Bakemono no Ko

So, I have never cried from anime or any movie. I did however, cry when watching Bakemono no Ko (about 4 times). (Update: Idk why I teared up so much tbh, could just be a sign of my maturity)

Story: 8
I really didn't think the story was that great, but it was good enough to be a successful movie. The growth of the characters was probably the best I have seen in an animated movie; you feel happy when the characters are happy. One main thing I didn't like, however, was the fact that when Kyuuta goes to the human realm, the bakemono realm is totally ... neglected. In addition, the final conflict/climax was really predictable, making it a bit dull. Nevertheless, I was touched by the actions of the characters towards the end. Overall, it wasn't an outstanding story but definitely a good one.

Art: 9
Besides the people, the background art was really realistic like it was in Wolf Children. Overall solid art.

Sound: 10
I don't know of an anime with "bad sound" so I always give a 10 in this section. When I was in the theatre while watching this, the explosions and stuff were kind of loud, but that just intensified the experience. I also liked the theme song by Mr. Children, which fit quite well with the story.

Character: 10
I have never ever cried from a character's actions. But even when Kyuuta cheers for Kumatetsu in the beginning I teared up. The student-teacher relationship between Kyuuta and Kumatetsu (always arguing) seems a bit stereotypical, but somehow it was unique as they were able to compete with one another to benefit from each other. Both Kyuuta and Kumatetsu gave up their lonely lives to accommodate each other.

Enjoyment: 9
If you liked Wolf Children, you will probably like this as well. Since it was directed by the same person; the stories are completely different, but have similar feelings attached to them. I can't explain why, but I feel really excited after watching it and it was probably my favorite anime movie. Maybe it is just because I haven't seen any good anime movies since I was like 10, but this movie is really going to stay with me.

Overall: 9
Go watch this movie, I watched it the 4th day it came out and I don't regret it. If an English dub comes out I really suggest watching the Japanese version (subbed) because I have a feeling that the English version will not be able to convey the same emotions that the original did.

Saw this at the BFI film festival yesterday. Was quite disappointed actually, for reasons I've already read above. The plot felt rushed, the characters one dimensional and the overall world lacked depth. The main antagonist appeared out of nowhere towards the end for no other reason than the plot needed him to.

It's a shame, as I thought the film was really strong when it was about a boy looking for strength and being trained by the beast while the two of them developed a father / son relationship. Then the film became really messy and unfocused with a sudden shift in direction during the second ... half of the film.

The film is beautiful though, which single handily took it from a 6 to a 7 in my ratings. It's definitely the directors weakest work though.

Mamoru Hosada is basically to Japanese animation what Disney is to Western animation: one of the better players in the field, but far from the best the medium has to offer. Just like Disney has never been able to produce a movie that my pre-college self would have loved but my post-college self just finds alright, I'm not too keen on rewatching any of Hosada's films these days whether or not I think they're good. Whilst the character animation being distractingly un-detailed compared to the rest of the animation is a bit of a sticking point in his films, my main problem with him are ... how he spreads the subject matter of his stories too thin to leave more than a middling impact. Still, his stuff is better than...well let's face it...any anime airing right now, so I could not go to see his film fast enough when it came out in theatres just to ignore the sixteen cartoons I'm going to finish in a few weeks for a moment. And yes, The Boy and the Beast is worth one watch, although whether you'd want to buy the blu-ray or not really depends on how much you can accept that whole "something for everyone" mentality. Which sounds good in theory, but in practice it often means spreading yourself out so thin that no element truly shines.

The movie starts off like a more mainstream version of Spirited Away, in that it focuses on a young boy named Ren running away from his legal guardians after his parents became unable to take care of him on account of his father being somewhere unknown and his mother being straight-up dead. He encounters a beast deity named Kumatetsu in the streets and ends up following him into a strange world of colorful beast people, most of who are wary of humans due to the inherent darkness within them that can destroy animals in a way that PETA would declare too powerful to oppose. Ren ends up being apprenticed by Kumatetsu in the art of swordplay and after some initial struggles due to his master being a complete idiot, a ten-year time skip turns him into the standard Disney strong man who soon finds another way of life after going back to the human world and meeting a girl who's as smart as he is strong. What follows is the old classic tale of Ren struggling between staying in the beast world or integrating back into the human world whilst strange things happen in the former that threaten to affect the latter in the process. The only thing missing from this familiar fable are people bursting into song after a major event.

In some ways, Hosada's approach to this style of storytelling is better than say, Disney's Tarzan or Ushio & Tora, because he likes to focus more time on making his leads relatable to a general audience, having them go through actual struggles that can't be solved in song and giving them personal flaws we can identify with. And Ren definitely has that in spades if you ignore the fact that he can beat up three guys at once with only a slight scratch and summon supernatural powers that will allow him to go toe-to-toe with water demons. While the movie can overdo the angst at times, you have to keep in mind that Ren is a stubborn kid who's never had a real family and isn't one to just dive into something without questioning the methods, not helped by the fact that his would-be guardians are often idiots. Kumatetsu is pretty much every stupid shonen lead ever, which doesn't exactly translate to good teaching or fighting, so whilst this leads to a volatile relationship with his human apprentice, it also gives him a character arc where he has to grow more mature in order to become a God. In that sense, The Boy and the Beast can be considered the criticism against the shonen action genre that it desperately needed.

