REVIEW -- Bayonetta: Bloody Fate (2013)

Bayonetta: Bloody Fate is an animated movie released in Japanese theaters on November 23rd, 2013 for a limited two-week run, later receiving a home video release for DVD and Blu-Ray on February 14th, 2014. North American audiences have not seen a DVD nor Blu-Ray release, but online media outlets such as Anime Center TV has the full movie up for viewing online for free with English subtitles. It is a film adaptation of the first game and was first announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2013. Bloody Fate was created by the anime studio Gonzo, a studio responsible for animes such as Hellsing, Rosario + Vampire, and Trinity Blood. This is the first time a Bayonetta product has had the characters be voiced in Japanese, as with the first game it had only ever been voiced in English.

The movie was directed and storyboarded by Fuminori Kizaki (Afro Samurai, Basilisk, Super Street Fighter IV, X-Men) to a story based off a screenplay written by Mitsutaka Hirota (The Prince Of Tennis II, Tetsujin 28-go Gao!, X-Men). Ai Yokoyama designed the characters based on Mari Shimizaki's original artwork, whilst Shimizaki also supervised the project. Hiroya Iijima was in charge of angel design and Mai from Avex Entertainment contributed the theme song.

Plot Summary:

Based on the 2009 game, Bayonetta: Bloody Fate follows the story of the witch Bayonetta, as she defeats the blood-thirsty Angels and tries to remember her past from before the time she awoke, 20 years ago. Along her side are a mysterious little girl who keeps calling her "Mummy", a journalist that holds a personal grudge against Bayonetta and a unknown white-haired woman who seems to know more than she is willing to reveal about Bayonetta's time before her sleep.

Changes in Bloody Fate

As the film is an adaptation of the first game rather than a direct translation, there are some slight visual differences in Bloody Fate. For example, Bayonetta's earrings now have a crescent moon shape and her overall outfit features some minor differences, Balder now wears gloves on both hands, instead of only wearing one on his left hand and also has red highlights on his clothing.

The story also has various plot points and locations changed/added as part of the adaptation:

- The movie contains an opening similar to the Records Of Time section from the game, explaining the events up until the present day in the form of narration and images in a stained glass window fashion. In one of the windows, demons resembling alternate versions of Affinity shows up next to Malphas. These demons did not make an appearance in the game.

- The Vestibule occurs inside a church instead of at a graveyard where Bayonetta actually leads a double life as a nun. Luka follows a clue and tries to obtain photographs of Bayonetta's fight and ensuing destruction. She later breaks his camera and destroys his car by landing on it, a reference to Enzo's car in the game.
Scarborough Fair are not Bayonetta's initial weapons. She first wields "Elfin Knight", a set of four guns which use the design of Scarborough Fair's fifth concept design. These weapons are later destroyed in a battle with Jeanne and Bayonetta receives Scarborough Fair later.

- In the first scene at the Gates of Hell, Rodin states her name is Bayonetta, but Enzo quickly reminds him, that is the name given to her by Rodin.

- Antonio's death is shown in gruesome detail compared to the game's portrayal of having the camera pan away. Antonio's face is also shown when Luka is searching through his recovered pictures from his broken camera. He bears a strong similarity to Luka's later redesign in Bayonetta 2.

- There are extra scenes where Balder talks about his plans with Jeanne on the Isla Del Sol. In these scenes, Jubileus is shown sleeping in a fetal position in the heavens instead of being formed from a statue.

- The angels are all shown capable of human language speaking instead of pure Enochian. They also have a certain amount of martyrdom, claiming that they intend to be the foundations for Jubileus' awakening, even if it results in their deaths.

- Iustitia and Sapientia never make an appearance and Fortitudo is not fought, appearing only as a 'leader' of the angels. Multiple Temperantias rather than just one are also shown (several appeared with Balder during the Witch Hunts).

