Belle: The Dragon and the Freckled Princess

From one of the best directors in modern anime, Belle is one of the most spectacular movies in the genre for a long time. Complete with typically gorgeous animation, an electrifying pace, riveting character depth, sweet humour and a handful of wonderful songs, this is a film that you won't be able to take your eyes off from start to finish.

But why exactly does Belle have this spectacular star quality? After all director Mamoru Hosoda has managed time and again to tell incredible stories, from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time to Summer Wars, Wolf Children, The Boy And The Beast and Mirai.

Not only is Belle the latest addition to Hosoda's incredible repertoire, but it's also one of the most dynamic anime films of recent years, blending the classic animation style with timeless storytelling and blockbuster-level action and thrills.

It's a film that really transports you to another world, with the as-ever spellbinding visuals delivering some of the most immersive fantasy you'll have seen in a long time, bolstering the film's originality from what at first feels like a mish-mash of different stories.

In the early stages, it's easy to see Belle as a bit of an update of Hosoda's own Summer Wars, along with influence from Hollywood's Ready Player One. What's more, the film also borrows heavily at moments from Disney's Beauty And The Beast, although that's more as a clever homage than a simple reinvention.

However, because there's so much going on, Belle proves itself to be a lot more than a remake or update of those films mentioned above. In fact, what's most impressive is the way in which it so effectively balances its focus between life inside the virtual world of U, and the characters who live in the real world.

Much like Summer Wars, the action in the virtual world is brilliantly complemented by the emotional stories of the characters in the real world, in this case a group of high schoolers who are living through all the typical trappings of a coming-of-age story.

This is where much of Belle's emotional heart comes in, and while the action in the virtual world is absolutely spectacular, you care for the characters because of how they're developed in the real world, with a wonderful group of friends whose own back stories play in wonderfully to the central action story.

Playing out at an electrifying pace for the vast majority of its runtime, Belle nears edge-of-your-seat levels of excitement, although its finale admittedly isn't as exhilarating as the thrilling conclusion to Summer Wars.

That said, Hosoda directs Belle with such confidence that it's a mesmerising watch at every moment, boosted further by a couple of spectacular and memorable songs that are both fun to listen to, and play nicely into the film's narrative arc.

All in all, I had a whale of a time with Belle. A genuinely thrilling watch from start to finish, the film is a spectacular combination of many of director Mamoru Hosoda's best films, along with homages to a number of others. However, with fresh storytelling, fast pacing, gorgeous visuals, riveting emotional depth and thrilling action throughout, this film certainly stands on its own as one of the most entertaining anime you'll have seen in a long time.

I've enjoyed the last 3-4 movies from this director but this one was a misjudged sappy convoluted mess.

It tried to marry the world of idol performers (a manufactured and manipulated and notably shallow world of selling music based on looks and marketing) to the struggles of youth in the modern world, and it just won't fit unless you turn off everything you know about social media, and manufactured entertainment. For a director who's made some smart and insightful dramas this one misses its target in the big picture although many of the details that make his previous films worthy are still here.

There is a lot of japanese small town and city details that are rewardingly accurate and familiar. The images are fantastic (not photos as another reviewer criticised the film for, but just really good animation).

The characters when they're not spreading on the cheese are more well rounded japanese people, until they're shifted into cliche, but they switch between the 2 regularly.

It's like the film was directed by two directors, one making quality anime and the other making a greasy cheese sandwich. The end result is an uneasy mixture of the 2, and unfortunately the cheese is the overpowering taste left in ones mouth. I don't know what he was aiming for with this film but he made a move into hollywood and authentic japanese culture loses in that game.

Sorry for my bad English. I'm not a Native speaker.

Great image and sound mastering.

Ordinary music arrangement and character design.

But the plot... not great.

Weak characterization and the topics changed around too fast makes it like an unfinished story.

A little pity. ;-;

Spectacular visuals and animation but narrative is disjointed, particularly in the latter half of the film. Set up and themes don't quite land. Weak story.

I really thought the animation was great and I loved a lot of the stylistic choices. A lot of the ideas involving the internet and music were also very cool. There is just A LOT going on with the story. There's a lot of elements of Beauty and the Beast, The Matrix, and other ideas and I don't feel like they always came together smoothly. All in, I'm happy to have watched it.