As a tradeoff though, Hosada's stories tend to be overcomplicated despite the fact that the overall narrative is really simple. The most egregious is the final villain of the film, who I won't spoil, but I'll ask the following questions. Why exactly is there a physical villain that Ren has to face at the end of this film considering the majority of the conflict up to that point has been mostly psychological? And why did that character do such a 180 in terms of personality when he grew up in order to fulfill that role in the first place? And why was he and his backstory never important until the final act? It feels like it was crowbarred into the narrative at the last minute.

But that's not the only problem that bogs down what could have been a great film into something that's just decent at best. The Boy and the Beast is paced weirdly, like someone cut and paste scenes from a would-be series and just made a movie out of it. The middle arc where Ren goes back to the human world for the first time in ten years, meets his lady friend, and yearns to get an education whilst struggling with the life of fighting he once lived is executed decently for the most part, but the arc when he's a kid moves really slowly on account of it just consisting of him struggling to get along with Kumatetsu and the other inhabitants for what felt like an hour (I think it was only forty or so minutes though), and the final arc where all the plot points the movie had built up over its run come together feels rushed - largely due to the last minute villain, but also because Kumatetsu is absent for a large chunk of the middle section and thus when the film has to resolve his story, it comes off a little Deus Ex even with all the foreshadowing during the movie's slow start.

Oh, and as you probably expected from this sort of "human entering beast world" premise, a large chunk of the story is devoted to how much animals don't like humans because of everything the vegetarians call us out for. This leads to Ren suffering from species-ism, if you can call it that, and one of the ultimate takeaways of the film being about how man and animal can get along just fine. It doesn't have a "must" attached and the ending ends up being similar to Spirited Away in a good sense in order to give it some life, but that message wasn't really interesting when Tarzan did it years ago, and it's not dealt with uniquely enough here to be anymore than tolerable. Still, it was kinda cool to see Ren earn respect from those who used to torment him. I'm sort of a sucker for that trope.

But overall, I'd say the hits and misses balance themselves out enough to be worth at least one watch. The emotions are decent, the action is good, and if you don't mind how jarringly out of place Hosada's character animation is with his background stuff, you can do far worse than The Boy and the Beast in terms of anime, film, or otherwise. I'd even go so far as to say it's my favorite anime of the season, even if the bar isn't really that high now that ERASED kinda shot itself in the foot in its closing act. But Hosada really needs to find a better balance between how to tell a story and how to cater to the mainstream audience if he's going to continue focusing on making movies for the latter in the future. I don't mind the fact that he's basically the Disney of the anime world, but that really doesn't excuse the fact that he needs a better editor. Preferably one armed with Kill la Kill scissor-blades.

Hosoda continues to make films that are incredibly enjoyable to watch. Bakemono no Ko (The Boy and the Beast), his first film produced under the banner of Studio Chizu, is another great addition to his directorial repertoire. I was lucky to catch this film in theaters and my impression is better for it.

Story: 7
The story in Bakemono no Ko is relatively standard, but with some creative decisions that boost its impact. There is a world of anthropomorphic beasts living parallel to the human world. The laws of the beast world vary from that of the human world to create a ... beautiful fantasy setting. However, the climax of the film would have benefited greatly from deeper exploration of the dark, psychological aspect of the human characters and a more developed explanation of the laws in the beast world.

Art: 8
This film looks fantastic most of the time. Hosoda's style is always apparent and I really love it. The simple but expressive characters against the painstakingly detailed backgrounds always makes for beautiful and dynamic shot composition. CG is used throughout to enhance visuals and looks gorgeous when used sparingly. The CG is also where the visuals fall short. I couldn't help but notice that every scene with more than a couple background characters used entirely CG models. Sometimes they just look BAD, but then again, the viewer's focus is supposed to be drawn elsewhere. Either way this film looked outstanding most of the time, especially on the big screen.

Sound: 9
Everything from the dub to the musical score sounded great the whole way through. I watched the English dub by Funimation, so my comments will specifically reference this dub. Luci Christian and Eric Vale do an awesome job as the protagonist, Kyuta. Whereas voice actresses sometimes sound unnatural as young boys, Christian has one of the best voices for this sort of role and manages to make young Kyuta endearing and realistic. Eric Vale then follows suit with a fitting performance as teenage Kyuta. The trio of beasts that Kyuta hangs around with are charmingly voice acted and likable. Bryn Apprill's performance as Kaede is also worthy of praise.
The soundtrack fits the movie incredibly well. Though not as instantly memorable as the soundtracks for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars, I believe Masakatsu Takagi did an excellent job of writing music that fit the world. The beast world has a very eastern flair and the music improves the aesthetic.

Character: 8
Almost every character in Bakemono no Ko is lovable. Aside from a single character, everyone seems to be looking out for one another, regardless of their affiliation. Kyuta and Kumatetsu's hot-headed interactions are adorable and really make the viewer care for them. Kyuta and Kaede's interactions are similarly satisfying and meaningful. Even the side characters like Tatara the monkey and Hyakushubou the pig have an endearing moment. Also Soushi the bunny had some great comedic moments
The antagonist could have used much more screen-time to better flesh out their motives and abilities. Kyuta's father also deserved more screen time and I would have enjoyed seeing them interact more.