- Bayonetta uses multiple weapons on her enemies rather than just Scarborough Fair (unlike the game's cutscenes). She ends up using Shuraba, an Onyx Rose and the Lt. Col. Kilgores.

- All of which can be seen in the Gates of Hell after Bayonetta loses 'Elfin Knight' along with others from the game such as Sai Fung and Kulshedra.

- Bayonetta and Jeanne's first battle happens during Bayonetta's train journey into Vigrid. Jeanne lures the witch out of the train into some old ruins where she is able to best Bayonetta in combat by destroying her weapons before leaving.

- Balder uses his powers frequently to send Bayonetta to new places, such as to the Valley of the Witch & Sage where he has left Cereza. Their meeting plays out in much the same way as the game.

- After saving the girl, Bayonetta shares a bath with Cereza where she is staying in Vigrid. Luka attempts to sneak in to plant a bug whilst Bayonetta bonds with the child, but is quickly caught. He later talks with Bayonetta about his reasons for pursuing her, but is quickly left with Cereza the next day after she heads off on her own to find answers.

- Luka ends up following Bayonetta with his own car rather than taking a vehicle from the guards on the bridge.

- He also seems to be following her on the Highway rather than the other way around.

- On Route 666, Bayonetta destroys an Irenic on her motorbike whilst in an underground tunnel and later arrives at the airport where she makes short work of Temperantia. Luka and Cereza catch up to her and Luka uses Cereza's glasses to see the angels for the first time. The three then reconvene on a helicopter and fly to Isla Del Sol.

- Instead of multiple enemies, Route 666 had only 1 Irenic. Braves never made an appearance.

- The transport plane never appeared, instead the helicopter was their sole method of transport.

- The final battle with Jeanne takes place in both the human world and in Paradiso. The witches are transported there midway through fighting and Rodin gives Bayonetta Scarborough Fair. Using her new weapons and reawakening the memories of her past, she is able to win. Jeanne reveals the truth about their past and implores her to stop Balder before his magic causes the explosion that presumably kills her.

- When Bayonetta, Luka and Cereza arrive at Balder's office, Balder sends Cereza home through the time rift in his window. Bayonetta, having deducted that it was her younger self, is able to save Luka from the angels after he learns the truth about his father's death, but is unable to save him from falling. He later saves himself with his grappling hook. Bayonetta threatens to shoot Balder, but the powers of the Left Eye awaken in her before she can pull the trigger. It is revealed that killing the angels and mastering her abilities was enough to reawaken the Left Eye within, as well as her memories. As Jubileus awakens, multiple angels and Fortitudo himself commit their life force to the deity and are absorbed to give her strength.

- Jeanne comes to Bayonetta's rescue in her Umbran suit like in the game, but does not save Bayonetta directly. She shoots Jubileus' eye open and urges Bayonetta to remember what her mother, Rosa, said to her before she died. It is revealed that Balder personally watched over the destruction of the Umbra Witches and Rosa pleaded with Bayonetta in her last moment to fulfill one request: to 'save' her father from the madness that had gripped his soul from being exiled from his clan. Using the lipstick as a reminder, Bayonetta uses her own power to break free from Jubileus' eye, scorching the left half of the goddess' body.

- Balder remains alive after being accepted as the Right Eye and directly controls Jubileus' actions through his power. He heals the deity back to full strength and clashes with both Bayonetta and Jeanne. The witches summon Queen Sheba together and control her in a similar manner, culminating in a godly clash that sends them fighting and flying across the solar system. Bayonetta uses her magic to perform a Torture Attack on Jubileus, providing Sheba with a whip to bind her to the wooden horse used on the Joys in game. As Jeanne uses her powers to give Sheba a gigantic infernal gun, Bayonetta loads her weapon and fires the lipstick towards her father. As the bullet kills him, Jeanne gives the command and Sheba fires a gigantic explosion that disintegrates Jubileus into dust.

