El niño y la bestia

Although I wouldn't place it up there with Wolf Children or even Summer Wars, The Boy and The Beast is another great film by Mamoru Hosada. The plot revolves around a beast who is on his way to becoming the grandmaster. He needs to beat one opponent to be crowned, but in order to do that he must also take in a protégé. This leads him to finding an orphan who has recently run away from home and is looking for a place to stay.

The relationship between these two becomes pretty standard, as it's reminiscent of 'Leon: The Professional'. Nevertheless, their rambunctious relationship is lovable. The film doesn't focus too much on 'the unconventional master' growing a heart and changing his ways, and I give it points for that.

The boy spends years living with the beast in the world of the beasts, so he doesn't have any human interaction while being trained until he ventures back out into the world where he befriends a human girl. This new found friend puts a strain on his relationship with the beast. But they are still there to support each other when it matters.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this movie. There wasn't anything that I found special in it, but if you like to see a pair of people missing something from themselves and finding it within, by learning from each other, then I would recommend this anime.