I've seen a few negative reviews for this film and I just need to say: if cute summer romance animes aren't your thing, don't watch them and give them a bad review just because it's not your thing. Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop is another summer teen romance film, it's not anything particularly ground-breaking but it still had me hand-flapping with joy at the end of it - it's not a terrible film. There's value in media that simply makes you happy; enjoying simple stories isn't a bad thing but drawing arbitrary lines in the sand is. Furthermore, I'd like to preface this review
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by saying that I'm currently doing a course in memory in film so the following will be mostly me just talking about the film's use of nostalgia, and boy did I really milk it.
Story: 7/10
The story mostly revolves around a cute little summer "mystery" of the coming-of-age variety. After the fun meet-cute sequence, two teenagers - Cherry and Smile - decide to help an old man, Mr. Fujiyama, find a lost record, all the while developing their relationship but there's a wee problem: Cherry is moving away. Again, it's nothing to scream and shout about, it's a short, sweet, and simple story. However, it's the use of Haikus and language that make the film so interesting to me. It's rare for me to see haikus utilized in a sweet little story such as this one and I like the way they are integrated - albeit rather conveniently - into the story and character arcs. The film also makes small nods towards the relationship between modernity and history through the aforementioned mystery of the record and I'd argue that the value of memory is a major theme of the film due to the nature of its own genre. It's a summer where Cherry and Smile were able to help Mr. Fujiyama remember something precious to him and build a connection as fleeting as summer. In my opinion, the story is best read retrospectively; a story of haikus and records used in juxtaposition with the film's modern setting to highlight the fragility and importance of memory.
Art: 8/10
The art style has a nice quirky feel to it, and while the designs are very memorable they're also rather stereotypical. I mean, you can look at any of the characters and immediately know what kind of person they are, and, stereotypes aside, that's still pretty good character design. I mean, look at Cherry, Smile, Beaver and you just KNOW what kind of person they are. There are some VERY MINOR animation annoyances, like there are some shots of Cherry and Smile just walking as they talk that just didn't need to be as long as they were, and the longer you watched you could see that the two were essentially just walking in place... but I digress. I mentioned earlier that the film is best read nostalgically and, honestly, I remember the first time seeing the visuals for this and immediately thinking of Lu Over The Wall (2017) which has an art style that is fluid and charming. Any flaws with the art in this film are rather minor, it's well put together and the visuals on screen are colorful and engaging.
Sound: 5/10
This is probably where my biggest criticism of the film lies. Cherry often wears headphones to block out sound - stating that he hates loud noises - and it's only about halfway through the film they properly use this to represent Cherry's mental state. They should have used it more, especially in the beginning when Cherry's still in his own shell. The insert song towards the end of the film also doesn't evoke much, it's pretty forgettable and I feel as though they definitely could have done better - for example, having Mr. Fujiyama try to sing/hum the melody in an effort to remember himself would be nice
Character: 6/10
Cherry and Smile are polar opposites - the former being a quiet boy who spends his days working and thinking up Haikus, and the latter being a bubbly girl who's insecure about her buck teeth and is a social media star - and they meet one summer afternoon at the mall. The characters aren't especially great honestly. They have enough personality to feel human but still most definitely movie characters, and I'd say that most of my more emotional reactions weren't at all tied to their character arcs but more so to the narrative. Not too keen on how dependant Smile's character arc was on her buckteeth and Cherry's own development but these are teenagers after all and they worry over the slightest things so it's really not at all story-breaking.
Enjoyment: 9/10
There are a lot of shots that make reference to and composition that invoke a nostalgic atmosphere - like you can watch this film and it just feels like a memory - without heavily relying on overly long flashbacks like others might. In fact, the film utilizes a few interesting cuts - you notice that the film really likes to cut some scenes short right before confrontation (eg. Cherry and Smile giving their phones back to each other, or after Smile accidentally does the thing that you can see coming from a mile away) and skip over what happens next which really mimics the way memory can be selective - sometimes we just don't really remember, or want to remember, what happens after these incidents. It's because of these subtle narrative elements relating to memory that I really enjoyed the film. Film itself can be an experience, much in the same way going to movie premieres with friends/family are or playing a video game is - this what's called prosthetic memory - and, while this film is definitely not one that will have a heavy imprint on me, its use of nostalgia and haikus - a medium that is heavily nostalgic in of itself - is pretty thoughtful and well-executed.
Overall: 7/10
I think that this film is best enjoyed when you're reminiscing about or looking forward to summer. It's a film to experience that one great summer you had a kid or the summer that you hope will come next time. It's a film that is best experienced when you're in the mood for it, just like any other piece of media to be honest. Again, I'm reading a lot into this film with all the nostalgia analysis but that's mostly just because I genuinely had fun watching it, and overanalysing is pretty much my job. By no means is it a brilliant must-see 10/10 masterpiece but it had me longing for the perfect summer with friends and genuinely helped raise my spirits after 3 weeks of being in lockdown at the time of writing this. I like to think there is more substance to this film but, even if there isn't, it's still the experience that counts.
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Sep 18, 2021
I've seen a few negative reviews for this film and I just need to say: if cute summer romance animes aren't your thing, don't watch them and give them a bad review just because it's not your thing. Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop is another summer teen romance film, it's not anything particularly ground-breaking but it still had me hand-flapping with joy at the end of it - it's not a terrible film. There's value in media that simply makes you happy; enjoying simple stories isn't a bad thing but drawing arbitrary lines in the sand is. Furthermore, I'd like to preface this review
...
Aug 22, 2021
Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi
(Anime)
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*** TW for episodes 1 & 5: these episodes depict egregious scenes of SA ***
I remember when this anime initially aired and a lot of the reviews for this were talking about how dark this anime was from episode 1 and oOoOooH iT's sOoOO gOoD. I'll be frank, if you think SA is necessary for a story to be dark or is an indicator of a GOOD dark story then I highly recommend you go read some statistics of SA and its effects on victims because you absolutely cannot boil SA down to just being a TV trope. It still occurs today and a ... |
