Bubble

This latest Netflix original anime by WIT Studio, having ensemble big names involved is brilliant with regards to its animation, however felt short in terms of storyline.

Tetsuro Araki, the renowed director behing Shingeki no Kyojin directs this dystopain sci-fi version of 'A Littler mermaid'. The characters felt a little underdeveloped, given the screentime of mere 100 minutes. While the movie bears influences of the classic fairy tale, they are rather loose, and at some parts, do seem to be shoehorned into the plot.

The animated feature, helmed by Studio WIT, is a breathtaking sight to behold, with its striking, vibrant colours breathing life into the desolated, forgotten city of Tokyo. The visual design also changes nicely to reflect the atmosphere of specific scenarios: action scenes get louder, bolder hues, domestic moments feature softer lighting, and intense sequences welcome ominous, darker colour mixing. Meanwhile, the landscape boasts details that allude to real-world Tokyo, such as Animate stores, Japanese ferries, and the star of the show, the Tokyo Tower.

The soundtrack gets a mention as well, as it was unique and melodious in its own way. The cinematography was amazing, capturing the parkour sport effectively. It's unfortunate that Bubble couldn't reach its narrative potential, because it excels everywhere else.

At the core of it, Bubble is a visually-gripping anime movie that presents an innovative and interesting premise, but couldn't deliver the best to its potential. I would recommend Bubble for a one time watch, due to its outstanding animation and cinematography

My Rating : 7/10.

This film is gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. It has some of the best animation and music I have ever witnessed. The physics-defying scenery, parkour races and flashbacks create a very colourful and dynamic atmosphere.

However, it barely had any story. The characters are just stand-ins for typical anime tropes, the romance is forced and there seems to be no overall "point". The entire plot could be described in two sentences without any loss of detail.

Coming into 2022, this anime was one of my most anticipated movies. We have the director of Attack on Titan Season 1-3 and Death Note, WIT studio, writer of Fate/Zero, and the composer of Attack on Titan coming together to make this sci-fi action thriller.

Let's get the obvious out of the way. The animation was breathtakingly gorgeous. There was never a boring shot. Every single frame and motion was jaw-droppingly beautiful. WIT studio poured their heart out to make this masterpiece of animation. Just like in other anime from WIT like Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song, the close-up animation of character's face was distinctly angelic. Those moments were special, and I'm still in awe.

However, sadly the story did not deserve such godlike animation. There's a blend of Little Mermaid, spiral, bubbles, and parkour. Unfortunately these elements did not work out very well. The first half of the movie felt like it was going nowhere. The characters were mostly uninteresting, which made the emotional scenes less impactful. The encompassing theme of this movie just did not land.

Overall, I don't think it's bad, as I still had a good time, but with this much power dedicated to make this supposedly masterpiece, Bubble was still a disappointment. 7-7.5/10.

Bubble feels way too derivative from far better told anime stories. It seems oddly random the mix of Parkour with the little mermaid tale using a post-apocalyptic-ish Tokyo, definitely it was what stuck to the wall and the creators just scrapped the very bottom to come up with something.

The visuals are good, the dynamic action set pieces are jaw dropping at some points but the action alone it's no a redeeming quality for a movie that had lots of potential wasted in a nonsensical story that has been told way too many times and barely becomes interesting. Paper thin and stereotypical characters, non-developed background stories, logic that just don't make sense(even in its own universe), and a resolution that was predictable within the first 5 minutes makes Bubble a disappointing experience.

To be honest, for most part of the movie, I didn't even understand what was happening but I was still latched on to the screen because it was that interesting to watch. The visuals and cinematography were amazing too. Watch it in the highest resolution possible for maximum enjoyment. It's not a ground breaking movie, but it was pretty good. For casual watching, this can be on top of your lists! It was mesmerizing. Unlike some of the reviews here which say animation was bad, it was the opposite for me. It was only the animation which kept me hooked to the screen else I might have dropped it pretty soon. This however doesn't mean the storyline was utter trash, it was okay but I expected a much better storyline though. Overall, it's pretty fun for a one time watch!! Not to mention the bgm was pretty nice too, indeed it will be as it was made by the G. O. A. T Hiroyuki Sawano who has worked on many successful projects. WIT studio also did an amazing job at animating this.