Enjoyment: 9
This film is very fun to watch, and I found watching it in a theater really improved the experience. Either way, I greatly enjoyed watching Bakemono no Ko and will certainly buy it when it releases on dvd/blu-ray.

Overall: 8
Bakemono no Ko is a fun, beautiful movie. I can't wait to see what Hosoda and Studio Chizu create next.

Hosoda is here again with another modern tale, expanding the themes from his last movie about coexisting with another species. At first glance, the movie feels like his 2006 feature The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in terms of atmosphere. They both start with a chill slice of life feeling that gains weight as it progresses. The difference is that TGWLTT is more likeable, whereas The Boy And The Beast takes a good 20 minute for you to get invested with the world and characters here presented.

The beast world is portrayed as a rustic place that still resembles bustling modern day cities, with ... people walking around conducting the businesses giving you the impression that former is not unsophisticated, but simply culturally different than the boy’s hometown Shibuya. That’d be perfect, but things are not as simple. There’s also more supernatural elements involved that I’ll talk about more later.

The cinematography is sweet. Vivid but not unnecessarily colorful. It’s satisfying but not awfully memorable. The soundtrack is well balanced, capturing the busy and frenetic environment while still managing to sound somewhat relaxing. The directing is a pro, filled with Mamoru’s trademarks lateral shots and some clichéd montages that still manages to be creative and exciting. The animation is also great, keeping up with the quality well-established in his previous film. The action sequences are fast without being exaggerated and the choreography reminds me of older Jackie Chan’s movies, although less comical.

The movie focus a lot on relationships. The main one between Kyuta and Komatetsu being by far the best. Wolf Children (I can’t help but compare these movies since they share a lot of similarities) was also about motherhood, TBATB is also about growing up and the way these two characters learn to become better together is the most entertaining thing the movie has to offer. There are also side stories involving other human characters. One of them exists simply for plot conveniences that could be cut out from the movie while another is more believable, creating a more stable bound to the human world for Kyuta enhancing the duality dilemma he suffers from. However, the most problematic one is hard to explain without spoiling, so I’ll try my best. Let’s say there’s a key plot event that takes place in the second half of the movie that could’ve been improved a lot if a certain rivalry was better established. It comes out of nowhere and harms the movie so badly that it becomes hard to actually care about it. That was actually worsen by the fact that everything that comes after it plays out so conveniently and predictably. The supernatural excess doesn’t help either. The movie is way more fantastical than it should’ve been in my opinion. There’s an specific element that feels out of place, making the movie’s flaws even harder to ignore. To put it simply, the third act is not good, it’s just messy. Oh yeah, I also think the tone of the movie could be more consistent, but maybe that’s just a nitpick.

The reason why I keep comparing The Boy And the Beast with Wolf Children so much is because if feels like a big step back for Hosoda. He was known for not knowing how to finish a film, (as obviously seen in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) and WC was his only film that was satisfying in its entirety. The fact that TBATB have such a problematic third act is disappointing to say the least. I apologize again for turning this review into a filmography analysis, but it was an easy way to illustrate my point.

With all that said, if you are curious about the movie, go watch it. It’s not that bad if you don’t compare to Hosoda's previous efforts. It is charming and entertaining on its own way and it has several qualities too good to be ignored, just don’t go in expecting to watch an animated masterpiece.

I wanted to like this anime so much. I saw everyone's reviews and recommendations and I had high hopes.

What I did like was the relationship between the boy and the beast. I thought this was very cute and it warmed my heart. I also liked the relationship between the boy and his love interest. I also thought that was nice because it didn't feel forced or artificial.

What I didn't like was that the last third of the movie didn't feel like it fit the first two thirds of the movie. If this was a long anime series, and it transitioned this way I ... would probably be able to accept it. But I felt like it moved too quickly for it to be effective.

As for the tear jerking ending, I didn't respond that way at all. I thought this was necessary and everyone got what they wanted. Actually, I was satisfied with it.

I am not going to spoil the ending but I dont like how the boy dispatched the bad guy.

Now I can't speak for everyone else because people will view and receive movies differently based on their experience. That being said, for me this Movie was a Masterpiece and would beg people to watch this movie who are into anime. It is my favorite one out his other works. Didn't really care for Wolf children, just not my cup of tea, not that is was bad or anything just kinda boring for what I like to get out of movies. Summer wars was pretty good but this takes the cake. Apart from that I feel the anime speaks for itself, it had great ... character build up, where you actually care what happens to the characters.

Story: 8/10 What surprised me about the story was how fast it was and how many elements they were able to squeeze in. It almost felt as though it was written as a miniseries with different episodes focusing on different aspects, which they then turned into a film. Similarly, they also got in an abundance of morals and messages. Don't roll your eyes yet, because they're portrayed as realistically as possible for the scenarios, and only a couple are shoved in your face. However, as a side-effect of the pace and jumping focus, it felt rather disjointed at times, which is why I'm docking points.

