I agree with basically everything you said except the part about the abusive father. I don't think the situation was handled well. First of all, you're telling me all those people just let her go on her own to confront an abusive man? After confronting him, it's unrealistic as to how it was approached. Also, she goes back home but we know nothing about those kids afterwards; were they taken cared of by others??? Did the father face any charges??? ------ Apart from that, there were so many unnecessary characters that contributed the bare minimum to the plot.
Same. It was the part I disliked most. I mean this is a man that is okay with tormenting his own children who the oldest isn’t that much younger than Suzu. I have a really hard time believing that kind of full grown man would be intimidated by a scrawny teenage girl who simply stood there and stared at him. I mean maybe if there was other adults watching then I could understand, since abusive people try to avoid acting on violence and aggression when in public so as to avoid getting caught. But then she just leaves the kids like that was enough. The kids already established that their whole problem is people kept saying they would help but didn’t really commit to changing anything. From what I know of abuse it’s VERY difficult to get out of a abusive relationship, especially if it’s child abuse. I really hate to think if anyone thinks it’s that simple to deal with something like child abuse. If they had the second hour be about helping these kids get away from their father without them going somewhere worse, than I probably would have liked it more. But unfortunately this is just one of the reasons I didn’t enjoy the movie. A lot of the reasons I didn’t like the movie is what the video already explained.
You guys are missing the small details, the father wasn’t intimidated he simply realized what he was doing was wrong, and having Suzu confront him was like staring at his wife who passed away assuming why he was abusive to them because of his grief he took it out on his kids, making him realize his actions and therefore reacted in a way like “what am I doing what have I done”
Remember when the abused kid explicitly says that everyone in his life has failed him by hollowly promising to help and then do absolutely nothing other than maybe talk to the dad about it? And Suzu’s ingenious answer is to….do the same thing? If anything she just put those kids in even more danger than ever before. This is like domestic violence 101 for Things Not To Do. Meanwhile, every adult in the room watching and the so called “I’ll protect you” friend all do absolutely nothing as she goes off alone as a young teenage girl to confront a strange man they KNOW is violent!? Meanwhile this girl is the social equivalent of Lady Gaga and it doesn’t ever occur to her or anyone else “hey, why don’t we use some of our massive social influence and money we’ve been donating to charity to, I don’t know, get these kids in a safer living situation???” They literally just confront the dad, then leave them there. And the kid is like “Wow, you’ve inspired me to stand up and fight.” He has LITERALLY BEEN FIGHTING THE ENTIRE MOVIE. How much more does this child need to stand up? This is the time for the adults in the room to jump in and intervene and they all do nothing. Those kids are so dead. I’m amazed Suzu didn’t get murdered in the process. What a mess.
YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THIS IS TOO GOOD, this is why I wanted them too show what happened like you said the boy has been fighting all the fucking movie so for him to fight harder I feel like he's going to off the dad in his sleep or get killed by the father my imagination leads me to believe that this whole fiasco would eventually send maybe like CPS to the door step maybe being that there's video evidence but yeah, 300+ wins in pvp , fighting admins, fighting IRL father and probably fighting depression. he cant fight too much harder imo. I do think suzu most likely made it worse for them highkey.
As someone who's been abused the same way Kei has (albeit I've gone through much more extreme stuff) I wholeheartedly agree. I feel as if this movie was just, really insulting to victims of abuse? Because they completely failed with that ending.
Whoever wrote and passed this plot clearly does not understand child abuse. In real life, the dad will punch/rape Suzu and the two boys will very likely be dead or half-dead when she shows up.
It's a visually beautiful movie but the plot was messy and senseless exposition. However, I do have to say the crush encounter scene is a masterclass in awkward comedy.
Visuals and music wise, I love. The plot? Yeah it's a mess. I honestly wished we had more time for Belle and Beast moments, especially with their real world selves, and ESPECIALLY show what happened to the brothers in the aftermath cause they don't show or say what happened to them. And personally, I wanted BATB romance cause every BATB iteration has romance in it. Overall, once again, I must turn to fanfiction to give me some satisfaction and/or closure on this. At least someone else sees this movie was overhyped and a letdown for most of it. So thnx dude.
I think the twist on the BATB story could have worked, if we get to know a bit more about Dragon/Kei. But what we got felt really hollow and underdeveloped.
@@ryantheanimator1156 Yeah, exactly. Even more reason for me to find and/or write good AU/fix it fanfics on this to give me some satisfaction/closure. Kei is so precious~!
Think what they should of done was make him an Internet bully that went around trying to hurt people and only belle understood his pain and wanted to reach out cause that's how she felt on the inside. But yah this movie was clearly written by people so out of touch with life it's pathetic. Which is a shame cause style animation and songs this movie does seem to shine on that but everything else yah what a waste. Which is a shame we have all this great things we can do with film and shows these days and now it's an excuse to be lazy with story and plot. Which is something everyone is probably realizing about everything these days is it is all lacking and is trying to get by on effects, music, and action. And that's like now 90 percent of films today. I make this argument with people all the time now. And tell them why I think these films are dumb and there only in a delusional state cause of the effects and bright colors and mind blowing cgi. That's how I felt about a lot of games when PS4 first came out but now it's just a game. And what's sad is ideas are at this point just being repeated but with different actors and themes and costumes and slightly different dialogue.... Yah wakes up people. Films suck these days and only a few maybe go above the rest. Which is what this film gives you a false illusion of trying to go the distance with the songs all being beautiful melodies and very connecting lyrics. Which is why I was interested in watching it but yah these points are things I would of complained about.
I am fine about Belle not having a romance subplot, there were romance sprinkled in it, the thing is unlike the other BATB movies we now next to nothing about Kei/Dragon meaning we don't really give much of a care about what had happened to him, yes it's sad that he and his brother is abused, but that's it. We weren't able to connect to him more. And Geargethe Hernandez I agree, the plot is all over the place I could even skip it like watching a YT video and I'd still get the gist of what's happening. The visuals and the music is the only thing I liked about Belle.
The whole movie to me feels like an example of what happens when you can't bring yourself to cut ideas from the story, which is so weird because I felt like there were ideas that were cut. It was just constantly setup with no payoff. The initial conflict of getting over grief and anxiousness through another outlet? Awesome, but not really explored, so we somehow also resolve that arc...Beauty and the Beast comparison? Intriguing, though not used past giving us an angsty character, when it could have been used better...Jealous singer? Could have been spicy, if the movie cared about her (totally should have been the popular girl)...Justin? A good antagonist, if the movie felt like explaining it's world and exploring his character. (Also totally felt like they were setting up for him to be the abusive father) The movie had so many awesome pieces, but they were just that, cool bits. It didn't feel like it cared about the full experience, just the shiny bits that made it up. Ideas needed to be cut or reworked to make the movie resonate better with itself, but it truly felt like the movie just couldn't bring itself to change anything or explore any one idea too far. It's frustrating to want to like a movie so badly because of its potential but be so frustrated with the final product.
MY GOD I totally agree, it really felt like there were ideas that were cut from the start. Like at the start I thought that the childhood friend that Suzu liked when they were kids was going to be the Beast, because at the start their relationship was shown as if they were close friends in the past but something or time itself separated them, so I thought that maybe he was really stoic because he had an abusive family or something that made him distance himself from her. What a let down, i waited for this movie for like two years :(
Absolutely agree. There is so many ideas but it feels like nothing happens. I’m still not even sure why Suzu threw up when she tried to sing. Is it trauma? Is it stage fright? But if it’s stage fright, that seems way too extreme when she’s alone. I mean I have stage fright but I feel perfectly fine if I think I’m completely alone. And gosh they could have really dived into the idea of identity and how people view themselves and each other, especially when there avatars are suppose to show their inner selves. And I wish Suzu’s character grew and that she had a better reason to want to know the beast and- ugh it really is frustrating. What’s worse is beauty and the beast is my favorite story and my favorite theme for other stories so I really wanted to enjoy it😔
The pacing of the film was just messy...I was so confused when watching and it feels like so much was left unexplained. Also, does anyone know why the abusive dad was scared when Suzu stared him down??? It was just so random???
have you ever seen a bully confronted by someone who isn't scared of them? especially bullies whose 'power' is entirely based in fear, and double especially bullies who are the way they are because of their own pain/trauma him falling over is a bit much but him being scared of her is 100% realistic the absence of fear does WILD things to people who've come to rely on its presence
This movie had so many plot holes and like you said, moments that just didnt make sense or werent fleshed out. I left the theater thinking damn so did the child abuse stop orrrr? lots of moments like that. Or when they were able to locate the kids with buildings in the window? moments like that just felt skipped or neglected.
i disagree on most criticisms people have with this film, but i laughed out loud with the rest of my theater during the "wait a minute....enhance!" bit i doubt he did it as a campy reference, but damn did it hit like one. hahaha
Also how she found the siblings because she searched the neighborhood and then the little brother just happens to walk around the corner. Like, how did he know she was even coming?
When I watched it, I did feel like there was a scene I missed cause I didn't really get why she cared for the beast other than it's riffing off the fairytale. The music slaps but it's definitely one of the weaker movies by Hosoda.
I mean at the end she mentions it directly to him. He gave her strength to be herself and I love that it subverted the trope of them being together. He gave her something more valuable and personal. The strength to be herself in the face of everyone even if they hate you. I found that so powerful. She learned to do that inspite of what people may think of her because of witnessing and interacting with him.
I thought it was because she recognized that he was a wounded soul because she herself is wounded from losing her mom and so she recognized the signs when she met the beast
she cares for the beast for the same reason her mom cared for the child in the river that's the entire point of their arc, arguably the entire point of the film itself, made evident by the flashbacks of the river scene during the climax; she always wondered why her mom did what she did, and in that moment she understood because she was literally doing it herself compassion in our modern, terminally online world
One of the holes that confused me was they kept mentioning the creators of U as if they were some deities. We didn’t get to see them though. Other than that this movie made me tear up and the songs invoked deep emotion.
That got me thinking when I rewatched the film. The choir ladies might be the sages they they be talking about, how they know Suzu is in trouble? They know it's Suzu already. The film is not confusing as it looks. I rewatched it like 3 times already and I'm trying to pin point how this review takes it away. Even the logging out part, I think it makes sense they don't log off because it seem like the avatar body stays dormant in one location if they do, couple scenes where she returns the same place back and forth. Belle could have been unveiled by Justin regardless if she logged off. Maybe it's just me but I see some flaws are actually flaws, some aren't. I do agree the U world should been shown better.
@@michaelfang1393 omgg i kinda get it.. then can u explained to me why kei/ beast said i love u to suzu? The way they look and hug each other at the end.. it makes me so confused tho the relay between them
They wasted a great opportunity there of making the beast... Suzu's father. She completely cut herself off of him, while he must have been undergoing a serious strain - he lost his wife after all. That would've been a much better movie.
OMG YES! I was so hoping the beast to be her dad! Their relationship was so strained and I felt that the only reason they would even put something like that in, would be so that they could extrapolate on the point later. Little did I know, I gave this movie too much credit. Truly wasted chance!
I was thinking the same thing!! To be honest, the whole movie I was just "please don't make Shinobu the Beast PLEASE don't do that cliche!" Which I'm glad they didn't. What happened was a positive direction, but did leave a few questions.
My sister and I were having this same conversation. We live in different states so I got to see it first and at first I was like it was great! You should go see it! When she called me a few days later after seeing It and we got to talking about it, i had to admit that I definitely over hyped this film. We were both disappointed by how empty and unfinished it felt.
Watching Belle felt like watching Summer Wars 2: Electric Boogaloo with the whole flashy avatar open space social media. It's a nice movie if you're a parrot that likes shiny things but the story is really poorly executed especially with the whole child abuse reveal that Belle "solved" by singing it off to everyone, really just a "turn off your brain and look at the shiny things" movie which somehow gets a standing ovation for 14 minutes because Cannes film fest goers are probably pretentious connoisseurs Also, where are the mods in the app, users like Justian freely wanting to dox people like wtf You're better off watching his other works like Wolf Children or Mirai instead of this snoozefest.
I don't think the story was poorly executed, I think it was made like that on purpose. It is sort of like a parody of the internet itself, catching people's short attention span and amusing them for a while. I don't have a problem with that, since they are clear from the start. The first scene is literally a girl riding a flying whale and singing. It isn't pretending to be deep, nor promising to be. It is just 'here is a fun musical that is going to have some emotional stuff in it, enjoy the ride'.
If you have watched other Chizu's works (which i assume you have because you are recommending Wolf Chidren and Mirai) then you should know this is likely intentional. They did the same with Summer Wars (which is my favorite anime movie) and The girl who leapt through time. Those 2 movies, and all of Chizu's works actually, follow the same "Enjoy the ride don't mind our plotholes we like being flashy and emotional" structure. Belle is far, FAR from being a snoozefest. If anything, the only pretentious one here is you.
@@Lilitha11 it should come as no surprise that "people on the internet" are completely missing the points and nuances of a movie about people on the internet
I have never laughed so hard in a theater man. I loved the music and art but like it felt so disjointed and all the conflict was so goofy. The nods to the OG Beauty and the Beast were great (Justin/Gaston, the aesthetics inside the castle, the castle raid etc) but it just made it that much more frustrating that they didn’t lean into the relationship between Belle and the Beast. By the end of the film I just felt annoyed because it really could have been a groundbreaking anime but fumbled the bag so hard
You PROBABLY have. If you were in legit tears, doubled over laughing harder than you ever have before at this movie, you need help. But you didn’t because you’re just a liar wanting internet points
The amount of suspension of disbelief for the entire world of U that the movie is asking from me was too much. The tech wiz mentioned that all the money went to charity, which makes me confused, is all of Belle's outifts free?? How is she getting all these stadiums???? Does she also have sponsors like Justin? Why the _fuck_ does she have Whale Speakers????????? Why are "the voices" spoken about like otherwordly gods?? How did Beast get his Ai pets?????? Not to mention the amount of conflicts that could be avoided by just LOGGING OFF????? "Im gonna hit you with this reveal ray" "Player has disconnected" What are they gonna do now?????? Honestly, I just looked forward for the story in the real world (Luka's crush on Canoe Guy was more interesting than whatever Justin had going on) and then the songs that played in the world of U. The songs, characters, visuals, and the fact that I watched it while doing homework so I wasn't paying 100% attention to it made me like the movie enough that it was overall a positive experience.
They didn't explain any of the stuff, since none of it was important to the story. Which was pretty simple, since the story was just an excuse for the songs and pretty visuals. I was actually thinking about this, and the story was one perfectly suited for the medium. Like if you were trying to write a book of this, or even a manga, it wouldn't go any where and would make no sense. However, as an anime you can get away with relying on pretty visuals and music, which is what they did.
@@Lilitha11 You are describing that as a good thing? Yes, an anime can GET AWAY with having pretty visuals and a good soundtrack… but shouldn’t the story matter too? If you don’t wanna tell a good and cohesive story where shit is actually explained, make a 5 min music video, not a 2 hour animated feature. Ever watched Interstellar 5555? That movie (while only being barely 1 hour long) had great animation and a great soundtrack by Daft Punk, but it also had a good though basic story about aliens being abducted and disguised as musicians. Goofy yes, but a cohesive story regardless. And one, might I add, that needed no words.
Music was good but it wasn’t enough to carry the whole movie, I wanted to see the characters because they were interesting so I’m glad someone else agreed
That was my problem too. Like there are individual musical scenes that are really well done and out of context, pretty powerful (Lend Me Your Voice being one such movement). But in context, they’re greatly reduced because they’re weighed down by all the plot holes, the flat characters, and the underdeveloped…EVERYTHING in the movie. Especially because it feels like the director had developed ideas for two separate movies then tried to smash them together into one but didn’t develop either idea. Which sucks because it would’ve made the music and certain scenes even more impactful.
This is how I felt about the movie. The *Beauty & the Beast* parallels are the weakest part. Maybe if it didn't lean so hard into them it could have worked better. It probably also would have been better if it didn't take the U app stuff so seriously. The rules of the app are poorly defined and woefully underdeveloped. How do the users see what's happening in the app? We never see anyone with a headset or anything. Why can't people just log out when things get too dicey? The soundtrack slaps though.
Totally agree. What I found most insulting was the premise that pain equals strength in the virtual world; if that’s true then the people of Afghanistan would be freaking red super saiyan god mode 😂 hell, I’ve been through more stuff than that abused kid, I’d be like Neo up in that beeatch. Intellectually, I suspect the movie is yet another indication of how isolated and damaged Japan and many western countries have become in the digital age where old values and the family structure (a diminished birth rate) are slowly eroding under the strain of social media and other capitalistic factors. No wonder it was a success in Japan. It’s so sophomoric and narcissistic if you really think about it. The ready player one vr world was really unexplained (just like that nonsensical movie) and many characters are either underdeveloped or typical teen-girl-fantasy anime tropes. HOWEVER, The music and some of the visuals are so damn good that I must say I enjoyed this movie overall. When the movie is high, it’s like walking on a cloud overlooking Narnia. When it’s low, I saw people walking out 🚶♂️ and I almost wanted to join them. I rolled my eyes constantly towards the middle but I stuck around because I knew there was going to be a Sing 2 finale. Still, some of the messages are sweet if on the nose and this movie has enough cinematic flair to be recommended. Yet its abuse storyline is poorly done, and why is this movie throwing in power ranger furries? Why is being unveiled a big deal? I swear, the same illogical laughable problems of ready player one are here front and center The sequences when she first sings in the vr world and the beauty and the beast one are exceptionally excellent though. Still, I think Ron’s gone wrong handled the dangers of social media in a more cohesive way. I may watch it again which is more than I can say than nwh or many movies I watched last year. It has a guilty pleasure vibe to it. I have to use up my amc stubs list anyways.
thinking about it an app that reveals your "true self" would make a way better film than this. stalker/roadside picnic for the digital age; why these aren't addressed at all is bizarre
@@richgranados11 I also enjoyed the visuals Just gonna say that yes Ik the plot has problems I saw that too SPOILERS But the stuff about the abused kid, his pain didn't equal his strength... he wanted to be a hero for his little brother and protect him so he ended up like that in the U and his abuse influenced his dirty fighting style. And also Unveiling didn't matter, the only reason it seemed like it did is because the police guy or whatever made it seem like it was. To control people and make himself look powerful. Then bell showed it wasn't a big deal because you still have that talent and strength you showed in the U, your appearance just changed.
