▶Like many others I was really looking forward to this production due to all the familiar names attached to it. However, I was definitely not satisfied after watching the final product. Well...
Storytelling & Themes
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The story of Bubble essentially is a retelling of the Little Mermaid by danish author Hans Christian Andersen combined with a thematic analogy to the concept of cycles. The integration of these actually interesting ideas into the plot of the story definitely leaves much to be desired.
Show, don't tell... is a 'rule' in filmmaking that many popular shows, movies and even games use in order to send a message to the viewer without telling them directly.
Bubble did not make great use of this storytelling device to let the viewer come to any meaningful conclusions by themselves and in my opinion that is the greatest flaw this movie has.
There was one dialogue in particular that made me chuckle because it was so hilariously bad. Character A basically asks character B if their parents didn't teach them anything. And then B replied with another question: They asked A if they had forgotten that none of them had any parents to begin with. I mean come on... if you are just telling me everything I need to know at least tell it in a way that makes sense.
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Bubble tries to put loss and death as part of the human condition into perspective by letting the main character experience the joy of opening up to another human again. During the first third of the film Hibiki is constantly wearing his headphones in order to cut himself off the outer world. They also represent the trauma he carried eversince the abandonment by his mother as well as the moment he came to the conclusion that he was nothing but a burden to her due to his unusual condition. He gradually stops wearing them after spending time with Uta, thus breaking free from the curse of his childhood trauma, which I think is actually a cool idea. Even though I don't see the difference between her and the other people in his life except that they can not hum that particular melody which is really anime-esque. I guess she is that special person he had to meet (think of the trope of The Red String of Fate) or maybe she is supposed to be a metaphor for the ability to overcome hardship that everyone has inside... I don't know. Becoming a better person because of an interpersonal connection and then losing that person and having to learn to stand up again is a theme that can be very impactful when used correctly. Moving forward despite our predestined losses (basically the Myth of Sisyphus) as an aspect of what it means to be human is represented in the movie as Fibonacci's Spiral, which can be observed in many parts of existence such as math, biology, cosmology, as well as societies and the movie makes use of imagery to communicate this analogy to the viewer. Everything that is comes together, explodes, scatters and comes together again. Unfortunately, it also feels the need to plainly say it to make sure everyone understands which cheapens the experience by a lot. It feels like they underestimate their audience.Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide
By the end of the movie, when Uta dissolved into bubbles, I had a hard time feeling any kind of karthasis whatsoever because of how unnatural that connection between her and Hibiki felt. I mean I appreciate the idea that her becoming one with the cycle of bubbles (again: it's about the idea that all existence is part of cycles) is an analogy to when the Little Mermaid in Andersen's book became a 'daughter of the air'. So Uta is always with Hibiki... I guess.Characters
I was very disappointed with the cast of characters in this film. All of them are pretty much one-dimensional and tropy with little to no nuance to their personality.
The protagonist named Hibiki (which translates into sound or echo) is your typical stoic anime boy with a tragic backstory. He is incredibly talented at parkour but seldom really talkative, except when Uta is around or when he is directly being talked to. So basically you could say that he lives in his own bubble.
Uta (which means song) when introduced, is kind of a feral, non-human-like doll but humanized over the course of the story (kind of like Rei from Evangelion or Violet from Violet Evergarden).
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Like mentioned before she is based on Andersen's Mermaid who is willing to give up her identity in order to gain a human soul. She is basically the needle that bursts Hibiki's psychological bubble.
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I have to admit that the choice of names is kind of cool though. Hibiki is the echo to Uta's song? I mean that is kind of cool and meaningful.The rest of the cast is pretty much instantly forgotten, besides the scientist-mother figure Makoto, which strongly reminded me of Hange from Shingeki no Kyojin.
Visuals & Audio
This is the greatest strength of Bubble. I personally love the aesthetic of dystopian abandoned cities and the world building (loss of gravity and bubbles all over the place) in this film offers a wonderful playground for ambitious and creative parkour scenes. If you are starving for dynamic movement in the likes of Kenny chasing Levi from Shingeki no Kyojin's Season 3 (which was also animated by Wit Studio and directed by Tetsurou Araki) you will find great pleasure in this movie. The insane choreography of the parkour scenes combines beautifully drawn key animation with well-composited and fluid CG backgrounds. I also caught myself pausing the movie here and there just to awe at the many beautifully painted backgrounds and image compositions that could easily be used as wallpapers. I just love the vibe this movie has to it. Besides that, the character designs are ok but nothing out of the ordinary and Sawano is on top of his soundtrack game as always.
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The most magical moment for me was the parkour scene in which Hibiki and Uta are dancing through the skies side by side with Uta's humming in the background. It felt like Hibiki finally found that melody that he longed for eversince he was burdened by the loss / betrayal of his mother. It felt like Uta asked Hibiki to try to forgive the world.Conclusion
It really saddens me that I could not enjoy this film as much as I wanted to, though I really apprectiate and respect the artistic vision of its creators. Bubble is a visually beautiful movie that tried to provide the viewer with a profound and meaningful outlook on life, but failed to deliver it in an impactful and well-executed way. Even though some magic shines through here and there...
