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Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop Movie Review

Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop is a 2021 romantic comedy anime film directed by Kyohei Ishiguro. It is a sweet, but rather uneventful movie.

Love blooms between two introverted individuals, who have trouble communicating with people, after they meet on a bright sunny day. This is one of those slice-of-life anime stories that are very limited in scope and ambition for better and for worse. While I appreciated its sweetness and care for its characters, I wanted a more original and stronger storyline.

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Cherry and Smile are both these very introverted teenagers, both awkward in their own ways. The boy writes haikus while the girl wants to be an online influencer. He is shy and doesn’t like speaking with strangers while she is insecure about her looks and hides behind a mask. The two develop a genuinely moving, wonderful relationship.

The voice acting is pretty good and the characterization of the two protagonists is excellent. You care for both of them and that they find love with each other and that was important that the movie excelled in that area. The romantic aspect definitely worked.

However, the film’s first half was contrasted needlessly with the second half’s inclusion of an altogether different story that simply did not appeal to me. I do not care for stories about music, so this one, though elegantly crafted, wasn’t all that interesting. But simply the incorporation of these two different stories into one made for an incoherent product. It would have been much better had it stayed firmly in the romantic territory.

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Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop features a very interesting animation that is somewhat watercolor-inspired. The result is this colorful, but smooth and very artistic-looking movie that is more old-fashioned in approach than most anime films these days. The score is also pretty good and the movie flows well initially, but the second half was weaker in pace and storyline, plus the supporting characters were uninspired. The movie’s humor can also be too juvenile at times and for a romantic comedy that latter department should be better realized.

Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop is less interesting in its second half that introduced an entirely new storyline, but the first half was pleasantly sweet and romantic. The movie is overly limited in ambition and scope, but the two central characters worked and their relationship was well developed, leading to a pleasant viewing experience.

My Rating – 3.5