Art: ... 9/10 Hosoda's team has an easily recognizable style, but it wasn't until The Boy and the Beast that it really shone through. Firstly, something I didn't really like: characters are super obviously separated from the backgrounds. This is good practice for animators to make it clear what's happening in a scene, but its a bit jarring when everything's watercolor except the digitally drawn characters. But something I did like: the sloppiness. Why would one like sloppy art, you may ask? Because when an artist knows /when/ to be sloppy, they can give an amazing illusion of realistically fluid movement. The fight scenes were phenomenal because of this. Rest assured though, when it needs to be on model, it is.

Sound: 10/10 The voice acting (dubbed) was absolutely superb. They got stars such as my personal favorite Ian Sinclair, voice of Dandy in Space Dandy, but no one relied on their past roles to carry their roles in this movie. All performances felt genuine and even after finding out who was in it I had a hard time believing they were anyone but their respective character here. I'm not a musically oriented person, so I can't say much, but I'll let you make up your mind. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeAnn54FJa5jcsHnuu32EY2gTK1UBaIed Now, for sound effects, they were also very good, though I cannot easily explain how so without a minor spoiler. If you'd rather skip out, go down to the character section. Everybody good? Okay. There is a rule in the film's society that people may have and fight with swords, but they must remain sheathed. During fights with these swords there are of course bassy thuds, but you can also hear the rattling of the strings holding the sheaths on.

Character: 10/10 I keep mentioning the speed, and I apologize, but again I was surprised at how well they were able to make the speed work with the characters. Perhaps watching it after midnight I was in an easily influenced state but I fell in love with all the characters within the first 30 minutes. Not much is shown of anybody but the two stars, but enough is shown to get a feel for what they're like. As with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, all characters are relatively simple, but still easy to identify with.

Enjoyment: 10/10 I bring up this point semi-often when talking to my friends about films but its worth noting here. If a movie can get me to finish it in one sitting without boring me near the middle, that says a lot about how enjoyable it is. In this case, I was quite easily able to, and that's partly due to the aforementioned fast pace.

Overall: 10/10 I don't know what to say here that I haven't already, so I'll draw a comparison. Everyone praises Studio Ghibli, but I don't really like the stories in their work. I watch them for the breathtaking visuals. The Boy and the Beast gave me what everyone else seems to get out of Ghibli. Is Hosoda "the next Miyazaki" as many claim? Probably not, but he is certainly headed in the right direction with his newest work.

I just returned from seeing The Boy and the Beast as part of the Glasgow Film Festival. I'd originally planned to stick around in the city afterwards but, feeling compelled to sit down and think about the movie, I just took the early train back to Edinburgh where I'm currently writing this review. That's right, I took an hour long train ride to see two hours of anime.

Now, having seen most of Mamoru Hosoda's previous works (with Summer Wars and Wolf Children being repeat favorites--the latter being among my top 5 all time favorite films) I instinctively bought a ticket, confident that seeing another Mamoru ... Hosoda film, especially in theaters, was in my best interest. While I'm glad to say my gut was right, I think it'll take a while for this movie to totally settle with me.

So I approached this movie with the hope in mind that it would meet, if not surpass, Wolf Children. As you may have guessed, it's hard to meet that standard. Taken on its own, Boy and the Beast is a phenomenal and heartwarming film, but as I watched it I came to realize just how much of this film is a companion piece to Wolf Children.

Themes of family, love, growth, and coming of age all resonate with me. I love works that incorporate all of those elements, and I usually rank them highly. To look at Mamoru Hosoda's previous three films, we can see that he's played a lot with those themes. Wolf Children asks what it is to be a mother. Summer Wars asks what it is to be a family. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time asks what it is to grow as an individual.

It's been said, then, that Boy and the Beast is Hosoda's take on what it is to be a father. Kumatetsu's own development is a complement to Hana's in Wolf Children. We see it's a radically different journey, not only in events but in execution.

To illustrate this I want to touch on a cinematic aspect of Boy and the Beast--that is Hosoda's use of the quick cut. There are a lot of fast shots in this film, as well as long, immobile takes--almost always breaking from one shot to the next. This is a far cry from Wolf Children, which is always moving. There are a lot of lateral tracking shots in Wolf Children, used to great effect, which we only see a couple times in Boy and the Beast. In a sense, I think this represents how fast paced and sharp and confusing it can be to be a father. That's not to say being a mother doesn't have its fair share of that--but admittedly Wolf Children is more careful and graceful, which I'll expand upon in a moment.

There's a clear cinematic development here, which you can particularly see in the first fifteen or so minutes of the film. The diversity of cinematic techniques Hosoda uses in this film is mindblowing. It doesn't always work, but when it does, I can assure you'll realize what Hosoda is getting up to. He's trying to fill the Miyazaki void. And succeeding.

Let me get on to the categories.

Story & Characters: 7 (individual); 9 (companion); 8 (characters)
Caution: Vague spoilers ahead.

On paper the basic plotline is pretty simple. Homeless, parentless kid Ren finds his way into another world, and finds a surrogate father in manchild Kumatetsu, an aspiring Lord, who trains him despite their differences. Both of them grow and come to realize their reliance upon each other, until one day the kid wants to go back to the human world, which brings up a lot of pain for both. Caught between two worlds, the human kid ultimately leaves, but it's hard for him to leave behind the only true father he's ever had. The whole thing comes together when a rival threatens to destroy both the spirit and human worlds.

