Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop

Well, I have to say that I was not particularly impressed by this movie when it started, however, slowly but surely as the movie went on, I gradually started to enjoy it, and I ended up really liking it by the end. I was not that enthusiastic at the beginning of the movie, because I was not that impressed with the animation. I thought that the 2D animation looked a bit peculiar, and the way they used 3D animation for some outdoor and exterior scenes (the city, plus some views of the outside from the rooms) and the transportation outside, seemed pretty lame. Visually, it was almost like something from an older computer game, and in general, I thought the combination of the two types of animation just did not work very well together. I was also not that impressed with the main protagonists and their issues either, after all for a man of my age they were quite far removed from me personally, and they seemed a bit small-minded too. I had a real problem with Smile’s approach, so I took it with a pinch of salt and said to myself "We all have issues, so why, oh why, are you going on about it so much?". In addition to that, I do not think Cherry's fears are something I have ever experienced... Similarly, I found the characters' hobbies like streaming and haiku a bit tedious, and they failed to pique my interest. Slowly but surely, though, as it started to be more about how the two characters were interacting with each other, I started to warm to them, and Smile suddenly actually seemed pretty adorable, plus I felt that Cherry was quite endearing too. Even the whole storyline about the record, which left me a bit baffled initially, started to get quite interesting, and in the end, I was really moved by Mr. Fujiyama's touching romantic storyline rather than the conventional conclusion with the main duo. Eventually, I found this movie kind of charming and pleasant enough, and once again, even though it was quite clichéd, it all worked out well in the end. I also have to say that even using fireworks at exactly the right moment was really effective and that actually struck me as quite impressive really. So I, therefore, went from sort of "what am I actually watching here?" to "hey, this is not that bad" to "this is actually quite good". 6.7/10. (23/07/2021)

A semi-developed, colorful, and somewhat childish yet relaxing film from the slice-of-life stable, mixing touches of the cultures of the current teenage generation and those up to 2 generations older without deeper connections. The curmudgeonly Cherry sold me on the unusual hobby for his age of haiku writing with about as much success as he had on his Twitter profile and the influencer Smile's streaming about what's on sale at the mall right now didn't enrich me much mentally either. Weaving Cherry and Smile's storylines together made minimal sense, and Cherry's distant demeanor in particular stood in the way of building any more sensitive atmosphere more successfully than any politician's unwelcome bill (poor Smile was even pushed by the plot into liking his haiku-status without even reading it). I understand that the goal wasn't exactly to think about anything (though haiku composition lends itself to that – but how can I take it seriously when one of its promoters was committing excessive vandalism?), but without a solid foundation and natural causality/development/relationship dynamics, the climax and slightly cheesy ending finale aren't going to have much punch. I liked the overtime assembly work and would-be coincidental connections between names, events, and appearances, but I didn't feel any destiny in it. I also quite liked the backstory of the lost record, but the whole denouement of finding it (whether primary or secondary) could have had a hair more epic and complicated contours. The headphones vs face mask had underdeveloped symbolism. The best part hands down was the playful artwork (when it wasn't playing around with 3D nonsense) full of life, positivity, good cheer, and generally something I honestly didn't expect from Satelight. I think the film would have benefitted more from getting split into about three OVAs so that we get better character background development, more genuine bonding, and more imaginative use of the haiku's message. As it is, it's just your average fake lights at sunset, 3 stars. (15/03/2022)