Anime directors never seem to tire of trashing Tokyo, but they’ve seldom done it as creatively as Tetsuro Araki’s “Bubble.” Forget earthquakes, nuclear attacks, rampaging monsters or psychic meltdowns: In the loopy premise for this Netflix original, the capital has been destroyed by a downpour of bubbles that wreak havoc with the laws of gravity.
In a surreal, post-apocalyptic vision of the metropolis, the streets are flooded, the skies dotted with floating chunks of concrete (and the odd train), and Tokyo Tower sports a swirling nebula around its midriff. It’s like a mash-up of “Doctor Strange” and the closing scenes from Makoto Shinkai’s “Weathering With You,” with a dash of Alex Garland’s “Annihilation” for good measure.
Abandoned by its residents, the city has become an enormous jungle gym for orphaned adolescents, who spend their days engaged in bouts of competitive parkour. The most talented among them is Hibiki (voiced by Jun Shison), who lives with a crew of teenage tumblers aboard a Japan Coast Guard ship moored in what used to be Shibuya.