So. I mentioned before that Wolf Children is careful and graceful in its story. There really aren't a lot of moving parts. There's Hana, there's her children, and there's the villagers. No extra villains. No complex mythology. There's the boy caught between worlds, but it's executed in a gradual manner. In Boy and the Beast there is very little subtlety. The story elements combine clumsily: things that should be explained better aren't; things that don't need explaining are lingered upon for too long. Parts that should move fast move slow, and vice versa. There are characters introduced and dismissed without enough development, and others focused on where they didn't need to be.

In a different movie, and under different circumstances, I'd say this was a detriment. Greatly so. However--this not being a different movie--I can appreciate the intent in making a story like this. As Boy and the Beast is a take on fatherhood, it's from the male perspective. By nature it is going to be a little more rough around the edges. A little clumsier. Furthermore, not all of the characters or story points are going to fit where they ought to. This is a more realistically executed story than Wolf Children, in a strange way; it's impossible to deny that parenthood is chaotic and unsatisfying and ungraceful.

So as a movie taken on its own, I give the story a 7. But as a companion piece to Wolf Children, I'd give it a 9--a fitting contrast to an arguably more balanced movie.

Art: 10

I'll spend less time on the rest, because I have less to say about them.

I mentioned previously that Hosoda has utilized some cinematic techniques I've never seen in his films. There are panoramic shots, two in particular, that absoluely blew me away. There are flying shots that I haven't seen used so well since "Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya," a movie which I still hold as one of the best-directed anime films I've seen, particularly when talking about atmosphere and cinematography. As I said, there are quick cuts and strange angles. I love it. It's hard to call it an artistic improvement from Wolf Children but I think that's the case here.

The art is composed of a wider variety of styles--some computer animation, some hand-drawn, some painted, some pencilled. Sometime characters looked like papercrafts. It was astounding. It's always crisp, the characters are well designed and interesting to look at, and there's a lot of visual jokes that were much appreciated. If nothing else the movie's a visual feast.

Sound: 10

Again, I saw this in a theatre with surround sound speakers, and in Japanese with subs--so I can't speak for one's experience if they're watching the dub on their laptop. But the sound design was fantastic. In action scenes, I felt each strike. The voice acting was similarly excellent, especially the Rabbit Lord and Kumatetsu.

Enjoyment: 10

I won't retread old ground. I viewed this film as a companion piece to Wolf Children. I felt that, although in some aspects it didn't succeed, its being unsuccessful contributes to its effectiveness in other areas. Irregardless of whether you view this movie the way I did, I can assure you you'll have a great time. It's a very funny movie, too--unexpectedly but undeniably so. I had a big grin on my face every second of it.

Three years after Wolf Children, Hosoda comes back with a new epic featuring more drama based around the animal side of man: unfortunately, it's not as good as any of his past work, not because of the stagnant themes but for the sheer mediocrity of it.
MADHOUSE has had their own problems in the last years because of budget and staff cuts, however none of them compare to what has been going on in the writing and directing department.
The pacing problems found within Summer Wars make an unexpected comeback, between the uninteresting, CGI-ridden visuals, rotoscopied backgrounds and lame characters that are trying way too hard to ... copy that Miyazaki feel.
Boredom aside, the soundtrack and mastering are great.

I'm now glad I forgot to see it at the cinema when it was showing.

"Overall, the plot to this movie was absolutely insulting, and I feel it didn't use it's time well at all (which is impressive when it's goddamn 2 hours long), and the world it tries to set up is an absolute joke. Like the sweet, soothing melodies of Cannibal Corpse... ...the Boy and the Beast is:
Too edgy. In your face. And desperate to evoke a reaction out of you."

Honestly, this is one of the most disappointing and infuriating things I've ever watched. And so many people praise this movie.
If you are interested in a long-form comedy/analytical review of this movie, then here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxKdW_cwBLM
It's ... in the style of YourMovieSucks and Mr. Plinkett, if that can convince you further.

Wasted potential. This film attempts to be both a fantastical set-piece and a grounded view on fatherhood and family and in trying to do both in the way that it did - manages to fall short at both. For every fun, exciting moment the film has in the fantasy world, it has another scene that either bores or dulls the prior experience. It's not Impossible to make a fantasy movie with a down-to-earth story. This just happens to fail at making either side very engaging.

I blame the director for choosing to go about this the way that he did. the first quarter of the film ... is actually pretty great - energy and emotion is rather high - some mystery is set up and an early fight scene sets the pace for the movie, the visuals are also always consistently amazing - - sadly, the second quarter drastically slows down, which would be fine, but then the third and even a majority of the fourth quarter never picks up again, and it leaves the viewer in an awkward, disengaging pace throughout what should be a very stimulating concept.

It's a shame because there are moments where it really should have picked up again, but the moment is always far too brief - there are two fight scenes in this two hour film, all together they last maybe 3 minutes? This isn't including the climax of the film, which awkwardly trips to its ending through a couple of scenes - again, something cool will happen only for it to last 20 seconds, then the main character will run into a train station and start a disengaging dump of dialogue, mere moments before we're supposed to be building up the growing tensions of the climax of this film.
.. frustrating
The final climactic moment of this film sets itself up for 3 or so minutes, only for the actual conflict to literally be completed with one swipe of a sword. All this build-up, both emotionally and pacing-wise never really pays off.

