Film Review: "The Boy and the Beast" ("バケモノの子") (2015).

"An unlikely relationship between boy and beast!?" This is The Boy and the Beast (バケモノの子). This Japanese animated action-adventure fantasy film written and directed by Mamoru Hosoda. When Kyuta, a young orphan living on the streets of Shibuya, stumbles into a fantastic world of beasts, he's taken in by Kumatetsu, a gruff, rough-around-the-edges warrior beast who's been searching for the perfect apprentice. Despite their constant bickering, Kyuta and Kumatetsu begin training together and slowly form a bond as surrogate father and son. But when a deep darkness threatens to throw the human and beast worlds into chaos, the strong bond between this unlikely family will be put to ultimate test-a final showdown that will only be won if the two can finally work together using all of their combined strength and courage.

The film features the voice talents of Kōji Yakusho, Aoi Miyazaki, Shōta Sometani, Suzu Hirose, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Mamoru Miyano, Kappei Yamaguchi, Keishi Nagatsuka, Kumiko Asō, Haru Kuroki, Sumire Morohoshi, Momoka Ōno, Masahiko Tsugawa, Lily Franky and Yo Oizumi. Thanks the to the voice cast, the film towers over all the Hollywood animated films about beasts like Mount Everest over an ants' nest. It is Japanese animation at one of its finest.

Judging from his last four films, I count Hosoda as one of the true hopes of quality anime in the future. Because he dared to make The Boy and the Beast a film which is, first and foremost, for children! The Miyazaki influence on Hosoda's own work seems obvious, from his cute-but-realistic style to his concern with pressing social issues and the messy emotions of actual human beings. The film has a magnificent understated eye for detail, from the grain of wood on doors to the lovingly captured forest scenes, that help lift the movie above regular animation fare. With a bittersweet atmosphere and beautiful imagery - both of the detailed and delicate variety - the film proves a finessed, fantastical offering grounded in human emotion and experience. It is an exceptionally beautiful film, with the lingering glory and magisterial quality that recalls Miyazaki's greatest work. Silence abounds; the wordless sequences are stunning. There are a few schmaltzy, sloppy-sappy moments, but the attention to Romantic-poetry detail is sublime. Rarely has maternity, or maturity, been shown with such poetic force on-screen. A stunningly beautiful, unabashedly sentimental, and surprisingly complex story that works as both a coming-of-age film and a study of a young boy. An imaginative Japanese animation film about a resilient young orphan who stumbles upon a world of beasts. An engaging and visually arresting Japanese anime that carefully tackles an original storyline with confident sophistication. On the basis of this elegiac family saga, Studio Ghibli should really think about hiring Hosoda. Rather an odd story, told in a one-of-a-kind style that feels equal parts sentimental, somber and strange. This is expert visual storytelling, dwelling on the emotion of particular moments with powerful and occasionally devastating effect.

Simon says The Boy and the Beast (バケモノの子) receives: