Der Junge und das Biest

Mamoru Hosoda has come a long way since his Digimon (1999-2003) days. He's been steadily rising through the ranks and in the hearts and minds of anime fans with his cult Samurai Champloo (2004-2005) series and three very memorable feature length movies over the last decade. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) made a lasting impression to be sure, but Wolf Children (2012) remains in this writer's mind one of the most insightful and sublime anime films ever. It rivals the delicate balancing of themes that make Ghibli Studios so popular yet instead of children's stories, Hosoda dabbles in adult themes making Hosoda more of a contemporary to the late Satochi Kon.

The Boy and the Beast continues the animator's winning streak providing a soulful coming-of-age tale through killer action sequences and clever thematic liberties. Ren (Sometani/Vale), a pre- teen with a bad attitude has run away from home after the death of his mother. Angry, spiteful and living on the streets of Shibuya, Japan, Ren discovers a portal to Jutengai: The Beast Kingdom where anthropomorphic creatures roam free. Inadvertently, he's entangled in a feud between two powerful warriors vying for Lord of Jutengai. The first is Iozen (Yamaji/Hennigan), a wise and popular swordsman who fathers two children and apprentices many talented disciples. The second is Kumatetsu (Yakusho/Swasey) a powerful but temperamental and lonely warrior followed only by Tatara (Oizumi/Sinclair) his wise-cracking buddy. Partially out of desperation and partially out of spite, Ren apprentices with Kumatetsu and slowly learns the martial art of Kendo.

The central conflict in Boy and the Beast ignites when Ren and Kumatetsu butt heads while training. Kumatetsu it should be noted, starts out as a very poor teacher angrily screeching "reach for the sword in your soul!" and other such nonsensical things. Kaede (Hirose/Apprill), the wise monk of the village informs Ren (nicknamed Kyuta) that his master had to learn everything himself without help. Thus he became independent yet unable to teach. It is only when Ren starts to mimic Kumatetsu and anticipate his moves, do they both start training in harmony.

The other central conflict is the internal struggle Ren battles with as he grows older. The citizens of Jutengai claim humans do not belong as they have an inner darkness. Ren's darkness manifests itself in a shadow with an open pit in his chest. This ghostly figure however is tempered by the arrival of Hyakushubo (Franky/Organ), a high-school girl who encourages him to focus on other things besides fighting. While venturing between the human and animal realm, Ren takes an interest in reading and is taught by Hyakushubo who shows patience in ways Kumatetsu never could. It is this connection as well as his re-connection with his father, that Ren is ultimately able to become whole.

Boy and the Beast features some incredibly detailed, almost photographic background art. One could watch this film on mute and still be enveloped by the beauty of the world surrounding Ren, Kumatetsu and Hyakushubo. Only Satochi Kon's Tokyo Godfathers (2003) has ever reached this level of mastery and all due credit should be given to the animators. Even little throw away habitats such as the montage of our plucky heroes meeting with "the wise masters," are awe-inspiring. Out of all the adornment however, the climax remains the most visually impressive part which more than makes-up for any narrative issues.

And yes there are some slight narrative issues. Elaborate swordplay and exciting, detailed animation aside, the third act tends to go on a tangent only loosely connected to the story at-large. We're made privy to a long festering rivalry that seems to come out of left field and are given certain rules a little too late in the game. The whole third act could have taken up the contents of a whole new movie; a sequel perhaps. Instead it's squeezed in like descriptors in a Herman Melville story.

Most people are blessed to have one person in their lives who inspires them to follow their dreams while arming them with the discipline to make those dreams a reality. Ren is given three over the course of Boy and the Beast. The first is Kumatetsu who despite his gruffness would sacrifice everything for Ren if given the chance. The second is Hyakushubo; a kind young girl who not only teaches Ren how to read but encourages him to reach for more and never be afraid of failure. The last is Ren himself; the only one who can reflect on the choices he's made and give him the motivation to learn from those choices. We may not always have a choice about what happens to us but we do have a choice on how we react, adapt and grow with each opportunity. With that Boy and the Beast illustrates it's most important lesson; you too can be your own hero.

My last anime movie was 'Giovanni Island' and I did not end up liking much. I thought that was a decent movie with an intense WWII story told through the Japanese children's perspective. Since then almost half a year passed and now I saw this from the director of 'Wolf Children'. That was his career best movie, so I think the director wanted to follow the same footstep. Thus he ended up making this one which was quite similar theme, except the sketches were not as cute as that.

Like one of the discussion topics on this title, it almost connects with the director's previous movie. Maybe something like Tarantino, who tried to connect 'The Hateful Eight' with 'Django Unchained', later dropped the idea for the characters that failed to merge. But here the reason might be the drawings which were somewhat different styles. And this one seems for teenagers and adults for having a little mature content when the narration reaches the second half.

It opened by a brief telling about the monsters and its world. Came back to the human society to focus on a 8-year-old runaway boy named Ren. While tailing a couple of strange creatures, he accidentally enters the monster world through a secret portal. Soon he meets a beast called Kumatetsu who is one of two candidates for 'the great master' title, decides to take him as his protégé.

So the quarrelling begins between them for having difference in everything, but as the time passes, they bond well. Then comes a time for Kumatetsu to compete in what he was preparing for, and the boy who finds his own path. But somewhere when they were getting apart, an evil force brings them together to fight against it.

"People who work hard sincerely will master it quickly."

Felt like I was watching a comedy, that was until the first half. All the character intros were kind of normal, nothing grand, but later found a strong connection to each other and each were very unique in nature to remember. This part is where that suits better for children and what comes next was kind of opposite. Feels fun parts are over, introduces a few new characters as the narration takes as big leap as 8 years forward.

