I think it goes without saying that Mamoru Hosoda’s work is not only emotional but beautiful. Summer Wars and Wolf Children are two of my favorite animated films and for very different reasons. Summer Wars was the humorous fun slice of life type of film, while Wolf Children was the emotional tear jerker. So when word of Funimation bringing The Boy And The Beast to the US and in english came up we were very excited.
This film promised to bring the best of both Summer Wars and Wolf Children into one film and at the end of the day, it delivered. The Boy And The Beast is an emotional rollercoaster that will have you screaming at your TV as you route for the underdog to win in a battle of wisdom and control.
As always, spoilers ahead so you have been warned, though we do our best to avoid spoiling the ending. We discuss what’s new in The Hosoda Collection release of the film and recap our previous review of this beautiful film.
The Hosoda Collection – Is the re-release worth picking up?
The short answer is yes. If you enjoy Mamoru Hosoda’s work and/or you loved The Boy and The Beast, you will want this edition.
The Hosoda Collection line of films includes on-disc extras not previously available in other releases. This release includes Blu-ray/DVD + Ultraviolet digital video like the previous Blu-ray release. The Hosoda Collection includes the following on-disc extras not previously released:
- The Boy and the Beast Exclusive Making Of
- Cast Talk: The Best of The Boy and the Beast
- Film Countdown Special
- Promo Videos (Annecy International Animation Film Festival Version, Kumatetsu Version, Kyuta Version)
- Studio Chizu × ZIP! Collaborations
- Original Japanese Trailers
- TV Spot Collection
- Trailers
The release also uses a red and clear sleeve to encase the disks while revealing the artwork from the films iconic poster. Enclosed in that sleeve besides the discs is a 52-page art book. Included in that book are interviews with the director and cast members. Here is a complete list:
- Mamoru Hosoda, Director
- Yuichiro Saito, Studio Chizu Producer
- Takaaki Yamashita & Tatsuzo Nishita, Animation Directors
- Koji Yakusho, Voice of Kumatetsu
- Aoi Miyazaki, Voice of Young Kyuta
- Shota Sometani, Voice of Teenage Kyuta
- Masakatsu Takagi, composer
So go pickup your copy over at Amazon today. Also checkout our review of the film below.
Our Review
Kyuta, as Kumatetsu names him, is a strong-minded and determined young boy who has no desire to live with family he doesn’t know, questioning where his father is. After running away he finds himself following a ‘beast’ into the world of beasts and soon decides to live with and be trained by Kumatetsu after watching him lose a very public fight. Kyuta and Kumatetsu are a lot alike but also very different. That distinct dynamic was one of the best things about this film. Kyuta feels like he can relate to Kumatetsu who is apparently disliked by everyone, and wants to learn about fighting from his as he is clearly strong. However Kumatetsu soon learns that Kyuta has something to teach him as well.
Hosoda does a brilliant job of planting little seeds of future events throughout the movie starting from the first moment we see Kyuta running away angry at the world. That moment with his shadow comes full circle by the end of the film. One of the themes of this film is that humans can harbor darkness in them and be consumed by it. While beasts can reincarnate and become gods, something humans cannot do.
Much like Hosoda’s Summer Wars, The Boy And The Beast comes with some great comedy moments between the main characters as they fight over eating raw eggs and who does the dishes after dinner. But the cutest and funniest moment was when Kyuta starts to imitate Kumatetsu move for move, as you can see below.
To read our full review, click here.
