Director Mamoru Hosoda received an Oscar nomination for Mirai, had a box office hit with Belle and his latest Scarlet is playing theaters around the country. He has become the kind of animation director that you get eager to see what magic he will perform with his next film. Likewise, you become obsessed with the desire to watch his early films. The good news is that his early work has been receiving top notch releases in North America over the last few months. After releasing The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars and Wolf Children, GKIDS has delivered a 4K UHD of The Boy And The Beast. This was Hosoda’s fifth feature film. The fantastical tale takes a youth and his rather hairy mentor from Japan to a kingdom beyond belief.
Ren is a nine-year-old boy whose world has been abruptly changed. His mother has passed away, and his father can’t be located. He’s not happy at moving in with his legal guardians. He hits the streets of Tokyo and finds himself in an alley where he finds a mysterious fuzzy creature that’s almost like a mouse. What else could be lurking in the shadows of the Shibuya district? Ren meets up with the huge, hulking and hairy Kumatetsu. He had been previously talking about having the young kid be his disciple to learn the ways. But the creatures roam off before a shocked Ren can react. When a cop tries to grab Ren as a runaway, he runs in the direction of Kumatetsu. This leads to a winding urban labyrinth that comes out in a city square that isn’t part of Shibuya. This is a place occupied by other beastly humanoid creatures. Turns out that hairless humans aren’t welcome to this supernatural space. Luckily Kumatetsu finds Ren and makes him his apprentice. The trouble is that Ren has no desire to be an apprentice to the gruff fighter at first. Others warn Kumatetsu in taking a human child as an apprentice since humans have a darkness about them. This leads to a sword fighting duel in the public square. Ren realizes that his pal isn’t the popular fighter with the crowd. Ren gets protective of Kumatetsu. This also leads to the local Lord allowing the human to stay and study with the beastly fighter. Can the two train so that Ren becomes a man and Kumatetsu claim the role of the realm’s new leader?
The Boy And The Beast is fantastical tale of how a young boy can choose his family when his real family dissolves. Mamoru Hosoda and his crew have created a wild alternate world for Ren to visit. The beast humanoids are interesting to watch with their fangs, animal parts and human features. It feels done less for comic effect and more to emphasis the interior of the characters. Kumatetsu is shaggy to show off that his lack of focus and self-discipline is what keeps him from attaining the leadership position he desires. Can Ren being his apprentice actually teach him, so he succeeds? Or will his ego get in his way so that he always comes up short against his opponents? And are Ren’s legal guardians really looking for him? The Boy And The Beast is a dazzling film about adjusting to change.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 4K UHD looks great with the mixing of hand drawn and CGI animation on the screen. It’s worth getting the upgrade. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1 for both the Japanese and English dubs. Things sound as good as the image looks. The movie is subtitled in English, Spanish and French.
Steelbook will keep your copy of The Boy And The Beast looking great on the shelf.
Blu-ray with the movie and bonus features.
Audio Commentaries include two tracks for the Key Staff and the Cast. They are both in Japanese with English subtitles. The Key Staff get into the mixing of hand drawn with CGI element.
Making Of The Boy And The Beast (43:44) takes us through the three years it took to go from script to screen. Mamoru Hosoda starts it by taking nearly 9 months to hand draw the storyboards for the entire film. They are rather detailed drawings that everyone on the animation staff can reference. What’s interesting is how the staff hand paints the background images which are put into the computer so they can be used to –
Promotional Video Collection (27:08) has tons of trailers and other promo items for when the film came out
Teasers & Trailers has 2 Trailers, 3 Teasers and 3 TV Spots.
GKIDS and Shout! Studios present The Boy And The Beast (Steelbook Edition). Directed by Mamoru Hosoda. Screenplay by Mamoru Hosoda. Starring Shōta Sometani, Aoi Miyazaki, Eric Vale, Luci Christian, Kōji Yakusho John Swasey, Suzu Hirose Bryn Apprill, Haru Kuroki, Austin Tindle, Morgan Berry, Yo Oizumi & Ian Sinclair. Running Time: 119 minutes. Rating: PG-13. Release Date: March 17, 2026.
