This story presents a wide range of powerful events that we live through in Kota, where he is raised by a man named Komatsu. Things may change completely and turn into an undesirable turn when deep darkness threatens to throw the human and savage worlds into chaos. This disorder makes this strong bond between this unlikely family subject to the unexpected final test.
What sets this film apart from its generic predecessors is writer/director Hosoda's knack for playful set pieces, and unsentimental love of surrogate familial communities.
Questions may linger about what's real and what's projected from Ren's turbulent feelings, but the film creates such vivid worlds on both sides of the alley, you'll root for their coexistence.
The Boy and the Beast is surprisingly funny, incredibly poignant and boasts some great lessons: Everybody's got darkness to control, and family is what you make, not what you're born into.
A film that doesn't try to redefine fantasy anime, instead it exploits the classic anime characters argue and fight all the time. [Full review in Spanish]
The soundscape is rich, and the beast-battles well executed. But the characters never develop beyond their two-word descriptors: Conflicted Boy, Lonely Girl, Angry Son, etc.