From the celebrated Academy Award®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu, creators of Mirai, Wolf Children, and Summer Wars, comes a fantastical, heartfelt story of growing up in the age of social media.
Suzu is a shy, everyday high school student living in a rural village. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. But when she enters “U,” a massive virtual world, she escapes into the online persona of Belle, a gorgeous and globally-beloved singer. One day, her concert is interrupted by a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes. As their hunt escalates, Suzu embarks on an emotional and epic quest to uncover the identity of this mysterious “beast” and to discover her true self in a world where you can be anyone.
For in-depth thoughts on Belle, please see my colleague Devin McGrath-Conwell’s review from its original theatrical release here.
Video Quality
Belle comes to Blu-Ray with a gorgeous and vibrant 1080p transfer. The textures, from the character designs to the environments, are extremely impressive and give the film a real sense of depth throughout. Stylistically, the film balances the fluid texture of the traditional hand-drawn animation with some of the polished digital animation in the “U” world quite impressively. One of the areas where the film really shines is the nuanced nature of the character designs. The subtle touches that are added to each individual is quite striking. The level of detail these animators put into each environment shines through here. The colors present in this transfer are practically leaping off the screen with the wide range of hues permeating every inch of the frame. Black levels are incredibly strong with no hint of compression artifacts or digital anomalies of the sort. This is about as close to perfect as a Blu-Ray disc can look.
Audio Quality
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless track is presented here in its original Japanese and an English dub with optional English, English SDH or Spanish subtitles. The track is an enveloping experience that brings the movie to life perfectly. The music and score are an essential part of the film that are precise in their placement throughout the room as they engulf the audience. The film is primarily dialogue driven with a lively, rousing score that never fails to move you on a deep level. Dialogue comes through crystal clear at all times without being overshadowed by any of the various environmental sounds or the score. There are some really fun panning effects in the rear channels that add a nice texture to the story. The track employs some good activity in the low end when the things get a little more kinetic. There is also a nice amount of sonic detail in the surround channels as the players in “U” create a fully realized world. The English-language cast does a fine job, but be sure to stick with the original Japanese language for maximum enjoyment. This is a stellar sounding release that should more than please fans of the film.
Special Features
- The Making Of Belle: A 44-minute behind-the-scenes documentary in which the creatives discuss the ideas behind the film, break down the character and environmental designs, showcase the creation of the music, give a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the vocal performances, the implementation of digital animation, the first screening of the film and more.
- A Conversation With Director Mamoru Hosoda: A 29-minute conversation with the director in which he talks about his inspiration for the film, the themes of the narrative, the challenges he faced during the creative process, the current state of the animation industry and more. This is a really thoughtful piece which enhances your appreciation of the story even more.
- The Music Of Belle: A nearly 16-minute piece in which Music Director/Composer Taisei Iwasaki, Composer Ludvig Forssell, and Music Supervisor Taka Chiyo discuss the process of creating the music for this world, the collaborative nature of the project, what qualities they brought to the “game” world and the “real” world, the feelings they wanted to evoke in the viewers, working with Kylie McNeill and more.
- Finding The Voice Of Belle: A 12-minute piece which takes a look at the English dub of Belle from the team at GKIDS and NYAV Post, adapting the songs to English language, bringing context to the delivery of the performer, and more.
- Scene Breakdown – The Station: An 11-minute look in which director Mamoru Hosoda breaks down the scene at the train station including character movement and subtle glances, the contributions of his animators, the sound design, the framing of the scene, and more that you might overlook in terms of complexity of construction
- Scene Breakdown – The Ballroom: Another 12-minute breakdown from Hosoda in which he takes a look at the Ballroom scene and all of its facets including the thoughtfulness of the singing, the emotional nimbleness of the character, character expressions, the importance of costumes and more.
- Hosoda @ Animation Is Film: An 18-minute piece at the Animation Is Film Festival in Los Angeles in 2021 hosted by film critic Peter Debruge in which director Mamoru Hosoda discusses his ideas behind the film, what he wanted to accomplish specifically with this film and more. Later, film critic Leonard Maltin continues this questioning as the director talks about making films with kids in mind, the design of the character and more. These two interviews are woven together.
- Hosoda Draws Belle: A nine-minute piece in which Hosoda takes you through his process of drawing Belle.
- Design Gallery: A vast gallery that you can toggle through to get a look at various character designs from the film and concept art.
- Kylie McNeill Performs “Gales Of Song”: A nearly three-minute rendition of the English-language version of the song.
- Trailers: A seven-minute collection of trailers for the film including the English Dub Trailer, International Trailer #1, International Trailer #2, International Teaser #1, International Teaser #2 and International Teaser #3.
Final Thoughts
Belle is a tremendously moving and captivating narrative that takes the classic Beauty and the Beast conceit and gives it a whole new life. Director Mamoru Hosoda continues his streak of taking on themes of society’s relationship with social media and grounds it in something very human and personal. The artistry put forth by his entire team is awe-inspiring, and the music is momentous enough to stick with you long after you have walked away from the film. Shout! Factory and GKIDS have delivered a fantastic Blu-Ray with an impressive A/V presentation and some in-depth special features. This disc is an easy recommendation to anyone in need of something joyous and inventive in their lives. Highly Recommended
Belle will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray + DVD Combo Pack on May 17, 2022. The film is currently available digitally.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Shout! Factory and GKIDS have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.