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.

The graphics, visuals and "choreography" are interesting and fun to watch and keep your attention all the way through, but in the end the story is a letdown. No rhyme, reason, or point to this movie. The characters are semi-interesting but not deeply developed.

This is just basic action / adventure anime with a pseudo-romantic story thrown in. It seems the writers / directors were trying to say something, but it never really comes across as being very important. Basically it's just a fairy tale without a lesson to be learned.

I give it 6 stars for being interesting to watch, but it came very close to receiving a "mediocre 5". But had to give it an extra point for good graphics.

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.

Visually stunning from start to finish. They made sure that even if most people don't like this film, the animation will make everyone captivated. The plot is just a post-apocalyptic Little Mermaid from the opposite perspective which they remind us again and again in an attempt to make sure no one, I mean absolutely no one misses the reasoning behind their choices. Even with such attention to detail in animation and sound effects, the film manages to be bland a lot. Despite its blandness, they did manage to make the animation itself work in the narrative a lot to make it worthwhile too. It's really a mixed bag where if you like the animation you may like it.