RYUU TO SOBAKASU NO HIME

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CAST

REVIEWS

• 

  bitchassdarius

  70/100
  Hosoda and the antithesis of cyberpunk

  I’ve been nursing a pet theory for a while now, and after listening to the post-film screening discussions of my fellow moviegoers while walking out of the theatre, I feel a bit more confident in this theory. You see, we Americans are an untrusting breed, skeptical of anything bigger than the Individual. Because, naturally, Americans are Rugged Individuals, for better or for worse, and large, organized groups—be it the government, Big Tech, or Costco—only serve to impede and restrict the Freedom of the Individual™. Don’t tread on me, Big Weed!

  This political paranoia has fueled our obsession with dystopias and imagining the worst version of the future in fiction. Hence, our perennial love for cyberpunk. Almost two decades have elapsed since the end of The Matrix trilogy, yet we still crave Keanu Reeves in both a sequel and an entirely separate cyberpunk video game. The criticisms I heard as I walked out of the showing of Belle about the film’s dubious optimism and the squandered opportunity to lambaste the social media age (the phrasing I heard followed along the lines of “I was expecting a dystopia…”) only seem appropriate in this context. At Variety, David Ehrlich describes Mamoru Hosoda’s latest as “‘Beauty and the Beast’ Meets ‘The Matrix’”, and while I disagree with the intent of that “just two things” synthesis, it actually demonstrates precisely my thoughts on the film. In a way. Belle is no The Matrix, and D*sney + cyberpunk seems absurd and oxymoronic in the Western paranoiac environment. Now, just what is my theory? How is that related to all this? Let’s start from the beginning.

  Belle almost feels like the final entry in a film cycle Hosoda has been working on throughout his career about digital dimensions and their effects on/interactions with their real counterparts. The story centers around Suzu, a plain Jane teenager living out in the sticks of Kōchi, and her secret dual life as Belle, the most famous singer of the virtual world known as “U”. U is sort of like a full dive VR Second Life in which player avatars are somehow based on the player’s physical and mental compositions. It also boasts an international user base that's quite sizeable, so much so that the happenings in U are able to make waves in the real world, which we see in the first sequence. The film opens with a parade reminiscent of the parade from Ghost in the Shell 2, except instead of evoking a celestial otherworldliness that prods the boundaries of reality, this scene shows our protagonist as her internet alter ego performing on top of a space whale to an audience that could fill multiple stadiums. No, this isn’t Hannah Montana, nor is it the dystopian critique you might expect from such a setup. In contrast to Digimon and Summer Wars, Belle elects a more positive approach to online social interaction.

  

  The virtual world is animated entirely in (quite good) 3D. 3D was a choice obviously made to emphasize the separation of virtual and real, but there’s an added benefit in having two separate styles of animation. Note how much Belle resembles Disney 3D designs like Rapunzel from Tangled and Elsa from Frozen as opposed to more familiar 3D anime designs. Visually distinguishing the two worlds allows for variance in art, specifically in the character design, and Hosoda goes all the way in pursuing the Disney style in the virtual world.

  Earlier, I mentioned David Ehrlich’s description, and with respect to the “Beauty and the Beast” part, he’s not wrong. In fact, large swaths of the story that develops in U (even entire scenes) are cribbed directly from the Disney version of the French fairy tale. From the names of the characters (obviously Belle = Belle; Ryuu is usually referred to simply as Beast; and Justin sounds an awful lot like Gaston…) to the setting (Beast’s grand, decrepit castle is reconstructed in U, replete with a ballroom for the emotional musical scene), the Disney aping is entirely with purpose, as Hosoda does indeed seem to be attempting to fashion his own Disney movie. The question is: Is this a noble pursuit? Enter my theory.

  Japan is no stranger to cyberpunk, as anime fans are typically well aware. Ghost in the Shell, Serial Experiments Lain, Akira: this genre flourished in the aftermath of the bubble economy and its hyperconsumerism and reflected sentiments of unease and fear common to Lost Decade. But the year is 2021. We have seen more than a decade of Vocaloid and virtual idols, and now, in the age of the VTuber, it seems Japan has shed much of its cultural distrust of the internet. Yes, Ghost in the Shell and Psycho-Pass are franchises that are still kicking; yes, the story of Rorochan_1999 is one that has perplexed and resonated with people worldwide; yes, the Japanese government considered banning TikTok as a potential international security concern. But this may be indicative of a different, less suspicious understanding of technology. Japanese society has been and continues to be exposed to the horrors that can occur in the Information Age. Yet it had already subsumed some of those cyber anxieties long ago, resulting in a culture in which nearly half a million people livestreamed an anime dragon-girl's graduation from virtual idoldom and harsh noise legends made four different albums with Hatsune Miku.