My first review on MAL and it being on a movie from Mamoru Hosoda, One of the Greats in the making was a treat. I'll be breaking down the movie from what I liked the most to least then an Overall Impression.

The Characters & Soundtrack were the highs of this film. Kyuuta(Ren), Kumatetsu and Co. were all very Likable and you can't help but cheer them on, Tatara and Hyakushuubou's scene in the 2nd half was especially great for two supporting characters no less. The highlighting of father-figures was a great contrast to Hosoda's last film which focused more on motherhood and I think it ... should be delve into more often. Takagi Masakatsu's music score was overall impressive having a lively and joyful feel and really gives the movie its definition; When you hear the songs you instantly think of the movie and vice versa. This will be the 2nd time Masakatsu has worked with Hosoda(Wolf Children) and I hope they continue to grow this fantastic relationship.

the Animation was, of course, beautiful, being a huge fan of Hosoda's style since Our War Game! I do feel the human character designs were a bit plain compared to the beast/non-human ones, the way the characters are colored/shaded in the animation adds to that making the humans look blander and the beasts look more amazing.

the Story was, however, the weakest part for me. The first half the of the film was great focusing on Kyuuta & Kumatetsu's relationship and their growth as characters then the 2nd half dived into Kyuuta trying to reconnect with his human side but doing so made the overall story feel rushed and cluttered. I feel that simplifying the story by focusing it on the Beast world rather than trying to divide it with the Human one would've made it notably better. I also disliked the main antagonists motives, it was really weak and felt like it came out of know where.

Overall it was not as great as Hosoda's last two movies(Wolf Children & Summer Wars) but was still an enjoying coming of age story and I recommend it highly, it's a movie anyone can watch! anime fan or not, like most of his films.

8/10

I know that teacher-disciple themes are old school but "The Boy And The Beast" is unique.

You probably remember a lot of movies like this in your childhood. I do and they were exciting to watch back then. Now, I see such films as cliché and predictable—the teacher teaches his disciple his techniques by doing something unrelated but it turns out those daily routines hone his fighting ability and discipline. You can't find that in “The Boy And The Beast” as the story is much more amazing—it teaches about not merely training and strength, it also shows that a strong bond can be created between completely ... different beings from two completely different worlds. It touches about our weakness as humans—in mind and heart—and how to overcome this struggle of life. Unlike other films of the same genre out there, the master in this anime movie is neither good nor virtuous who greatly value justice and righteousness.

“The Boy And The Beast” is first conveyed like that in bed-time stories, which can surely catch your attention; then it shifts into a depressing story; eventually becomes an entertainingly funny, heartbreaking and heartwarming kind. It also triggers your psychological power, hee hee…

This movie is for everyone who enjoyed “Spirited Away”, “Children Who Chase Lost Voices” or “Laputa. “The Boy And The Beast” rises to become one of the most watchable non-Disney film. I didn’t regret watching it and neither will you.

Overall Rating: 9/10

At first I expected, "Oh, all right, this will gonna be one of those Hollywood movie where the master teaches this outsider kid, huh?". I expected a fucking Karate Kid.

Than when the movie proceeded further, it changed my mind: "I guess it wouldn't be that bad. Okay, this is getting interesting. The boy suddenly has to accommodate with the beasts' lifestyle. Cool. "

The main encounter with this alien world is just like what happened in and feel like Spirited Away, but it's totally different in a way. Juutengai, what this world full of beasts is called, offers a more grounded view on society, which ... is not what we saw from Spirited Away. In Miyazaki's most acclaimed anime, the world's atmosphere was built to engage the main character's personality, when the end of the day let us see the character's progression towards maturity. Still, I expected Spirited Away.

Until that, the whole concept of master and disciple is just messed up in a good sense. The relationship between human child Ren and a Bear-Monkey(?) hybrid Kumatetsu is not something groundbreaking, at first. We have seen this kind of love/hate relationship in almost every anime whether it involves different-gender conflict or not. It's not something different, at first. The boy is determined, the beast is also determined, and the time they bond each other it is so hard to determine whether this is a movie about friendship, parenthood, or whatever. The situation is just so complex, yet so simple.

We get to see this subtle emotion feeling (Mamoru style). The emotion is not explicitly shown by dialogues, but through the sense of its intonations, the situations, and of course, the characters themselves.

Throughout the movie we get to served the different and totally unordinary view of parenthood. The second half could be jumbled up for some, but with the the ambition as good as this, I think the "mistake" could be forgiven. After all, the whole last-arc was supposed to tell another message about human, and beasts, and all issue that is still floating up so they can be wrapped up well. And oh boy, they are wrapped up very well.

At the point I finished the movie, I know that this isn't trying to emulate anything. It is just "The Beast and the Boy". Pretty underrated, has its issues, but the concept really pushes its boundaries to not to become another generic master-disciple complex we've already seen few times.

