Belle

7/10

In this new anime film Belle, painfully shy Suzu creates an avatar in the immersive virtual reality cyberscape U. Her new persona Belle becomes a popular web singer. It is in U she becomes acquainted with the beast-like Dragon who's wanted by U's self-appointed security force for causing destruction. She becomes curious about the mysterious figure and tries to find him. Belle is one of those imperfect films that has many great parts to it, but it isn't able to pull everything into a compelling whole. 

Admittedly, this feels like a rehash of various previous concepts from director Mamoru Hosoda, consisting of the digital world (Digimon/Summer Wars), young love (The Girl who Leapt Through Time/Summer Wars), and beast guys (The Boy and the Beast/Wolf Children). However, this manages to stand on its own. Although U feels like it very similar to the cyber world from Summer Wars, which I think has a better design, the U does manage to stand out and feel different. The movie features a surprisingly strong critique of internet culture and celebrity. In fact, I liked some of the brief substory parts about the social media world over Suzu's story.   

Hosoda manages to produce strong characterization with a large cast. It's not uncommon for anime to focus on a character struggling with their personal issues, but the plot has a solid backstory for why Suzu is the way she is. There are many touching moments in this. 

In case you haven't figured out yet, this movie about a character named Belle and and a beast-like character is a clear allusion to the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. Admittedly, there are points in the film where they adhere a little too closely too the tale and feels a bit obvious, but ultimately the movie isn't married to the concept when it comes to the endgame. I was taken by surprised by what the movie was really going for, and I congratulate it for that. 

The movie's strengths can be its weaknesses. There are TOO many characters, though they've all got personality, and too much stuff going on that stretches things out. The movie doesn't need to be two hours and one minute. I got bored with parts, especially the hundredth scene of Suzu being insecure. (I'm looking at this from a film pacing perspective. I confess that this may be unfair to a movie looking at a character with mental health issues, as anxiety and self-doubt can be an overwhelming experience, and the movie was trying to convey that.) They also could've cut down on the high school relationship stuff. (Again, I may be too hard. This appears to be aimed at a younger, and probably a female audience, and as a 38-year old male, I wasn't the target audience.) 

I applaud Hosoda for the message of the film, but the ending has it's flaws. Like the film as a whole, it goes on too long. When you think it's over, nope there's more. This is one of those movies that can both over explain or under explain. The ending is definitely in the latter category as you'll be left with questions. Actions won't necessarily make sense. (To be fair, this may be a cultural difference situation.)

Character movement in this is really fluid. I have mixed feelings about the design of U. There are character or scenery designs I wasn't a big fan of (a lot of U is just tall skyscrapers), but there are other designs I really like, including the Dragon's home base and the look of Belle. Suzu's songs in this I can't say I remember them after, but they ain't too shabby.  

This is one of the movies where mileage will vary. Some of you will probably be bored, especially if you're not into a lot of those anime teen dramas that seem to be all the rage right now in Japan. Others will love the story and world of U. And, there'll be people like me in the middle. A pity Hosoda couldn't craft something more condensed and stable, for there are parts that truly shine and hint at a film that could've truly been great.