Belle

**BELLE** (竜とそばかすの姫 *Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime*, literally "The Dragon and Freckled Princess") is a 2021 Japanese animated fantasy film directed and written by Mamoru Hosoda.

The film premiered on July 15, 2021 at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, where it was well-received by critics, with a standing ovation that lasted 14 minutes. It was first theatrically released in Japan on July 16, 2021, followed by the North American release on January 14, 2022 under license of GKIDS. The movie has also been released in France, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Portugal, Indonesia, Italy, Colombia, Germany, and Spain.

***See also:** Belle articles*

## Synopsis

Suzu Naito is a seventeen-year-old high school student who lives in the rural Kōchi Prefecture of Japan with a lost passion for singing and writing songs. Eleven years ago, she witnessed her mother rescuing a child from a flooding river at the cost of her own life, causing her to resent her mother for "abandoning" her for a stranger's child. The event led to her growing distant from her father. She remains in contact with a group of older choir teachers who were her mother's friends. She is alienated from most of her classmates, with the exception of her childhood friend and self-appointed protector Shinobu Hisatake whom she has a crush on, popular girl Ruka Watanabe who she believes likes Shinobu, sportsman classmate Shinjiro Chikami who she nicknames Kamishin, and her genius best friend Hiroka "Hiro" Betsuyaku who is her confidante.

On Hiro's suggestion, Suzu signs into the popular virtual metaverse known as "U" and creates a beautiful avatar with freckles she names "Bell", the English translation of her own name. Upon logging into U, she finds herself capable of singing again. With the assistance of Hiro, who has appointed herself as Bell's manager and producer, Bell becomes a big hit and people start to refer to her as "Belle", which means "beautiful" in French.

During one of Belle's concerts, an infamously strong and near-unbeatable user called the Dragon (or "The Beast") ruins it. This prompts a vigilante group named the Justices led by the self-righteous Justin to begin hunting the Dragon, accusing him of disturbing the peace of U. Using a specialized program, Justin plans to unveil the Dragon's identity to the public. Suzu becomes intrigued by the Dragon and begins to gather information about him. She discovers that he is popular amongst children in U who consider him to be their hero, particularly a boy named Tomo, who was in the news following his mother's death. Belle searches in U for the Dragon and is led to the Dragon's hidden castle by a mysterious angel avatar she met when she first entered U. She meets the Dragon and his servant AIs. Belle and the Dragon grow close. In the real world, Ruka confides to Suzu that she likes Kamishin. With Suzu's help, the two confess their feelings to each other.

In U, Justin captures and interrogates Belle. He threatens to unveil her identity to the world if she refuses to cooperate. The Dragon's AIs rescue Belle, but their intervention allows Justin and his group to locate the Dragon's castle and destroy it. The Dragon flees before Belle can help. Suzu and Hiro work to find out the Dragon's real identity and warn him before Justin finds him first. They find a live video feed of Tomo singing a song only Belle and the Dragon know, and realize that he is the angel avatar and the Dragon is his older brother Kei, who's being constantly abused by their father. The Dragon’s anger in protecting his brother from their father is what gives him his unbeatable strength in U. Suzu contacts the brothers to help, but they do not believe that she's Belle. Shinobu, Ruka, Kamishin, and the choir teachers reveal their knowledge of Belle's true identity and urge Suzu to sing to gain the brothers' trust. Suzu unveils herself to the world in U and begins to sing. Seeing this, the brothers decide to trust her and tries to contact her again. But their father sees the video of his abuse posted online and cuts off the internet connection before they can tell Suzu their address.

Using context clues, Ruka and Kamishin deduce that the Kei’s hometown is Kawasaki, Kanagawa, near Tokyo. Since the authorities cannot intervene on abuse charges until 48 hours have passed, Suzu locates Kei and Tomo on her own and protects them from their father. The next day, Suzu returns home; she and her father warmly greet each other at the station. Shinobu praises Suzu for her bravery and decides she no longer needs his protection, feeling free to pursue the romantic relationship he always wanted with her. Finally understanding her mother's selfless actions, Suzu comes to terms with her mother's death and is ready to sing with her friends.

## Staff

 Animation Director (U)
 Animation Director, Character Design (Real World)
 Art Director
 Background Art
 CG Director
 In collaboration with

## Production

Mamoru Hosoda initially intended for Belle to be a musical, but considered the idea difficult due to Japan's cultural lack of musical production. Still wanting music to be core of the film, he searched for a voice actor that could sing and cover the voices of both Suzu and Belle. Said voice actor had to be able to express their feelings though song and move people, even if they did not understand Japanese. The search eventually led to Kaho Nakamura, whom he considered relatively unknown, but a perfect choice for the role. Hosoda stated that Nakamura was also involved in writing lyrics, so she could put proper emotion into the lyrics she was performing.