  My fellow moviegoers, you were right to point out that Belle’s resolution is “kinda whack.” From the Crash(2004)-esque hammy and absurd stare down scene to the epitaph of “You can be anything you want to be” scrawled across the final shot, the final act reeks of insincerity and unrealism completely perpendicular to the tenets of cyberpunk. But that thin veneer of positivity is also a hallmark of Disney movies, and like Disney movies, Belle has many moments of grandeur and swelling emotion that can compete with the best of them, even if you walk away with a bit of a shallow aftertaste. Scenes, like when the main characters virtually interview random U users to learn more about the person behind Ryuu's avatar and are met with very little hostility, come off as slightly strange, not quite right. There are also moments of clarity that acknowledge the downsides of online interaction, like when Belle is met with skepticism and accusations of fraud after her first performance in U, or the scene portraying one of the characters using creepy internet stalker methods to track a U user's physical location (albeit for a good cause). When Hosoda reappropriates Disney, he does it to tell a heartfelt story about people making genuine human connections through the internet. It's a kind of story that's rare in the West, one that would probably be slighted with acerbic cynicism on contact. I can see why Belle would turn some people off. Me? I liked it.

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• 

  smokedubu

  40/100
  My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.

  Baited by the beautiful colours and music laid out upon my eyes and ears

  Walking into the theatres for the first time, I thought this movie was going to be one that told the delicate story of a modern take on Beauty And The Beast with wonderful melodies and aesthetically pleasing anime backgrounds. I was right about the music and the animation but as for the story, I was dead wrong. Belle has a horrible storyline which feels like multiple different stories all just badly stitched together with yarn after a drunk night out.

  First, a quick TLDR of the story from my perspective. Belle is VR Chat with the entire population of the earth in one server and the cops replaced with Xbox360 Call of Duty Modern Warfare doxxers who threaten to reveal your identity to the rest of the virtual world around you if you do not comply. Now, addressing the main storyline. Belle tells the story of Suzu, a girl who lost her mother and is trying to pursue a dream in music and singing but due to her trauma and anxiety issues, she could never sing. But once the online world is known as 'U' was introduced to her by her friend Hiro, her life changed forever. She could sing and she could be the person that she had always dreamed of being.

  This would've been one of the top anime movies in 2021 for me if the story was kept simple and straightforward but it, unfortunately, is not. The starting part of the movie introduces all the side characters, Luka, the madonna and queen in Suzu's school, Hiro, Suzu's best friend and social media manager, internet genius and brainiac. Chikami, a canoe loving enthusiast and Shinobu, Suzu's very hot and very quiet childhood friend who had apparently vowed to "protect her" and have Suzu getting the wrong idea of that statement thinking it's a proposal when they were six years old. As charming and great as these characters may seem, it is a sad thing that none of them truly matter to the story in the grand scheme of things. The main 'Beast' in this movie, also known as Ryuu, turns out the be a 14-year-old domestically abused child who had been lashing out his pain and sorrow in U through underground fights, and bouts with the Xbox Doxx Police.

  All the way up till the second third of the movie, none of the side characters except for Hiro have been properly built up nor established in the movie yet. But as the movie moves forward from this point on it leads into the Beauty and The Beast side of things. Showing a wonderful depiction of the old Disney gem through beautiful animation and wonderfully atmospheric music was amazing and quite simply breathtaking. But we soon realise that the 14-year-old boy behind the beast apparently loves Suzu? Here is how it all went down and what happened. Nearing the end of the movie the whole gang comes together, aka all the side characters are suddenly in an elementary school classroom with a supercomputer VR setup all ready to go. They realise that the 14-year-old boy is being held in Tokyo and Suzu takes it upon herself to travel all the way to Tokyo from one end of Japan to the central area via the train. In a couple of hours, she makes it there and a barrage of huffs and puffs are played as she struggles to find where the boy lives. Eventually, the boy and his younger brother comes out to a street right outside of their home and hug Suzu. As they are sharing this moment under the rain, the boys' father comes out of their home and demands them to return home. However, Suzu stands firm and continues hugging the 14-year-old boy and his brother. The father eventually loses it and in a fit of rage, pulls Suzu by the face and scrapes her cheek. All of a sudden, Suzu stands up and stares into the father's eyes as he raises a fist in the air and screams a couple of times. Somehow someway, Suzu manages to scare the father into scurrying back into his home and then goes straight back to hugging ' The Beast' which mind you, confesses his love to her. Immediately after that, it cuts to a scene of Suzu returning home with a bandage on her face and the whole gang wearing the same exact clothes, welcoming her home. The movie ends with a long shot of the whole group walking home by a river while saying they should practice for the upcoming concert and they should all sing together and out of seemingly nowhere, Shinobu then reinserts himself into the main storyline and says "You don't need me as a guardian for you anymore" and smiles at Suzu. She then looks back into the horizon and starts singing. The End.

