A story about a boy doesn’t want to face his life and runs away and a beast who hasn’t quite figured out how life works. Together the two will learn and grow to discover what really matters to them.
Review:
It isn’t really news that I don’t watch a lot of anime movies. Even ones attached to series that I quite like don’t normally get watched unless there’s a pressing need to complete a story. The Boy and the Beast wasn’t on my radar but then one day it showed up on Anime Lab and given my subscription there is reaching the end of its life, I figured why not. I’m really glad I did.
While this story isn’t exactly going to blow your socks off with originality as children running away from home and having some adventure to teach them some moral lesson is as stock standard as they come, the delivery here sells it beautifully. Not to mention, the cast of beasts that the boy encounters kind of lift this film from what might have been a fairly mediocre fair to something that becomes quite striking and memorable.
Early on, I was a little concerned. The opening narration is all very ordinary and then the encounter that leads to the boy running away seemed incredibly rushed. I get that his circumstances weren’t great but his running away just seemed like a forced response rather than a natural reaction to the situation. However, the boy very soon encounters the beast and after following him away from the human world, everything in this movie gets better.
What really works at the core of this film is the relationship that is constructed between the boy and the beast. The boy refused to give his name so the beast names him after his age, a name that sticks despite the boy growing up into a man over the course of the movie The two bicker and fight almost continuously as the beast is every bit as childish as the child but slowly and grudgingly the two begin to see the good points in the other and respect begins to form.
As much as the earlier encounters and relationships in the movie seem very rushed and forced, the perfect amount of time is put into making the relationship between these two characters feel as authentic as possible. While there are plenty of fights, training sequences, squabbles, and laughs along the way, this movie always comes back to that relationship and it has a lot of heart.
Even a final fight sequence that kind of looks beautiful but seems just a little overblown for the sake of being a final fight sequence can’t really shake the goodwill this movie builds up over its run-time.
All and all, this was a very enjoyable watch and one I’ll probably look out for on DVD.
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The Boy and the Beast, Vol. 1 (manga)
Anime is so fun!
Ooo, I remember I enjoyed this film when I watched it in the last year or 2! Your review is really nice, and makes me want to re-watch to see if it is as good as I remember 🙂
Hopefully you enjoy it.
I watched this film 2 years ago. It was great, but it felt lacking on some areas.
The Boy and the Beast is certainly a fun film. I certainly enjoy watching this one. Sometimes a story doesn’t need to be complicated to be entertaining.
A simple story well told is usually better.
This is also on my watch list. It does sound pretty good and I still would like to see it.
As far as anime movies go, I would have to recommend this one. I really did find it quite charming despite some of its flaws.
Hosoda is a great director. I have so much faith in him I actually bought this on blu ray before knowing anything about it lol I was not disappointed
Out of all of Hosoda’s films I think this is my second favorite behind Wolf Children. I quite enjoyed it (in case you are wondering, I’d give the next slot to The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and lastly to Summer Wars/Digimon Movie).
Maybe I should get around to watching some of those others then.
You’d likely enjoy most of them.
I really liked this movie, it was my first anime movie and I’m glad that I chose it
It really is a fun movie to watch and it has some really touching moments.
I really enjoyed it too. As you said, the dynamic between the boy and beast was superb.
I definitely will have to look out for this one on DVD next time I get the chance. I really enjoyed it.
I really enjoyed this one too. I think I could over look some of the other rushed elements, because of the beautiful dynamic between the boy and the beast.
I agree. For every flaw the story and pacing had, the time spent on that relationship was well worth the watch.