Bubble Parent Guide

Five years ago, a huge number of bubbles began falling out of the sky over Tokyo. Seemingly benign, they somehow caused a massive explosion at the Tower, killing hundreds. After the blast, a giant bubble formed around the megalopolis, and the government ordered it abandoned. But for the youths orphaned in the explosion, the abandoned city became their home…and a lively playground. They’ve developed a new sport, called Tokyo Battlekour, a highly aggressive form of parkour in the ruins. For Hibiki (Jun Shison), the game is just practice for a run up the highly unstable Tower ruins, where he thinks he can hear a strange song, a song which might hold some answers about the strange bubbles…

This bubbly little anime offering is built for excitable preteens, full of exciting action sequences, J-pop for people who are younger than you’ve ever been, and a cute little romance plot. It is mostly interested in being cute and fun, so if you’re expecting any real answers to any questions you may have about the plot… don’t hold your breath. Sure, the movie wraps up the story, but you’re not really going to understand much more about it than you did at the beginning.

Given that it’s geared almost exclusively at younger viewers, parents will be relieved to hear that there is very little content to be concerned about. There are a few instances of mild pushing and shoving, and one use of a scatological term. The biggest language issue for kids is going to be reading along with the subtitles, but you don’t have to deal with that since the film is available in an English dub.

As for parents, this may not be your favorite film of all time, but it’s pretty watchable. It isn’t hideously irritating like, say, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, so even if it’s a little juvenile, you’re not going to find yourself wondering if tearing your ears off and running screaming into the street is a viable alternative to waiting for the film to end. In fact, if you let the plot slide past you, you might even have a good time appreciating the creative artistic depictions of an abandoned Tokyo.

Your kids won’t learn too many moral lessons here, but Bubble qualifies as harmless entertainment. Not everything needs to have some big ethical conundrum – sometimes, kids just want to watch a bunch of unsupervised teenagers in crop-tops sprint around an overgrown ruin for a while. And this will definitely scratch that itch.