  None of the main issues was addressed, nobody knows what happened to the kid and his brother after that, Shinobu is just apparently okay with the whole situation despite knowing nothing up until this last arc of the movie and it all just feels so rushed and loosely put together.

  It kills me to know that the only romantic interest or anything grabbing my attention was the adorable love between Luka and Chikami, that scene at the train station where they have a nice talk about whether they love each other to not is the only thing that made me feel like there was some sort of relevant story to follow through with.

  Final thoughts, this movie was a letdown and my expectations were demolished, trampled into the ground.
  my disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.

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• 

  Dzrian

  100/100
  Not bad. Really good. Music & Art amazing. VA/Singer is great. Story ok, plot meh.

  It's really late and I just want to leave a "not too in depth review" as I am sleepy. If you're wondering whether you should watch it, you definitely should. That is if you could ignore certain aspects that would be considered as not reaching expectations. So if you're able to do so and is a music and arts enthusiast, then it's a must watch.

  I was lucky enough to get to know about this early on, I can't really read Japanese but the art caught my attention. I quickly found out that there may be big things going on behind the scenes, but I haven't really gone in depth with it.
  So take this review as something easy enough to understand for an average vieweramd from the eyes of one.

  I didn't expect to be watching this really late, so I had no expectations. But as someone with connections with musical background, the music blew me away and pulled me closer as it catches my attention. Compared to most animes, it was completely refreshing and rejuvenating. The music is unique and distinct that I was looking forward to it the most throughout the movie. The art is amazing, and the CG or 3D that was mostly used for their virtual world was really great and smooth; really fitting.

  The plot seems to build up around how this globally used virtual world is capable of letting you live another, "you." It's like a more advanced VRChat but seemingly more open world, and except people being... like people irl instead. You know? Like the usual bystander effect but in addition, these people have a negative and judgmental mindset. Quick to put down others' efforts. This virtual world has their cyber forces. Weirdly enough, there's a weapon that can dox people publicly online, being handled by a guy who is easily able to abuse his powers that is being sponsored by whatever variety of brands.

  Although the story was interesting, it was lacking.
  The heroine's mother scarificed herself trying to save a kid, and we mostly get shown hate messages. I'm very sure this is quite the opposite in reality, to an extent. Presently, the heroine has seemingly social issues, although it's not much. She tends to push others away too when asked if something is wrong or bothering her. It's like she wants to deal with it herself. In the virtual world, it's weird how she got obsessed with the dragon guy. Asking, "who are you?" quite repetitively. It's also odd how we get her in one scene with the lady saying, "she's in love," after her moments with the dragon guy in which she seems to be looking happier than usual in behaviour, but her crush is the childhood friend.
  Now what's actually mostly concerning the ending. So the those kids' father went as far as to make the girl bleed but was then unable to do anything when the girl stares him down with her eyes of domination...courage. I mean courage Rendering those kids' father into a state of mental disorder in which he was only able to shout, fall over, and run away like a little biatch who may have even shit his pants. Then the end, she got back, with her friends, then look at a very beautifully rendered cloud or something.

  More could have probably been done to the plot but anyways, my favourite parts were especially the music. Who was the singer? Cause damn especially that trembling in her voice when she was going to sing. The voice actors played their part well. Overall, really a good watch.

  Please pardon my mistakes and lack of effort in this as I'm really sleepy. I have a broken keyboard and have not even went to read through what I wrote, nor am I even willing to so after this. There's probably some double sentences or words and grammatical errors now goodmornight

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