Bakemono no Ko is a 2015 film written and directed by Hosoda Mamoru. We talked about him yesterday with Ookami Kodomo. I guess people just want to see me look at his films this year. So, how does this compare to his other two films I've reviewed? Will it be the first bad one? The best one yet? Exactly in between the other two? Let's find out, shall we?

Story:

We open with some exposition about the world of beasts and how two certain ones, Iouzan Kumatetsu, are the top candidates to become the successor of the retiring Grand Master. We cut to a young boy, Ren, ... evading the authorities and living off of the street. He's resting when he encounters a strange, cloaked beast. He's invited to become the man's disciple and proceeds to follow him right into the realm of beasts.

As usual, let's start with the elements that weren't done as well as they could have been. First off, the reason that Ren runs away is pretty vague. Yeah, we know that his mother died but there's nothing to give us any sense of why he doesn't want to live with the relatives who offer to take him in. We also have the whole return to the human world later on in the film. Honestly, there's not much reason for it. Everything that happens because of it could have been done just as well, if not better, while keeping the focus on the beast realm. As a result, a lot of it feels like filler.

That being said, there are quite a few positives about the film. It handles the whole concept of Ren being essentially adopted by Kumatetsu pretty well. It's very good at foreshadowing important plot points and following through with them. I also do like the way it connects Ren with Kumatetsu and ties their stories together.

Characters:

This is much like Ookami Kodomo in that it has some characters who are interesting and have strong dynamics. In this case, Kumatetsu, Ren & Ichirouhiko. Aside from them, it has a bunch of characters who are kind of flat. It tries to do something more with some of them, notably Kaede, Iouzan & Hyakushuubou but the attempts aren't particularly well executed. For example, the attempt to make Hyakushuubou more complex comes down to a single scene where he gets uncharacteristically mad. Kaede also suffers from the same problem Hana's character had in Ookami Kodomo. She far too readily accepts the strange events that are happening. The big difference is that Hana was generally interesting in spite of that whereas Kaede is just your archetypical “good woman.”

Art:

This is one area where I'll keep giving Studio Chizu a lot of credit, their artwork is really good. The beasts have interesting designs. The backgrounds are good. The climactic action sequences are dynamic and have some superb visuals.

Sound:

The best performances in this film come from Yakusho Koji, Sometani Shota & Miyano Mamoru. That being said, there are no poor performances. Everyone in the main cast is competent. The music was composed by the same Gent we talked about yesterday with Ookami Kodomo, Takagi Masakatsu. His soundtrack in this film is just as good as his soundtrack for that film was.

Ho-yay:

There might be a little bit. When Ren is raised in the Beast World he basically has three dads. Although the film never extrapolates on just how close their relationships with each other are, there are indications that they're really close. So, make of that what you will.

Final Thoughts:

Bakemono no Ko is about on par with Ookami Kodomo. It has different narrative problems, but ones that are about as damaging. It also has charm and is an interesting film overall. So, my final rating for it is going to also be a solid 7/10. Tomorrow I'll keep film festival week going with Stranger: Mukou Hadan.

Review
Bakemono no ko

"We all have a sword in our hearts."- Kumatetsu

The fact that with over ¥5.8 billion in total, Bakemono no Ko was Japan's second highest-grossing domestic film of 2015 speaks for itself. Bnk is like a (more) supernatura-lised version of "The Jungle Book".(Of course in a good way). It talks about a lot of emotions one go through losing their parents, how their relatives treats them, the loneliness that comes with it and then the part of attachments that make you stand once again ,the growth, the relation that crosses the boundary of being different species(more humanly terms- different cultures)and then it drives towards ... one's true identity, the eternal question about where they belong and what are they born for .Talking about the darkness that dwells in our hearts, the hatred in one of the most objectified ways.

Alright then, here we go...

Art-10/10

Splendid. Yes, BnK truly deserve this word from its first letter to last. Winning the Japan Academy Prize for Best Animated Feature just confirms the fact. So you can sure expect some eye-candy stuff. Alrighty.

Characters- 9/10

What do you expect of a character? That it should be strong-willed, be resolute, a pinch of 'funny' and have some development over time....it will do it, right? Well you will find plenty of this in kyuuta and Kumatetsu.

Music-9/10

Background music was good and intelligently placed. "Starting Over " by Mr Children was a really good heartfelt song, a much needed for this movie.

Voice Actors-10/10

Seiyuu in the movies are almost always awesome. It is like their voices has a impact on the viewers which very much defines the outcome of the movie as a whole. In this one too it was a job well done. Kyuuta is voiced by Aoi Miyazaki(who did voice of Hana in Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki )..

Story play/Narration-9/10

The story has a good flow. It is one of those, which have a lot of silent scenes(without voices or music) but good ones(well directed, I must say). No particular narration is there.

Story-8/10

The story talks about a lot of aspects/nature of life. Loneliness, Relationships-friendships, parent-child relation; a place to belong, about finding oneself, about development/growth....which is good but to put them all together is one hell of a task and Hosoda Mamoru (Director) has truly worked hard to pull it all together but the fact that movies have a time limit, kind of backfired . But still the other things cover up for this.

Enjoyment-9/10

As I said before, Bnk is a eye-candy. It is a sure-sure enjoyable movie. It is one of the movies that makes you think about several things.


