Film Review: ‘Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop’ Feels Like A Cold Drink on a Summer’s Day3 min read
Reading Time: 3 minutesAfter meeting one bright, sunny day, a shy boy who expresses himself through haiku and a bubbly but self-conscious girl share a brief, magical summer.
Director: Kyōhei Ishiguro
Cast: Ichikawa Somegorō, Hana Sugisaki, Megumi Han, Natsuki Hanae, Yūichirō Umehara, Megumi Nakajima
Year: 2021
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Runtime: 114 minutes
Words Bubble Up Like
Soda Pop takes us on a
journey of romance.
It’s a refreshing
break from all the intense and
fast-paced animes.
Cherry is a boy
who prefers to write haikus
instead of speaking.
He always carries
a dictionary and posts
his haikus online.
His haikus express
how he feels but hides them
on the internet.
Smile is a bubbly
live-streamer battling her
insecurities.
She wears a face mask
to cover her braces from
her fans and viewers.
Cherry and Smile are
different but also
alike in some ways.
They both have secrets —
Cherry’s hiding his haikus
online from real life,
Whereas Smile’s hiding
her real life insecurities
from her online fans.
The two bump into
each other at the shopping
mall by accident.
In the process they
accidentally swap phones
with one another.
When they meet up to
swap their phones back, they begin
to talk and connect.
As they walk home they
get to know each other and
start to open up.
Smile decides to work
at the same eldercare that
Cherry helps out at.
The two meet Mr
Fujiyama who is one
of the residents.
Fujiyama-san
carries this vinyl labelled
“Yamazakura”.
The disc inside is
missing so Cherry and Smile
go searching for it.
Their adventure brings
them even closer and they
start to fall in love.
But there is a twist —
Cherry has one last secret
that Smile does not know.
His family is
moving and he knows that he
won’t be here for long.
No spoilers here but
this film is great for the summer and
is an easy watch.
From the director
of Your Lie In April, I
expected heartbreak,
But this movie is
more heartwarming than it is
heartbreaking or sad.
It does pack a few
emotional moments but
it’s not depressing.
The characters are
charming and well-crafted for
such a short run time.
Fujiyama-san
was the star here with his
eccentric manners
yet emotional
backstory which mirrors Smile
and Cherry’s story.
What stands out the most
is the unique aesthetic
and colour palette.
The saturated,
neon look, with the lack of
contrast from the blacks
makes the film look like
pop art and embodies a
bright summer feeling.
This aesthetic has
also drawn comparisons
to Great Pretender.
The use of haiku
as a way of expression
is very unique
and the haikus we
see around the city are
visual metaphors
for how haikus are
not just Cherry’s feelings and
thoughts, but literally
his entire world
and how he views people and
places in his life.
For 80 minutes,
the film is well-balanced in
story and pacing.
It’s lighthearted and
great watch for when you want to
unwind and relax.
Words Bubble Up Like
Soda Pop embodies its
title perfectly.
From its bright colours,
to the refreshing feeling
roused from the story,
it feels like
a bottle of cold soda
on a summer’s day.
I not a poet
Better end the review here
Haikus hard to write
Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop is now streaming on Netflix.
