Bubble: *8-9ish?
Story - 7ish
Art - 10+
Sound - 10+
Character - 8
Enjoyment - 9+
Overall - 8-9ish
Bubble was good, it was an absolutely cinematic experience and Wit did what Wit does best.
...
It is gorgeous from start to finish and Araki cuts with Sawano still absolutely bang.
Production was absolutely phenomenal: sound design, OST, character design, backgrounds, animation and direction were all amazing. Uta was fucking adorable, and I really liked the climax and ending.
Wit, Araki and Sawano never fail to make pure cinema.
If you’re looking for a movie to just watch for a dopamine fix via pure sakuga and OST, you’ll definitely enjoy.
However, it very much feels like a flex/passion project; much of the movie feels aimless but nonetheless a pleasure to watch especially due to the SawanoAraki effect.
Going into it’s flaws, there are some issues with the plot or more “substance” but no where near like Takt., Garden of Words or Kabaneri levels of mediocrity.
I’d put it comfortably above Tenki no Ko personally.
Spoilers Below:
|| Urobutcher played it really safe here so plot didn’t really hit for me until the end. His reputation definitely hurt this movie due to expectations alone for certain people.
The movie also runs into classic “movie” problems, namely pacing, I feel like an additional hour to build up the characters and HibiUta dynamic would’ve greatly benefit it, but not gonna fault it too much there. My main two complaints come from the side-cast and plot:
The characters beside Hibiki and Uta are also basically just “there”, while some have roles to play, none are really developed upon barring a support role either in the parkour scenes, or to dump exposition to the viewer.
The beginning 2/3rd’s of the film have no relevance to anything besides the HibiUta building. The last 1/3rd of the movie is where the “plot” finally starts to kick in, but no real answers are given to most of the questions you have/had going into the movie, namely the origins and “intent” of the bubbles. ||
Regardless of it’s flaws, I still enjoyed a lot.
It’s an absolute pleasure to the eyes and ears; the ED song was great, and HibiUta was pretty cute, I liked their dynamic and the ending. I just wish it was longer and the characters, mystery and plot were fleshed out more.
|