This middle section was like a re-launch, like a new story to begin. As a child character turns into a teenager, the movie attempted to fit with adultish stuffs. So there was a semi romance, but feels like the quite friendship track. This is where you think the movie lets you down, a time kill section. Due to the theme that designed to take place between the two worlds, this is very important for moving forward to the 3rd act. I think shortening around 5 minutes would have done good for the pace of the movie.

The final act is even more unlike to the earlier episodes that adds a wonderful special effects to bring the action sequence. Sadly the stunts were not as dynamic as I hoped, I mean it was too short especially if you love fights. The kid and the beast combo were like from 'Ernest & Celestine'. Whenever these two are seen together, that bring so much fun.

Basically the movie outlines how humans are obsessed for power, who can go any lengths to clinch it and one of the ways is to let the darkness consume him. I already saw it twice. For the second time view it was even better and I liked it very much. Still, it is not the director's best work, as well as not a bad movie to just ignore.

After Miyazaki announced his retirement, many anime fans, including me were heartbroken. I never found anyone who can replace him, but a very few names came closer that includes this film director. He already gave some hits, but right now all he needs is to carry on his consistency, and definitely his name would appear beside that legend. I need not to tell you that anime movies are becoming rare these days, so when one make its way and people who watched it says it is a good movie, then must grab it.

8½/10

Funny how I wanted to watch this movie for months, but I couldn't find any theater in my country where it's released. Then, I found one viewing happening tonight three days ago by complete luck. I didn't hesitate once and bought my ticket with my mother which has been ill these past months (fortunately, she's doing better).

I never went to see a Japanese animated movie before at the exception of Pokemon and Digimon back in the days, though I've watched all of Mamoru Hosada, Hayao Miyazaki, Yoshifumi Kondo and Satoshi Kon. I don't know why, but this movie and its title attracted my soul from the beginning. It has the premise of classic tales, but the execution is unique and flawless in what the director tries to do.

I'm glad I gave this movie its chance and even though it has some moments of exposition, it's one of those movies where it can cheer you up no matter what's happening to you in real life. The Beast has wits. The kid, even more and as a tale of love, friendship, parenthood and peace will it stay in your memory for long enough for you to remember it decades later.

On a side note, the music is beautifully crafted, the art is great and I believe it will become a classic in a few years, if people are willing to accept it. :)

Love anime, especially the best of Studio Ghibli (particularly the likes of 'Spirited Away' and 'Princess Mononoke'), and love animation in general.

Having loved Mamoru Hoshoda's previous three films, it was inevitable that his latest film 'The Boy and the Beast' was highly anticipated. Was not let down, it may be Hoshoda's weakest film but that is just testament to how wonderful 'The Girl Who Leapt in Time' (my favourite), 'Summer Wars' and 'Wolf Children' are, though picking a favourite between them was difficult. Because 'The Boy and the Beast' is still a very good film, two thirds of it even being great. Is it the most original anime there is? No, there are some familiar tropes here though in no way is this a bad thing. Have these tropes been executed a little more imaginatively elsewhere? Sure. Does 'The Boy and the Beast' still do a good job with these tropes and the storytelling? Absolutely.

It is somewhat a shame that the final third is not as good as the first two acts. The pacing does lose its excitement while the storytelling itself becomes rushed (especially the main villain's reveal that comes rather suddenly and doesn't feel explored enough) and jumpy, meaning that the film loses some of its cohesiveness.

On the other hand, the animation is amazing. The way it's designed is almost realistically photographic, while there are some inventive shots, very natural character designs and gorgeously detailed and real-looking background art with a great contrast between the vibrant pastel colours of Jutengai and the drabness of Shibuya. The music score is a mix of rousing and melancholic, always easy on the ears and at times dream-like.

'The Boy and the Beast' was clearly written with a lot of thought and insight, and balances the funny and poignant moments beautifully. The story has familiar but universal tropes and very relevant and relatable themes (love, friendship and peace being the big ones), executing them very intelligently and inventively gripping. It's nearly always entertaining and it's touching too, with something for everyone of any age and gender.

Characters are very well-written and interesting, never being too black and white, too perfect or stereotypical. These are characters with flaws but also with enough to make one want to identify with them. The conflicts, in individual characterisation and with how the characters interact, are very believable and delivered with tension. More could have been done with the main villain perhaps but this didn't bother me.

Voice acting is very dynamic and fit the characters very well.

Overall, very good film that may be Hosoda's weakest out of a very strong filmography but is more a beauty than it is a beast. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is the same person who made "Summer Wars", "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time", & "Wolf Children" all of which I absolutely LOVED!, I can't even pick a favorite out of those 3. I can say this was my least favorite of all 4 of his movies, but thats not a bad thing. Its a great movie, I just found a little something more out of the others over this one. The story is about a 9yr old boy whos mother dies & is told he'll be living with his relatives, because of this he runs away & ends up traveling accidentally into the spirits world(very similar to "Spirit Away") & being taken in by one of the greatest warrior spirits to live there. The story is solid through & through, it'll tug your heart a little & has some awesome action as well. The artwork & character designs are amazing, every single character even minor characters are so unique. The backgrounds are beautiful as well. The music is amazing, everything is spot on. This is one of the better anime movies, check it out especially if you were a fan of any of the titles listed above, I can almost guarantee you'll really like this.

4/5 Why? Really well done, solid story. Amazing artwork & animation. Perfect matching music. Solid movie, if your looking for a good anime movie that your going to enjoy check it out.