@@weeferwafer2316 Thank you for your response. I did enjoy this film despite being pulled out of it constantly. It doesn’t make sense but I don’t think it matters. Not a bad way to spend two hours and it was quite unique. However, I could be wrong but I think they did explicitly say that being connected to the U uses your senses so if you are in pain, your strength increases. I don’t know if they meant emotional or physical. But if 5 billion people have avatars, I’m pretty sure they are some even more abused people who should be more powerful. The part about being unveiled did not make sense to me because people have avatars and often put their real life profiles as well. I mean, just because I have an avatar doesn’t mean I should hide who I really am. Why should Justin’s threats intimidate anyone? Who would take him seriously in the first place unless he were corrupt and could actively ban you or something creditable. Btw, who is Justin? Is he just some power-hungry employee? Again, why should people be scared of being unveiled? It’s like if someone unveiled my world of Warcraft avatar to everyone else. I’d be like… ok, so? You got me! Like, everyone has Facebook profiles where we put our faces on everyday. Everyone knows the real belle is probably some average school girl anyways. Do people really expect her to be Beyoncé? It’s just very confusing.
yeah honestly the unveiling stuff is confusing now that i think about it... who is justin?? lmao those sponsors did the right thing to stop supporting him
(also I think she's "obsessed" with The Beast because she can tell he's hurting because of both of their losses. AND of course the huge spoiler of The Beasts pain)
I feel that. I think the whole video game context just causes too many holes for me. Like, if he were a real beast I'd understand, but a monster fithing in a video game seems pretty natural and seems weird that she'd take notice. I know I'm HARD nitpicking but the context was just so silly to me
I just got back from seeing this movie and man I wont lie I hated it. It might be the most "shit just happens" movie I've ever seen. There is no action, no relationship, no plot point in this entire movie that is given space to breathe and get you invested in this movies plot. Like when it vaguely tells you Suzu cant sing anymore because of some trauma with her mom okay fine but then 2 minutes later she enters U and the fist thing she does before even looking around is sing a whole song, get surprised that she sung a song like she had no choice in doing it. Then immediately after her friend is just like so "so yeah Belle is a wold wide sensation." What? When did that happen? Its pretty much rinse and repeat for everything else in the movie. I gotta disagree with one of your points and thats the confronting the dad scene. Why did a group of adults let a child just go off to Tokyo by herself to let her try to save child abuse victims? How was that ever supposed to go well? Fortunately she stared him down real good and psychically put morals into him or something because the plot never even gets resolved. Did they go into foster care? Did a relative take them away from their abusive household? Its just left as "Good job Suzu you saved them and we'll never have to think of it again :)" This post is too long so sorry for ranting it up in your comment section this movie just really hurt me to watch. I generally like Hosoda movies. this one just really missed every mark it could.
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Recently saw the movie and I was baffled on how everything is "resolved". The plot is a mess and the characters don´t make sense, but the worst part is that I really wanted to like this movie
Thanks for touching on stuff I do not usually hear about regarding this film. Period specific fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast (back when arranged marriages between girls and old men were a thing) and modernity (like the digital age or the Internet) do not mix. This felt less like an actual "Beauty and the Beast" story (even if I found it too much of a shallow ripoff of the 1991 version for my liking), and more like a teen girl's solo recovery story with the "Beast" as a "side-quest," like one of those extraneous "social links" in Persona.
It's like I hear your argument and even agree with it but I still like the movie if that makes sense? Maybe I just like to keep myself enjoying things? I don't dislike a lot of things, but I also have a habit of filling the plot holes when I like something enough, you know. I'd say I tend to like things based off of how I feel about it's potential, and my mind can run with anything, was it the best movie I've seen recently?No, is it even in my top 10? No. But I would watch it again and I like it because it evoked feelings from me and it's really hard to find things that do that for me lately. So I agree with all of the problems with it, I just like it anyways you know?
I read and heard so many good reviews about the movie and I thought, "Great, lemme check it out!" Then I ended up disliking the movie, so much so I wondered if something was wrong with me. Everyone seemed to love it, people said they cried and here I am, someone who cries in almost every film I watch because I get invested into the show/movie...and yet I felt nothing for Belle. It made me analyze the show so critically that I ended disliking it even more. It isn't the worst movie but it just felt empty, uncompleted almost. Love the songs though. 😶
Nope films just have been mostly crap. Free guy was the only film I saw that I actually liked everything else was terrible. In one way or another. They all feel empty or terrible.
@@Aaron_Heininger i’m getting real tired of soundstage location shooting. Like I can tell when backgrounds are screens or CG and I hate it. Take me back to the days of filming ON LOCATION
I got used to anime films having plot holes and unresolved romances (see final Evangelion film) so just dealt with that part separately. The animation was very good for modern standards (most are downright visually painful) and the MC was really someone young girls could identify with
I feel you dude. It was so difficult for me to pay attention to everything because the plot holes was so jarring I honestly just waited for the movie to finish. Good thing I didn’t see it in theaters
Literally exactly how I felt. I was so confused as to why I didn’t like the movie and basically ranted off about it to my dad in order to understand why it was bothering me so much. So your definitely not alone. It feels like it’s trying to be deep but I feel like I’m getting nothing out of it except that the animation is beautiful and the music is good. But that just makes me more disappointed. And when it wants me to feel something I felt like it just didn’t earn it. But I really wanted to like it and enjoy and it honestly sounded like something I would usually love… but it does nothing for me. And I really like summer wars and I know that movie isn’t that good but it’s at least was a really fun movie. But Belle wasn’t trying to be fun and what it was going for it shouldn’t be fun. I wish I could say it made me feel as much as wolf children made me feel.
Also, is nobody gonna bring up that one of the ladies Suzu works with wrote a song for an edgy 8th grader when she was a senior? Definitely an overlooked aspect
There are two scenes where the nothing moves for literally over a minute... While characters are talking. There was no romance. No sincere plot. Total downer.
My thoughts on this movie is the same way I feel about “A silent voice” or “Eternals”. It’d be better as a series. The themes are there but you just can’t pack it all in just 2 hours.
a silent voice can work on its own as a movie - it doesnt have much going on like eternals and belle. eternals has too much lore to pack in a movie. belle tried to cover too many topics that are far too complex issues to deal with in one movie.
@@amelianekomimi1936 Not really, they could have developed the other characters better. Like the red haired guy, Shoya becoming bullied being fleshed out instead of a montage, and Shoko’s spiral into her own depression. The manga is fantastic but the movie skims or even skips key moments. The movie is good. But like I said. It’d be better as a series. More time with the characters and more time to spread the message you’re trying to send.
The characters and plot of this movie are so messed up that at one point I thought that those 5 choir ladies were the 5 voices this movie talks about so much
Fantastic review dude. I watched the movie yesterday and literally named the issues in the same order you did. I was feeling crazy for disliking it since all the other reviewers and critics keep trying to excuse it's mediocrity.
The poster of the movie... they're trying to sell an image to the audience even though the movie really focus on the trauma and her own character. Also the camera never go too far away from Suzu so when she came home, it counted as "happy ending" and we didn't get to see what happened to them on the other side. The last song really felt like it was for and about her mother
I thought it was going to be beauty and the beast too but it turned out to be a whodunnit (or should I say whoisit) at its core with so many threads that it’s maddening. It was more in line with that monte cristo anime series which I really liked. But that was a show and it at least tried to flesh out its story. I feel like Japanese writers have a tendency to cram in way too many themes and exposition that the movie can handle in an effort to cater (or pander if you’re cynical) to their audience. Then they forget about it and move on to something else. Belle is amazing musical numbers then exposition, exposition, exposition, school romance, family drama, mystery, musical, furry action, etc etc. There are jaw dropping scenes in this movie, scenes that made the hair on my arm stand up, moments where I felt more connected to a movie than anything I saw last year. And then the movie got more disjointed and not in a wonderful licorice pizza way, but in a 🤦♂️ one. Still it’ll probably be my top guilty pleasure of 2022. I can imagine myself listening to the soundtrack while sipping wine and reading a Haruki Murakami novel about a protagonist expressing profound existential concepts of love, loss, nostalgia, and hate. Now that’s how you treat yoself!
Homie I gotta say I usually agree with your thoughts but I disagree hard on this one. The whole point of the movie is Suzu understanding her mom’s sacrifice. Her mom died protecting a stranger and the whole movie is her following that same journey without realizing she’s been doing it the whole time. Edit: Also she learns that her anger at her mom isn’t fair because there are really fucking shitty people in the world and at least her dead mom doesn’t abuse her. U is supposed to pull out the hidden power of a person and reflect it but all she sees is this cool boss looking dude being a troll and hiding. She hides in her real life and helping him is a way to distract herself from her own grief. That’s why the movie’s plot kinda pops up out of nowhere because that’s exactly how it occurs to Suzu too. She’s been hating her mom for leaving her while being unable to realize that her mom didn’t leave her, her mom just couldn’t stand by while a kid died. All this time hating her mom for dipping and she turns around and does the same fucking thing because it’s what’s the morally right thing to do.
Personally, while I do think it’s a little overhyped, I do think it’s still a really solid film. The music and animation were really good, and overall I liked the story. I think my main issue with it was that they didn’t flesh out their side characters nearly as much as they could have.
I slightly agree. Some of the side characters certainly didn't have much going for them, but they were still enjoyable to watch and fulfilled their roles of being supporting characters. I guess my main issue with this film is that the world of U didn't feel that fleshed out, and the technology was only touched on briefly a few times. However, I do feel that 2 hrs of runtime is massive for animated film, and I suspect that Hosoda probably wanted to utilize as much of that runtime mainly on Suzu's struggles, her journey of growth, and her relationship with the Beast. While there is very limited lore bits and explanation behind U, I still found the world fascinating and think this is one of those stories that's best viewed with a mindset that you have to role with how things work and focus more on the plot itself.
I don't think it's overhyped. I think it's underrated. Encanto is overhyped imo and Danny thinks it's the better animation Disney has done all year round (his other video about Encanto's review). I agree on some takes but this one about the hype I'm gonna disagree on more since Belle does not reach the big audiences outside Japan.
@@michaelfang1393 normally, I would agree with you, but all the major anime distribution groups that are in the US are sucking the dick of Belle right now. Gkids especially, is acting like it’s the second coming of Christ.
@@michaelfang1393 Mugen Train was also the highest grossing film of 2020 and Demon Slayer is a massively popular series. Plus, Mugen Train didn't have the same problems as Belle. Mugen Train is about characters that are already established, and it continues the story of Demon Slayer. It's a fundamentally different type of movie than Belle. I personally liked Mugen Train more.
I made a lot of these same criticisms post-watch, with my sibling being way harsher on it than me. I dunno, I just appreciate the earnestness? I also appreciate that the movie fell short of representing what they clearly had developed and written, rather than the movie being a mess due to not having enough there. They clearly had a strong vision for the world they were building and had well developed ideas that they wanted to expand on. Edit: I will say that the story would have been much better if they cut the friends thing and had her be much more alone and developed as a musician instead of having some crazy computer whiz producing all her songs. It should have focused more on suzu becoming more distant and living in the world of U to escape from the real world.
I agree, I think it is really earnest and honest and While I agree, the plot threads are bit messy but... the animation and music in a movie theater just, drew so much emotion from me
Agree. When I read she was a shy girl, I didn’t expect her to be surrounded by friends. I mean Suzy even realizes late in the movie that the guy (forgot name) didn’t propose when they were 6y but just wanted to protect her from bullies. Umm… what bullies? We never see her having any troubles in school.
I agree... I saw all these positive reviews and was hyped to watch it. Went in with high expectations only to be let down with a hell hole of plot holes and cringe... I love the music and visuals but that's all it had. The actions of the characters didn't make sense bc there was hardly any motives for them to act in such a way and everyone's reaction was just overly dramatic. Everything was just so convenient for the main characters. Tbh hot take ig but the movie just sucked. Made no sense. My favorite scene was the confession scene which I thought was awkward and cute which is sad cuz it has nothing to do with the main plot of the movie... even that confrontation with the dad was just awkward and cringe like why is he just standing there and suddenly crawls away just cuz a little girl he don't even know standing over his kids? Ugh.
I think a lot of people missed that the point of this plot wasn’t romance at all, it’s about Suzu overcoming grief and trauma in her own way, with the gradual help of some people, and coming to understand why her mom made that decision to save a stranger, by unknowingly doing the same thing. For me, as someone whose gone through a lot of trauma at a young age, and whose mom left her behind with an abuser when she had to go work in another state or travel all the time, I resented her so much and hated it and it wasn’t until I got older and realized everything else that happens in life and why she may have done what she did. I was able to gain clarity through similar situations and eventually come back to her and reconcile, and that was part of what made this so poignant for me. I’ve seen other reviews that call Suzu a spoiled brat or call her selfish or inconsiderate or call it a bad plot because her dad was obviously depressed too and just wanted to talk but 1) she was clearly torn up by her mom being gone, as you can see her mom was the central focus in so many flashbacks with her dad not being there, 2) Asian dads are notoriously bad at communicating their feelings, so how do you expect a child that went through that sort of trauma to grow up with healthy coping skills and learn how to deal with grief when her own father’s means of expressing emotions is just subtle gestures like giving fruit or offering dinner or rides? He’s not really providing solace, and that’s a cultural aspect a lot of people don’t take into consideration. It also makes sense to me that her friends or other characters aren’t as fleshed out, when you’ve dealt with that kind of trauma, you’re often in your own world or focused just on trying to get through the day, you don’t spend as much time building a ton of deep connections, although we see Suzu being able to open up more later. Regarding the plot feeling jumpy or people feeling like the beast thing was just thrown in.. a lot of people who go through trauma end up being the type to be drawn to other damaged people and trying to help them or fix them, unfortunately I know that from experience. (Trauma-bonding anyone?) Sometimes you just meet someone and something clicks and you just want to know them and help them and fix them. HELL even the original beauty and the beast was her feeling bad and wanting to help and fix him, this take made kinda enjoy the story a bit more because it’s not like the Beast locked her up, more just shut her out because hell, if you’re abused for so long, you start to believe nothing can help. I do agree that it was stupid of the ladies not to at least go with her and make sure she’s safe, that seems like a no brainer. As far as the abusive dad’s reaction goes, other people are calling it fake or unrealistic, but as someone with an abusive father who got off bullying his kid and bringing them down in front of others who were too scared to argue, you’d be surprised what can happen when someone actually stands up to them after catching them in the act, my dad would run scared with his tail between his legs. Plus I like to believe that because Suzu witnessed it happening and he attacked her as well that it would have been enough to make sure they were taken into protective custody, but that’s just me. (I will contend that him falling back on his ass was a bit much though) Just because it’s not a nice put-together plot that you’re used to for spectacular anime hits doesn’t mean it’s not telling a realistic story, and to be honest that’s why my friends and I loved it, because of the way it captures the process of grieving and coping that a lot of us have gone through and relate to. Healing is messy, non-linear, and sporadic, but sometimes you’ll find one person or thing that jump-starts you to finally push through and gives you the strength or the means to change and grow. Yes, it would’ve worked better as a series, but for a 2 hour movie this did a good job of what it was intended for.
refreshing to see someone with a good take in this thread. (you're legit the only the other person i've seen in the entire discourse who recognized the connection to her mother's actions) also, while i didn't have an abusive father, that bully personality is pretty universal, so i instantly recognized it; i think the falling over bit was just to emphasize that reaction, not to be realistic anyway, i think the biggest issue between this film and some in the "western anime fandom" is that it's not only more 'cinema' than it is 'anime movie', but it's also more Japanese than it is International, the latter especially being something i expect anime/manga to trend toward more and more, just like JP games and music have largely both done already
The overcoming grief part was top notch. Suzus arc was pretty well done, but basically at the cost of screen time for every other character and their characterization as well. Also I wish they didn’t add child abuse into the mix? The way they dealt with that issue was pretty bad.
^^ what I mean by that is that I agree it was a bad idea to send suzu off on her own to some unknown place to try and fight off their dad herself that’s very dangerous
just because you emotionally connect to it doesnt make it a technically good movie. you can criticize a film's plotholes, shitty worldbuilding, and jumpy pace while still connecting with the emotional tones. personally, i feel that the "just fight back" message is not only harmful, but also doesn't solve the problem for a lot of instances.
I loved the soundtrack and the visuals, they made Belle look so pretty. It's too bad the story was all over the place, the amount of screen time was not enough for them to fully develop the ideas they had.
I'm late, but personally I love this movie. Does it have it's flaws? Yes. But as a content creator (I write stories on a different app), this resonated with me about online toxicity, social anxiety, the pressure of being a recognized persom, people in digital spaces versus how they are in real life, social anxiety, these sort of things.
