If there's one thing I can say is that this has nothing to do with The Little Mermaid because it's a different kind of story to that as it is set in a post-apocalyptic world in the near future. But before I start this anime movie review blog I would like to apologise for being M.I.A for the past few weeks as my dad's had a stroke. He's been doing well with his physio since coming home. But I am trying as best I could to get back into the swing of things. It’s just tough at the moment.
This film tells the story of the abandoned Tokyo overrun by bubbles and gravitational abnormalities, one gifted young man has a fateful meeting with a mysterious girl. But before that took place a obstacle jumping race is taking place called Tokyo Battlekour. The game race is a five-on-five game where teams bet on the outcome of a parkour match. If you fall into the ocean, you’re out of the race. And for the lucky team that captures the flag is the winning team.
The film opens with a boy about 16 or 18yrs old drowning and being rescued by a mysterious girl. Now I know my stories as that opening scene was set in the present to near future. It’s dangerous all out game and does value independence. I mean if you watch this Netflix anime movie you’d think that the players would have been training for the Olympics. However the protagonist Hibiki (who has hearing ultrasensitivity known as hyperacusis) likes doing things his own way. He can hear the music coming from the bubbles but his skills are incredible. Hibiki plans on leaving someday but he can’t at the moment.
About five years before the events of the film bubbles fell all over then world. They had mysterious powers, and their arrival brought pandemonium. But soon after a huge explosion of unknown origin occurred at the centre of Tokyo, became ground zero and enclosed in a gigantic bubble. After the bubbles fell all over the world the bubble continued solely in Tokyo. By the time the bubbles burst and became water Tokyo was no longer the capital of Japan. Scientist came and did research in Tokyo but were unable to determine the cause of the Bubble-fall Phenomenon. The people left Tokyo little by little. It stands as a shell of its former self. Abandoned and became a resident prohibited zone. Boy began illegally residing in the area overtime, ignoring countless orders to leave and started participating in a dangerous game, making use of the environment. Orphans who lost their families and loved ones due to the Bubble-fall Phenomenon. Hibiki claims he can hear the sound of songs coming from the tower. The cloud that covered the tower, the centre of the blast, contained a complex gravity field. Regardless of equipment observations cannot be made. And there are also constant rumour that are unscientific such as ghosts exist inside the cloud.
When Hibiki reached his highest he tried to reach higher. And when he thought he did it, well lets just say gravity had other ideas and he fell into the water below. But luckily he was saved by a bubble that was transformed into a mysterious girl. Kind of like Ariel from The Little Mermaid. When Shin picked up Hibiki and the mysterious girl and brought them home everyone was well surprised and confused by the girls sudden appearance. She’s a wild child at first but she does look capable. But just like both Disney’s The Little Mermaid and the original story by Hans Christian Anderson the girl named Uta only has a limited time before she becomes bubbles again.
What I thought of this anime movie was that it had style and a modern anime twist to both the story and the Disney film because just like both The Little Mermaid character and Ariel Uta learned what it's like to be a human during her short stay. When you leave for a different world you learn what it's like there.