Pretty underwhelming experience. Generic characters and plot, the best part are some likable character traits and the resulting charming moments.
I expected far more and better.
This made my evening better, this was so good and heartwarming.
Simple plot but great animation & imaginary world to enjoy it through
Beneath (or maybe parallel to) our world lies a secret land, populated by mythical creatures and governed by a strict, traditional code. Orphaned by his mother and abandoned by his father, one angry young boy finds his way between the two planes and begins an apprenticeship with a tenacious, if temperamental, fighting bear. Together, they learn and grow, developing physically as well as spiritually, but never completely reaching a full, placid understanding. Their mutually headstrong ways stand in the way of such a harmonious accord.
This is where the real interest of the film lies, a father-son relationship that's complete with bumps, warts and stubborn deadlocks. Its fantasy landscape is magical and fascinating, colorfully realized and teeming with life. I just wanted to dwell there for the duration. Later forays back into the human world are an unwelcome distraction, even if they lead to greater depth for the main character, and the climactic battle falls into the same category. It's completely out of left field, under-explained and off-key; a poor match for the softer, more resonant touch that was evident in earlier acts.
While it's in the sweet spot, The Boy and the Beast is animated magic. The hand-to-hand fight scenes and training montages are especially wonderful, smoothly and precisely animated with just enough exaggeration to remind us it's an anime. Very good when it's in the zone, but that focus doesn't last forever.
It came out better than a I thought it would be. I'm already familiar with Mamoru Hosoda's films after seeing Summer Wars (2009). And it definitely has that style; a world with a mixture of humans and so called "beasts"/bakemono (or anthropomorphic creatures, animals with human characteristics) which is a theme that goes across all his films. This one is basically about a boy getting acquainted with a father-like figure which happens to be a beast. They enter the different world where beasts dwell kinda similar to how Harry Potter steps into the wizardry world or Where The Wild Things Are. Somewhere in there I'm reminded of the Hudson fighting game for PlayStation called Bloody Roars, Tokyo Godfathers, and a bit of Scott Pilgrim with the sword of heart thing. Now that I think about it, it also rings a similar bell with the recent KUBO And The Two Strings (2016) too.
Good movie.
Enjoyable and relatable.
Another good movie from Hosoda but it needed to be longer. Certain aspects are left aside making it feel incomplete and slightly disjointed at times.
Saw this anime feature at Imagine Film Festival in Amsterdam. Really liked it, went together with some non-anime lovers, and they all enjoyed it for the most part. So I can really recommend it, wether you're into anime or not.
// EDIT (2.5 years later): Their biggest complaint was that the ending was like... unrealistic by the way. OK, the whole movie is far from realistic (talking animals anyone?), but you know, like one moment shit really hits the fan, and the next second everything is great again and the protagonist wins the battle. Like that.
Shout by MarzouqVIP 9BlockedParent2017-04-16T23:04:45Z
An excellent anime and genuinely surprised. A story of two different worlds that come together in a surprising manner, you really do get invested in Kumatetsu and Kyuta, and beautiful visuals. This is a rare anime but a proper one.