In recent years, Anime films have been giving us many intriguing stories. These stories often come with unexplained endings. Although this should seem like a turn-off, unexplained endings manage to give more depth to the stories. The latest anime film to have such an ending is “Bubble”. Interestingly, the ending of Bubble isn’t the only intriguing part of the film.
Most of the aspects of the film are left unexplained. This makes us wonder what exactly the accurate explanation for the events happening in Bubble could be. The anime film Bubble is created by Wit Studio. The 100 minutes film first aired on Netflix on the 28th of April 2022. It is directed by Tetsurou Araki and produced by Tetsuya Nakatake and Mirai Kase. Gen Urobuchi, Naoko Sato, and Renji Ouki teamed up as the writers of the film.
Bubble tells us the story of Hibiki who is a skilled parkour athlete in an abandoned Tokyo where gravity works differently. One day because of an accident he comes across a peculiar girl named Uta. As his relationship with her develops he also learns about the reasons behind the state of Tokyo.
The Film’s Introduction
Before we jump to Bubble’s ending, let’s talk about the film’s introduction. Bubble opens up with a parkour race over what looks like collapsed buildings and other structures. We are then let in on the fact that the world they live in is very different as gravity has a different form in their area. Interestingly, enough we are also shown through the character Makoto, that Tokyo was once rained down on with bubbles. Where they came from as well as the existence of their nature is still something we do not know. These bubbles rained down beautifully for a minute and suddenly an explosion followed near the Tokyo Tower.
This caused Tokyo to be abandoned and the remaining residents to evacuate. However, some kids use the abandoned Tokyo as their parkour playground and thus, conduct tournaments. The main character, Hibiki claims to hear a voice from the Tokyo Tower now and then. Eventually, he decides to go chase the voice but because of the decaying structure, falls. This is when a bubble, that was keeping an eye on Hibiki, chases after him to save him. This bubble takes on the form of an idol from a nearby poster and manages to save Hibiki. Since then, Uta and Hibiki’s lives are intertwined with each other in many ways.
What is Bubble’s Ending about?
As the film progresses, the story revolves around the characters Hibiki and Uta as well as their growing relationship. However, as we reach the end of the film, we realize that Hibiki was tied to Uta’s existence for a long time before they met. This means that Uta has met Hibiki in the past. Not only this but we are also let in on who the person is behind the sweet melodic voice coming from the Tokyo Tower. Right when Hibiki and Uta were about to get intimate by sharing a kiss, bubbles start falling all over the city again. This is when Hibiki comes in contact with one of Uta’s bubbles which not only shows him Uta’s journey but also takes him to his past. It is shown that when the bubbles first appeared, Hibiki was at the top of the Tokyo Tower.
From all the bubbles that were pouring down, he could hear one of them humming a song. Excited over this, the younger Hibiki hummed along. Because of this incident, Hibiki realizes that the voice he could hear all along was Uta’s, in her bubble form. As Uta mentions that she needs to return to where she came from to stop another catastrophe, she decides that it was best to leave. But since she was now a part of Hibiki’s team, they all chase after her and end up in the “danger zone” of the Tokyo Tower. This zone is revealed to have a distorted version of time which still has the events of what happened five years ago trapped inside. This is also the main reason why Hibiki can listen to the humming tune from five years ago.
Here things get more complicated as Hibiki states that the reason behind the explosion could’ve been a result of him coming to contact with these bubbles, mainly Uta in her bubble form. Because of the connection they shared, the other bubbles were angry and the only way to calm them down is if she returns to them. In the end, we see that Uta protects Hibiki from the other bibbles, also known as her “sisters” and slowly dissolves into foam, rising upwards. This act of hers turns the other bad bubbles into good ones, filling the sky with lots of them.
Theories and Parallels
The anime film Bubble is heavily based on the story of the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson. No, we aren’t talking about the animated version where there is a happy ending. So far the easiest way to draw the connection between the two is the fact that Uta (the little mermaid) saves Hibiki (the prince) from drowning. Also, they both have a hard time walking on two legs. Not only this but as the story of Bubble moves towards its ending, we can see many connections from the Little Mermaid.
In the story by H. C. Anderson, there is no happy ending because the prince marries another princess and Ariel cannot do much about it because she does not have her voice. But what is, even more, sadder about the story by Anderson is the path Ariel chooses. According to the story, Ariel is about to die at sunrise unless she kills the prince. This solution is given to her by her sisters, a parallel between Uta and her “sisters”. She walks towards the prince but decides to throw the dagger away. Unfortunately, at sunrise, she dissolves into foam and rises above along with other bright beings. When she questions them about their nature, they tell Ariel that they are “Daughters of the Air”.
Thus, the ending of the Little Mermaid is very similar to the end Uta meets. Not only this but these creatures tell Ariel that since mermaids have no soul but can get one unless she wins the love of a human being. The Prince although he did not love Ariel romantically, he loved her platonically. This may be different when it comes to Hibiki and Uta. When Uta is dissolving, she even states that she can finally feel pain and happiness because she finally has a human heart. But was this the end for her, even as a Bubble?
Will there be a second part based on the ambiguous ending of Bubble?
So far, it is worth mentioning that Wit Studio did a great job with the animation of the film. The ending was tragically beautiful however, we were still left with something to look forward to. “Collapse” and “Rebirth” are the two words the character Makoto left us with and we cannot help but wonder, is Uta still around? Luckily, the ending of Bubble also leaves us on a happy note that Uta still follows Hibiki around in her bubble form.
Does this mean, there we may get a sequel? Well, right now we have no official announcements. However, because of the ending of Bubble, one can assume that there could be a second part for the anime film as there are many things still left unexplained. Our best guess is that if there is a second part, it will highly focus on the character Makoto and her research on these mysterious bubbles.
With this, we might get to dive deeper into understanding how the mysterious phenomena in the anime film. Not only this but we could also get a grown-up Hibiki who still has Uta around. It could also be possible that Uta might get back to her human form if there is a second part. For now, we can only rely on time regarding any news on the anime film Bubble.
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