Netflix anime Bubble turns post-apocalyptic Tokyo into a colorful playground

Image: Netflix

There are a lot of the typical hallmarks of a dystopic city in Bubble. The movie takes place in a version of Tokyo that has been almost completely abandoned, with lots of rusted cars, crumbling buildings, and greenery reclaiming its place amongst the urban sprawl. It was important for director Tetsuro Araki to make the city vibrant and light.

Bubble's premise might be the reason for the tone. It is not a typical end of the world story. In Bubble, the earth is attacked by bubbles instead of being attacked by war or natural disasters. The city of Tokyo was covered in a giant bubble five years before the events of the film. Tokyo became mostly abandoned as the rest of the country went on. The only residents are street kids who live on their own and participate in a team-based version of parkour where the winners get supplies like gasoline and ramen. The city is almost like a utopia for these kids.

It's a unique premise and one that's used to tell a coming-of-age story that's similar to The Little Mermaid. The more personal part of the story came first, according to Araki. After we decided to use the theme of The Little Mermaid, Gen Urobuchi joined us as the writer of the film. It was through him that we arrived at the topic of bubbles.

Tokyo is a city that has been depicted and reimagined many times in pop culture. Araki says this helped with the creation of Bubble. The film's version of the city is partially underwater, and there are areas where gravity has been distorted, which makes the parkour sequence more exciting. It's so different from Tokyo that we're used to.

The challenge was making sure everyone stayed on track.

Image: Netflix

The team had to create a largely abandoned version of a major real-world city during a time when the streets were empty due to the Pandemic. It was almost like reality was catching up with what we were portraying in the film. The strangeness of reality helped ground the film in reality.

Bubble introduces a very particular twist that ties together all of its seemingly disparate elements, from the love story to the parkour to the bubbles themselves. Even if it took a while to figure it out, it was clever and unexpected.

Bubble is on the streaming service.