I came out overall positive for the movie. But your critique is valid in fact this could’ve been a 75 minute musical with minor plot ironouts but that damn animation was really good and the songs were really good
@@HoshizakiYoshimasa The American audience also gave the film high review on Rotten Tomatoes as well, and that's why I don't trust anything from either critics or audience ever again.
going to be honest this felt like the hosoda movie most directly for children, and that includes the one with the literal toddler. there's almost too much talking about what's happening rather than letting the scenes speak for themselves, scenes from maybe half an hour earlier into the film are cut into the finale as if the audience forgot them, and even the opening should've been moved towards 20 minutes later instead of hosoda blowing his load early, but he clearly wanted to make sure kids wouldn't leave the theatre if they weren't entertained enough. probably going to recommend wolf children or summer wars instead; even boy and the beast was better than this
I liked the movie but felt something was off, then it baffled me to see so many negative thumbnails on UA-cam, but hesitantly watching them I unfortunately agree with most points.
I just watched the movie this afternoon (came out later here in Denmark), and I liked it well enough, but your video, along with a string of others I have just watched, highlight a lot of points (shortcomings) I agree with. It’s not that UA-cam has convinced me to dislike a movie I otherwise enjoyed, but more like something felt off to me from the beginning, and these videos have helped me put some of these issues into words.
I definitely feel like this is a bit too tied to Beauty and the Beast, it barely gives off its own unique spin. As well as the lore is everywhere and left and right, not to mention we barely get to understand each character and all of their personalities. Also it'd be really nice to learn more about the virtual world! About the activities people do, not just in Belle's perspective. This could have so much more potential if they were able to take time on this and implant more understanding of everyone.
Why does everybody keep comparing it as Disney beauty and the beast. the beast was a very rich guy whom wants everybody is beneath him while the dragon wants to prove to himself he's not powerless thats why he's fighting everyone.
Pretty sure it was depicting Child Abuse, not just cyberbullying. And her goal was to save Kei and his brother not just Kei. 6:08 Good thing I'm not. I bought the movie without watching it because Suzu's character seemed interesting in the trailer, and I liked her singing voice. Just from listening, the reason they probably didn't log out was because they preferred their personas, where they were stronger, than their offline lives where they were miserable. They would prefer to stay there as long as possible because they can't really feel physical pain there.
part of me doubts you'll see this because i'm like 2 weeks late from this video's review, but part of me still hopes you Will see this as this is merely my own rebuttal for the movie because i'd love for you to enjoy Belle & just generally hoping this gets you more interested rather than turned down about the movie. Spoilers forewarning (clearly) and i apologize to anyone who reads this because HOLY DAMN, this is gonna get long. 1. "U is a virtual reality app that allows you to ... fly around". as much as i understand this point, the whole point of The World Of U is that it's /virtual reality/ so you can do anything you want in there. that's how Belle can have a concert of a giant audience bubble with whales around & Dragon and his brother can have a castle full of "secret roses". the only limit is your imagination for what can happen inside said world & i think they explored it pretty well throughout the whole movie showing what possibilities can happen inside U as contrast to the simplistic art style of the characters' real lives. there's also definitely life within U with not only the other Virtual Singer but that little show of when there's different remixes of Gales Of Song & Bell in other outfits expresses how creative a multitude of users are not only in changing her outfit as well as rearranging the song to whatever genre they're going for. 2. "there's no stakes because you can just log off". the characters stay dormant with wherever you last place them and this shows after the first night of Dragon screaming at Bell at get out & even shutting the door on her, when she logs back in the next day her avatar is in said castle. otherwise it would be a whole additional thing of her figuring out how to get back to the castle. so getting hit by justin's Interference Beam won't be avoided by logging off because then you're essentially leaving a defenseless husk of the program revealing your identity. 3. "beast has fought 370 players and that's why everyone wants to take him down". yes & that WAS his original life in U but then the justice force all have sticks up their asses and were like "oh this rude user is too terrible, we MUST take him down" and he just kept evading the justice squad until they all interrupted bell's concert and that's what got everyone's eyes on unveiling the beast & knowing more about him. and "just stop using the app" that's like saying to just stop using youtube to watch videos or stop using google as your main search engine; there's most definitely other sites to watch videos & other search engines but these are the ones mostly everyone is using and there's mostly no particular /individual/ reasons as to why but just something we all collectively do. 4. "everything in the movie is too poorly explained & it's two hours long yet nothing feels like anything happened". i think that's just the fact that, like you do state, it never lets you sit down with much of anything but i actually see that as a cool thing. i do agree that the film is rather very fast on first watch, but that's just because i think it explores a lot on the smaller details while rapidly trying to explain the story so the audience can get what the creators wanted to tell. 5. "digital world feels hollow because we never see anything explored and in reality we just see suzu sit around and cry all day". i've already explained U in point 1 so i'm going to skim over that part, but pre - Bell's Creation the whole point is for us to feel just how DESPERATELY depressed and sad and still wrapped up in her trauma of Suzu having lost her mother is. it's not until After creating Bell that we saw her smiling through her day and actually getting anything to experience in her life rather than the gloss - over opening we got of how sad she is every single day. the whole movie is about her transforming which lead to her to help Dragon's "situation". she lost her mother not understanding how she could help some STRANGER rather than caring for her own daughter, she sank in that depression shutting her father out, and when she realizes Dragon is a kid with an abusive father (and when her own father giving her words of encouragement) is when she understands her mother's willingness to help at the risk of yourself. to help someone who, most likely, doesn't deserve your help but kindness is never about what you "deserve" but simply what you can do. and we absolutely see Suzu struggle throughout the film growing into the person who CAN stand up and BE that pillar of kindness in her final song before running off to go save the boys. 6. "we're gonna lose everything we've built with you as Bell". aside from hiroka (the best friend) who said anyone who pays Bell money immediately goes to charity, it's also the whole status Bell has gained as THE number one idol of U and all the more with the alluring question of Who Is Bell?
7. "every character is super two-dimensional" i mean that's not always a bad thing because this is /merely/ two hours. ruka (the pretty girl) is shown off initially as some Proper & Refined Popular Girl but she's humanized the moment she and suzu begin to hang out after she reveals that she chickened out from telling her crush she likes him. kamishin (kayak boy) is a wonderful creation & he's clearly got his own life going on with kayak competitions & having shinobu as a friend and being enough of an idiot to believe the words "i'm rooting for you" as essentially A Love Confession. we never really learn much about shinobu other than he's a basketball player but that's because the entire movie (and suzu's life) has she been putting space between her & shinobu rather than hanging out with him because she was way too awkward as everyone in the whole school put him on a pedestal for being the number one pretty boy. dragon's rage is valid because Abused Kid & he doesn't know how GENUINELY be close with someone because of his father's bullshit and when he states that so many people have "helped" and "gotten through to his father" but none of that clearly ever worked so he can't afford to believe in anyone anymore when getting to know them, but his brother has a very kind heart thanks to dragon always taking care of him but is also soft spoken because That's What Happens When You Have An Abusive Gaslighter & All The More If They're Family You Live With. and then the lack of character interactions i will absolutely agree with BUT this movie IS properly titled Belle: The Dragon and The Freckled Princess, but also with the cast being pretty small and everyone knowing one another By Extension is enough for me but i can understand how it may not be enough for you and everyone. 8. "the plot doesn't get time because the musical numbers are too long". U is the banger promotion song but also really just throws you face - first into the ground of this movie but also to IMMEDIATELY hook every viewer into understanding how beautiful Bell's voice is as well as understanding how good the songs are gonna be. Gales of Song is Suzu venting over her mother but also just having fun with being able to sing again without her anxieties getting to her to the point of physically being so sick she throws up. Lend Me Your Voice is the song she creates after that one teacher's advice of getting Dragon to trust her by writing and singing a song for him. and A Million Miles Away is obvious as the pinnacle of the movie, so none of the songs are a waste of run time and are genuine whole pieces of the movie. 9. "the relationship between Belle & The Beast is so thin" it's literally one anxious girl wanting to know someone who looks so very hurt to her & wanting to know more about him so she can help him, that's why she consistently kept asking "who are you" or bringing up his wounds or how much they hurt. and dragon carries his weight in showing his care for bell by having shown up to rescue her because it means he followed her after he snapped & yelled at her to leave and clearly WANTS to bond and have a relationship with bell but because Abusive Shitty Father over here, he has absolutely no idea what to do with an outsider trying to come into his life and just Be a part of it. the four choir ladies were even like "you've fallen for a bad boy and you think you can change him" which can be one way to interpret the situation but i took it as "suzu has met someone she knows has a lot of shit and she wants to get to know him to understand where all this pain is coming from and help him" and yes it's absolutely hypocritical of her to do so but that was the whole point of her revealing herself & A Million Miles Away. the abuse angle does come late in the game but that's because that's the whole Crux of why Dragon is so strong because he's forced himself to endure the father's beatings as everyone has repeatedly said Dragon is someone violent and with anger issues and a messed up body, more than enough signs of an abused victim. but also i know you said "bring it up halfway and spend the rest of the movie trying to find him" but then we'd just be watching the situation drag on for about an hour or less of her wandering through the city when virtual technology exists which means Technology Overall has upgraded to a level we don't have currently which means there's kinda no excuse for the kids to have not figured out Dragon's place as fast as they do & watching said scene drag on would mean it's taking actual In - Movie time to get to and she's already taking god knows how many hours going from her hometown all the way to tokyo. so then we'd be losing both the virtual reality, the ONLY way suzu has to connect and get to Dragon of which by then he would've shunned her out completly, if not having the father be a good old Cuck in any actual story progression happening. she also never would've revealed herself to let Dragon know who he & his brother are waiting on and there's absolutely No Reason he would have to trust her if she's like "wow your situation is terrible, i promise i'm going to find you and come over" and none of it gonna mean anything if he doesn't even want her help in the first place. Suzu is Bell but without the anxiety & the boy becomes Dragon because he doesn't know anything besides his father's destructive ways. U is a world that enhances what's already there: suzu can create songs & sing but she can't bring herself into the spotlight. the hero squad was SUPPOSED to be devil's advocate in mediation but their leader fell for the idea of "justice" so much that he saw everything as black and white. dragon was also never a beast for safety, it was merely a Getaway distraction from everything he has to deal with reality while suzu was using bell was an outlet because she's finally not constrained; both of them WANTED to keep their identities secret. but dragon's was revealed in her trying to help him & suzu revealing her identity was her ultimate sacrifice when she's an idol and has every reason NOT TO but does it to show how much she truly wants to help dragon rather than saying empty words like everyone else has. that's why when hiroka fought for "everything they were giving up" versus shinobu stating "you trust him, but you have to give him a reason to trust you". anyway i'm more surprised i didn't make it to ten points and to whoever gets here in reading this, i'm so sorry for a lot of restatements i'm pretty sure i've made. and to danny, if you see this then i will applaud you if you've gotten through to the end of these long ass essays and i'm even willing to still talk more about the movie (though i promise it won't be this long) but even if none of this ultimately changes your mind then i hope it at least gets you thinking.
Omg, thank you for taking your time and writing this essay, because you honestly put my thoughts into words in a perfect way. This movie is made to focus on the Belle character because thats what Hosoda initially wanted. Thats why we don't get as much description about Dragon as you would like to I guess? But even with that, we are still being told(by the other characters that commented about the dragon in movie) that the beast is trying to show off his strength, to be strong in this world and obviously going overboard for even the system to handle(thats why they hate him initially), that he is trying to vent in a way, and that's exactly what he is doing. And he won't just quit because U is essentially the most popular social media platform out there. Its like in real life, he is basically reaching out for help. But anyways thats my take on the beast. Im basically retelling everything that the above comment has mentioned. I just wanted to add on that this movie is definitely made to be understood on the smallest detail, idk if that makes sense but basically every detail matters. If you can, rewatch it another time and pay closer attention to the details. Itll be as of you're watching the movie all over again. Every word that is spoken has a meaning behind it and connects to Suzu in a way. Hosoda did an amazing job to tell us enough about this story but also leave a lot for our own interpretation. Anyways, thats all I wanted to add on to the above comment, but thank you again for writing that big essay. It was a relief to see someone that saw the movie the same way I did.
Well said. I saw it 4 rewatches and I kind of distant from how this review lands some of these points, maybe I understood the film my own terms and others just feel frustrated trying to pick apart the story while watching. The first time I seen it, everything flow well altogether, the rewatches, I can piece together what was build up. Even the lesser developed characters like Suzu's friends can be put in their place nicely. Also, I tend to think the choir ladies are the sages or voices of U. They know Suzu was in trouble as Belle, they were in their U app, they knew she was Belle, maybe it's more obvious for them and Shinobu to know, but I don't have my doubt of them any second. Justin is just some All Might wannabe, tell me Hosoda didn't dig his idea elsewhere. Now...King Kazma vs The Dragon, who'd win in a fight?
OMG YASSS, great review thanks soo much I have been following this since the first images but it isn't playing in any cinema's near me AND I'M SOO SADD Hope it'll end up on streaming soon rather than later. Good or bad I want more reviews and opinions
I don’t hate it, but I do agree with some of the stuff your saying!! It was deffently not close to be put it next to “your name”!! But it was good enough to see it in the theatre
You know, the first half an hour I was hooked in right from the get go. Of course anyone who watches anime knows all the beats: cicadas buzzing over quiet mountain backgrounds, tranquil shots of classrooms and other slice of life moments, tragic Naruto-sad-music backstory, understated and underdeveloped supporting characters, shy but strong lead etc etc. But still, When I was in the U I was like: Now this is cinema! And then, you know, the movie just really got cliché and packed in unnecessary details of which I’ll list some: 1) Pointless furry power ranger fight scenes 2) subpar social media satire 3) forced beauty and the beast plot line 4) teen girl fantasy tropes (it comes w the territory so you just gotta go w it) 5) fan fiction characterization 6) an oddly handled domestic abuse storyline 7) trite and tired platitudes: pain equals strength, be yourself, be the person your mother always believed you can be, Believe! 8) one-piece overdramatic hysterics (not everyone has to be crying during the last song mmmmkay) 9) nonsensical underdeveloped ready-player-one-ish VR world 10) exposition dumps 11) too many themes and give-me-a-break red herrings Ok, I can go on. Still, the music and visuals are jaw dropping at times. And it’s enjoyable overall. I would actually say it’s a pretty good whodunnit for most of the time. I was constantly guessing the motivations of various characters (which is more than I can say for Scream) Very watchable actually. It’s Knives out meets ready player one meets typical shojo schlock with a dash of beauty and the beast and any singing competition reality show thrown in for good measure I’m a grown ass man so this is sort of a guilty pleasure for me but I consider myself a broad minded moviegoer willing to see many genres which is why I gave it a chance. Girls will eat this movie up and I don’t blame them. I can see it being a special part of their adolescence which later on they’ll see the flaws of
I really like Suzu and felt like if the whole movie was more about her coming of age and discovering who she is by using the U app, I would have been satisfied. While I enjoy the Beast’s concept, it felt almost pasted into the plot with less time to develop compared to how much screen time they gave Suzu. I at least wanted to know if he was okay after the climax!
Omg thanks for this review, it was just what I needed 😂 after watching this movie I felt so confused. I literally thought I had elapsed during it, because Belle is really messy and pointless. Nothing made sense! But I had heard it was amazing 😢 anyways, the best thing I got out of this experience was knowing your channel, so that’s a win 💕
I just saw it and yeah I was confused with the movie. I like the animation and the songs but the story was confusing. I didn't know if it wanted to show shuzu using the app to hid away from the depression off losing her mother or something else. And it is sad that out off his other films this one was weak. All in all I don't know how to feel about the movie. I like it's songs and animation but it was a mess that I'm trying to find ways to like it.
After watching a few reviews (literally 2) I am a bit sad now and know how it could have been better. the one who helped out with the animation was cartoon saloon. I am sad that the companys behind wolfwalker and wolf children didn't make a fantastic masterpiece. I believe it was the beast part off the story that brought it down. If they cut out that part and focused on shuzu and how she used U to cope then it would be amazing.
The plot specifically the whole abuse plot was so poorly written and even offensive to people who've experienced real abuse, it's almost mocking victims. "yeah bro just have a teenage girl look into the eyes of the abuser it'll all be fixed" "wow I cant believe you looked at my dad and made him cry! I'm gonna be strong like you!!" I can't believe I wasted my time on this film, they really named this movie right, since this film is only beautiful to look at.
Thank you for saying the film does not look all that good. I felt like I watched something different from all the reviewers who've proclaimed how incredible the visuals are.
Everytime I see a bad critic about the movie it comes from someone who just ignore the main topic CHILD ABUSE. This is what the movie is about, don't forget that.
I go over the child abuse stuff a lot in this video though... I think the movie would be REALLY good if it were about child abuse...unfortunately, the child absue stuff doesn't come into play until like 10 minutes before the end of the film and doesn't get explored like at all
The movie was great especially the visuals, the song made me cry but most of the movie also made me feel bored, and I don't know why i never really had a deep connection with the characters, watching this video made me understand why. I hear you at the just log out. I actually wanted the movie to have a Part 2 despite the movie was 2 hour long episode, because the ending was more interesting.
My thoughts on Kei's Father 1) He lied about him being super happy with sons, Kei and Tomo, despite the death of his wife to the public while on the news. 2) He physically, psychologically and verbally abused Kei and Tomo. 3) He assaulted Suzu in the cheek!! That freak of a single father should be held accountable for his abusive behavior!
It's interesting about what you say when it comes to everyone hating on the Beast in the film. You're right, it is strange that they all hate him because in Hosoda's prior film "Summer Wars," the character King Kazma is like the Beast where he fights lots of players and wins most of the time. But like all the players love Kazma unlike the Beast. And idk if I'm remembering it wrong, but I feel like they explain to you all the stuff you can do in the virtual world in Summer Wars.... That's why I feel like this film expects you to have seen Summer Wars, because if anything "Belle" felt like a sequel to to it, so the film assumes you can connect both Summer War's virtual world and the world of U.