All in all, it is a piece of beautiful art which you will come across, now or in the future. It will touch your heart like a sweet and tender kiss which makes you always longing for more.

To keep it simple, good for kids/family but for teens and adults it's not worth the time.

Story
Really promising in the beginning, because we get what we came for, the boy trained by the beast, but later we will get other "emotional" plots that don't have enough time to feel relevant and can become boring and predictable

Characters
Simple but likeable, they have some personal struggles to make them feel more alive but make illogical decisions sometimes

Antagonist
No motivation, no logic, no buildup
...
Visuals and music
Very beautiful, probably why the movie is even relevant

Is it bad? no, but for a 2h movie is just not worth it

The Boy and The Beast
The art in this film is pretty standard for director Mamoru Hosoda, who also worked on films such as The Digimon Movie and Summer Wars. The casual use of sweat and tears is really something that I love to see, however over exaggerated it might seem in the moment. There isn’t much else to say about it other than it looks more like a story book than something you would find in today’s anime standard. However, it does a really good job of including scenes that run so smoothly you might not even notice if you weren’t looking for it.

Music, ... while integral to the plot, often felt empty. It seemed to blend so well with the plot and the art, that you might not even hear it. However, there are times when the tension is so high that silence is the best route to take, and the film isn’t afraid to use that silence. Even if the music came out well, there was times where the music should have played a bigger part, as with other films of Hosoda’s.

This had a fantastic story! A young boy running away, only to find himself in a brand new world, ruled by beasts. While reluctant at first, Ren learns the value of hard work and following in the footsteps of his master Kumatetsu, literally. Kumatetsu is a hard-headed, self-sufficient bearlike beast who only looks out for himself in the race to the top, but at the request of the Lord of the Land, he finds an apprentice, Ren. As their relationship grows, they both learn a little bit more, and as time goes on, it is clear that neither can go far without the other. My one gripe with the story of this film is that it doesn’t pay much attention to time. While time is a pretty important part of the story, sometimes, time just seems to move by without anyone noticing, and that is just a small pet peeve of mine. With this out of the way, the antagonist of this film is one that fits a similar role of Ren and Kumatetsu, which makes it all the more fantastic to see the plot unfold.

Something I don’t get to talk about very much, the dubbing. While I will watch something subbed or dubbed, I do feel that the people who are adding to the film after it has been released should be mentioned. While I might be a little bias because I am a huge fan of John Swasey, who voices Kumatetsu, I still think that the entire voice cast did a great job and fit the characters perfectly, and as the film went on, it almost felt like there was no better voices to play those characters.

Overall this is a anime film that I got to see in the theater. That is not something I can say very often. In the past the only anime movies that made it to theaters were things like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, and while that isn’t a bad thing, we don’t often see films without an accompanying television series here in the states. I loved this film and its plot. It is a film about learning what you love and who you are at the very core. While I might have gone into this film with high expectations (and a little knowledge from a brief review I read on snapchat), it not only exceeded those expectations, but it blew them out of the water! Not to mention, it really destroyed the review I read. I would say go see this film if it playing near you, and if not, watch it when it comes on DVD, because it will be money well spent and hopefully, we will see more films like this coming to the states and in a wider array of theaters.
Overall Score: 9/10

I have been waiting for this movie for about 6 months and now i finally got a chance to watch it. Personally i think this is a good addup from a creator of "the girl who leapt thouht time", but sadly if compared it isn't better than that movie he did in the past, this one more focuses on Characters and how they interact between each other, it makes you laught.


******************Story*******************

Unique: A mother dies in car crash and and a kid only has his father that hasnt showed up in last 4 years so he decides to run away living on his own, all that ... changes when he meats "The Beast" from the other world.

Story is quite good not great because how characters quickly develop in a nick of time.

8/10

*****************Characters***************

I think it's 2nd best thing in this anime is characters theres alot of them and they have different personalities, main protagonist evolves from 9 year old to grown up. Soon time passes he realises theres a real world outside that he was born in to, and must take decisions and you can philosophy on that.

9/10

*****************Art*********************

The best thing you will probably see this year, in tearms of ART is "Erased" and "The Boy and the Beast". They beautifully painted and amazingly animated, every background characters cought, move is seen and when fight scene erupts you can see every tiny move. As for ART it has beautifull art gallary some i would personally fit in my background folder. The art is ofcorse "fantasy" genre and it delivers beautifully.

10/10

****************Sound*******************

Well not much i can say about it here cause i watched it in DUB edition, all i can say the music is good, the sound immersive especially if it's an outside world shown.

7/10


***************Enjoyment****************

Im not a huge Action fan but i've expected to see more action than i hoped but mostly that this show has it's characters, Art and Story. Well enjoyed this in one session, expect to see alot of dialogue, alot of meaningless dialogue, but it has it's porpuse cause of it, you can see that characters getting more and more bound together.

9/10

***************Overall*******************

Another great movie that everyone expected to be more action base more dramatic and more i don't know. But in the end it turned out to be less than we are all expected. If that doesn't bother you, i think everyone should watch another great movie by "Mamoru Hosoda" if you're a fan of anime Definetelly see this one, if you're his fan then you probably have seen it.

9/10