Belle was disappointing.
[I saw Belle a week ago 14.3.2022, as part of a sci-fi film festival that I missed most of. This is based on notes I wrote later that night.]
The main problem: I didn't even like the songs. And I am somewhat of a J-pop listener (or at least a J-pop adjacent Vocaloid listener). But none of the songs in Belle felt memorable, neither in melody or lyrics. Some were just vapid, and others emotional in the moment, but not later on.
I am also sometimes a musical enjoyer. I wonder if the issue was that I expected the songs to be integrated like they are in a typical Broadway-style musical, when the characters start singing in the middle of the scene, but here, the songs were kind of separate, shown as performances in-story or as separate music video-like scenes.
The animation was obviously really good. It used both 3D and 2D, with 3D representing the virtual world. These styles flowed together very well and both were beautiful. Special attention was paid to crowd scenes in the virtual reality – all of them were full of unique designs.
The storyline was full of plotholes, but I get what it was aiming at. It was obviously a re-telling of the Beauty and the Beast, but it was also deeper than that in its themes of family and sacrifice.
The ending was really stupid though. How does Suzu staring at a guy for like a minute make him stop abusing his kids?
Another positive aspect of the movie was that it was funny, at least occasionally. A highlight was the extremely awkward love confession scene. Or the highschool drama portrayed as a strategy game.
Over all, Belle wasn't a waste of time but I probably should have just watched it on my preferred anime piracy site and not have paid for a movie ticket.
