El niño y la bestia

Now with this movie finally getting an official release of course it has to open the same weekend as Zootopia (haven't seen but will review soon) which is killing the box office, while the Boy and the Beast had a total of 4 people in the theatre, two of which were me and my friend, and although I'm sure Zootopia is great, there needs to be love for this movie too! Japan is currently kicking anyones but in the animation department, and this film is nothing short of that, it looks beautiful almost every scene. The story it self is a simple one but the characters were so intriguing that it helped the story so much, basically a quick sum of the plot is there is a beast world and a human wanders into it to train with one of the beast, and as I mentioned I'm sure you are thinking that this is such an unoriginal plot, which in a way it is nothing new, but again you care about the characters so much that it throughly enhances the story, and the story actually has a great side plot. If you need something to watch this weekend I'm sure Zootopia is great for the family, but The Boy in The Beast is great for anyone, as it isn't too "anime" for the average person. Mamoru Hosoda really has quite a talent and with Miyazaki retiring I think he is going to cement himself as the best in animated films for years to come.

So to sum things up definitely see the Boy and the Beast, it is a fantastic time age range: 10+ score: 10/10 would recommend to go watch

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

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.

Like a male version of "The Cat Returns" - full of beautiful animation, appealing characters and themes, speckled with a few moments of honesty, a lot of familiar anime tropes, and some spotty pacing/storytelling.

Fortunately, the film is sufficiently well made and intentioned that if you're able to accept the director's priorities and not get hung up by less-than-subtle exposition, it's a totally charming, indulgent time.

Movies like this fill a sweet spot: the kind of comforting sentimentality that makes you feel good on sick days.

If you're reading this, chances are you're familiar with the director's work ("Wolf Children," "Summer Wars," "Digimon," etc.). As the title of this review indicates, this movie delivers that content...more than any other film in existence. Enjoy.

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.