- Due to Jubileus not being a former statue, the pair of witches never had to break apart the pieces as it fell to Earth.

- After the events of the film, a year passes after Bayonetta has disappeared. Rodin and Enzo ponder her whereabouts, Luka is able to publish a book on the Sages and Witches and laments on where she is by his father's graveside. Elsewhere, Bayonetta and Jeanne talk about going back to their other lives as a nun and a school teacher before a flock of angels appear on the horizon. The two witches team up to have one last fight before they go their separate ways.

- Luka and Bayonetta do not seem to meet up after their last encounter.

- Enzo's information came from a news report from the Gates of Hell's television regarding Balder directly instead of a report of a stone on the marketplace.

- In fact the Eyes of the World were never mentioned as possibly being a stone at all.
Balder was almost immediately pegged as a key player rather than discovering bits and pieces of information
Bayonetta outright learns of his influence.

- The Ithavoll Group also never seemed to be mentioned. In its place is Ragna.

- Enzo is officially recognized as an Undertaker (unlike the game hinting at his possibility of being one as well as an informant).

- Rosa (Cereza's mother) played a much more important role to further the plot.

- The only 'boss' that was truly fought, with the exception of Balder/Jubileus, was Beloved. Bayonetta never fought any of the Audito directly. Exception being Temperantia and he was almost instantly killed by a Demon rather than an all out fight..

- Most of the Angels never made an appearance. Fortitudo, Temperantia, Affinity, Ardor, Beloved, Irenic and Inspired are the only ones to have appeared.

The Verdict:

I have to agree with the other early critics of this anime and say that this is even MORE over-the-top than the actual Bayonetta video game. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

This anime movie is only roughly 90 minutes long, so those who are expecting this to a lengthy affair are going to be disappointed off the bat. The narrative pretty much rushes through the events of the video game that this is apparently based off of with a lot of differences (mentioned above). I know more fans of Bayonetta are going to be upset, but I was happy that my personal favorite boss, Temperantia, made it into the action sequences. Fortitudo is shown but never engaged in combat, as he is reduced to the role of an impromptu field leader for the other angels under Balder's control. 

While we're on the topic of action sequences, I must admit these are simply gorgeous to behold. While I was disappointed the fight with Temperantia wasn't a lengthy affair, but to say that this film made the game's small fry/chicken fodder enemies into major threats was pretty damn cool. Every single one of these action sequences are amazing. No amount of words can articulate the visual insanity of these spectacular scenes. If you are a fan of the original Bayonetta title or just over-the-top action in general, then you will definitely fall in love with this film. 

For those looking for some guilty smut, this film has quite a bit of it, but NO nudity. Fans of the original game will be quite familiar with the fact that Bayonetta's dark magic renders her almost completely naked at times when she summons demons, but this anime movie finds some more uses of eye candy to keep horny fanboys interested. There is a steamy bathroom sequence that left even Luka speechless to Bayonetta and Jeanne's final summoning to bring forth Queen Sheba to assist them in taking down Jubileus during the film's finale (with a brief shot that nods towards those with torture fetishes...) that is presented in a manner that it's not uncharacteristic to Bayonetta, but at the same contributing to the story. 

There's enough fan service here to keep most interested from start to finish. Bayonetta wields almost all of her iconic weaponry from the original game, but doesn't acquire Scarborough Fair (her signature four pistols) until near the film's climax. Luka brings up his "friends" in a conversation - Claire, Trish, Silva, and Ammy. (Laughs) I wonder exactly who Luka is referring to... Bayonetta's theme plays during one fight sequence. Enzo and Rodin have a respectable amount of screen time in the Gates of Hell that I can't complain about in the least. Unfortunately, if you aren't fan of this game nor this character, you are going to be completely lost watching this. 

While it's short and doesn't last as long as I would have liked, the fight sequences in this film are worth any action anime fans' time of day. I give Bayonetta: Bloody Fate an 8 out of 10.