I didn't like the path they went with the plot. Like seriously, it felt like it was going down a romantic path, but he ends up being an abused kid. Really?! It's just, weird. And the end felt so unresolved. The movie could have been better off without the beast at all.
Finally someone else who felt the exact same about this movie! I was really excited because the trailer and it's music sounded stunning, but the movie failed to deliver. I believe it was trying to put too much into a 2 hour frame. They needed more exposition to fully flesh out these characters, their motivations, and the setting. Maybe they should have gone with a series instead. Some of the points that I agreed with you on: (1) There was no tension. I also thought she could just log out from the world when she was being pursued or tortured. A parallel you could make is SAO, but their cast was definitely stuck unlike in Belle. (2) I didn't care about the characters because the story didn't either. Suzu's love interest (her childhood friend) was literally just there. Why did she like him, or him her? The movie didn't invest any screen time into the character's relationships so it was impossible for me to connect to them. (3) The twist about the beast's real identity was cool! But for me, I didn't like how Suzu and her friend's treated the situation. Familial abuse is a delicate topic to talk about (let alone handle) and I didn't think that the movie gave the situation the severity it needed. How do we know that the brothers aren't going to be abused again? What's stopping the dad from going further now that he knows that someone has intervened and his sons have told someone? It was very unrealistic, but maybe that's the Disney influence in practice. The movie ended at a point where it honestly needed at least 30 more minutes, but oh well. Hopefully, the studio can learn from this and make better movies in the future. The animators definitely have the talent for it.
I saw this movie some weeks ago, I was confused so much by the transitions and didn't know what was going on at all, the animation is beautiful tho, it was a pretty "meh" movie to me, I'm planning to rewatch the movie in dub so I can try to process it again, cause I see so many people praising it and being like "I CRIED" but I was just like "huh???" I want to understand it.
I would agree with you about the father, and that that situation wasn't handled correctly, but I will say that sometimes it is a little visually cluttered, but I thought you do get to see Suzu enjoy herself as being Belle, because immediately she is relieved that she could finally sing again, and she gets to enjoy that feeling of being able to sing again when she didn't have the confidence to sing before. I will agree, however that themes weren't explored like they should have been, but if you look past that and just see the movie as a story about a young girl trying to find the confidence to be herself after losing her mother in a tragic accident, and finds a mysterious person to help bring her out because of trauma, and helping to try and better her situation without doxxing him, then it's a fantastic story. Oh, yeah, that's another thing, she wasn't trying to dox him at all, from what I recall she didn't want to reveal herself to him, but she did want to find out herself who he was, so that she could try and relieve some of his pain, as she knew she couldn't do everything for him, only what she could. And in the end it gave the boy behind the beast the confidence to tell his father no, and that he won't take anymore from the abusive coward the father really is. It was more so revealing how much of a coward the father was, and now that the beast knows he can stand up to his father, he has the courage to get him and his little brother out of their situation, and better it themselves. As the beast does saw that she truly inspired him. But I'm just defending the movie I love, and saying how I interpreted the movie.
Idk if you're gonna see this, but you need to review Summer Wars. I feel like it addresses concern you presented in this movie. Also, this movie came out way before Belle and you can tell by the art style that it pulls all of it's inspiration from Summer Wars. Please consider
One thing me and a friend didn't like is when the beast goes full rage on some Justice Fighters but the screen is just dark and sound effects, I guess it was "too gruesome"? And yeah, definitely a disappointing ending with the dad, even Suzu's dad gets a "I resolved a problem now I can talk to you" treatment. Sounds understandable, but Suzu's dad litterally has been trying to talk to her the entire movie yet she blows him off, even her childhood friend she supposedly likes (?) All in all, I see the aspects people love about this movie: music and animation
I liked this movie but you’re not wrong about anything. I liked the visuals more than you did though. Then again I had no idea there was any hype behind it I just enjoyed it for what it was.
My personal take on it: visual and audio masterclass. Story-wise, it could've been better delivered for sure, but the messages it conveys and the representation of the Internet and social media struck a chord with me. And I cannot help but marvel at the sheer spectacle, both visually and musically. Could it be a better movie? Yes. Did it move me? Yes. Do I recommend it? Yes, but don't listen to the hype.
I really loved the music but the plot I absolutely agree was overall pretty weak and focused on all the wrong things. One thing that really bothered me was that there was SO. MUCH. going on. Like, how many subplots were there? And yeah the world of U was definitely not built up even a fraction as much as it should have been. They could have thrown in like one scene where they were in a virtual cafe or were playing games or *something*
I'm late to the party, but I agree with just about everything you've said. I found your video because I just saw the movie and wanted to know if I was just being overly critical or if the movie really made no god damn sense. Like I can suspend my disbelief and turn off my brain and just enjoy pretty visuals and music, but I can only do so much. So much of this movie felt like they threw so many ideas at the wall in the hope that they would stick and I've been left more confused than when I went in. I really wanted to like this movie and am beyond disappointed that there was so much potential wasted. Guess I'm just going to listen to the soundtrack and pretend that it's for a better movie.
I was looking for a review like this, this movie is BAAAADDD MAAAAN.. I couldn't even finish it. I have SO many questions, like-Why were the Beasts bruises on the outside of his cape? Why do people's bruises even show up inside the game, on the outside of their clothes?? Belle had absolutely NO reason to become obsessed with the beast. We found out that Belle's friend was the one arranging her music and costumes by them telling us and NOT by them showing us (until the end) So when she stated that her friend was helping her , i was surprised. And HOW did the beast get a castle? From in-game fighting money?? I was surprised that people could even LEAVE the lobby because everyone just seems to be there. The virtual reality world is SO bland and how does it work when people in real life are MOVING and somehow still logged in at the same time? And when the beast was hunched over on the floor, was he getting hit IRL??? Also, i feel like it was weird when every one ended up watching the video of those boys getting abused, because where did those old ladies even come from?? And It was annoying when Suzu was constantly running away from her crush for no reason. I understand the anxiety, but it was annoying, and their relationship is so underdeveloped. It would've been nice if we knew WHY he thinks she's Belle. How long has he been reaching out to her? Since they were kids im guessing? The movie didn't explain any of it. It just kept showing things without explaining them or showing them. They went in depth with almost nothing , and i'm disappointed! This movie had so much potential and so much budget!!
Hey is there any way you can react to Wave? It’s similar to SK8 and is all about surfing. Also absolutely love all of your content it’s so fun to watch!
How about give the ones who haven't watched the movie, a chance to, so they can see for themselves if it is bad or not. Because, I haven't seen it and would sure love too. Don't ruin it for the rest of us. 😠
@@DannyMotta Whoops, sorry. I have a habit of jumping in without knowing my facts. Sorry. But, in my defense, my response was from people like me. People who watch and read things and don't know all the facts first. Again, my apologies 🙏 😕 😅 😔.
Go see it yourself, you might like it differently than what's reviewed here. I mean, you can also see the positive reviews to see the better point of it. I rewatched it 4x already. As far as I can conclude still, it's better than other animated I've seen throughout 2021. You're not gonna get a hard hitting story like Hosoda done with Wolf Children, but this is still good enough.
So to sum it up its just a ready player one and beauty and the beast knockoff with a eh art style and plot that only starts to get good when it’s ending and too late
The first time I saw it I felt like a lot of people did, that parts of the movie felt disjointed and mashed together. The second time was way better, I absolutely love everything about it now. Maybe its because I have a better idea of the shape of the movie but my criticisms from the first viewing are pretty much gone now.
i didn't have that experience (i just loved it the first time), but given how you are so fucking OVERLOADED with visuals and music the first time, it'd be understandable if you missed the many nuances and connections that the film has in it; things you won't miss on repeated viewings since you've already seen the spectacle part
I agree the plot was…odd lol. All in all I still loved it. I think if it was a series or OVA it might have had time to develop like you said. But this is a solid review and it still doesn’t hold a candle to “Wolf Children” but I went into movie hyped on beauty and the beast parallels lol.
idk, I completely understand and kind of agree with your argument, but I feel like somehow because this plot had so many holes it also feels more realistic from suzu/belle’s perspective. The movie is made from her perspective and she doesn’t know what is going on with the beast, and after she “saves” the boys she doesn’t know what will happen next! I feel kind of comforted by the fact that i wasnt just some miraculous perfect ending, instead it being a bit chaotic with a final scene that shows them looking at just an average (though beautiful) sky!
I actually watched the movie for the music and visuals because before belle came over to the states there were already music videos of belle and thats what made me like the movie and in my opinion the movie is still good and I would recomend people go still watch the movie, by the way great video!
While I don’t think you’ve got the idea of the movie, Belle and the Beast is for sure Beauty And The Beast. It paid insane homages to it, but idk if you recognized it wasn’t a love story. You didn’t bring up how Suzu had a life long guilt. Said guilt was the springboard for her story arc with the beast. I do feel cheated on the kids’ backstory, but if it came down to it, you undersold the momentum the story had going for it from that pivotal scene. It wasn’t a b&b story for the sake of redundancy. It was 2 characters being met with a challenge, and one of them had the mechanisms to make it happen fortuitously. All that being said, I didn’t love the 3D outside of the Belle centric scenes. Shot fluidity was off/odd and seemed like they could have focused more time on source material. How to transition in and out of a song etc. Further more, as a man watching this movie, I was really happy to not see the main character not be bullied by the “pretty girl” (who isn’t portrayed as anything but a musical phenom) but rather befriended and confided in by her. It’s a great move, I barely saw any girl on girl bullying, or intimidation. The movie had a good amount of subject matter that I think you didn’t cover, and maybe should consider in your next review. You weren’t off, I just think you missed a lot of what this movie meant in the long run. It wasn’t just another beauty and the beast, but idk, I hope you watch it again.
Story line to the end was cut off. But visually beautiful and music is amazing. I'll take for that only. From trailer and synopsis I got hyped so much, but... the end was so rushed and cliché, Miadzaki style. And the Dragon hunt scene reminded me escape scene from the Howl's Moving Castle.
I see the points you made, but personally I have to disagree. I thought the movie was highly enjoyable, and the music fantastic. Both the English version and the Japanese version of the music had really great singers, and the arrangement of the songs were great. I wasn’t overly concerned about creating more depth to the virtual world, because I didn’t see the movie been truly around that concept, more using the virtual world as a medium to Xpress your true self through its anonymity. Music was such an incredibly big proponent for the main character, because it was used as a way to connect with her mother who she saw die before her very eyes, which is why it was such a difficult thing for her to sing and express her self in the real world. She found that through the virtual world, through the avatar that was created for her, she was able to use that mask to finally connect to the music she’s so loved with her mother, using the music to express a lot of the emotions that have built up through her life. This was also a way for her to emotionally heal overtime, while also getting used to more and more attention as time went on and her popularity skyrocketed. I can also admit that the beauty and beast subplot was one of the weaker elements, but due to the beast actually being a child, I’m glad it didn’t lean too heavily on the usual romanticized story of that, I think this was slightly expressed during the song lend me your voice when she was going to kiss the beast, saw him close his eyes, and she simply hugged him instead. Ask her why the beast didn’t log off, his brother found inspiration in the beast, and the world itself was A way for him to tap in to some of the suppressed anger that he experienced living in such an abusive environment at home. He was also fighting against that guy with the laser whose name I can’t remember, who I saw as a medium of fighting against his father, considering parallels were shown between that guy with the laser and his own father. I found the main idea of the movie to be how people deal with loss, the toxicity that the virtual environment can lead itself to, how people act when they can remain anonymous, expressing themselves without any real world backlash against them. The main character seem to be suffering from severe depression due to watching her mother die, unable to connect to the one thing they shared, until she was finally able to express that due to the very anonymity that others in the movie exploited to be toxic. I completely agree that the movie does have its weaknesses, but I also think that it’s stuck to its main idea, showed her growth as a character with her trying to connect to others, slowly gaining friendships with others, and eventually helping the beast in the real world as well, standing up against his father and giving him inspiration to do the same as well. iMovie wasn’t really about the virtual world in and of itself, it wasn’t really about her fame, and it wasn’t really about the beauty and the beast in and of itself, it was about the things I mentioned before and the complex emotional aspects that people have to go through in their life. I can see that you disagree considering your video, but this is just My two cents and how I saw the movie itself, and why I found it really fantastic to watch, and that it had some really great incredible emotional moments. The music and itself was composed very well, the singers for both the English songs and the Japanese songs respectively shaped the songs very well, and allowed their voice to become incredibly emotive to express what was going on during those sections of the movies. For me, this was definitely a movie I would be more than happy to buy, and who’s soundtracks, again the English and the Japanese version, I bought when I came home. We might disagree on the movie, but I enjoyed your review nonetheless, and hope you have a great day.
Yeah I agree. The reason I think it works well, is because it delivers on the promises it made. Which is a light story, with some emotional moments and good music. It isn't pretending to be a deep and complex story. I think it is important to judge stuff from the context it is made, and it achieves what is is trying to do.
damn. was gonna ask if you could do a review of boy and the beast because i had this long forgotten memory dredged up by a thumbnail, but i guess you already watched it-
I'm so mad because I love this movie so much but please tell me WHAT is BEAST'S MOTIVATION for being in the U??? Like yeah it's prob to get away from real life but idk it would be nice if we see it fleshed out???? Songs, visuals? Nice. Plot? Wow I'm mad
Because I first started watching them when I was an adult I might not have got the real experience of them but I’m one of the only people I know who generally doesn’t like Studio Ghibli films.
So your whole take on what did you work so hard to build 3:34, its the anonymous persona itself, it doesn't need to be fame or money or grandeur, its the idea of restarting life as another "U". Oh and btw there's a line in the move where her friend literally says they wire all the money they make directly to charity so idk how you expect her to be flaunting fancy cars and mansions or smth to show what she's built up and is risking losing. Like did you watch the movie. 3:41 Also you can tell in the movie she does in fact enjoy being belle because she is able to find her voice again and sing, in the scenes before she becomes belle, everytime she is asked to sing she can't or runs away but as bell she can sing Another surface level take 1:50, the just log off bro, its a lot more than logging off, for one, she cant run away from her problems. If she logs back in she'll still be stuck with getting tied down by the green laser man again and again, so logging off solves literally nothing, you're basically telling her to just uninstall "U" forever, but how can she do that when she wants to help the beast??? Also there would be no point in the movie if she did that. You see this take makes zero sense. Literally the only thing that was factually right that you said is that all the people in "U" ever seem to do is fly around, which isn't even that bad of a critic, even if they showed other activites it would make no impact or difference to the story, Belle only goes on to sing, and this is her story after all why would we waste time exploring past it when the movie is about what's going on in Belle's head. I just finished the movie, I only got halfway thru the video, but i feel like you should bring up cultural differences in the beginning, i mean it may not seem so bad in America to get your identity exposed but in east asia it can be a huge deal, a life ending deal, people commit suicide because of it for a fact. This sound like how i would envision an American reviewing this movie tbh. Ill have to find another reviewer, I need REAL critics and not something written in like 5 minutes at 3 am lol
I agree with basically everything you said except the part about the abusive father. I don't think the situation was handled well. First of all, you're telling me all those people just let her go on her own to confront an abusive man? After confronting him, it's unrealistic as to how it was approached. Also, she goes back home but we know nothing about those kids afterwards; were they taken cared of by others??? Did the father face any charges??? ------ Apart from that, there were so many unnecessary characters that contributed the bare minimum to the plot.
Frls
my thoughts exactly!
Same. It was the part I disliked most. I mean this is a man that is okay with tormenting his own children who the oldest isn’t that much younger than Suzu. I have a really hard time believing that kind of full grown man would be intimidated by a scrawny teenage girl who simply stood there and stared at him. I mean maybe if there was other adults watching then I could understand, since abusive people try to avoid acting on violence and aggression when in public so as to avoid getting caught. But then she just leaves the kids like that was enough. The kids already established that their whole problem is people kept saying they would help but didn’t really commit to changing anything. From what I know of abuse it’s VERY difficult to get out of a abusive relationship, especially if it’s child abuse. I really hate to think if anyone thinks it’s that simple to deal with something like child abuse. If they had the second hour be about helping these kids get away from their father without them going somewhere worse, than I probably would have liked it more. But unfortunately this is just one of the reasons I didn’t enjoy the movie. A lot of the reasons I didn’t like the movie is what the video already explained.
You guys are missing the small details, the father wasn’t intimidated he simply realized what he was doing was wrong, and having Suzu confront him was like staring at his wife who passed away assuming why he was abusive to them because of his grief he took it out on his kids, making him realize his actions and therefore reacted in a way like “what am I doing what have I done”
And then the beast says he loves her and they all hug but then she just goes back home to her childhood crush 😭😭
Remember when the abused kid explicitly says that everyone in his life has failed him by hollowly promising to help and then do absolutely nothing other than maybe talk to the dad about it? And Suzu’s ingenious answer is to….do the same thing? If anything she just put those kids in even more danger than ever before. This is like domestic violence 101 for Things Not To Do. Meanwhile, every adult in the room watching and the so called “I’ll protect you” friend all do absolutely nothing as she goes off alone as a young teenage girl to confront a strange man they KNOW is violent!?
Meanwhile this girl is the social equivalent of Lady Gaga and it doesn’t ever occur to her or anyone else “hey, why don’t we use some of our massive social influence and money we’ve been donating to charity to, I don’t know, get these kids in a safer living situation???”
They literally just confront the dad, then leave them there. And the kid is like “Wow, you’ve inspired me to stand up and fight.” He has LITERALLY BEEN FIGHTING THE ENTIRE MOVIE. How much more does this child need to stand up? This is the time for the adults in the room to jump in and intervene and they all do nothing. Those kids are so dead. I’m amazed Suzu didn’t get murdered in the process. What a mess.
YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THIS IS TOO GOOD, this is why I wanted them too show what happened like you said the boy has been fighting all the fucking movie so for him to fight harder I feel like he's going to off the dad in his sleep or get killed by the father my imagination leads me to believe that this whole fiasco would eventually send maybe like CPS to the door step maybe being that there's video evidence but yeah, 300+ wins in pvp , fighting admins, fighting IRL father and probably fighting depression. he cant fight too much harder imo. I do think suzu most likely made it worse for them highkey.
As someone who's been abused the same way Kei has (albeit I've gone through much more extreme stuff) I wholeheartedly agree.
I feel as if this movie was just, really insulting to victims of abuse? Because they completely failed with that ending.
@@pherousa7014 is Keith Kei ? I'm confused
@@SM-ce1uy I meant to say Kei. It was a typo, I apologize.
Whoever wrote and passed this plot clearly does not understand child abuse. In real life, the dad will punch/rape Suzu and the two boys will very likely be dead or half-dead when she shows up.
It's a visually beautiful movie but the plot was messy and senseless exposition. However, I do have to say the crush encounter scene is a masterclass in awkward comedy.
It's funny. That scene was great and was obviously much easier to animate than the rest of the mostly awful movie
that was the best part of the whole frickin movie in my opinion lol. Loved that scene. The rest was very disappointing indeed.
i laughed so hard at that part
Visuals and music wise, I love. The plot? Yeah it's a mess. I honestly wished we had more time for Belle and Beast moments, especially with their real world selves, and ESPECIALLY show what happened to the brothers in the aftermath cause they don't show or say what happened to them. And personally, I wanted BATB romance cause every BATB iteration has romance in it. Overall, once again, I must turn to fanfiction to give me some satisfaction and/or closure on this. At least someone else sees this movie was overhyped and a letdown for most of it. So thnx dude.
I think the twist on the BATB story could have worked, if we get to know a bit more about Dragon/Kei. But what we got felt really hollow and underdeveloped.
@@ryantheanimator1156 Yeah, exactly. Even more reason for me to find and/or write good AU/fix it fanfics on this to give me some satisfaction/closure. Kei is so precious~!
I would try searching for a movie manga based on this story maybe they had made an after story
Think what they should of done was make him an Internet bully that went around trying to hurt people and only belle understood his pain and wanted to reach out cause that's how she felt on the inside. But yah this movie was clearly written by people so out of touch with life it's pathetic. Which is a shame cause style animation and songs this movie does seem to shine on that but everything else yah what a waste. Which is a shame we have all this great things we can do with film and shows these days and now it's an excuse to be lazy with story and plot. Which is something everyone is probably realizing about everything these days is it is all lacking and is trying to get by on effects, music, and action. And that's like now 90 percent of films today. I make this argument with people all the time now. And tell them why I think these films are dumb and there only in a delusional state cause of the effects and bright colors and mind blowing cgi. That's how I felt about a lot of games when PS4 first came out but now it's just a game. And what's sad is ideas are at this point just being repeated but with different actors and themes and costumes and slightly different dialogue.... Yah wakes up people. Films suck these days and only a few maybe go above the rest. Which is what this film gives you a false illusion of trying to go the distance with the songs all being beautiful melodies and very connecting lyrics. Which is why I was interested in watching it but yah these points are things I would of complained about.
I am fine about Belle not having a romance subplot, there were romance sprinkled in it, the thing is unlike the other BATB movies we now next to nothing about Kei/Dragon meaning we don't really give much of a care about what had happened to him, yes it's sad that he and his brother is abused, but that's it. We weren't able to connect to him more. And Geargethe Hernandez I agree, the plot is all over the place I could even skip it like watching a YT video and I'd still get the gist of what's happening. The visuals and the music is the only thing I liked about Belle.
The whole movie to me feels like an example of what happens when you can't bring yourself to cut ideas from the story, which is so weird because I felt like there were ideas that were cut. It was just constantly setup with no payoff. The initial conflict of getting over grief and anxiousness through another outlet? Awesome, but not really explored, so we somehow also resolve that arc...Beauty and the Beast comparison? Intriguing, though not used past giving us an angsty character, when it could have been used better...Jealous singer? Could have been spicy, if the movie cared about her (totally should have been the popular girl)...Justin? A good antagonist, if the movie felt like explaining it's world and exploring his character. (Also totally felt like they were setting up for him to be the abusive father) The movie had so many awesome pieces, but they were just that, cool bits. It didn't feel like it cared about the full experience, just the shiny bits that made it up. Ideas needed to be cut or reworked to make the movie resonate better with itself, but it truly felt like the movie just couldn't bring itself to change anything or explore any one idea too far. It's frustrating to want to like a movie so badly because of its potential but be so frustrated with the final product.
It just needed to be a show rather than a movie.
@@Binks129 AGREED IT NEEDS TOO BE A SHOW WAY TOO MUCH FOR 2 HOURS!!
MY GOD I totally agree, it really felt like there were ideas that were cut from the start. Like at the start I thought that the childhood friend that Suzu liked when they were kids was going to be the Beast, because at the start their relationship was shown as if they were close friends in the past but something or time itself separated them, so I thought that maybe he was really stoic because he had an abusive family or something that made him distance himself from her.
What a let down, i waited for this movie for like two years :(
Absolutely agree. There is so many ideas but it feels like nothing happens. I’m still not even sure why Suzu threw up when she tried to sing. Is it trauma? Is it stage fright? But if it’s stage fright, that seems way too extreme when she’s alone. I mean I have stage fright but I feel perfectly fine if I think I’m completely alone. And gosh they could have really dived into the idea of identity and how people view themselves and each other, especially when there avatars are suppose to show their inner selves. And I wish Suzu’s character grew and that she had a better reason to want to know the beast and- ugh it really is frustrating. What’s worse is beauty and the beast is my favorite story and my favorite theme for other stories so I really wanted to enjoy it😔
Agree. It was disjointed and full of setpieces that didn’t fit/flow.
The pacing of the film was just messy...I was so confused when watching and it feels like so much was left unexplained. Also, does anyone know why the abusive dad was scared when Suzu stared him down??? It was just so random???
have you ever seen a bully confronted by someone who isn't scared of them? especially bullies whose 'power' is entirely based in fear, and double especially bullies who are the way they are because of their own pain/trauma
him falling over is a bit much but him being scared of her is 100% realistic
the absence of fear does WILD things to people who've come to rely on its presence
This movie had so many plot holes and like you said, moments that just didnt make sense or werent fleshed out. I left the theater thinking damn so did the child abuse stop orrrr? lots of moments like that. Or when they were able to locate the kids with buildings in the window? moments like that just felt skipped or neglected.
i disagree on most criticisms people have with this film, but i laughed out loud with the rest of my theater during the "wait a minute....enhance!" bit
i doubt he did it as a campy reference, but damn did it hit like one. hahaha
Also how she found the siblings because she searched the neighborhood and then the little brother just happens to walk around the corner. Like, how did he know she was even coming?
When I watched it, I did feel like there was a scene I missed cause I didn't really get why she cared for the beast other than it's riffing off the fairytale. The music slaps but it's definitely one of the weaker movies by Hosoda.
I mean at the end she mentions it directly to him. He gave her strength to be herself and I love that it subverted the trope of them being together. He gave her something more valuable and personal. The strength to be herself in the face of everyone even if they hate you. I found that so powerful. She learned to do that inspite of what people may think of her because of witnessing and interacting with him.
I thought it was because she recognized that he was a wounded soul because she herself is wounded from losing her mom and so she recognized the signs when she met the beast
she cares for the beast for the same reason her mom cared for the child in the river
that's the entire point of their arc, arguably the entire point of the film itself, made evident by the flashbacks of the river scene during the climax; she always wondered why her mom did what she did, and in that moment she understood because she was literally doing it herself
compassion in our modern, terminally online world
One of the holes that confused me was they kept mentioning the creators of U as if they were some deities. We didn’t get to see them though. Other than that this movie made me tear up and the songs invoked deep emotion.
That got me thinking when I rewatched the film. The choir ladies might be the sages they they be talking about, how they know Suzu is in trouble? They know it's Suzu already. The film is not confusing as it looks. I rewatched it like 3 times already and I'm trying to pin point how this review takes it away. Even the logging out part, I think it makes sense they don't log off because it seem like the avatar body stays dormant in one location if they do, couple scenes where she returns the same place back and forth. Belle could have been unveiled by Justin regardless if she logged off. Maybe it's just me but I see some flaws are actually flaws, some aren't. I do agree the U world should been shown better.
@@michaelfang1393 AGREED !! if she logged off her AS would have been in the same location and like you said they show this literally!!!
That isn’t a plot hole
@@michaelfang1393 omgg i kinda get it.. then can u explained to me why kei/ beast said i love u to suzu? The way they look and hug each other at the end.. it makes me so confused tho the relay between them
Yeah! They kept talking about the 5 voices or whatever and then they turn out to be irrelevant
They wasted a great opportunity there of making the beast... Suzu's father. She completely cut herself off of him, while he must have been undergoing a serious strain - he lost his wife after all. That would've been a much better movie.
OMG YES! I was so hoping the beast to be her dad! Their relationship was so strained and I felt that the only reason they would even put something like that in, would be so that they could extrapolate on the point later. Little did I know, I gave this movie too much credit. Truly wasted chance!
@@mymy6018 Yes, it should have been the basic relationship in the movie and they completely skipped it.
This was 100% what I wish had happened. The fact that her father stepped back and was barely part of the story was ridiculous.
I was thinking the same thing!! To be honest, the whole movie I was just "please don't make Shinobu the Beast PLEASE don't do that cliche!" Which I'm glad they didn't. What happened was a positive direction, but did leave a few questions.
@@Demongunner7 oh yes! I was thinking the same during the movie! :D
My sister and I were having this same conversation. We live in different states so I got to see it first and at first I was like it was great! You should go see it! When she called me a few days later after seeing It and we got to talking about it, i had to admit that I definitely over hyped this film. We were both disappointed by how empty and unfinished it felt.
I have a feeling the disjointed, messy, and non linear progression of the plot wasn’t intentional by the animation team, but I’m glad it worked out.
Boy do I know that feeling with many movies.
Watching Belle felt like watching Summer Wars 2: Electric Boogaloo with the whole flashy avatar open space social media. It's a nice movie if you're a parrot that likes shiny things but the story is really poorly executed especially with the whole child abuse reveal that Belle "solved" by singing it off to everyone, really just a "turn off your brain and look at the shiny things" movie which somehow gets a standing ovation for 14 minutes because Cannes film fest goers are probably pretentious connoisseurs
Also, where are the mods in the app, users like Justian freely wanting to dox people like wtf
You're better off watching his other works like Wolf Children or Mirai instead of this snoozefest.
I don't think the story was poorly executed, I think it was made like that on purpose. It is sort of like a parody of the internet itself, catching people's short attention span and amusing them for a while. I don't have a problem with that, since they are clear from the start. The first scene is literally a girl riding a flying whale and singing. It isn't pretending to be deep, nor promising to be. It is just 'here is a fun musical that is going to have some emotional stuff in it, enjoy the ride'.
If you have watched other Chizu's works (which i assume you have because you are recommending Wolf Chidren and Mirai) then you should know this is likely intentional.
They did the same with Summer Wars (which is my favorite anime movie) and The girl who leapt through time. Those 2 movies, and all of Chizu's works actually, follow the same "Enjoy the ride don't mind our plotholes we like being flashy and emotional" structure.
Belle is far, FAR from being a snoozefest. If anything, the only pretentious one here is you.
Have you considered maybe people just genuinely liked the movie because they were moved by it or
@@Lilitha11 it should come as no surprise that "people on the internet" are completely missing the points and nuances of a movie about people on the internet
@@jordiguerrero9633 nah it was definitely a snooze fest. Just because his other movies are janky doesn’t mean we have to like this one dipshit
I have never laughed so hard in a theater man. I loved the music and art but like it felt so disjointed and all the conflict was so goofy. The nods to the OG Beauty and the Beast were great (Justin/Gaston, the aesthetics inside the castle, the castle raid etc) but it just made it that much more frustrating that they didn’t lean into the relationship between Belle and the Beast. By the end of the film I just felt annoyed because it really could have been a groundbreaking anime but fumbled the bag so hard
(Japanese audience laughs at you)
There will be part 2 of it so they may show what happened to the boys :)
You PROBABLY have. If you were in legit tears, doubled over laughing harder than you ever have before at this movie, you need help. But you didn’t because you’re just a liar wanting internet points
The amount of suspension of disbelief for the entire world of U that the movie is asking from me was too much.
The tech wiz mentioned that all the money went to charity, which makes me confused, is all of Belle's outifts free?? How is she getting all these stadiums???? Does she also have sponsors like Justin? Why the _fuck_ does she have Whale Speakers????????? Why are "the voices" spoken about like otherwordly gods?? How did Beast get his Ai pets?????? Not to mention the amount of conflicts that could be avoided by just LOGGING OFF?????
"Im gonna hit you with this reveal ray"
"Player has disconnected"
What are they gonna do now??????
Honestly, I just looked forward for the story in the real world (Luka's crush on Canoe Guy was more interesting than whatever Justin had going on) and then the songs that played in the world of U.
The songs, characters, visuals, and the fact that I watched it while doing homework so I wasn't paying 100% attention to it made me like the movie enough that it was overall a positive experience.
They didn't explain any of the stuff, since none of it was important to the story. Which was pretty simple, since the story was just an excuse for the songs and pretty visuals. I was actually thinking about this, and the story was one perfectly suited for the medium. Like if you were trying to write a book of this, or even a manga, it wouldn't go any where and would make no sense. However, as an anime you can get away with relying on pretty visuals and music, which is what they did.
It's the internet, I was never under the impression the outfits or stadiums were real. She was internet famous that's it!
If this was maybe a series they could've taken their time to flesh out everything instead making a movie.
Yea nothing in this movie made any sense.
@@Lilitha11 You are describing that as a good thing? Yes, an anime can GET AWAY with having pretty visuals and a good soundtrack… but shouldn’t the story matter too? If you don’t wanna tell a good and cohesive story where shit is actually explained, make a 5 min music video, not a 2 hour animated feature.
Ever watched Interstellar 5555? That movie (while only being barely 1 hour long) had great animation and a great soundtrack by Daft Punk, but it also had a good though basic story about aliens being abducted and disguised as musicians. Goofy yes, but a cohesive story regardless. And one, might I add, that needed no words.
Music was good but it wasn’t enough to carry the whole movie, I wanted to see the characters because they were interesting so I’m glad someone else agreed
That was my problem too. Like there are individual musical scenes that are really well done and out of context, pretty powerful (Lend Me Your Voice being one such movement).
But in context, they’re greatly reduced because they’re weighed down by all the plot holes, the flat characters, and the underdeveloped…EVERYTHING in the movie. Especially because it feels like the director had developed ideas for two separate movies then tried to smash them together into one but didn’t develop either idea. Which sucks because it would’ve made the music and certain scenes even more impactful.
@@tarantrinnaman296 The movies has some good parts that work individually, but when putting them together they fell apart.
This is how I felt about the movie. The *Beauty & the Beast* parallels are the weakest part. Maybe if it didn't lean so hard into them it could have worked better. It probably also would have been better if it didn't take the U app stuff so seriously.
The rules of the app are poorly defined and woefully underdeveloped. How do the users see what's happening in the app? We never see anyone with a headset or anything. Why can't people just log out when things get too dicey?
The soundtrack slaps though.
Totally agree. What I found most insulting was the premise that pain equals strength in the virtual world; if that’s true then the people of Afghanistan would be freaking red super saiyan god mode 😂 hell, I’ve been through more stuff than that abused kid, I’d be like Neo up in that beeatch. Intellectually, I suspect the movie is yet another indication of how isolated and damaged Japan and many western countries have become in the digital age where old values and the family structure (a diminished birth rate) are slowly eroding under the strain of social media and other capitalistic factors. No wonder it was a success in Japan.
It’s so sophomoric and narcissistic if you really think about it. The ready player one vr world was really unexplained (just like that nonsensical movie) and many characters are either underdeveloped or typical teen-girl-fantasy anime tropes.
HOWEVER,
The music and some of the visuals are so damn good that I must say I enjoyed this movie overall. When the movie is high, it’s like walking on a cloud overlooking Narnia. When it’s low, I saw people walking out 🚶♂️ and I almost wanted to join them. I rolled my eyes constantly towards the middle but I stuck around because I knew there was going to be a Sing 2 finale. Still, some of the messages are sweet if on the nose and this movie has enough cinematic flair to be recommended. Yet its abuse storyline is poorly done, and why is this movie throwing in power ranger furries? Why is being unveiled a big deal? I swear, the same illogical laughable problems of ready player one are here front and center
The sequences when she first sings in the vr world and the beauty and the beast one are exceptionally excellent though. Still, I think Ron’s gone wrong handled the dangers of social media in a more cohesive way.
I may watch it again which is more than I can say than nwh or many movies I watched last year. It has a guilty pleasure vibe to it. I have to use up my amc stubs list anyways.
thinking about it an app that reveals your "true self" would make a way better film than this. stalker/roadside picnic for the digital age; why these aren't addressed at all is bizarre
@@richgranados11 I also enjoyed the visuals
Just gonna say that yes Ik the plot has problems I saw that too
SPOILERS
But the stuff about the abused kid, his pain didn't equal his strength... he wanted to be a hero for his little brother and protect him so he ended up like that in the U and his abuse influenced his dirty fighting style.
And also Unveiling didn't matter, the only reason it seemed like it did is because the police guy or whatever made it seem like it was. To control people and make himself look powerful. Then bell showed it wasn't a big deal because you still have that talent and strength you showed in the U, your appearance just changed.
@@weeferwafer2316 Thank you for your response. I did enjoy this film despite being pulled out of it constantly. It doesn’t make sense but I don’t think it matters. Not a bad way to spend two hours and it was quite unique.
