Suzu becomes a beautiful woman, but others are depicted as babies, fairies and cute animals. Animation allows the filmmakers to give each character a unique avatar, of whatever size or shape fits that person best. The world of U is shown as a city of sweeping towers populated by flying avatars. There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about the animation in Belle, though it is certainly a gorgeous film. I can’t wait for the inevitable shot-by-shot comparison videos on YouTube Belle even recreates the iconic ballroom dancing scene (notable at the time for its early use of CG). There’s even a damaged portrait over the fireplace mantle! After years of anime fans complaining about American films “stealing” from anime ( Kimba the White Lion, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and Perfect Blue), it’s funny to see an anime borrow so blatantly from the West. Both main characters are named Belle, and the design and temperament of the Dragon is very similar to that of the Beast the mix of animals blended into one hunched, brooding creature, the mysterious castle with a squad of cutesy servant-sidekicks. It’s weird to see this used as a plot hook when real-life social media is overly concerned with real names and verified accounts, but this is a fantasy story, after all.Īs such, it takes influence from other fantasy works, most notably Disney’s classic animated feature Beauty and the Beast. In U there’s no “if you die in the game you die in real life,” but the biggest threat is still treated as such: to be “unveiled” is to lose your anonymity and have your true form revealed to the world of U, upon which a user will literally fade away from the virtual arena. Here, it’s more like entering the Metaverse of Persona 5, complete with avatars that reflect a person’s true self.
It’s certainly a leap ahead of the bulky VR headsets seen in Ready Player One, or just the “theater of the imagination” that a lot of movies and TV employ, where the virtual as an actual “space” with rooms and buildings and so forth only exists in the minds of the user. The earbuds can apparently overlay sight as well as sound, and they build a person’s avatar using their biometric data. The world and technology of U are interesting, with access gained via an app and a set of special earbuds. She becomes a sensation, but her newfound fame goes off the rails when one of her concerts is interrupted by a player known only as “The Dragon.” Suzu/Belle becomes intrigued by the Dragon and begins an investigation into his identity, even as self-appointed vigilantes are working to track and expel him from U. Her first performance quickly goes viral, with the clip spreading rapidly and her phone blowing up with notifications in a sappy Dear Evan Hansen sort of way. When a friend sends her an invite to U she finds it to be an escape from her trauma, a place where she is beautiful and can sing. Now Hosoda is once again tackling the divide between the real and virtual worlds with Belle, a film that splits its time between rural Japan and the computerized world of “U.”īelle is the story of Suzu Naito, a “country bumpkin” living alone with her dad and still dealing with the trauma of losing her mom several years before.
Back in 2009, this seemed like a bit of a stretch, but as companies like Google, Apple and Amazon have expanded the concept has become eerily prescient.
But he’s also known for Summer Wars, a movie that posited a world where everything is connected in the virtual sphere, not just for play but also work, finance and healthcare.
Belle is the latest movie from Mamoru Hosoda, the director who brought us time-travel adventures like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Mirai.