Jul 25, 2021
Yamazakura, I like the leaves you've hidden.
Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop—which I will shorten to Soda Pop in this review—is a recent anime film that has been brought to us by Signal.MD, who also brought us shows like Fooly Cooly Progressive (2018) and Mars Red (2021). One thing to clearly note about is that the director is Kyōhei Ishiguro, who is known for directing Psycho Pass (2012), Fairy Tail (2009), and Your Lie In April (2015). This is also collaboration with Studio Sublimation, in which doesn't seem to have any significant works at the moment, however considering this film's presence, I believe they'll have
...
more in store coming soon.
First of all, what is this film even about? The movie opens up, introducing us to this cute buck-teethed teenager who is known as Smile. She appears to be an influencer who often creates what I like to call "stream vlogs"—which are like a combination of streaming and vlogging since she stream# on and about her daily life—and does them for a living. On the other side of the story, we have Cherry, who is another teenager that works for a Foster's Home for the Elderly. Which if it wasn't obvious already, is a place for the Elderly to rest or rehabilitate. One thing to note about is Cherry's talent and enthusiasm towards poetry, or Haikus in general. Due to pure coincidence, both Smile and Cherry happen to meet each other inside a shopping mall. Things get twisted as they get to know each other more and more. Overall, the story's main focus is poetry, despite being labelled with the genre 'Music'. It's not that Music didn't make an impact in this film, but it isn't as significant as the Poetry.
I want to get the negativities out of the way since I only have like, two or three points regarding those, and that's me nitpicking. I want to raise the issue of pretty stale Character Motivations. Remembering English Classes, there's a certain kind of character in stories called a "Flat" Character. These are told to be characters that don't change much from start to finish, in regards to their personality or their "motivations". Sadly in this movie, majority of the side characters are like this. It had a potential to be such an immersive environment to see unrelated characters intertwine in a domino effect-style manner. Much like what I have seen from the show Odd Taxi (2021).
Another slight nitpick I have is the lackluster dramatic timing this film emits at certain points. Sometimes the drama buildup was too short, sometimes it took too long. However, it does it right sometimes as well. When it does it right, it's perfect. There's no inbetween. I believe that just sums it up for the faults Soda Pop has.
What about its strengths? What makes it so unique? Well first of all, if it isn't obvious yet: The artstyle is absolutely unique in comparison to other anime films out there. It dwells more on a 'poppy' artsyle rather than the traditional detailed types of anime films out there. The name "Soda Pop" feels so fitting for this film because the art definitely feels like those colorful soda commercials you've probably seen back in the 2000's. I don't want to say it's 'cartoonish' per se, as sure: This may look like an animation that could've been backed up by some western animation channels like Nickelodeon, but the small tangents that make it differ from that style is how much they remind you that 'This is an anime. This is Eastern Animation.' time and time through the film.
I'll elaborate on that with this film's second strength: Comedic Timing. While I did say that the Dramatic Timing falls off at times, this show had me laughing a lot more often than not. I can assure you that it's an anime style of comedy, so if you're more accustomed to seeing Eastern Animation often, the comedy hits harder. While we're on the talk of animation however, this movie excels at that. Animation and Cinematography as well. I cannot tell you how immersive the first Shopping Mall scene was. Dare I say it, it's one of the most detailed and action-packed animation sequences I've seen this year so far. The craft of animation excels here so much that they also made 3D Computer Graphics (CGI) work. To be honest, I believe it should've. Since the artstyle was so simplistic and 'poppy', the 3D style managed to blend in well with the 2D characters. Well, definitely way better than what Ex-Arm (2021) did.
Lastly, some shorter strengths that could be easily explained. The soundtrack carries the movie. The main character's motivations are phenomenal. The mystery climax aspect in the middle of the movie was well written and executed greatly. While the ending may be predictable, it sure was one of the best scenes of the film and it wrapped everything up between the main characters in a well suited manner, in a gift box with a bow on top. This film may not be for everybody, but you could appreciate the craft that went in it.
If I were to describe this movie with one word, it's "Warm". Warm in the sense of all aspects. The film screams "summer" all over it, especially with resemblances to the Science SARU film Ride Your Wave (2019). Though, that's more my opinion. I would definitely recommend watching this show under sunny weather, unlike I did.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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