is a 2022 Japanese animated

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

film produced by

Wit Studio , stylized as WIT Studio, is a Japanese animation studio founded on June 1, 2012, by producers at Production I.G as a subsidiary of IG Port. It is headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, with Production I.G producer George Wada as president and ...

. It is directed by Tetsurō Araki and written by

Gen Urobuchi is a Japanese novelist, visual novel writer and anime screenwriter. He is known for being the co-creator of the highly acclaimed and commercially successful anime series '' Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', which earned him the Tokyo Anime Award for ...

with character designs by Takeshi Obata and music composed by

Hiroyuki Sawano , stylized as Hiroyuki SAWANO, is a Japanese composer, arranger, lyricist, pianist, and music producer best known for his work on many anime series, video games, Japanese television drama, television dramas, and films. His works include the Sou ...

. The film had early screenings at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

on February 10, 2022. It was followed by its worldwide release on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on April 28, 2022, before it was released theatrically in Japan in May. A

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation of the film by Erubo Hijihara was serialized in ''

Shōnen Jump+ is a manga platform created by Shueisha. Launched on September 22, 2014, it operates as a free mobile app and website. Jump+ serializes original titles and titles from other Shueisha manga magazines, and also carries digital editions of ''Weekl ...

'' from April 22 to May 23, 2022.

Plot

In the near future, the world is overcome by

bubble Bubble, Bubbles or The Bubble may refer to: Common uses * Bubble (physics), a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid ** Soap bubble * Economic bubble, a situation where asset prices are much higher than underlying fundame ...

s that break the laws of reality. An explosion at

Tokyo Tower , also known as the Japan Radio Tower (, ) is a Radio masts and towers, communications and observation tower in the district of Shiba-koen in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, completed in 1958. At , it was the List of tallest structures in Japan, tallest ...

concentrates all the bubbles in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, but makes the city uninhabitable. Various young folk defy the restrictions, and live there anyway, using

parkour Parkour () is an athletic Training#Physical training, training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from one point to another in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment ...

tournaments as a means to

barter In trade, barter (derived from ''bareter'') is a system of exchange (economics), exchange in which participants in a financial transaction, transaction directly exchange good (economics), goods or service (economics), services for other goods ...

and

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

supplies. In one parkour team, the Blue Blazes, 18-year-old Hibiki is an exceptional

talent, but he avoids others due to a hearing ultrasensitivity. Tokyo Tower continues to be an impossible location to get to because of gravity anomalies. One day, Hibiki attempts to climb the tower because he hears a woman's song, and believes he sees a boy there. He almost makes it, but ends up falling into the

ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

, where his final exhale combines with some of the bubbles to make a young girl. She is clearly new to being a human, but learns quickly from others. Hibiki names her "Uta" ("Song") because she knows the song he hears in his head. Uta and Hibiki train parkour together, beating a team called the Morticians/Undertakers, however, in one final catch, when Uta touches Hibiki, her arm fades away into bubbles. Bubble activity starts up again, so the Tokyo residents need to flee. Uta goes to Tokyo Tower to stop it. Hibiki goes to save her. In the final scene they save each other, but Uta fades into bubbles as in the original

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

from

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

: "

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...

." In her final breath, she tells Hibiki that he made it worth it for her to be human. With the bubbles gone, the citizens of Tokyo return and start to rebuild. The parkour teams continue their lives too. Whether real or imagined, in the end credits Hibiki is still continuing to do parkour and there is a bubble following him which could imply it is Uta.

Voice cast

Music

The film's score is composed by

. The opening theme song is "Bubble feat. Uta" performed by

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

, while the ending theme song is performed by Riria, who voices Uta in the film.

Track listing

Reception

Critical reception

''Bubble'' grossed $509,309 at the box office.

Accolades

, - ! scope="row" rowspan="2" , 2022 , 72nd Berlin International Film Festival , Generation 14plus — Crystal Bear for the Best Film , Tetsurō Araki , , , - , Asian Academy Creative Awards , Best Animated Programme or Series (2D or 3D) , rowspan="2" , ''Bubble'' , , , - ! scope="row" , 2023 , 7th Crunchyroll Anime Awards , Best Film , ,

References

External links

* * * * {{authority control, state=expanded 2020s Japanese-language films 2022 anime films 2022 films Animated films set in Tokyo Anime films composed by Hiroyuki Sawano Animated films based on The Little Mermaid Films directed by Tetsurō Araki Films with screenplays by Gen Urobuchi Japanese animated fantasy films Japanese animated feature films Japanese disaster films Netflix original films Netflix original anime Parkour in film Tokyo Tower in fiction Warner Bros. animated films Wit Studio