As a young girl Suzu’s mother died in a tragic accident rendering her unable to sing. A passion that she shared with her mother was lost to her until she entered the virtual world of the U. Inside the U represented by her avatar Belle she becomes a world wide phenomenon.

At one of Belle’s concerts a mysterious dragon also known as Beast ruins her concert. Whilst Belle is sympathetic and wants to understand the Beast a group of toxic fans want to track him down and destroy him. 

Written and directed by Mamoru Hosoda Belle is both a version of the classic story of Beauty and the Beast and an anti online toxicity story. It does however take a slightly dark turn in its final third by introducing a child abuse storyline.

It is sometimes a little easy to reference how beautiful Japanese animation can look but Belle is hands down spectacular. In the real world of Suzu’s rural village the images take on a hand drawn simple style whilst inside the virtual world of the U the visuals feature every bell and whistle imaginable. Belle’s concerts are especially spectacular to look at. 

Whilst the visuals are easily the best facet of the film anyone with a passing interest in Japanese idol music will be really happy as well. Belle gets to sing a number of songs, each one more earnest than the next. 

But it is this earnestness that is a feature of Japanese animation that I struggle with now. As told through the perspective of teenagers everything is overly simplistic and like a soap opera. This works well in some funny moments relating to teenage crushes but completely falls on its face when introducing the child abuse storyline. 

Visually spectacular but a let down from a story perspective