However, I could be wrong but I think they did explicitly say that being connected to the U uses your senses so if you are in pain, your strength increases. I don’t know if they meant emotional or physical. But if 5 billion people have avatars, I’m pretty sure they are some even more abused people who should be more powerful.
The part about being unveiled did not make sense to me because people have avatars and often put their real life profiles as well. I mean, just because I have an avatar doesn’t mean I should hide who I really am. Why should Justin’s threats intimidate anyone? Who would take him seriously in the first place unless he were corrupt and could actively ban you or something creditable. Btw, who is Justin? Is he just some power-hungry employee? Again, why should people be scared of being unveiled? It’s like if someone unveiled my world of Warcraft avatar to everyone else. I’d be like… ok, so? You got me!
Like, everyone has Facebook profiles where we put our faces on everyday. Everyone knows the real belle is probably some average school girl anyways. Do people really expect her to be Beyoncé? It’s just very confusing.
yeah honestly the unveiling stuff is confusing now that i think about it... who is justin?? lmao those sponsors did the right thing to stop supporting him
I hear you on the logging off part. But she definitely started smiling and enjoying herself after she became Belle.
(also I think she's "obsessed" with The Beast because she can tell he's hurting because of both of their losses. AND of course the huge spoiler of The Beasts pain)
I feel that. I think the whole video game context just causes too many holes for me. Like, if he were a real beast I'd understand, but a monster fithing in a video game seems pretty natural and seems weird that she'd take notice. I know I'm HARD nitpicking but the context was just so silly to me
But there are literally no stakes. The movie is over dramatic for no reason when they’re just playing a video game.
I just got back from seeing this movie and man I wont lie I hated it. It might be the most "shit just happens" movie I've ever seen. There is no action, no relationship, no plot point in this entire movie that is given space to breathe and get you invested in this movies plot. Like when it vaguely tells you Suzu cant sing anymore because of some trauma with her mom okay fine but then 2 minutes later she enters U and the fist thing she does before even looking around is sing a whole song, get surprised that she sung a song like she had no choice in doing it. Then immediately after her friend is just like so "so yeah Belle is a wold wide sensation." What? When did that happen? Its pretty much rinse and repeat for everything else in the movie.
I gotta disagree with one of your points and thats the confronting the dad scene. Why did a group of adults let a child just go off to Tokyo by herself to let her try to save child abuse victims? How was that ever supposed to go well? Fortunately she stared him down real good and psychically put morals into him or something because the plot never even gets resolved. Did they go into foster care? Did a relative take them away from their abusive household? Its just left as "Good job Suzu you saved them and we'll never have to think of it again :)"
This post is too long so sorry for ranting it up in your comment section this movie just really hurt me to watch. I generally like Hosoda movies. this one just really missed every mark it could.
Thank you for this!!!!
Meh
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Recently saw the movie and I was baffled on how everything is "resolved". The plot is a mess and the characters don´t make sense, but the worst part is that I really wanted to like this movie
Thanks for touching on stuff I do not usually hear about regarding this film. Period specific fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast (back when arranged marriages between girls and old men were a thing) and modernity (like the digital age or the Internet) do not mix. This felt less like an actual "Beauty and the Beast" story (even if I found it too much of a shallow ripoff of the 1991 version for my liking), and more like a teen girl's solo recovery story with the "Beast" as a "side-quest," like one of those extraneous "social links" in Persona.
eh it was still more satisfying than any Evangelion movie
Ah Persona~!
This is basically exactly what I was thinking, I really love the songs, but I was just looking at the screen 👁👁 in pain until the last 15 minutes
I enjoyed this movie but I walked out of it feeling like I got ripped off of what could have been in this movie
It's like I hear your argument and even agree with it but I still like the movie if that makes sense? Maybe I just like to keep myself enjoying things? I don't dislike a lot of things, but I also have a habit of filling the plot holes when I like something enough, you know. I'd say I tend to like things based off of how I feel about it's potential, and my mind can run with anything, was it the best movie I've seen recently?No, is it even in my top 10? No. But I would watch it again and I like it because it evoked feelings from me and it's really hard to find things that do that for me lately. So I agree with all of the problems with it, I just like it anyways you know?
I couldn’t agree with you more. It’s like you wrote my exact thoughts.
So many question marks
I agree with you one hundred- I was filling in a lot of the things with imagination and reading between the lines mostly. I loved the movie tbh.
Don’t let UA-camr get to your head. I loved the movie as well despite its flaws. You can still enjoy things that are not “perfect”
@@motcUS lol… thank God I’m not subscribed.
I read and heard so many good reviews about the movie and I thought, "Great, lemme check it out!" Then I ended up disliking the movie, so much so I wondered if something was wrong with me. Everyone seemed to love it, people said they cried and here I am, someone who cries in almost every film I watch because I get invested into the show/movie...and yet I felt nothing for Belle. It made me analyze the show so critically that I ended disliking it even more. It isn't the worst movie but it just felt empty, uncompleted almost. Love the songs though. 😶
Nope films just have been mostly crap. Free guy was the only film I saw that I actually liked everything else was terrible. In one way or another. They all feel empty or terrible.
@@Aaron_Heininger i’m getting real tired of soundstage location shooting. Like I can tell when backgrounds are screens or CG and I hate it. Take me back to the days of filming ON LOCATION
I got used to anime films having plot holes and unresolved romances (see final Evangelion film) so just dealt with that part separately. The animation was very good for modern standards (most are downright visually painful) and the MC was really someone young girls could identify with
I feel you dude. It was so difficult for me to pay attention to everything because the plot holes was so jarring I honestly just waited for the movie to finish. Good thing I didn’t see it in theaters
Literally exactly how I felt. I was so confused as to why I didn’t like the movie and basically ranted off about it to my dad in order to understand why it was bothering me so much. So your definitely not alone. It feels like it’s trying to be deep but I feel like I’m getting nothing out of it except that the animation is beautiful and the music is good. But that just makes me more disappointed. And when it wants me to feel something I felt like it just didn’t earn it. But I really wanted to like it and enjoy and it honestly sounded like something I would usually love… but it does nothing for me. And I really like summer wars and I know that movie isn’t that good but it’s at least was a really fun movie. But Belle wasn’t trying to be fun and what it was going for it shouldn’t be fun. I wish I could say it made me feel as much as wolf children made me feel.
Also, is nobody gonna bring up that one of the ladies Suzu works with wrote a song for an edgy 8th grader when she was a senior?
Definitely an overlooked aspect
I wonder how this film got 95% on rotten tomatoes. I've never felt so disconnected on a film before.
There are two scenes where the nothing moves for literally over a minute... While characters are talking. There was no romance. No sincere plot. Total downer.
My thoughts on this movie is the same way I feel about “A silent voice” or “Eternals”. It’d be better as a series. The themes are there but you just can’t pack it all in just 2 hours.
a silent voice can work on its own as a movie - it doesnt have much going on like eternals and belle. eternals has too much lore to pack in a movie. belle tried to cover too many topics that are far too complex issues to deal with in one movie.
@@amelianekomimi1936 Not really, they could have developed the other characters better. Like the red haired guy, Shoya becoming bullied being fleshed out instead of a montage, and Shoko’s spiral into her own depression.
The manga is fantastic but the movie skims or even skips key moments.
The movie is good. But like I said. It’d be better as a series. More time with the characters and more time to spread the message you’re trying to send.
You read my mind. Definitely felt the same way about Promare.
@@amelianekomimi1936 True. They just piled everything in and didn’t bother ironing out the kinks
I don't know about the eternals as I never watched it but A silent voice works just fine as a movie.
The characters and plot of this movie are so messed up that at one point I thought that those 5 choir ladies were the 5 voices this movie talks about so much
Fantastic review dude. I watched the movie yesterday and literally named the issues in the same order you did. I was feeling crazy for disliking it since all the other reviewers and critics keep trying to excuse it's mediocrity.
The poster of the movie... they're trying to sell an image to the audience even though the movie really focus on the trauma and her own character. Also the camera never go too far away from Suzu so when she came home, it counted as "happy ending" and we didn't get to see what happened to them on the other side.
The last song really felt like it was for and about her mother
I thought it was going to be beauty and the beast too but it turned out to be a whodunnit (or should I say whoisit) at its core with so many threads that it’s maddening. It was more in line with that monte cristo anime series which I really liked. But that was a show and it at least tried to flesh out its story. I feel like Japanese writers have a tendency to cram in way too many themes and exposition that the movie can handle in an effort to cater (or pander if you’re cynical) to their audience. Then they forget about it and move on to something else. Belle is amazing musical numbers then exposition, exposition, exposition, school romance, family drama, mystery, musical, furry action, etc etc.
There are jaw dropping scenes in this movie, scenes that made the hair on my arm stand up, moments where I felt more connected to a movie than anything I saw last year. And then the movie got more disjointed and not in a wonderful licorice pizza way, but in a 🤦♂️ one.
Still it’ll probably be my top guilty pleasure of 2022. I can imagine myself listening to the soundtrack while sipping wine and reading a Haruki Murakami novel about a protagonist expressing profound existential concepts of love, loss, nostalgia, and hate. Now that’s how you treat yoself!
Homie I gotta say I usually agree with your thoughts but I disagree hard on this one. The whole point of the movie is Suzu understanding her mom’s sacrifice. Her mom died protecting a stranger and the whole movie is her following that same journey without realizing she’s been doing it the whole time.
Edit: Also she learns that her anger at her mom isn’t fair because there are really fucking shitty people in the world and at least her dead mom doesn’t abuse her. U is supposed to pull out the hidden power of a person and reflect it but all she sees is this cool boss looking dude being a troll and hiding.
She hides in her real life and helping him is a way to distract herself from her own grief. That’s why the movie’s plot kinda pops up out of nowhere because that’s exactly how it occurs to Suzu too. She’s been hating her mom for leaving her while being unable to realize that her mom didn’t leave her, her mom just couldn’t stand by while a kid died. All this time hating her mom for dipping and she turns around and does the same fucking thing because it’s what’s the morally right thing to do.
Personally, while I do think it’s a little overhyped, I do think it’s still a really solid film. The music and animation were really good, and overall I liked the story. I think my main issue with it was that they didn’t flesh out their side characters nearly as much as they could have.
I slightly agree. Some of the side characters certainly didn't have much going for them, but they were still enjoyable to watch and fulfilled their roles of being supporting characters. I guess my main issue with this film is that the world of U didn't feel that fleshed out, and the technology was only touched on briefly a few times. However, I do feel that 2 hrs of runtime is massive for animated film, and I suspect that Hosoda probably wanted to utilize as much of that runtime mainly on Suzu's struggles, her journey of growth, and her relationship with the Beast. While there is very limited lore bits and explanation behind U, I still found the world fascinating and think this is one of those stories that's best viewed with a mindset that you have to role with how things work and focus more on the plot itself.
I don't think it's overhyped. I think it's underrated. Encanto is overhyped imo and Danny thinks it's the better animation Disney has done all year round (his other video about Encanto's review). I agree on some takes but this one about the hype I'm gonna disagree on more since Belle does not reach the big audiences outside Japan.
@@michaelfang1393 normally, I would agree with you, but all the major anime distribution groups that are in the US are sucking the dick of Belle right now. Gkids especially, is acting like it’s the second coming of Christ.
@@thebasementweeb4909 Funimation already been getting it all when they had Mugen Train up.
@@michaelfang1393 Mugen Train was also the highest grossing film of 2020 and Demon Slayer is a massively popular series. Plus, Mugen Train didn't have the same problems as Belle. Mugen Train is about characters that are already established, and it continues the story of Demon Slayer. It's a fundamentally different type of movie than Belle. I personally liked Mugen Train more.
I made a lot of these same criticisms post-watch, with my sibling being way harsher on it than me. I dunno, I just appreciate the earnestness? I also appreciate that the movie fell short of representing what they clearly had developed and written, rather than the movie being a mess due to not having enough there. They clearly had a strong vision for the world they were building and had well developed ideas that they wanted to expand on.
Edit: I will say that the story would have been much better if they cut the friends thing and had her be much more alone and developed as a musician instead of having some crazy computer whiz producing all her songs. It should have focused more on suzu becoming more distant and living in the world of U to escape from the real world.
I agree, I think it is really earnest and honest and While I agree, the plot threads are bit messy but... the animation and music in a movie theater just, drew so much emotion from me
Agree. When I read she was a shy girl, I didn’t expect her to be surrounded by friends. I mean Suzy even realizes late in the movie that the guy (forgot name) didn’t propose when they were 6y but just wanted to protect her from bullies. Umm… what bullies? We never see her having any troubles in school.
I agree... I saw all these positive reviews and was hyped to watch it. Went in with high expectations only to be let down with a hell hole of plot holes and cringe... I love the music and visuals but that's all it had. The actions of the characters didn't make sense bc there was hardly any motives for them to act in such a way and everyone's reaction was just overly dramatic. Everything was just so convenient for the main characters. Tbh hot take ig but the movie just sucked. Made no sense. My favorite scene was the confession scene which I thought was awkward and cute which is sad cuz it has nothing to do with the main plot of the movie... even that confrontation with the dad was just awkward and cringe like why is he just standing there and suddenly crawls away just cuz a little girl he don't even know standing over his kids? Ugh.
I think a lot of people missed that the point of this plot wasn’t romance at all, it’s about Suzu overcoming grief and trauma in her own way, with the gradual help of some people, and coming to understand why her mom made that decision to save a stranger, by unknowingly doing the same thing.
For me, as someone whose gone through a lot of trauma at a young age, and whose mom left her behind with an abuser when she had to go work in another state or travel all the time, I resented her so much and hated it and it wasn’t until I got older and realized everything else that happens in life and why she may have done what she did. I was able to gain clarity through similar situations and eventually come back to her and reconcile, and that was part of what made this so poignant for me.
I’ve seen other reviews that call Suzu a spoiled brat or call her selfish or inconsiderate or call it a bad plot because her dad was obviously depressed too and just wanted to talk but 1) she was clearly torn up by her mom being gone, as you can see her mom was the central focus in so many flashbacks with her dad not being there, 2) Asian dads are notoriously bad at communicating their feelings, so how do you expect a child that went through that sort of trauma to grow up with healthy coping skills and learn how to deal with grief when her own father’s means of expressing emotions is just subtle gestures like giving fruit or offering dinner or rides? He’s not really providing solace, and that’s a cultural aspect a lot of people don’t take into consideration.
It also makes sense to me that her friends or other characters aren’t as fleshed out, when you’ve dealt with that kind of trauma, you’re often in your own world or focused just on trying to get through the day, you don’t spend as much time building a ton of deep connections, although we see Suzu being able to open up more later.
Regarding the plot feeling jumpy or people feeling like the beast thing was just thrown in.. a lot of people who go through trauma end up being the type to be drawn to other damaged people and trying to help them or fix them, unfortunately I know that from experience. (Trauma-bonding anyone?) Sometimes you just meet someone and something clicks and you just want to know them and help them and fix them. HELL even the original beauty and the beast was her feeling bad and wanting to help and fix him, this take made kinda enjoy the story a bit more because it’s not like the Beast locked her up, more just shut her out because hell, if you’re abused for so long, you start to believe nothing can help.
I do agree that it was stupid of the ladies not to at least go with her and make sure she’s safe, that seems like a no brainer.
As far as the abusive dad’s reaction goes, other people are calling it fake or unrealistic, but as someone with an abusive father who got off bullying his kid and bringing them down in front of others who were too scared to argue, you’d be surprised what can happen when someone actually stands up to them after catching them in the act, my dad would run scared with his tail between his legs. Plus I like to believe that because Suzu witnessed it happening and he attacked her as well that it would have been enough to make sure they were taken into protective custody, but that’s just me. (I will contend that him falling back on his ass was a bit much though)
Just because it’s not a nice put-together plot that you’re used to for spectacular anime hits doesn’t mean it’s not telling a realistic story, and to be honest that’s why my friends and I loved it, because of the way it captures the process of grieving and coping that a lot of us have gone through and relate to. Healing is messy, non-linear, and sporadic, but sometimes you’ll find one person or thing that jump-starts you to finally push through and gives you the strength or the means to change and grow.
Yes, it would’ve worked better as a series, but for a 2 hour movie this did a good job of what it was intended for.
I had a feeling the messy, non linear, and sporadic plot was not intentional, but I’m glad it worked out
refreshing to see someone with a good take in this thread. (you're legit the only the other person i've seen in the entire discourse who recognized the connection to her mother's actions)
also, while i didn't have an abusive father, that bully personality is pretty universal, so i instantly recognized it; i think the falling over bit was just to emphasize that reaction, not to be realistic
anyway, i think the biggest issue between this film and some in the "western anime fandom" is that it's not only more 'cinema' than it is 'anime movie', but it's also more Japanese than it is International, the latter especially being something i expect anime/manga to trend toward more and more, just like JP games and music have largely both done already
The overcoming grief part was top notch. Suzus arc was pretty well done, but basically at the cost of screen time for every other character and their characterization as well. Also I wish they didn’t add child abuse into the mix? The way they dealt with that issue was pretty bad.
^^ what I mean by that is that I agree it was a bad idea to send suzu off on her own to some unknown place to try and fight off their dad herself that’s very dangerous
just because you emotionally connect to it doesnt make it a technically good movie. you can criticize a film's plotholes, shitty worldbuilding, and jumpy pace while still connecting with the emotional tones.
personally, i feel that the "just fight back" message is not only harmful, but also doesn't solve the problem for a lot of instances.
I cried a lot when watching it… but the story was hard to follow. Visuals, animation and music spot on but the story was confusing…
I loved the soundtrack and the visuals, they made Belle look so pretty. It's too bad the story was all over the place, the amount of screen time was not enough for them to fully develop the ideas they had.
The screen time wasn’t the issue. Severely unnecessary scenes could’ve been cut to make room for what mattered.
I'm late, but personally I love this movie. Does it have it's flaws? Yes. But as a content creator (I write stories on a different app), this resonated with me about online toxicity, social anxiety, the pressure of being a recognized persom, people in digital spaces versus how they are in real life, social anxiety, these sort of things.
I came out overall positive for the movie. But your critique is valid in fact this could’ve been a 75 minute musical with minor plot ironouts but that damn animation was really good and the songs were really good
The moive basically went like this:
beginning- pretty good
middle- completely dog shit
last part- REALLY REALLY GOOD
Great review! I agree with everything you said. I enjoyed the trailer more to be honest. My favorite parts were her singing.
Finally a review that I agree with, as a fan of Hosoda's Summer Wars I was super hyped for Belle, but sadly I came out disappointed.
Same
The Japanese audience has the exact opposite reaction. Majority says this surpasses Summer Wars
@@HoshizakiYoshimasa The American audience also gave the film high review on Rotten Tomatoes as well, and that's why I don't trust anything from either critics or audience ever again.
going to be honest this felt like the hosoda movie most directly for children, and that includes the one with the literal toddler. there's almost too much talking about what's happening rather than letting the scenes speak for themselves, scenes from maybe half an hour earlier into the film are cut into the finale as if the audience forgot them, and even the opening should've been moved towards 20 minutes later instead of hosoda blowing his load early, but he clearly wanted to make sure kids wouldn't leave the theatre if they weren't entertained enough. probably going to recommend wolf children or summer wars instead; even boy and the beast was better than this
Thank you for this. Could not understand why people are treating this like it is the best anime movie
I liked the movie but felt something was off, then it baffled me to see so many negative thumbnails on UA-cam, but hesitantly watching them I unfortunately agree with most points.
I just watched the movie this afternoon (came out later here in Denmark), and I liked it well enough, but your video, along with a string of others I have just watched, highlight a lot of points (shortcomings) I agree with. It’s not that UA-cam has convinced me to dislike a movie I otherwise enjoyed, but more like something felt off to me from the beginning, and these videos have helped me put some of these issues into words.
I definitely feel like this is a bit too tied to Beauty and the Beast, it barely gives off its own unique spin.
As well as the lore is everywhere and left and right, not to mention we barely get to understand each character and all of their personalities. Also it'd be really nice to learn more about the virtual world! About the activities people do, not just in Belle's perspective. This could have so much more potential if they were able to take time on this and implant more understanding of everyone.
Why does everybody keep comparing it as Disney beauty and the beast.
the beast was a very rich guy whom wants everybody is beneath him while the dragon wants to prove to himself he's not powerless thats why he's fighting everyone.
Pretty sure it was depicting Child Abuse, not just cyberbullying. And her goal was to save Kei and his brother not just Kei.
6:08 Good thing I'm not. I bought the movie without watching it because Suzu's character seemed interesting in the trailer, and I liked her singing voice.
Just from listening, the reason they probably didn't log out was because they preferred their personas, where they were stronger, than their offline lives where they were miserable. They would prefer to stay there as long as possible because they can't really feel physical pain there.
part of me doubts you'll see this because i'm like 2 weeks late from this video's review, but part of me still hopes you Will see this as this is merely my own rebuttal for the movie because i'd love for you to enjoy Belle & just generally hoping this gets you more interested rather than turned down about the movie. Spoilers forewarning (clearly) and i apologize to anyone who reads this because HOLY DAMN, this is gonna get long.
1. "U is a virtual reality app that allows you to ... fly around". as much as i understand this point, the whole point of The World Of U is that it's /virtual reality/ so you can do anything you want in there. that's how Belle can have a concert of a giant audience bubble with whales around & Dragon and his brother can have a castle full of "secret roses". the only limit is your imagination for what can happen inside said world & i think they explored it pretty well throughout the whole movie showing what possibilities can happen inside U as contrast to the simplistic art style of the characters' real lives. there's also definitely life within U with not only the other Virtual Singer but that little show of when there's different remixes of Gales Of Song & Bell in other outfits expresses how creative a multitude of users are not only in changing her outfit as well as rearranging the song to whatever genre they're going for.
2. "there's no stakes because you can just log off". the characters stay dormant with wherever you last place them and this shows after the first night of Dragon screaming at Bell at get out & even shutting the door on her, when she logs back in the next day her avatar is in said castle. otherwise it would be a whole additional thing of her figuring out how to get back to the castle. so getting hit by justin's Interference Beam won't be avoided by logging off because then you're essentially leaving a defenseless husk of the program revealing your identity.
3. "beast has fought 370 players and that's why everyone wants to take him down". yes & that WAS his original life in U but then the justice force all have sticks up their asses and were like "oh this rude user is too terrible, we MUST take him down" and he just kept evading the justice squad until they all interrupted bell's concert and that's what got everyone's eyes on unveiling the beast & knowing more about him. and "just stop using the app" that's like saying to just stop using youtube to watch videos or stop using google as your main search engine; there's most definitely other sites to watch videos & other search engines but these are the ones mostly everyone is using and there's mostly no particular /individual/ reasons as to why but just something we all collectively do.
4. "everything in the movie is too poorly explained & it's two hours long yet nothing feels like anything happened". i think that's just the fact that, like you do state, it never lets you sit down with much of anything but i actually see that as a cool thing. i do agree that the film is rather very fast on first watch, but that's just because i think it explores a lot on the smaller details while rapidly trying to explain the story so the audience can get what the creators wanted to tell.
5. "digital world feels hollow because we never see anything explored and in reality we just see suzu sit around and cry all day". i've already explained U in point 1 so i'm going to skim over that part, but pre - Bell's Creation the whole point is for us to feel just how DESPERATELY depressed and sad and still wrapped up in her trauma of Suzu having lost her mother is. it's not until After creating Bell that we saw her smiling through her day and actually getting anything to experience in her life rather than the gloss - over opening we got of how sad she is every single day. the whole movie is about her transforming which lead to her to help Dragon's "situation". she lost her mother not understanding how she could help some STRANGER rather than caring for her own daughter, she sank in that depression shutting her father out, and when she realizes Dragon is a kid with an abusive father (and when her own father giving her words of encouragement) is when she understands her mother's willingness to help at the risk of yourself. to help someone who, most likely, doesn't deserve your help but kindness is never about what you "deserve" but simply what you can do. and we absolutely see Suzu struggle throughout the film growing into the person who CAN stand up and BE that pillar of kindness in her final song before running off to go save the boys.
6. "we're gonna lose everything we've built with you as Bell". aside from hiroka (the best friend) who said anyone who pays Bell money immediately goes to charity, it's also the whole status Bell has gained as THE number one idol of U and all the more with the alluring question of Who Is Bell?
7. "every character is super two-dimensional" i mean that's not always a bad thing because this is /merely/ two hours. ruka (the pretty girl) is shown off initially as some Proper & Refined Popular Girl but she's humanized the moment she and suzu begin to hang out after she reveals that she chickened out from telling her crush she likes him. kamishin (kayak boy) is a wonderful creation & he's clearly got his own life going on with kayak competitions & having shinobu as a friend and being enough of an idiot to believe the words "i'm rooting for you" as essentially A Love Confession. we never really learn much about shinobu other than he's a basketball player but that's because the entire movie (and suzu's life) has she been putting space between her & shinobu rather than hanging out with him because she was way too awkward as everyone in the whole school put him on a pedestal for being the number one pretty boy. dragon's rage is valid because Abused Kid & he doesn't know how GENUINELY be close with someone because of his father's bullshit and when he states that so many people have "helped" and "gotten through to his father" but none of that clearly ever worked so he can't afford to believe in anyone anymore when getting to know them, but his brother has a very kind heart thanks to dragon always taking care of him but is also soft spoken because That's What Happens When You Have An Abusive Gaslighter & All The More If They're Family You Live With. and then the lack of character interactions i will absolutely agree with BUT this movie IS properly titled Belle: The Dragon and The Freckled Princess, but also with the cast being pretty small and everyone knowing one another By Extension is enough for me but i can understand how it may not be enough for you and everyone.
8. "the plot doesn't get time because the musical numbers are too long". U is the banger promotion song but also really just throws you face - first into the ground of this movie but also to IMMEDIATELY hook every viewer into understanding how beautiful Bell's voice is as well as understanding how good the songs are gonna be. Gales of Song is Suzu venting over her mother but also just having fun with being able to sing again without her anxieties getting to her to the point of physically being so sick she throws up. Lend Me Your Voice is the song she creates after that one teacher's advice of getting Dragon to trust her by writing and singing a song for him. and A Million Miles Away is obvious as the pinnacle of the movie, so none of the songs are a waste of run time and are genuine whole pieces of the movie.
9. "the relationship between Belle & The Beast is so thin" it's literally one anxious girl wanting to know someone who looks so very hurt to her & wanting to know more about him so she can help him, that's why she consistently kept asking "who are you" or bringing up his wounds or how much they hurt. and dragon carries his weight in showing his care for bell by having shown up to rescue her because it means he followed her after he snapped & yelled at her to leave and clearly WANTS to bond and have a relationship with bell but because Abusive Shitty Father over here, he has absolutely no idea what to do with an outsider trying to come into his life and just Be a part of it. the four choir ladies were even like "you've fallen for a bad boy and you think you can change him" which can be one way to interpret the situation but i took it as "suzu has met someone she knows has a lot of shit and she wants to get to know him to understand where all this pain is coming from and help him" and yes it's absolutely hypocritical of her to do so but that was the whole point of her revealing herself & A Million Miles Away. the abuse angle does come late in the game but that's because that's the whole Crux of why Dragon is so strong because he's forced himself to endure the father's beatings as everyone has repeatedly said Dragon is someone violent and with anger issues and a messed up body, more than enough signs of an abused victim. but also i know you said "bring it up halfway and spend the rest of the movie trying to find him" but then we'd just be watching the situation drag on for about an hour or less of her wandering through the city when virtual technology exists which means Technology Overall has upgraded to a level we don't have currently which means there's kinda no excuse for the kids to have not figured out Dragon's place as fast as they do & watching said scene drag on would mean it's taking actual In - Movie time to get to and she's already taking god knows how many hours going from her hometown all the way to tokyo. so then we'd be losing both the virtual reality, the ONLY way suzu has to connect and get to Dragon of which by then he would've shunned her out completly, if not having the father be a good old Cuck in any actual story progression happening. she also never would've revealed herself to let Dragon know who he & his brother are waiting on and there's absolutely No Reason he would have to trust her if she's like "wow your situation is terrible, i promise i'm going to find you and come over" and none of it gonna mean anything if he doesn't even want her help in the first place. Suzu is Bell but without the anxiety & the boy becomes Dragon because he doesn't know anything besides his father's destructive ways. U is a world that enhances what's already there: suzu can create songs & sing but she can't bring herself into the spotlight. the hero squad was SUPPOSED to be devil's advocate in mediation but their leader fell for the idea of "justice" so much that he saw everything as black and white. dragon was also never a beast for safety, it was merely a Getaway distraction from everything he has to deal with reality while suzu was using bell was an outlet because she's finally not constrained; both of them WANTED to keep their identities secret. but dragon's was revealed in her trying to help him & suzu revealing her identity was her ultimate sacrifice when she's an idol and has every reason NOT TO but does it to show how much she truly wants to help dragon rather than saying empty words like everyone else has. that's why when hiroka fought for "everything they were giving up" versus shinobu stating "you trust him, but you have to give him a reason to trust you".
anyway i'm more surprised i didn't make it to ten points and to whoever gets here in reading this, i'm so sorry for a lot of restatements i'm pretty sure i've made. and to danny, if you see this then i will applaud you if you've gotten through to the end of these long ass essays and i'm even willing to still talk more about the movie (though i promise it won't be this long) but even if none of this ultimately changes your mind then i hope it at least gets you thinking.
Omg, thank you for taking your time and writing this essay, because you honestly put my thoughts into words in a perfect way. This movie is made to focus on the Belle character because thats what Hosoda initially wanted. Thats why we don't get as much description about Dragon as you would like to I guess? But even with that, we are still being told(by the other characters that commented about the dragon in movie) that the beast is trying to show off his strength, to be strong in this world and obviously going overboard for even the system to handle(thats why they hate him initially), that he is trying to vent in a way, and that's exactly what he is doing. And he won't just quit because U is essentially the most popular social media platform out there. Its like in real life, he is basically reaching out for help. But anyways thats my take on the beast. Im basically retelling everything that the above comment has mentioned. I just wanted to add on that this movie is definitely made to be understood on the smallest detail, idk if that makes sense but basically every detail matters. If you can, rewatch it another time and pay closer attention to the details. Itll be as of you're watching the movie all over again. Every word that is spoken has a meaning behind it and connects to Suzu in a way. Hosoda did an amazing job to tell us enough about this story but also leave a lot for our own interpretation. Anyways, thats all I wanted to add on to the above comment, but thank you again for writing that big essay. It was a relief to see someone that saw the movie the same way I did.
I meant for the creator of this video to rewatch the movie lol, sorry
Well said. I saw it 4 rewatches and I kind of distant from how this review lands some of these points, maybe I understood the film my own terms and others just feel frustrated trying to pick apart the story while watching. The first time I seen it, everything flow well altogether, the rewatches, I can piece together what was build up. Even the lesser developed characters like Suzu's friends can be put in their place nicely.
Also, I tend to think the choir ladies are the sages or voices of U. They know Suzu was in trouble as Belle, they were in their U app, they knew she was Belle, maybe it's more obvious for them and Shinobu to know, but I don't have my doubt of them any second.
Justin is just some All Might wannabe, tell me Hosoda didn't dig his idea elsewhere.
Now...King Kazma vs The Dragon, who'd win in a fight?
It made me cry but after I let it sink in I realized there was a ton of plot holes
OMG YASSS, great review thanks soo much
I have been following this since the first images but it isn't playing in any cinema's near me AND I'M SOO SADD
Hope it'll end up on streaming soon rather than later. Good or bad I want more reviews and opinions
It's more of a cross between Beauty and the beast and Summer Wars. Except like you said they don't really explain the U app.
I don’t hate it, but I do agree with some of the stuff your saying!! It was deffently not close to be put it next to “your name”!! But it was good enough to see it in the theatre
You know, the first half an hour I was hooked in right from the get go. Of course anyone who watches anime knows all the beats: cicadas buzzing over quiet mountain backgrounds, tranquil shots of classrooms and other slice of life moments, tragic Naruto-sad-music backstory, understated and underdeveloped supporting characters, shy but strong lead etc etc.
But still, When I was in the U I was like: Now this is cinema!
And then, you know, the movie just really got cliché and packed in unnecessary details of which I’ll list some:
1) Pointless furry power ranger fight scenes
2) subpar social media satire
3) forced beauty and the beast plot line
4) teen girl fantasy tropes (it comes w the territory so you just gotta go w it)
5) fan fiction characterization
6) an oddly handled domestic abuse storyline
7) trite and tired platitudes: pain equals strength, be yourself, be the person your mother always believed you can be, Believe!
8) one-piece overdramatic hysterics (not everyone has to be crying during the last song mmmmkay)
9) nonsensical underdeveloped ready-player-one-ish VR world
10) exposition dumps
11) too many themes and give-me-a-break red herrings
Ok, I can go on. Still, the music and visuals are jaw dropping at times. And it’s enjoyable overall. I would actually say it’s a pretty good whodunnit for most of the time. I was constantly guessing the motivations of various characters (which is more than I can say for Scream) Very watchable actually.
It’s Knives out meets ready player one meets typical shojo schlock with a dash of beauty and the beast and any singing competition reality show thrown in for good measure
I’m a grown ass man so this is sort of a guilty pleasure for me but I consider myself a broad minded moviegoer willing to see many genres which is why I gave it a chance. Girls will eat this movie up and I don’t blame them. I can see it being a special part of their adolescence which later on they’ll see the flaws of
I agree with your comment!!
I really like Suzu and felt like if the whole movie was more about her coming of age and discovering who she is by using the U app, I would have been satisfied. While I enjoy the Beast’s concept, it felt almost pasted into the plot with less time to develop compared to how much screen time they gave Suzu. I at least wanted to know if he was okay after the climax!
I just like the music, it's fucking beautiful.
Omg thanks for this review, it was just what I needed 😂 after watching this movie I felt so confused. I literally thought I had elapsed during it, because Belle is really messy and pointless. Nothing made sense! But I had heard it was amazing 😢 anyways, the best thing I got out of this experience was knowing your channel, so that’s a win 💕
I just saw it and yeah I was confused with the movie. I like the animation and the songs but the story was confusing. I didn't know if it wanted to show shuzu using the app to hid away from the depression off losing her mother or something else. And it is sad that out off his other films this one was weak. All in all I don't know how to feel about the movie. I like it's songs and animation but it was a mess that I'm trying to find ways to like it.
After watching a few reviews (literally 2) I am a bit sad now and know how it could have been better. the one who helped out with the animation was cartoon saloon. I am sad that the companys behind wolfwalker and wolf children didn't make a fantastic masterpiece. I believe it was the beast part off the story that brought it down. If they cut out that part and focused on shuzu and how she used U to cope then it would be amazing.
The plot specifically the whole abuse plot was so poorly written and even offensive to people who've experienced real abuse, it's almost mocking victims. "yeah bro just have a teenage girl look into the eyes of the abuser it'll all be fixed" "wow I cant believe you looked at my dad and made him cry! I'm gonna be strong like you!!" I can't believe I wasted my time on this film, they really named this movie right, since this film is only beautiful to look at.
