Belle

The U app is a gateway to a VR universe with the only limit being imagination, enhanced further by the user transferring their consciousness, into a huge practically infinite world. That is the premise of Mamoru Hosoda's latest anime.

Suzu (Kaho Nakamura) is grieving her mother’s death after a selfless act of heroism, that she has difficulty understanding. This has left her detached from her father and affected her singing voice. At school she’s an average pupil with a little envy for the top girl Ruka (Tina Tamashiro). Suzu is teased by her best friend Hiro (Lilas Ikuta) who is a computer whiz and introduces her to the world of U.

Initially reluctant Suzu joins U, creating Belle. Belle looks exquisite, with a singing voice to match. She soon begins to pick up followers and becomes an online sensation. This starts to bleed into the real world though as the identity of the avatars are secret it’s through behaviour as Suzu becomes more obsessed with it.

A huge concert is arranged for Belle which is disrupted by a rogue avatar Dragon leading to a spectacular battle between it and self-appointed system defences led by the multi-sponsored Justian (Toshiyuki Morikawa).

Belle/Suzu is/are now intrigued as to who the Dragon may be and she and Ruka begin to whittle down the suspects. This while the friends are going through the teenage trials of parents, boys and girls.

There’s more than an element of Beauty and the Beast about Belle that is carefully blended with preoccupations with the easy access and power of the online world. And it’s not until the final acts that we see how truly enveloping it is.

This may look like a wholesale attack on the online world but Hosoda is careful to extol the positives. There’s great community with it and it can help to alleviate pressure when the real world becomes too much.

That alleviation can take the form of Belle’s poppy songs or the wrecking ball of the Dragon There is some question as to how really destructive this could be in a cyberworld. But there is no doubt the effects of the avatar being outed into the real-world; to a hungry audience of billions would have on Suzu and…(spoiler) It’s a question of balance.

Belle is a complex story that has tragedy and its aftermath at its core, and how this effects Suzu and her father through their bereavement. But also her friends as they find their way through teenage years facing peer and societal pressure to be an individual while to some degree all conforming to the world of the app, and the man.

Hosoda’s script weaves its way through this enhanced with the superb and imaginative animation that has become his trademark. What doesn’t quite hit the sweet spot are the songs that range from electro-pop to power ballad; it’s not that they are bad just not that special though do work with the films visuals.


Releasing on Blu-ray and DVD on 27th June, with a 4K + BD + CD Deluxe Edition on 7th July 2022.