Fascinated by the concept of "The Beauty of the Beast" for years, Mamoru Hosoda found that the concept of an outer ugly nature potentially turning into something beautiful reminded him of the nature of the modern internet, which inspired him to adapt the famous fairy tale into a modern version.

The concept illustration of the massive online world of "U" was created by London-based up-and-coming architect/designer, Eric Wong. Mamoru Hosoda wanted "U" to be an extension of his Summer Wars world "OZ", while appearing flat and graphical.

Walt Disney Animation Studios Jin Kim, known for projects such as "Frozen", "Tangled", and "Big Hero 6", designed the virtual songstress Belle. Mamoru Hosoda and Jin had long respected each other's work but met for the first time when "MIRAI" was nominated for an Oscar in Los Angeles. There, they promised to one day work on something creatively together and finally realized that goal with "Belle".

Some of the movie's most stunning outfits are based on real-life dresses that were specifically made for Belle, including a ruby dress with a large petal-like skirt that looks like wildflowers are blooming from its seams, and a fuchsia gown that looks like a water-colored peony come to life. The dresses were created by flower artist Megumi Shinozaki, with direct focus on a floral thematic. Purposefully designed by someone with no fashion background, the dresses were aimed to look extraordinary from the norm. Belle's beaded crystal headdress was designed by Kunihiko Morinaga, founding designer of Anrealage.

## Blu-Ray and DVD

A Blu-ray, DVD, and special bundle version of the movie were released in Japan on April 20, 2022. The special bundle edition includes an ULTRA 4K HD Blu-ray version of the movie with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos audio. This bundle include 4 hours of bonus footage over 2 discs, including the making of BELLE and Belle as a character, behind the scenes after dubbing, an event video collection, a cast interview collection, an interview with director Mamoru Hosoda, special dialogue, a special roundtable, a public commemorative interview with Takeru Sato, a promotional video collection, and a tie-up video collection. Enclosed benefits of the special bonus edition include a theater pamphlet reduction booklet and a new page addition booklet.

In the regular Blu-Ray and DVD version, only the theater pamphlet is included.

## Merchandise

Several pieces of merchandise have been released for BELLE, including an Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, as well as several books, such as several novel versions of the movie, and an official guidebook diving deeper into the world of "U".

## Trailers

BELLE (2021) - 70 Second Trailer -HQ-BELLE (2021) - 90 Second Trailer -HQ-BELLE - Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu -English Dub Trailer-
## Videos

BELLE - Official Opening SceneMaking of BELLE - The Costumes of BELLEMaking of BELLE - Designing the World of "U"
## Trivia

* Belle's thematic draws inspiration from the "Beauty and the Beast *(La Belle et la Bête)*", a classic fairy tale about a beautiful girl getting to know a terrible beast's true nature. The dance between Belle and the dragon is a direct reference to Walt Disney's approach of the famous fairytale scene.
* Belle is the third highest-grossing Japanese film of 2021, accounting for 6.53 billion yen (as of December 12,2021) in the box office, an equivalent of $56.9 million. It earned over 2 million dollars in the span of four days following its North American theatrical release, marking a record for Mamoru Hosoda's productions in both Japan and North America.
* Receiving five Annie Award nominations, Belle counts the most nominations for a Japanese anime film at the awards ever, surpassing previous films such as *"Spirited Away"*, *"Millennium Actress"*, and *"Weathering with You"'*.

## External Links

* Official Website (EN)
* Official Website (JP)
* Internet Movie Database
* Anime News Network

## References

1. ↑ Studio Chizu Official Twitter - International Trailer
2. ↑ Studio Chizu Official Website - Belle
3. ↑ TimeOut "Japanese anime Belle receives a 14-minute standing ovation at Cannes"
4. ↑ animenewsnetwork-com
5. ↑ Neo No. 216. pp. 42, 44. "Mamoru Hosoda Talks Belle" (January 18, 2022)
6. ↑ Ferus @ Youtube - BELLE - Interview Mamoru Hosoda
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Studio Chizu Official Website - News
8. ↑ Making of BELLE | Designing the World of "U"
9. ↑ nylon.com - How the stunning metaverse costumes in "Belle" came to life
10. ↑ BELLE Official Website (JP) - Blu-ray and DVD release
11. ↑ Crunchyroll - Nominees for 6th Annual Anime Awards
12. ↑ Anime News Network Japan Academy Film Prizes
13. ↑ VFX-Japan Awards Reveal 2022 Nominees
14. ↑ Anime News Network - Top Japan Box Office in 2021
15. ↑ deadline.com - Belle Box Office