Thank you for saying the film does not look all that good. I felt like I watched something different from all the reviewers who've proclaimed how incredible the visuals are.
Everytime I see a bad critic about the movie it comes from someone who just ignore the main topic CHILD ABUSE. This is what the movie is about, don't forget that.
I go over the child abuse stuff a lot in this video though...
I think the movie would be REALLY good if it were about child abuse...unfortunately, the child absue stuff doesn't come into play until like 10 minutes before the end of the film and doesn't get explored like at all
The movie was great especially the visuals, the song made me cry but most of the movie also made me feel bored, and I don't know why i never really had a deep connection with the characters, watching this video made me understand why. I hear you at the just log out. I actually wanted the movie to have a Part 2 despite the movie was 2 hour long episode, because the ending was more interesting.
Thank goodness. I thought i was just slow or something. Its good to see that even other people think the plot is a mess and has some hanging threads
My thoughts on Kei's Father
1) He lied about him being super happy with sons, Kei and Tomo, despite the death of his wife to the public while on the news.
2) He physically, psychologically and verbally abused Kei and Tomo.
3) He assaulted Suzu in the cheek!!
That freak of a single father should be held accountable for his abusive behavior!
There is no fight in You, only Belle. It's just a fact of life....
thanks for the video!!
It's interesting about what you say when it comes to everyone hating on the Beast in the film. You're right, it is strange that they all hate him because in Hosoda's prior film "Summer Wars," the character King Kazma is like the Beast where he fights lots of players and wins most of the time. But like all the players love Kazma unlike the Beast. And idk if I'm remembering it wrong, but I feel like they explain to you all the stuff you can do in the virtual world in Summer Wars.... That's why I feel like this film expects you to have seen Summer Wars, because if anything "Belle" felt like a sequel to to it, so the film assumes you can connect both Summer War's virtual world and the world of U.
I didn't like the path they went with the plot. Like seriously, it felt like it was going down a romantic path, but he ends up being an abused kid. Really?! It's just, weird. And the end felt so unresolved. The movie could have been better off without the beast at all.
Finally someone else who felt the exact same about this movie! I was really excited because the trailer and it's music sounded stunning, but the movie failed to deliver. I believe it was trying to put too much into a 2 hour frame. They needed more exposition to fully flesh out these characters, their motivations, and the setting. Maybe they should have gone with a series instead. Some of the points that I agreed with you on:
(1) There was no tension. I also thought she could just log out from the world when she was being pursued or tortured. A parallel you could make is SAO, but their cast was definitely stuck unlike in Belle.
(2) I didn't care about the characters because the story didn't either. Suzu's love interest (her childhood friend) was literally just there. Why did she like him, or him her? The movie didn't invest any screen time into the character's relationships so it was impossible for me to connect to them.
(3) The twist about the beast's real identity was cool! But for me, I didn't like how Suzu and her friend's treated the situation. Familial abuse is a delicate topic to talk about (let alone handle) and I didn't think that the movie gave the situation the severity it needed. How do we know that the brothers aren't going to be abused again? What's stopping the dad from going further now that he knows that someone has intervened and his sons have told someone? It was very unrealistic, but maybe that's the Disney influence in practice.
The movie ended at a point where it honestly needed at least 30 more minutes, but oh well. Hopefully, the studio can learn from this and make better movies in the future. The animators definitely have the talent for it.
God your reactions are always so funny 😂
I saw this movie some weeks ago, I was confused so much by the transitions and didn't know what was going on at all, the animation is beautiful tho, it was a pretty "meh" movie to me, I'm planning to rewatch the movie in dub so I can try to process it again, cause I see so many people praising it and being like "I CRIED" but I was just like "huh???" I want to understand it.
I would agree with you about the father, and that that situation wasn't handled correctly, but I will say that sometimes it is a little visually cluttered, but I thought you do get to see Suzu enjoy herself as being Belle, because immediately she is relieved that she could finally sing again, and she gets to enjoy that feeling of being able to sing again when she didn't have the confidence to sing before. I will agree, however that themes weren't explored like they should have been, but if you look past that and just see the movie as a story about a young girl trying to find the confidence to be herself after losing her mother in a tragic accident, and finds a mysterious person to help bring her out because of trauma, and helping to try and better her situation without doxxing him, then it's a fantastic story.
Oh, yeah, that's another thing, she wasn't trying to dox him at all, from what I recall she didn't want to reveal herself to him, but she did want to find out herself who he was, so that she could try and relieve some of his pain, as she knew she couldn't do everything for him, only what she could. And in the end it gave the boy behind the beast the confidence to tell his father no, and that he won't take anymore from the abusive coward the father really is. It was more so revealing how much of a coward the father was, and now that the beast knows he can stand up to his father, he has the courage to get him and his little brother out of their situation, and better it themselves. As the beast does saw that she truly inspired him.
But I'm just defending the movie I love, and saying how I interpreted the movie.
"Nothing ever happens!"
*concerts, exploration, fights, duels, etc."
Yeah... Nothing ever happens, I guess.
Idk if you're gonna see this, but you need to review Summer Wars. I feel like it addresses concern you presented in this movie. Also, this movie came out way before Belle and you can tell by the art style that it pulls all of it's inspiration from Summer Wars. Please consider
One thing me and a friend didn't like is when the beast goes full rage on some Justice Fighters but the screen is just dark and sound effects, I guess it was "too gruesome"?
And yeah, definitely a disappointing ending with the dad, even Suzu's dad gets a "I resolved a problem now I can talk to you" treatment.
Sounds understandable, but Suzu's dad litterally has been trying to talk to her the entire movie yet she blows him off, even her childhood friend she supposedly likes (?)
All in all, I see the aspects people love about this movie: music and animation
I liked this movie but you’re not wrong about anything. I liked the visuals more than you did though. Then again I had no idea there was any hype behind it I just enjoyed it for what it was.
My personal take on it: visual and audio masterclass. Story-wise, it could've been better delivered for sure, but the messages it conveys and the representation of the Internet and social media struck a chord with me. And I cannot help but marvel at the sheer spectacle, both visually and musically. Could it be a better movie? Yes. Did it move me? Yes. Do I recommend it? Yes, but don't listen to the hype.
I really loved the music but the plot I absolutely agree was overall pretty weak and focused on all the wrong things. One thing that really bothered me was that there was SO. MUCH. going on. Like, how many subplots were there?
And yeah the world of U was definitely not built up even a fraction as much as it should have been. They could have thrown in like one scene where they were in a virtual cafe or were playing games or *something*
I'm late to the party, but I agree with just about everything you've said. I found your video because I just saw the movie and wanted to know if I was just being overly critical or if the movie really made no god damn sense.
Like I can suspend my disbelief and turn off my brain and just enjoy pretty visuals and music, but I can only do so much. So much of this movie felt like they threw so many ideas at the wall in the hope that they would stick and I've been left more confused than when I went in. I really wanted to like this movie and am beyond disappointed that there was so much potential wasted. Guess I'm just going to listen to the soundtrack and pretend that it's for a better movie.
I was looking for a review like this, this movie is BAAAADDD MAAAAN.. I couldn't even finish it. I have SO many questions, like-Why were the Beasts bruises on the outside of his cape? Why do people's bruises even show up inside the game, on the outside of their clothes?? Belle had absolutely NO reason to become obsessed with the beast. We found out that Belle's friend was the one arranging her music and costumes by them telling us and NOT by them showing us (until the end) So when she stated that her friend was helping her , i was surprised. And HOW did the beast get a castle? From in-game fighting money?? I was surprised that people could even LEAVE the lobby because everyone just seems to be there. The virtual reality world is SO bland and how does it work when people in real life are MOVING and somehow still logged in at the same time? And when the beast was hunched over on the floor, was he getting hit IRL??? Also, i feel like it was weird when every one ended up watching the video of those boys getting abused, because where did those old ladies even come from?? And It was annoying when Suzu was constantly running away from her crush for no reason. I understand the anxiety, but it was annoying, and their relationship is so underdeveloped. It would've been nice if we knew WHY he thinks she's Belle. How long has he been reaching out to her? Since they were kids im guessing? The movie didn't explain any of it. It just kept showing things without explaining them or showing them. They went in depth with almost nothing , and i'm disappointed! This movie had so much potential and so much budget!!
Do a review of the Wise mans grandchild! It's pretty short. Only like 11 or 12 episodes I think.
Hey is there any way you can react to Wave? It’s similar to SK8 and is all about surfing. Also absolutely love all of your content it’s so fun to watch!
How about give the ones who haven't watched the movie, a chance to, so they can see for themselves if it is bad or not. Because, I haven't seen it and would sure love too. Don't ruin it for the rest of us. 😠
Um...it's a review...? As in a video to let people know whether or not they'd like it before they soend their money...
@@DannyMotta Whoops, sorry. I have a habit of jumping in without knowing my facts. Sorry. But, in my defense, my response was from people like me. People who watch and read things and don't know all the facts first.
Again, my apologies 🙏 😕 😅 😔.
Go see it yourself, you might like it differently than what's reviewed here. I mean, you can also see the positive reviews to see the better point of it. I rewatched it 4x already. As far as I can conclude still, it's better than other animated I've seen throughout 2021. You're not gonna get a hard hitting story like Hosoda done with Wolf Children, but this is still good enough.
So to sum it up its just a ready player one and beauty and the beast knockoff with a eh art style and plot that only starts to get good when it’s ending and too late
The first time I saw it I felt like a lot of people did, that parts of the movie felt disjointed and mashed together. The second time was way better, I absolutely love everything about it now. Maybe its because I have a better idea of the shape of the movie but my criticisms from the first viewing are pretty much gone now.
i didn't have that experience (i just loved it the first time), but given how you are so fucking OVERLOADED with visuals and music the first time, it'd be understandable if you missed the many nuances and connections that the film has in it; things you won't miss on repeated viewings since you've already seen the spectacle part
I agree the plot was…odd lol. All in all I still loved it. I think if it was a series or OVA it might have had time to develop like you said. But this is a solid review and it still doesn’t hold a candle to “Wolf Children” but I went into movie hyped on beauty and the beast parallels lol.
idk, I completely understand and kind of agree with your argument, but I feel like somehow because this plot had so many holes it also feels more realistic from suzu/belle’s perspective. The movie is made from her perspective and she doesn’t know what is going on with the beast, and after she “saves” the boys she doesn’t know what will happen next! I feel kind of comforted by the fact that i wasnt just some miraculous perfect ending, instead it being a bit chaotic with a final scene that shows them looking at just an average (though beautiful) sky!
Thanks for putting this in words. I was really disappointed in the movie and wasn't sure why
I actually watched the movie for the music and visuals because before belle came over to the states there were already music videos of belle and thats what made me like the movie and in my opinion the movie is still good and I would recomend people go still watch the movie, by the way great video!
While I don’t think you’ve got the idea of the movie, Belle and the Beast is for sure Beauty And The Beast. It paid insane homages to it, but idk if you recognized it wasn’t a love story. You didn’t bring up how Suzu had a life long guilt. Said guilt was the springboard for her story arc with the beast. I do feel cheated on the kids’ backstory, but if it came down to it, you undersold the momentum the story had going for it from that pivotal scene. It wasn’t a b&b story for the sake of redundancy. It was 2 characters being met with a challenge, and one of them had the mechanisms to make it happen fortuitously.
All that being said, I didn’t love the 3D outside of the Belle centric scenes. Shot fluidity was off/odd and seemed like they could have focused more time on source material. How to transition in and out of a song etc.
Further more, as a man watching this movie, I was really happy to not see the main character not be bullied by the “pretty girl” (who isn’t portrayed as anything but a musical phenom) but rather befriended and confided in by her. It’s a great move, I barely saw any girl on girl bullying, or intimidation.
The movie had a good amount of subject matter that I think you didn’t cover, and maybe should consider in your next review. You weren’t off, I just think you missed a lot of what this movie meant in the long run.
It wasn’t just another beauty and the beast, but idk, I hope you watch it again.
Technically, Disney and Japan have been taking influences from each other.
@@SatanenPerkele Technically, Disney and Japan have been taking influences from each other.
Story line to the end was cut off. But visually beautiful and music is amazing. I'll take for that only. From trailer and synopsis I got hyped so much, but... the end was so rushed and cliché, Miadzaki style. And the Dragon hunt scene reminded me escape scene from the Howl's Moving Castle.
I see the points you made, but personally I have to disagree. I thought the movie was highly enjoyable, and the music fantastic. Both the English version and the Japanese version of the music had really great singers, and the arrangement of the songs were great. I wasn’t overly concerned about creating more depth to the virtual world, because I didn’t see the movie been truly around that concept, more using the virtual world as a medium to Xpress your true self through its anonymity. Music was such an incredibly big proponent for the main character, because it was used as a way to connect with her mother who she saw die before her very eyes, which is why it was such a difficult thing for her to sing and express her self in the real world.
She found that through the virtual world, through the avatar that was created for her, she was able to use that mask to finally connect to the music she’s so loved with her mother, using the music to express a lot of the emotions that have built up through her life. This was also a way for her to emotionally heal overtime, while also getting used to more and more attention as time went on and her popularity skyrocketed.
I can also admit that the beauty and beast subplot was one of the weaker elements, but due to the beast actually being a child, I’m glad it didn’t lean too heavily on the usual romanticized story of that, I think this was slightly expressed during the song lend me your voice when she was going to kiss the beast, saw him close his eyes, and she simply hugged him instead.
Ask her why the beast didn’t log off, his brother found inspiration in the beast, and the world itself was A way for him to tap in to some of the suppressed anger that he experienced living in such an abusive environment at home. He was also fighting against that guy with the laser whose name I can’t remember, who I saw as a medium of fighting against his father, considering parallels were shown between that guy with the laser and his own father.
I found the main idea of the movie to be how people deal with loss, the toxicity that the virtual environment can lead itself to, how people act when they can remain anonymous, expressing themselves without any real world backlash against them. The main character seem to be suffering from severe depression due to watching her mother die, unable to connect to the one thing they shared, until she was finally able to express that due to the very anonymity that others in the movie exploited to be toxic.
I completely agree that the movie does have its weaknesses, but I also think that it’s stuck to its main idea, showed her growth as a character with her trying to connect to others, slowly gaining friendships with others, and eventually helping the beast in the real world as well, standing up against his father and giving him inspiration to do the same as well.
iMovie wasn’t really about the virtual world in and of itself, it wasn’t really about her fame, and it wasn’t really about the beauty and the beast in and of itself, it was about the things I mentioned before and the complex emotional aspects that people have to go through in their life.
I can see that you disagree considering your video, but this is just My two cents and how I saw the movie itself, and why I found it really fantastic to watch, and that it had some really great incredible emotional moments. The music and itself was composed very well, the singers for both the English songs and the Japanese songs respectively shaped the songs very well, and allowed their voice to become incredibly emotive to express what was going on during those sections of the movies.
For me, this was definitely a movie I would be more than happy to buy, and who’s soundtracks, again the English and the Japanese version, I bought when I came home. We might disagree on the movie, but I enjoyed your review nonetheless, and hope you have a great day.
Yeah I agree. The reason I think it works well, is because it delivers on the promises it made. Which is a light story, with some emotional moments and good music. It isn't pretending to be a deep and complex story. I think it is important to judge stuff from the context it is made, and it achieves what is is trying to do.
Definitely not Hasoda’s best work, but it was still kinda enjoyable. Summer Wars and Boy and the Beast were better.
i totally get it, i felt connected to the songs more than the entire movie
I'd never even heard of it, but your analysis is so interesting
damn. was gonna ask if you could do a review of boy and the beast because i had this long forgotten memory dredged up by a thumbnail, but i guess you already watched it-
I agree with everything pretty much, though do note most of Disney's stories are ripped off from classic books and fairytales 😂
Thank you man, you pretty much shout out everything I wanted to tell to people who cant shut up about this movie.
I'm so mad because I love this movie so much but please tell me WHAT is BEAST'S MOTIVATION for being in the U??? Like yeah it's prob to get away from real life but idk it would be nice if we see it fleshed out???? Songs, visuals? Nice. Plot? Wow I'm mad
Because I first started watching them when I was an adult I might not have got the real experience of them but I’m one of the only people I know who generally doesn’t like Studio Ghibli films.
So your whole take on what did you work so hard to build 3:34, its the anonymous persona itself, it doesn't need to be fame or money or grandeur, its the idea of restarting life as another "U". Oh and btw there's a line in the move where her friend literally says they wire all the money they make directly to charity so idk how you expect her to be flaunting fancy cars and mansions or smth to show what she's built up and is risking losing. Like did you watch the movie.
3:41 Also you can tell in the movie she does in fact enjoy being belle because she is able to find her voice again and sing, in the scenes before she becomes belle, everytime she is asked to sing she can't or runs away but as bell she can sing
Another surface level take 1:50, the just log off bro, its a lot more than logging off, for one, she cant run away from her problems. If she logs back in she'll still be stuck with getting tied down by the green laser man again and again, so logging off solves literally nothing, you're basically telling her to just uninstall "U" forever, but how can she do that when she wants to help the beast??? Also there would be no point in the movie if she did that. You see this take makes zero sense.
Literally the only thing that was factually right that you said is that all the people in "U" ever seem to do is fly around, which isn't even that bad of a critic, even if they showed other activites it would make no impact or difference to the story, Belle only goes on to sing, and this is her story after all why would we waste time exploring past it when the movie is about what's going on in Belle's head.
I just finished the movie, I only got halfway thru the video, but i feel like you should bring up cultural differences in the beginning, i mean it may not seem so bad in America to get your identity exposed but in east asia it can be a huge deal, a life ending deal, people commit suicide because of it for a fact. This sound like how i would envision an American reviewing this movie tbh. Ill have to find another reviewer, I need REAL critics and not something written in like 5 minutes at 3 am lol