Ranked #4404

Bobby ni Kubittake

Bobby’s in Deep iis actually based on a novel that came out in 1980, and does have some significant differences in the anime release that came out 5 years later. Some of those differences are that in addition to Bobby’s passion for motorcycles, he’s also a beach bum surfer and it was more emphasized that he was more of a surfer than a biker, and he got a job at a surfing shop rather than as a waiter. Plus, it’s also elaborated in the novel by this girl who is writing to Bobby is suffering from an illness while it’s pure curiosity in the anime that drives her to write the letters. Sorry for the spoiler, but I felt I needed to point that out

As for this movie, I felt it ends where you are finally start to have development and pure resolution, and a sense of direction for Bobby. The ending will feel anti-climatic, but it does take you by surprise. It’s nothing you really expected, but the ending made me felt nothing really progressed at some capacity, but I guess the ending does prove a point that what happens in this anime can happen to some people in real life, and I’m sure it has. And I feel the biggest quality this anime has is its realism. But that’s just me.

For establishment, I think it fails. Such as there is no official explanation of why he is called Bobby, and how he got his motorcycle to begin with, or anything of why he’s such a bad student or the kind of guy he is. I think if they showed Bobby in school, we’d get a better foundational idea of his personality and why he prefers motorcycles over academics. Other things I’d like to know about Bobby are: is he popular? Is he a loser? Or is he just that guy? Or is he just one those people that are naturally like that? Is he a symbol that he doesn’t want to live up to society’s expectations? I felt the anime needed to be more direct with certain things more clearly.

Well, don’t expect any fireballs or any exaggerated designs or hair colors. Expect more realistic characters clothing, hairstyles and use of colors like in Wangan Midnight, Initial D, and Hajime no Ippo. The designs are pretty good, and I guess because of it’s more realistic approach with the drawings, it won’t really stand out in comparison to Akira or Windaria in relation to it’s use of colors and background and costume designs. There’s nothing really to complain about it in terms of technical flaws rather than use of still shots and paintings.

The animation sequences are some of the best hand-drawn ones I’ve seen in awhile. Whenever they play a song sometimes or some montage, it’ll come across more as an 80s music video with the random drawings on a neon colored foreground. But it goes well with the atmosphere and the mood of the movie. And the way Bobby drives his motorcycle sometimes is breathtaking and the weather at times makes you wish you want to ride on that blue baby of his.

A majority of the cast is mostly singers and actors, and they were never seiyuus, and are still active in j-dramas and movies. So you can call Nomura Hironobu, the voice of Bobby, something of an Oguri Shun of 1985 who recently played Akio in Wangan Midnight, an anime I previously reviewed. And he was also a rising singer at the time and sang a few of the songs in this anime as well which were a nice addition and were more in direct relation to the story and mood of the anime. But I think he could have done better with Bobby’s portrayal such as make him more something of a punk, or come across as unsure with his life. It seems to me all he wants is happiness and not really success. Also, Shimizu Mayumi, the seiyuu who plays the girl who writes to Bobby sings some of the songs and sings the ending theme, a good cover to the 1960s hit, Bobby’s Girl in perfect English. I think they added the personality that the anime needed with both characters and music.

All I have to say is watch this anime for the music and visuals. You won’t regret it for that. The characterization I wouldn’t say flat out sucks, but with the foundation it had, it could have been so much better. I thought it could have been something along the lines of a Wangan Midnight of it’s time, but in terms of its story and characters, it’s no where near the league of how Wangan Midnight executes its character exploration and development. I guess what makes Bobby so interesting is because he’s not only just an everybody we know and/or relate to, he’s more of those 1/5 anybody’s we probably knew back in high school: A kid from a well off family who wanted the best out of him, but didn’t seem to know what he wanted to do with his life because he messes around. Despite that, there is some confusion of giving any indication whether or not he’s a delinquent considering how he resists his father’s demands, and that he’s a drop out. He doesn’t do drugs or get into fights. He seems like a mellow guy. Maybe I am making generalizations, but hey, I think this characteristics and the ending is what makes him uniquely human in some right.
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Bobby's in deep is certainly a very interesting work - short and experimental, but it holds a lot of content, animation and background themes wise. Which is a bit surprising, considering the fact that the anime was largely produced to promote a young pop idol, who voiced the main character.

Bobby has a pretty plain personality and he's also a man of few words. This somehow rubs off on many of the anime's characteristics. It's interesting, that most of what we get to learn about Bobby is not from him personally, but through the girl that is writing him letters, trough his father that's scolding him and through dialogs between other characters. This kinda fits Bobby's simple, carefree character and creates a care-free mood for the anime. At the same time, it projects the genuinely increasing boredom within the youth in those (and todays) times.

Some viewer might complain about the fact, that we only get to know as much about Bobby as he interacts with other people (almost nothing). On the up side, because of this, we are put into an interesting perspective of a random observer and all the other pieces, like in real life, are left to our own judgment and assumptions.

Another interesting case of this perspective of a random observer appears in the fact that we only get to see a silhouette of Bobby's secret admirer. This way, her looks are left to our own imagination and we don't get to know about her any more than Bobby does. It certainly is an interesting technique, which lowers the cost of animation and at the same time it maybe even feels more rewarding to the viewer than the classic character presentation.

If you've got a sharp eye, you'll soon notice that Bobby's in Deep contains a few social critiques. Bobby's mostly indifferent character (except when it comes to his bike) is a way of criticizing the important Japanese belief, which pushes the youth to educate themselves as highly as possible and land a job in a respectable company - at all costs.
The school system is also criticized, when Bobby says: "The school only knows how to send the notes to home, because it's the cheapest." In truth, no one really wants to bother with the problems of youth and lend a helping hand, which sadly mostly holds true even today.

The animation in Bobby's in Deep is quite special and it would be unfair to write it off as cheap. It's true that the story is often represented through a slide show of hand drawn pictures and the animation is abstracted. But I like to imagine it's a representation of Bobby's slightly confused view of the world, and in this way the viewer experiences it through Bobby's eyes.

Most of the second half of the movie will be greatly appreciated by the biker fans, as it includes a few sunny scenes with the motorbikes in their element. Towards the end, there is an exceptionally unique riding scene, where the camera switches to first person view and the picture falls apart into simple black & white lines and sketches. There is no music, just the sound of the bike and the tires screeching. It's awesome and definitely worth a watch.

The ending is debatable and a bit provocative. Some people may be disappointed and state that it falls short. I, on the other hand, find it quite catharsic. Bobby is a rebel against the norms of society, the strict tradition, the school system and the whole anime is dipped in his beliefs. But, as no one in the world is perfect, the ending represents the other pole, which favors the general rules of society and the system.
All in all, Bobby didn't do anything wrong, he lived by his beliefs and acted as he saw fit. After all, there is a thin line between a carefree and a careless attitude which, in a series of unfortunate events, can result in a fatal outcome. Even so, the ending is quite open. It just serves as a reminder, that life isn't always one-sided and compromises are often necessary.

P.S. You can read more about Bobby in this great article on ANN: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/buried-treasure/2007-05-17 .
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