It¡¯s March 2020, and I¡¯m headed to the offices of film distributor Shochiku to speak with Kyohei Ishiguro about his new animated film, ¡°Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop.¡± I¡¯ve been asked to wear a mask while conducting the interview, a first for me. Arriving a few minutes early, I take a walk through Tsukiji fish market, which is eerily quiet ¡ª a month earlier, I would¡¯ve been pushing through throngs of tourists. At this point, the film¡¯s release date of May 15, 2020, is still on, with the hope that this whole COVID-19 situation will blow over by then.
Of course, things did not work out that way.
Over a year later, ¡°Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop¡± is set to hit theaters in Japan (and Netflix accounts elsewhere) on July 22. Set in a rural Japanese town, the story largely takes place at the local mall, which forms the town¡¯s social hub. One mallrat is Cherry (Ichikawa Somegoro VIII, real name Itsuki Fujima), a shy 17-year-old boy who expresses himself through the haiku he posts online. There¡¯s also Smile (Hana Sugisaki), a girl about Cherry¡¯s age. Sociable and outgoing, Smile is a popular YouTuber ¡ª but she¡¯s also self-conscious about her teeth, so she always wears a white surgical mask (she¡¯d fit in just fine these days).
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