Originally titled as Bakemono no ke in Japanese literally meaning Bakemono’s son in English. This film was released in 2015 in Japan and was the second highest grossing movie of that year. This movie is directed by Mamuro Hosada, he has directed movies like Wolf children and Girl who leapt through the time, also including Digimon anime and it is produced by Studio Chizo(he himself is the founder). He is a man of great potential Hayao Miyazaki was among the first few people who acknowledged his art, often dubbed as the next Miyazaki and also famous for his controversial gig with Ghibli studios, though he has already established himself as one of modern day great anime creators.

Movie details and Cast

Directed by Mamuro Hosada

Original Japanese Voice Cast has

Kôji Yakusho(Kumatetsu),Aoi Miyazaki
(Kyûta),Shôta Sometani(Kyûta),Suzu Hirose(Kaede),Kazuhiro Yamaji(Iozan), Mamoru Miyano (Ichirôhiko),Kappei Yamaguchi(Jirômaru)

Distributed by FUNimation Entertainment and Voice Cast for English version includes

Luci Christian as Kyuta (Young),Eric Vale as Kyuta (Teen),John Swasey
as Kumatetsu,Bryn Apprill as Kaede, Monica Rial as Chico,Ian Sinclair (IV)
as Tatara

Plot or Synopsis

A young boy Ren has recently lost his mother, a divorcee. Confused and unwilling to live with his legal guardians, no news of his father in sight flees away into the streets of Shibuya district of Tokyo, where he decides to follow a mysterious man who turns out to be a beast and he eventually finds him in a different realm, the beast kingdom. While in the beast realm, the lord has decided to be reincarnated as a deity, leaving the lordship vacant to be claimed by one of the two potential successors, Ioźen the popular one and the powerful komatetsu. Amidst the high antipaction for the duel of succession Lord advices Komatetsu to enroll an apprentice. Kyuta(Ren’s new name given by Komatetsu)who is stuck in the beast realm fiercely opposes Komatetsu, a loner and a pathetic teacher. But he gets inspired by Komatetsu to be powerful and soon this unlikely pair starts training and remember Komatetsu has a duel scheduled, which is the master and which is the apprentice?

The movie kicksoff as another stuck in another realm movie, a movie with the master apprentice relation at it’s core, but maybe this pair of a stubborn disciple and a bad master is something refreshing. As they train and practice in the first half of the movie, their chemistry is endearing to watch. Their journey is character driven where both the character develops. Other characters are lively too, the makeshift companion of Komatetsu, Tatara, and a monk, and the lord himself he reminds me of from Kung fu Panda just cut down the mystique part. When Kyota finds it difficult to settle in the beast town, he also make friends and memories mainly with the children of Iozen, Ichirohiko and Kobimaru. The simplicity of the first act soon take over by the ambitious other half, as many secrets are revealed and some great action sequences take place yet the simplicity prevails like any other Hosada film. I am just leaving the second half alone, talking about it can only double the length of the article but that’s not my concern, I don’t want to spoil anything about a good movie.

The direction of the film is amazing, It’s worth noticing that the Tokyo in the first half shown as a bustling city through the eyes of a baffled kid like a faint memory as he walk through the city’s crowd. And the beauty and the nightlife of the Tokya only to be revealed in the later part.

An example of good direction you can easily sense the despair of Ren in a bustling city

The contrast between the two realms is also reflected by the animation, a Mashoka Shintai inspired vibrant and detailed Tokyo, and on the other part they train in photo realistic beautiful backgrounds of Beast kingdom like a Ghibli landscape. Character design is simple and aesthetic even when the beasts are concerned in the backdrop of detailed backgrounds like any other great anime. Movie makes a great use of CGI striking a great balance in animation probably setting an example.

History lesson from the movie, a good example of use of CGI. Don’t worry it doesn’t spoil anything.

Conclusion

Although movie starts with a comedic tone with heavy fantasy elements but soon emotions and action takeover and there is a good chance you will shed some tears. It’s a complete package of adventure, comedy and action stuffed with lots of emotion. The chemistry of Komatetsu and Kyuta can alone keep you hooked with the screen.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I would rate it few noches higher while ignoring the unoriginalness that other people have mentioned because even then Hishada has meticulously sewn these theme together in a excellently paced beautiful movie.

Watch guide

Rated PG and contains strong violence. Age 11+ as recommended by CommonsenseMedia