The Film (5/5)

After the death of his mother, Ren decides to live on his own and run away after he discovers his father can’t be found. Walking the streets of Tokyo with anger in his heart, he tries to escape everything. While sleeping on the street he encounters two beasts, who live in the Jutenhai/ Beast Kingdom. The leader is the two, is a short-tempered bear like animal named Kumatetsu. It turns out that in the beast world, the new lord is decided via a tournament and each member needs to have a disciple to fill in their steps. 

With nowhere to turn too, Ren agrees to join the beast and start training with him. But as the two grow closer together, Ren soon discovers more about Human nature. But I don’t want to spoil what happens next.

THE BOY AND THE BEAST (2015), is at the moment, the latest from anime master Mamoru Hosoda. Like the other film of his I reviewed, WOLF CHILDERN, BOY offers a basic and powerful story with out of this world visuals. So, it’s easy to see why he has become one of the anime industry’s brightest talents. His status has become so well known, that Funimation has started a new collector’s line of Hosoda’s works. With BOY they have truly knocked this one out of the park.

Hosoda has been in the anime field for years, and got his start doing key animation for some episodes of Dragon Ball Z and even directed a few short DIGIMON films, with DIGIMON OUR WAR GAME giving the blue print for his future film SUMMER WARS. With him finally directing feature length films, Hosoda has become one of the star directors. Over the course of his work, he has shown the themes of coming of age, and animals as stand ins for various adult issues, like becoming your true self, anxieties of death and acceptance. With BOY, it’s filled to the top with the major question of nature vs nurture.

In the film Ren deals with the complex issue of having two father figures and trying to decide on his future. Should he reconnect with humans or stay on as a beast warrior. This is all handled in a subtle and mature way without becoming preachy. On an animation level, BOY is Hosoda’s most polished work. The staff blend the 2D with some impressive CGI and 3d modeling. The action scenes are well staged and give the film a wide scope to breath in.

With BOY, Hosoda proves to still be pushing Japanese animation. The future looks bright, and with this film the thrill of the chase is still alive and well.

Audio/Video (5/5)

This special collector’s edition goes the extra mile with its AV. The disc comes with two main audio tracks. First up is the Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix. The track is near perfect with no hiss or pops. The score and effects dance off the screen and sound as crisp as being in the movie theater. If you have a great sound system in your home theater, this is a must listen. The English Dolby True HD 5.1 mix is a good option for fans of dubbed anime. The track is well handed and acted. But again, I prefer original language, so it’s up to you. Both come with English subtitles.

The 1080p HD transfer is mind blowing in detail. The animation and the picture quality are beautifully married to create a one of a kind movie going experience. Hosoda isn’t one of the new masters of anime for nothing. The picture is sharp and detailed, with every free frame being painting worthy. There is no hiccups or blur. The black levels are smooth, and the colors are vivid. One of the best transfers of the year.

Extras (5/5)

Funimation has released THE BOY AND THE BEAST under its new Hosoda collection series. The disc is packed to its breaking point with extras and a handsome new packaging. For the packaging, we get a new plastic slip cover and a 52-page booklet of concept artwork and interviews.

Diving into the extras, we get a Making of featurette, Cast talk, Film countdown special, Studio Chizu and ZIP! Collaborations promo material, Promo videos, Original Japanese trailers, TV spots, and a trailer gallery of other Funimation releases.

You could spend days watching all the material available here. One of the most impressive line ups of extras for an anime title.

Overall (5/5)

Funimation delivers the goods with their new Hosoda collection series. This collector’s edition is one of the best I’ve seen for an anime title. Just for the extras alone, this edition is worth the upgrade. Highly recommended.