BUBBLE (2022) | MOVIE REVIEW

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Bubble is a 2022 anime movie produced by the acclaimed Wit Studio that also produced the global mega hit, Attack on Titans. It was written and directed by creative talents: Gen Urobuchi (Psycho-Pass) and Tetsukō Araki (Attack on Titans) respectively.

SUMMARY

The anime takes us to post-apocalyptic Tokyo, five years after a mysterious natural disaster destroyed the city. Bubbles rained down from the sky and then an explosion occurred, taking lives and turning Tokyo a gravity-defying city enclosed in a giant bubble. While these bubbles have ceased falling all over the world, it continues in Tokyo, and then floods the city when they burst, submerging the infrastructure. Rendered uninhabitable, the citizens desert the city, save for a number of orphans.

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In this ravaged metropolis of floating rubble and vehicles, killer whirlpools called Antlion Pits, decaying buildings, and floating bubbles, these youngsters compete for daily supplies in a parkour game they call Tokyo Battlekour. Teams of five players race against one another for supplies. The first to get the flag wins. And the Blue Blazes made up of the players, their mentor who lost his leg to the game many years ago, and a scientist studying the Bubble Fall phenomenon and playing the role of a big sister, almost always win. Thanks to their star player, Hibiki, who can manipulate the bubbles like no other.

The story follows Hibiki, the Blue Blazes aloof team member, as he investigates his connection to the bubble phenomenon. He is a withdrawn teenager who lost his parents during the explosion. Sensitive to sound and having been diagnosed with auditory hypersensitivity as a child, he hears a song which no one else hears. And it seems to come from the Tokyo Tower which was the epicenter of the explosion.

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There’s a mystery surrounding the tower, and Hibiki goes to investigate as he has done so many times before. This time, he tries to go higher. Unfortunately, he gets thrown off by the gravity and falls into the flood waters. A mysterious girl appears from nowhere and saves him from drowning, and she is brought with him to their ship. He names her Uta.

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Uta is cheery and good at manipulating the bubbles like Hibiki. She discovers the Little Mermaid story and points out the resemblance between herself and the mermaid. Enamored by Hibiki, she forms a closeness with him. This leads him to open up to her like he hasn’t done with anyone before. Then he discovers that she’s familiar with the song he hears from the tower. Somehow, she’s connected to the Bubble Fall, and Makoto tries to find out how, while Hibiki tries to connect his past and this mysterious girl who has brought him out of his shell.

SHORTCOMINGS

For a start, the plot was not well-developed. It failed to expose the mystery of the bubbles, leaving a lot of questions unanswered and left to speculations. I felt like the story was hanging when I watched it, like it needed something else. Also, the characters were underdeveloped. We’ve seen a lot of ‘introvert boy’ and ‘cheery girl that breaks through the boy’s shell’ characters that fall in love. We needed to see something else about them. Unfortunately, we didn’t. And it was worse for the other characters.

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STRONG POINTS

What helped lift the movie is the medley of soothing melodious music and dazzling visuals. The animation is spectacular. The rundown Tokyo setting is beautifully depicted with vibrant colours and intricate details that appeal to the eyes. The movie plays like pieces of artworks in motion.

The Tokyo Battlekour game makes for thrilling entertainment. As the players race through the city, swinging, flipping, and jumping, we don’t see ugliness amid the ruin. Instead, we see a backdrop of blue skies and lush greenery that feels quite satisfying and calming. This makes it an enjoyable watch despite the shortcomings.

The movie points out from the science point of view that our existence in the world is cyclical. We go through the process of creation, destruction, and recreation over and over again.

“The 𝚌𝚢𝚌𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚙𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚜. 𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚒𝚐 𝙱𝚊𝚗𝚐, 𝟷𝟹.𝟾 𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎. 𝙶𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚡, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚡 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝, 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚡. 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕.
— 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚘𝚝𝚘

CONCLUSION

There are other things that makes the movie shine, so regardless of the flaws, I enjoyed sitting to watch it. I’ll give it a 3 out of 5.