Gotta love Japan; sure, dystopia is going to happen everywhere, but while our screwed future might involve Hunger Games, Mad Max, or a zombie apocalypse, the Japanese version is ruled by … extreme parkour! Beat that, West! … and if you do beat it, make sure you get it on film for the sake of memes.
Tokyo has been in a “Bubble” for about five years now. The city is in shambles. A big Bubble encases the entire metropolitan area, while little bubbles buoy the impossible new geography which includes a series of canals, floating ruins, and a huge vortex swirling at all times to suck one into oblivion. Ever seen those video games where there’s some sort of unsecured staircase paving a pathway into the sky? This is the film version. The city has been condemned, but remains sparsely populated. Instead of marauders or warlords, the folks who run what’s left of Tokyo are … parkour enthusiasts.
The remaining population of Tokyo has divided itself up into gangs, mostly non-violent gangs of competitive parkouriors. And every day, they have pre-arranged head-to-head events, not unlike a baseball schedule. Ex. Today’s Capture the Flag battle pits Team Hypothermia against Team Peroxide. Winner takes home a bag of rice. (I’m not kidding about that last part; rice is the trophy in the first battle we see.)
The best team is the Blue Blazes and their best athlete is Hibiki (voice of Jun Shison). Hibiki is an athlete very much in the Manny Ramirez category: very talented, but seems to care nothing for the game or its players. Oh, here’s something, the “flag” is undefended which makes the daily competition little more than a race and yet there seems to be plenty of mid-game strategy including pauses to confer and several team members whose purpose it is to distract opponents. This is all very confusing … the only person you need to “distract” is the person in the lead … and the only way to distract the person in the lead is to overtake them which puts you in the lead … at which point, wouldn’t you just continue racing for the flag? I mean, you’re in the lead; is the point now to distract you? Clearly, I don’t understand this game. Anyway, the anti-social, consistently headphoned 19-year-old Hibiki is the champ.
Meanwhile, Hibiki is in his own head most of the time as he bounces off floating edifices and bubbles. Between races, he’s called to the siren song of the Tokyo Tower, where a haunting tune draws him to what should be his bitter end, except that he’s saved by Uta, the
sea-foam created dystopian Japanese version of “The Little Mermaid” … not the Disney version, mind you. Ain’t nobody singing about the joys of being under water in downtown Tokyo. This is a version of the original Hans Christian Andersen tale … and, at that, a strong reminder as to why fairy tales often get altered to keep up with the times.
Bubble can’t quite decide if it’s a failed action film or a failed romance, so it goes for both. The movie’s bizarre physics and immature romance reminds me less of video games and more of the original “Speed Racer.” I was prepared to enjoy this dystopian anime, but, quite frankly, I did not. Between Hibiki’s nonsensical brooding and Uta’s nonsensical nonsense, I just kinda drifted through this film enjoying the animation and the occasional action sequence, but little else. I don’t think this film intended to be anything other than it is, which makes it all the more unsatisfying in retrospect. I feel like they made exactly the film they wanted to make introducing a timeless tale to a future wasteland and the adventures of a doomed population. You would think that sounds compelling, no? Instead this was “The Little Mermaid” meets the X-Games and nobody wins, including the audience.
♪The sidewalk is always greener
Beneath ten feet of lake
You dream about Tokyo Tower
But it’s just an Eiffel fake!
Just look at the wet around you
Right there on the ocean floor
Of sure, it should be pavement
That’s so 2004
Under city
Under city
Better forget your
Feelings of health or
Prosperity
Whadda they got, a lot of land?
We’ve got a ton of contraband
Great for an Ark-er
Come try the parkour!
Under city♫
Rated TV-PG, 100 Minutes
Director: Tetsurô Araki
Writer: Gen Urobuchi, Renji Ooki, Naoko Satou
Genre: Extreme mermaiding, Woo!!
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Misunderstood mermaids
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Authoritarians
♪ Parody Inspired by “Under the Sea”
