The Boy and the Beast

Imagine an anime story that combines elements from the Narnia Chronicles, Karate Kid, Lion King and Star Wars - add in some brilliantly portrayed characters as well as stunning artwork and you have The Boy and the Beast - a very enjoyable film by Mamoru Hosoda, who must surely be rated as one of the top 4 or 5 anime makers in Japan.

No spoilers review
The Boy is Ren, a 9 year old kid who's mother has just died and who's father long ago left the scene as a result of their divorce (and banishment from the maternal side of the family). Fed up with things he runs away from his caretakers and gets lost in the crowded noisy streets of Tokyo. He accidentally stumbles upon an alternative world inhabited by anthropomorphic animal beasts. One of these beasts sort of kidnaps Ren and adopts him as an apprentice pupil to learn martial arts. Ren isn't an easy student and the Beast, Kumatestsu, is a grouchy, ill-tempered sensei. Together they spend much of the film bickering and arguing with each other which provides much of the laughs. I couldn't help compare this to the original Karate Kid movie. Despite their many bust ups and dramatic I'M LEAVING YOU moments, they still remain together because, well, they don't really have anyone else and they begrudgingly, need each other.

This film is gorgeously animated. Like the other Hosoda films, the backdrops are some of the best created artworks I've seen in anime. Every scene is painted with so much detail from the glittering streets of Tokyo to the mystical ancient middle east influenced world of the beasts. The characters are also drawn very well - better than previous Hosoda films which some critics have suggested were too simplistic. In this film the characters exhibit a very wide range of facial expressions and action sequences. There is one scene in which Ren faces up to a gang of thugs but it shows no action whatsoever, the camera pans away and then pans back again to show a pile of crumpled up bodies and Ren standing there unaffected. I found this little element in the film to be very powerful - you want Ren to beat up the baddies and the director lets your own imagination fill in how he did it.

Background artwork is stunning

There is also a bit of a Star Wars like reference to an internal Force - both good and bad. There is a final battle between Ren and a colossal whale which is truly epic.

Given the strong female lead characters in his previous films, this one was notable in a lack of females. The beast world seemed to be inhabited solely by male beasts.The token love interest, Kaeda, is simply no more than that, a token character. She didn't really have much of a role to play apart from cling on to Ren. Although they do share one poignant scene where they both reveal their secret inner turmoil. It's a dark moment because, my interpretation, it alludes to emotional distress the kind of which young people suffer that could lead to self harm and even suicide.

At two hours long, this anime covers a lot of ground and arguably some scenes are stronger than others. But every scene bursts with colour. It's all very Disney-like in both the story and the way the film presents itself. And, just like a very good Disney animation, The Boy and the Beast will appeal to both kids and adults alike.

Available on Amazon Prime Video (UK)

8/10