Bubble (2022)

Bubble is the kind of animated science-fantasy that reminds you movies can still feel like pure discovery: a ruined Tokyo turned into a floating playground where gravity misbehaves and every leap looks like a brushstroke in motion. Director Tetsuro Araki stages parkour action with exhilarating clarity, but what really pulls you in is the film’s dreamlike atmosphere—part apocalypse, part fairy tale—carried by a musical score that makes the city feel alive and haunted at once. At its heart is a tender, mysterious connection between two outsiders, and the film lets that emotional current glide beneath the spectacle rather than shouting over it. It won’t be for everyone if you need airtight world-building or prefer quieter animation, and there are a few disturbing moments, but if you’re on the fence and want something visually fearless and sincerely romantic in its sense of wonder, this one earns the screen.

Bubble is clearly aiming for a big, romantic sci‑fi fairy tale: gravity-defying Tokyo, parkour-as-war sport, and a mysterious girl who might change everything. And to be fair, it often looks incredible, with kinetic movement and a striking sense of scale that makes the city feel like a gorgeous ruin you can almost touch. The problem is the story underneath those visuals is thin and familiar, with characters who don’t get much beyond their archetypes and plot turns that can feel more like “because the movie needs it” than anything earned. If you can enjoy it as a stylish mood piece and don’t mind shaky logic or a romance that doesn’t fully land, you’ll get something out of it; if you need coherent worldbuilding and emotionally grounded character work, this will likely frustrate you.