Belle

Belle

Suzu is a 17-year-old high-school student living in a rural town with her father. Wounded by the loss of her mother at a young age, Suzu one day discovers the massive online world "U" and dives into this alternate reality as her avatar, Belle. Before long, all of U's eyes are fixed on Belle, when, suddenly, a mysterious, dragon-like figure appears before her.

  • Released: 2021-07-16
  • Runtime: 122 minutes
  • Genre: Animation, Drama
  • Stars: Kaho Nakamura, Takeru Satoh, Tina Tamashiro, Shota Sometani, Lilas Ikuta, Ryo Narita, Toshiyuki Morikawa, Kenjiro Tsuda, Mami Koyama, Mamoru Miyano, Sachiyo Nakao, Fuyumi Sakamoto, Ryoko Moriyama, Yoshimi Iwasaki, Michiko Shimizu, Kōji Yakusho, ermhoi, Ken Ishiguro, Sumi Shimamoto, HANA, Mitsuru Miyamoto, Asami Miura, Taichi Masu
  • Director: Mamoru Hosoda
 Comments
  • gokcemuhammet - 2 April 2024
    Waste of time
    You expect it to be a virtual reality movie, but it's not. Yeah some parts of the story takes place in VR, but it is not a VR story, it's a real world story.

    Most of the things were forced. Things happened without reason.

    Some of the things that happened leads nowhere, completely unnecessary.

    Some of the things that happened has nothing to do with the main story.

    Visuals are cool but story is just so bad the movie is not worth your time.

    I don't get why this has a rating of 7.

    You expect it to be good as "Ready Player One" but it is just too bad instead.

    The movie is bad. Go watch something else.
  • k-gordo17 - 21 May 2023
    Retread of Summer Wars
    If you were a fan of this film, I recommend you watch one of the director's previous films Summer Wars because this film was a massive retread of that film.

    The first 3 minutes is almost exactly the same as the first 3 minutes of Summer Wars and the rest of the film follows very similar beats. The film also borrows several scenes and shots from other films the director has made. Some examples include the lake side conversation between the two main characters in the Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the imagery of large whales from both Summer Wars and Boy and the Beast.

    It was a disappointment from this director as I've seen all his films and have liked or loved all of his films before this. This is his worst film.

    However, with all that said, I can't say that this film is bad. In fact, there are several scenes that really work, and some imagery that was great to look at. The talent is still there. Anyone saying this film is garbage is talking nonsense. In the scope of all anime films, this film is still above average.

    One aspect that really hurt the film for me is the execution of the 3D animation. This director really needs to do a better job showing this animation, because he's filming some of the scenes in the worst way possible. This ain't pixar level 3d animation, so he needs to be more careful with how he angles the shots and focuses on objects. Extreme closeups on characters faces and guiding shots make the animation look downright AWFUL and it made me cringe in my seat. I knew from the trailers it was going to be rough animation-wise, and sure enough it was.

    This isn't something new for this director, he's never done a good job of making 3d animation look good. Another bad example was the motorcycle scene from Mirai.

    Another negative is the final conflict with the Dragon and the humans related to him. Without spoiling it, you barely know anything about these humans and their situation when it focuses on them, which makes me entirely emotionally detached from what was happening in the last twenty minutes. They should've spent a lot more time developing these characters rather than some of the side characters that didn't really add much to the film like Ruka and Kamashin. Also the conflict with the humans related to the Dragon was handled very surface level and barely scratched the surface of the emotions they could've drawn out from the situation. It was cartoonish at times to be brutally honest.

    As for positives, the character arc for the main character was handled very well and it was believable when she overcame her issues, plus it was emotionally satisfying when it was completed. It was the main drive what kept me still interested in the film to see what happens.

    Also, there were many scenes and 3d visuals that did work. The wide shots and scenes were they used a lot of light effects in dark backgrounds were great and I wished it kept that style for the whole film. But, keep in mind I think you need to see it in a movie theater in order to get the most out of these visuals. Watching in low resolution through a torrent website probably won't look good.

    Overall its a mixed bag. Its held up by a great journey through the main character and some visuals, but it is hurt by its abysmal 3d animation and poorly handled conclusion.

    You should watch all of this director's films, but I would watch this one as the very last one on his resume.