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Bobby's in Deep
 Home/Change Series
“Bobby ni Kubittake”, known as both “Bobby’s in Deep” and “Bobby’s Girl”, is a 45 minute movie from 1985, which was shown theatrically as a double-feature with “Dagger of Kamui” (which, given the vast difference in content and feel between the two films, is just a really odd combo).
Akihiko Nomura, Bobby to his friends and acquaintances, is a seventeen-year-old who is about to graduate from High School. Well… with a laissez-faire attitude and his test scores in the 40s-50s, he’s more or less turned off to school. His hobby is touring Japan on his blue Honda, and he was just recently written up in a motorcycle rag, “Big Bike”.
The short film opens with a letter sent by a seventeen-year-old girl to Bobby. She has read the article in Big Bike, and has romanticized the wastrel Bobby into a fictitious vision of a successful young man. At her same age, he is able to travel Japan on his bike, while she remains tied to her home life, having accomplished nothing. Wanting to maintain contact, the inarticulate Bobby responds to her heartfelt missive with a single line answer to one of her questions,
“My bike is blue.”
Bobby’s father worries about his son’s future, but he hasn’t been paying enough attention to him and has become emotionally distant from his boy. He doesn’t even realize that everyone refers to Akihiko as Bobby. The man wants his son to go to college and find a place in life, but he isn’t able to talk with Bobby, and he ends up losing his temper and hitting him.
Determined to make his own way in life and continue his part-time job in a biker themed café run by pro-biker, Mr. Kida, Bobby leaves home and school (which just furthers his correspondent’s illusion), and moves out on his own… into his friend’s apartment. After a while Kida takes notice of Bobby, and offers him a place on a pro-racing team he’s trying to put together, giving Akihiko a chance of actually becoming his admirer’s fantasy. At the same time, his pen-pal cum would be girlfriend wants to move things up and actually talk with him on the phone. By good fortune, everything is about to come together for Bobby.
“Bobby’s in Deep” is a wonderful small movie that’s beautifully constructed, with an unhurried pace and a desaturated watercolor palette giving the nostalgic feel of a rose colored memory. Yet it achieves a very realistic portrayal of people’s motivations and emotions, while not forcing its point, or pulling its punches. Bobby wants to succeed by himself and everyone wants to help him. However, both good and bad things can happen unexpectedly.
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8.65/10 
9.12/10
8.70/10 
65 votes