BELLE (竜とそばかすの姫, Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime) is a 2021 original theatrical anime film directed and written by Mamoru Hosoda and produced by Studio Chizu. The film’s staff credits also include character designer Jin Kim, background designs by studio Cartoon Saloon, and music composers Taisei Iwasaki, Ludvig Forssell, Yuta Bandoh, and Miho Sakai. The film first theatrically released in Japan on July 2021.
Background:
“Suzu is a 17-year-old high school student living in a rural village with her father. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. One day, she enters “U,” a virtual world of 5 billion members on the internet.
There, she is not Suzu anymore but Belle, a world-famous singer. She soon meets with a mysterious creature.
Together, they embark on a journey of adventures, challenges and love, in their quest of becoming who they truly are.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, July 2022.
Mamoru Hosoda is known for a lot of family themed films throughout his career, but they’re all mostly pretty good and worth a watch. The last film he released MIRAI was a decent watch but was not as captivating as his earlier works like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars. So when I heard that BELLE was going for a vibe between Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Hosoda’s Summer Wars, I was intrigued to see how the end result will turn out. And I have yet to watch it due to bad timing with the UK theatrical release, but saying that I did hear it received pretty solid reviews so I have fairly high expectations with the film.
Anime Limited acquired the UK & Ireland rights for the film quite early on, and released it theatrically throughout the nation with an English dub that GKIDS sorted out for their North American release. Though GKIDS did release the film first for home video, Anime Limited went the extra mile to offer a 4K Ultra HD version.
Deluxe Edition Contents:
In a similar fashion to Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering With You, Anime Limited have decided to make the deluxe edition release for BELLE exclusively to their online store and retailer Zavvi. The standard Blu-ray will be available across all retailers, but for the 4K option you’ll have to go through these two locations until a standard edition 4K re-release occurs.
The deluxe edition has a ton of content, housing two cases inside a rigid box. The size of the box is about the same as Violet Evergarden if you want a comparison. The first case, the 4K Ultra HD type, includes the main feature film on both 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray formats, while the second case, the regular Blu-ray Amaray type, includes both bonus Blu-ray discs and Original Soundtrack CD disc.
Included with the set are a couple of physical items, such as the 60-page artbook which goes over more information about the film plus song lyrics, interviews with the staff and more. We also have 16 double-sided artcards with one of them including a serialised number, and there’s a small poster which replicates the UK theatrical design.
The deluxe edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray combo pack set is limited to 3000 units for SRP £69.99 (the higher SRP is due to the 4K Ultra HD format, self-authoring, OST and multiple Blu-ray discs full of bonus content). A standard edition Blu-ray is also available.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with clean artwork and UHD & BD Amaray packaging
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- 2 Bonus Blu-ray discs packed with on-disc extra features
- Original Soundtrack CD
- 60-page Artbook
- 12 double-sided artcards
- A3 poster
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 4th July 2022
The deluxe edition release for BELLE contains the film across a single 4K Ultra HD disc and single Blu-ray disc, plus two additional Blu-ray discs exclusively for the on-disc bonus features. The audio options for both formats include Japanese with English subtitles and the NYAV Post English dub commissioned by GKIDS. English SDH subtitles are also available for both formats.
The 4K UHD disc is encoded and authored by the folks over at VDMS, mainly due to their experience dealing with Dolby Vision from my understanding. Dolby Atmos is available for Japanese audio alongside Dolby Vision for High Dynamic Range. Similar to Future Boy Conan’s 4K release, French audio and subtitles are also on the disc by choosing the French option in the first menu that appears as soon as you start the disc (and you can go back and forth between the two languages). As for the playback, the white subtitles are locked during playback, and the disc is all region.
The Blu-ray discs were encoded and authored by MediaOCD, which is interesting considering the discs were already available via the North American release by GKIDS who released the film on Blu-ray a while back. As for the playback, the subtitles are locked during playback, and the disc is locked to Region B players.
The difference between the Anime Limited release and the GKIDS release is that the US release has a lot of bonus features on the main Blu-ray while the UK release keeps them exclusively to the deluxe edition. This is similar to how MIRAI was handled (except with MIRAI, the UK didn’t get any extras).
4K Ultra HD Specs:
| Languages | English, French, Japanese |
| Audio | English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 English with English Audio Description DTS 2.0 French DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 Japanese Dolby Atmos Japanese with English Audio Description DTS 2.0 |
| Video | 2160p Ultra High Definition format 2.35:1 aspect ratio Dolby Vision HDR |
| Region | All Region |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH (available for Japanese audio also), French |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 1 BD-100 |
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 English with English Audio Description Dolby Digital 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese with English Audio Description Dolby Digital 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 2.35:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH (available for Japanese audio also) |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 3 BD-50s |
4K Ultra HD On-Disc Extra Features:
- Interview with Director Mamoru Hosoda
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Main Feature Disc:
- 30 second TV Spot
- 15 second TV Spot
Bonus Blu-ray Disc 1:
- The Making of BELLE
- Voice Recordings – Behind the Scenes
- Collection of Stage Greetings
- Collection of Cast Interview
- Interview with Director Mamoru Hosoda
- Interview with Kaho Nakamura & Takeru Satoh
- Interview with Kaho Nakamura & Lilas Ikuta
- Interview with Mamoru Hosoda, Kaho Nakamura & Daiki Tsuneta
- Takeru Satoh Talks About the Charm of the Film
Bonus Blu-ray Disc 2:
- A Conversation with Mamoru Hosoda
- Design Gallery
- Finding the Voice of BELLE
- Hosoda Draws BELLE
- Kylie McNeill Sings ‘Gales of Song’
- Music of BELLE
- Scene Breakdown – Ballroom
- Scene Breakdown – Train Station
- Trailers
- Interview with Taisei Iwasaki – Composer for BELLE
- BAFTA Interview with Director Mamoru Hosoda
- Interview with Director Mamoru Hosoda and Eric Wong
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
BELLE is available to order across multiple retailers in the United Kingdom. The deluxe edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray combo pack is exclusive to Anime Limited’s store and Zavvi, while the standard edition Blu-ray can be acquired through Amazon UK, Anime Limited’s store, MVM’s Anime-on-Line, and United Publications.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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