Bubble
バブル
Bubble
バブル
Your feedback improves this guide
Your feedback highlights guides that need a second look and keeps the rating trustworthy.
Does this age rating seem accurate to you?
Sign in to vote
Watch-outs
What this film brings
Content barometer
Violence
2/5
Moderate
Fear
2/5
A few scenes
Sexuality
1/5
Allusions
Language
0/5
None
Narrative complexity
2/5
Moderate
Adult themes
0/5
None
Expert review
Bubble (2022) is a Japanese animated film produced by Wit Studio set in a future Tokyo overrun by physics-defying bubbles, where young parkour athletes compete across crumbling buildings to survive. Loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, it blends acrobatic action, teen romance, and poetic melancholy within a visually stunning but emotionally heavy narrative. Sensitive elements include recurring physical danger during parkour sequences, an oppressive environmental threat hanging over the city, and a deeply melancholic conclusion centered on loss and sacrifice. These themes, handled with genuine emotional depth and an overt romantic undertone, are clearly intended for a teenage audience capable of appreciating the story's poetic register and processing its bittersweet ending.
Synopsis
In an abandoned Tokyo overrun by bubbles and gravitational abnormalities, one gifted young man has a fateful meeting with a mysterious girl.
Difficult scenes
The parkour competition sequences feature falls, leaps over open voids, and situations where characters narrowly avoid death on unstable structures. The tension is real and recurring throughout the film, with the lead character deliberately taking excessive risks, which may generate anxiety in children sensitive to physical danger. Hibiki falls into the ocean surrounding Tokyo and faces imminent drowning before being rescued by Uta. The scene is brief but visually intense, set within a context of gravitational anomalies that heightens the sense of helplessness and genuine peril for the character. The relationship between Hibiki and Uta gradually takes on an explicitly romantic dimension for an animated film, with meaningful glances, repeated physical closeness, and an emotional bond that drives the entire second half of the story. This sentimental undertone, though handled with restraint, will be perceived very differently depending on the viewer's age. Without revealing the ending, the film builds toward a sequence involving the sacrifice and disappearance of a central character, clearly inspired by the Little Mermaid's fate in the original tale. This scene, handled with significant emotional weight and sustained melancholic aesthetics, may be particularly distressing for younger viewers and sensitive preteens.
Where to watch
No verified platform for the US market yet. We keep this section updated as availability changes.
Availability checked on Apr 01, 2026
About this title
- Format
- Feature film
- Year
- 2022
- Runtime
- 1h 41m
- Countries
- Japan
- Original language
- JA
- Directed by
- Tetsuro Araki
- Main cast
- Jun Shison, Riria., Alice Hirose, Mamoru Miyano, Yuki Kaji, Tasuku Hatanaka, Sayaka Senbongi, Ryota Osaka, Wataru Hatano, Marina Inoue
- Studios
- WIT STUDIO, Story, Nitroplus, Lawson Entertainment, Straight Edge, Warner Bros. Japan
Content barometer
Violence
2/5
Moderate
Fear
2/5
A few scenes
Sexuality
1/5
Allusions
Language
0/5
None
Narrative complexity
2/5
Moderate
Adult themes
0/5
None
Expert review
Bubble (2022) is a Japanese animated film produced by Wit Studio set in a future Tokyo overrun by physics-defying bubbles, where young parkour athletes compete across crumbling buildings to survive. Loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, it blends acrobatic action, teen romance, and poetic melancholy within a visually stunning but emotionally heavy narrative. Sensitive elements include recurring physical danger during parkour sequences, an oppressive environmental threat hanging over the city, and a deeply melancholic conclusion centered on loss and sacrifice. These themes, handled with genuine emotional depth and an overt romantic undertone, are clearly intended for a teenage audience capable of appreciating the story's poetic register and processing its bittersweet ending.
Synopsis
In an abandoned Tokyo overrun by bubbles and gravitational abnormalities, one gifted young man has a fateful meeting with a mysterious girl.
Difficult scenes
The parkour competition sequences feature falls, leaps over open voids, and situations where characters narrowly avoid death on unstable structures. The tension is real and recurring throughout the film, with the lead character deliberately taking excessive risks, which may generate anxiety in children sensitive to physical danger. Hibiki falls into the ocean surrounding Tokyo and faces imminent drowning before being rescued by Uta. The scene is brief but visually intense, set within a context of gravitational anomalies that heightens the sense of helplessness and genuine peril for the character. The relationship between Hibiki and Uta gradually takes on an explicitly romantic dimension for an animated film, with meaningful glances, repeated physical closeness, and an emotional bond that drives the entire second half of the story. This sentimental undertone, though handled with restraint, will be perceived very differently depending on the viewer's age. Without revealing the ending, the film builds toward a sequence involving the sacrifice and disappearance of a central character, clearly inspired by the Little Mermaid's fate in the original tale. This scene, handled with significant emotional weight and sustained melancholic aesthetics, may be particularly distressing for younger viewers and sensitive preteens.