Introduction
The "Bobby" referred to in the title is actually 17-year-old Akihiko Nomura, an underachieving high school kid with a deep love for motorcycles. His grades are failing, and his father – traditional and strict (but who must have also at some point gave in and allowed him to have a motorcycle) – is trying everything he can think of to get the kid to apply for college. His mother is so silent, she might as well not even exist. Really, his support system lies entirely in his twinkle-toed little sister, who's nosy but cheers him on in her own way.
Bobby really does little else but work on his bike. He cleans his bike. He tunes up his bike. He rides his bike. One would call him a motorcycle otaku. His most recent achievement seems to have been getting photos of himself on a road trip printed in a motorcyclist hobby magazine. This leads to an unexpected result: a girl his age, who picked up that issue on a whim, decides to write him a letter. A long, rambling letter, but dreamily romantic just the same. Bobby admits to his sister that he's never gotten a letter from a girl before. He writes back, "I got your letter. I'm happy 'cause it was from a girl."
Bobby is not a well-rounded kid. He barely speaks – even to his own family – and the "letters" he writes back to the mystery girl usually consist of a single sentence or so. His obsession is all-consuming, to the point where he happily quits school to work at a biker bar. Of course, his father, at a loss, kicks him out of the house. Staying with a friend, he's delighted when his female pen pal says she'll call him. On that day, his boss at the bar decides to take him to a motocross track. But that's a day that wouldn't end in a way that anybody would expect.
(Source: ANN, edited)
Audience reviews
9 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
blessingsannuity
Something juvenile hides within. A feeling of express freedom, the burgeoning of the world ahead of you, the rain falling past, and the sunlight turning to black. It is lonely to be young, before you have any sort of grasp on where and what it is okay to be. You're creating your own mold as you go on. Bobby's World attempts to characterize adolescent bliss, the sort of thing you reminisce about when you are older. Despite having a very simple story, there is more to make up for it in the animation and how the depth of the theming is exercised within it. It would be good to experience it yourself :)
Read at the sourceChuy_diazz
A Journey Through Madhouse Episode #14: A rather experimental offering from Madhouse.
A motorcyclist with a pen pal. The premise isn't that important, as the film aims to be more of a 50-minute commercial. The anime was intended to promote Hironobu Nomura's music career. Nomura also voiced the protagonist. Dialogue is sparse. The film has a structure where three or four lines of dialogue are presented, followed by an eight- to ten-minute musical sequence. The lack of dialogue is appreciated, because at least where I found the film, it didn't have English or Spanish subtitles. Fortunately, the anime is more of a musical and visual experience than a narrative one.
While the premise revolves around pen pals, I think we only see one letter in the entire film. I might be speaking hastily, as…
Read at the sourceBossFrogUSSR
If you have any interest in motorcycles it's very hard to dislike this movie. I doubt that most people would stumble across this film without prior interest but if someone has, I still believe it's worth a watch. The story does not go very deep but is still enjoyable because of its relatable themes. The art style is very unique, with its old hand drawn animation that is increasingly more rare today. Most of the characters we do not learn much about but are able to fill in from our personal experiences with people. While Bobby's flaws are evident but also engaging because of their familiarity.
Read at the sourceDISKOWN
Bobby ni Kubittake is a very down to earth and realistic take on the path to adulthood. The animation is dated and there is not much romance for a romance film. There is no real payoff at the end and that's ok. This isn't a cinematic tale of the hero who gets the girl, but an average guy doing average things. Bobby is a very real character dealing with hardship in a realistic way. Bobby’s story isn't grand or adventurous, but it is a story, a human story. That said there is no real reason to watch Bobby ni Kubittake unless you're interested in a realistic portrayal of what life was like for a 17-18 year old in 70s-80s Japan.
Read at the sourcematthigh
You can feel the *potential* in this short story, but ultimately there's no message conveyed here - no meaning, no resolution. In the end, you are left asking, what have I learned here, what is the message? And coming up empty. It's not so much as a "story" as it is a "mood" or "feeling".
It would be easy to look down on Bobby as a no-good, do-nothing slacker that is letting his future slowly slip away from him. But to be honest, there was some of that in me as well when I was younger, without any direction in life and not caring. To use the gift of hindsight and look back thirty years to when I was his age and yell at him for some of his stupid decisions would be a bit hypocritical.
So, yeah, Bobby's in deep, as he sort of slinks through Summer. He has a slacker job, there's a secret…
Read at the sourcecase649
Having just seen Bobby's In Deep for the first time, and having read the reviews that have been posted for the film to date, I feel compelled to post a review of my own in praise of the film for several strong positive qualities which others seem to have missed.
To my understanding, Bobby's In Deep is a 45 minute short film from 1985 adapting a 1980 novel by the same name. The main character Bobby (real name Akihiko Nomura) is a 17/18 year old motorcycle enthusiast who has toured around Japan taking photos and submitting them to amateur motorcycle magazines. The movie opens with Bobby receiving a fan letter from a girl who has seen some of his photos and has been moved by the power of the imagery. The girl's voice narrates the letter, and Bobby narrates his reply as he sends her his answe…
Read at the sourceBoltz
Bobby's in deep is certainly a very interesting work - short and experimental, but it holds a lot of content, animation and background themes wise. Which is a bit surprising, considering the fact that the anime was largely produced to promote a young pop idol, who voiced the main character.
Bobby has a pretty plain personality and he's also a man of few words. This somehow rubs off on many of the anime's characteristics. It's interesting, that most of what we get to learn about Bobby is not from him personally, but through the girl that is writing him letters, trough his father that's scolding him and through dialogs between other characters. This kinda fits Bobby's simple, carefree character and creates a care-free mood for the anime. At the same time, it projects the genuinely increasin…
Read at the sourcenonamesfuck
Bobby ni Kubittake is bland and uninspiring slog through 44 minutes of the most contrived romance and terrible characterization that the world has ever seen. It goes for the "rebel boy" Image with their main character, Bobby, who's blandness is one of the 8 wonders of the modern world, but they fail because the "rebel boy" image is so tired and overused, it just seems like he's conforming to a tired stereotype. The main word I like to use when discussing this pitiful display is "tired", there's just nothing to say about it. It's so bland, that bland can't properly summarize how bland it is. It's blander then a meal that has been boiled, left unseasoned, and served with a side of Wonderbread, complimented by "I can't believe it's not butter!" on the side. If only there were more to say, but…
Read at the sourcejmoriarty84
Bobby’s in Deep iis actually based on a novel that came out in 1980, and does have some significant differences in the anime release that came out 5 years later. Some of those differences are that in addition to Bobby’s passion for motorcycles, he’s also a beach bum surfer and it was more emphasized that he was more of a surfer than a biker, and he got a job at a surfing shop rather than as a waiter. Plus, it’s also elaborated in the novel by this girl who is writing to Bobby is suffering from an illness while it’s pure curiosity in the anime that drives her to write the letters. Sorry for the spoiler, but I felt I needed to point that out
As for this movie, I felt it ends where you are finally start to have development and pure resolution, and a sense of dir…
Read at the source