too many long shots that just did not work to convey the beat of the music. Which is what the movie did perfectly. A movie, especially anime movie packs in all of the action if possible, and Bleach is no exception, it is a fighting anime after all. So they had a lot of great moments to pick from and very dramatic images to work with that just push even more with the music. This type of music needs fast cuts, you can't really stay on any one shot for more than five seconds or you are just dragging your feet. The movie opening I think the credits actually have a longer time up than most cuts, which really makes the opening that more effective. Not the long credits, but quick cuts. The pacing is held up through the entire piece evenly. Something that the original just dragged in.
The seventh opening is definitely the weakest of the openings. I was not too fond of tonight that much, but the seventh falls in last. The movie version is way up there though. It is really disappointing, because it is a great song when matched up correctly.
Bookmarks