Mamoru Hosoda has become a rather distinguished director in my mind. His films feature a distinct animation style, story lines full of off-beat moments deeply grounded in reality and everyday life, characters you could expect to meet on the street, who are still very interesting to follow and from whom you can learn a lot. His films are a good combination of simple morals mixed with extraordinary settings and situations.
All of this holds true for The Boy and the Beast as well, but with this film I think that Hosoda falters a bit when it comes to storytelling. It almost feels like an adaptation which assumes that you already know the story and is only telling a stylized version of it. It skips over scenes that feel like they should be necessary for us to see, only briefly hints at lore, which is pretty integral to the workings of the plot, and the ending pulls some twists, which were never really alluded to us. For example, there's a training trip montage near the end of the first act, something which is usually the turning point of the story. But in this it's over in less than a minute and the main character's training continues long after it, throughout the whole second act. So, what was the point of the trip, other than to show off the Beast World, into which our human protagonist stumbles almost accidentally?
And yet, the film is charming. All the characters are interesting both visually and story-wise. The animation is very smooth and fluid, the music works and the message is a good one. And I can safely say that I very much enjoyed pretty much all of the scenes. They simply didn't connect all that well.
It's possible that this is based on an existing story or legend. At least it would explain why I as a Westerner feel like I'm missing something. Still, it's worth watching if you've liked Hosoda's earlier films.
All of this holds true for The Boy and the Beast as well, but with this film I think that Hosoda falters a bit when it comes to storytelling. It almost feels like an adaptation which assumes that you already know the story and is only telling a stylized version of it. It skips over scenes that feel like they should be necessary for us to see, only briefly hints at lore, which is pretty integral to the workings of the plot, and the ending pulls some twists, which were never really alluded to us. For example, there's a training trip montage near the end of the first act, something which is usually the turning point of the story. But in this it's over in less than a minute and the main character's training continues long after it, throughout the whole second act. So, what was the point of the trip, other than to show off the Beast World, into which our human protagonist stumbles almost accidentally?
And yet, the film is charming. All the characters are interesting both visually and story-wise. The animation is very smooth and fluid, the music works and the message is a good one. And I can safely say that I very much enjoyed pretty much all of the scenes. They simply didn't connect all that well.
It's possible that this is based on an existing story or legend. At least it would explain why I as a Westerner feel like I'm missing something. Still, it's worth watching if you've liked Hosoda's earlier films.