Bakemono no Ko

The Boy and the Beast (バケモノの子, Bakemono no Ko, literally "The bakemono's child") is a 2015 Japanese animated action-adventure fantasy film written and directed by Mamoru Hosoda. The film stars the voices of Kōji Yakusho, Aoi Miyazaki, Shōta Sometani, Suzu Hirose, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Mamoru Miyano, Kappei Yamaguchi, Keishi Nagatsuka, Kumiko Asō, Haru Kuroki, Sumire Morohoshi, Momoka Ōno, Masahiko Tsugawa, Lily Franky and Yo Oizumi. It was released on July 11, 2015. It won Animation of the Year at the 37th Japan Academy Prizes and grossed ¥5.85 billion at the Japanese box office.

Synopsis
The story is set in the human realm (Tokyo's Shibuya ward) and the bakemono realm (Shibutenmachi). In these two worlds which must not intersect, there lives a lonely boy and a lonely bakemono. One day, the boy gets lost in the bakemono world, becomes the disciple of the bakemono Kumatetsu, and is renamed Kyuuta.

(Source: ANN)

Light Novel
Written by Hosoda, Mamoru and the series was later acquired by KODAKAWA Shoten, who began publishing the series with illustrations by Hirasawa, Geko on June 20, 2015. Bakemono no Ko was published in English as The Boy and The Beast by Yen Press under the Yen On imprint on February 23, 2016; and in Spanish as El Niño y la Bestia by Planeta Comic under the Timun Mas imprint on March 1, 2016. From Kadokawa Shoten, novel version from Kadokawa Bunko, Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko, Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. An anime picture book has been published that uses theatrical cuts as they are and allows you to relive the excitement of the movie.


 * Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko Edition July 1, 2015 - ISBN 978-4-04-103109-4
 * Anime Picture Book Nippon Television Studio Chizu LLP (supervision) Issued July 10, 2015 - ISBN 978-4-04-103281-7

Manga
In 2015, the series with illustrations by Renji Asai began serialization comicalized works in the "Monthly Shonen Ace June issue" (KADOKAWA). The book was published in four volumes by Kadokawa Comic Ace. Bakemono no Ko has been published in English as The Boy and The Beast by Yen Press since February 23, 2016.

Character
His parents were divorced (forcibly by his maternal relatives) and lived with his mother, who died in an accident when she was 9 years old. She was supposed to be taken in by his relatives, but He was disgusted with his father who didn't come to pick him up and his mother who died leaving him behind. Run away and disappear. He met Kumatetsu when he was wandering the back alleys of Shibuya with nowhere to go, and then wandered into Shibuten-gai in the process of escaping from the police.

At first, he was desperate even in Shibutengai, but since he had nowhere to go, he had no choice but to become Kumatetsu's disciple and grow up through living together. When Kumatetsu asked for his name, he only answered his age, so he was named "Kyuta" because he was 9 years old. At first, he was looked down upon as the only human in the town where monsters lived, and was treated as a troublesome person by other monsters. However, in the process of doing household chores and learning martial arts, instead of taking a passive attitude, Ren actively tried to incorporate Kumatetsu's strong points, and as he learned to see his opponent's movements better, he was able to dodge his opponent's attacks. I'm starting to be able to do it. At first, he was bullied by the monster children in the town, but he began to fend off attacks and was recognized for his ability, and he was able to join them. As the seasons change, his body grows and grows, and he not only acquires swordsmanship skills, but also bare-handed martial arts.

In his adolescence, he accidentally finds a way back to Shibuya from Shibutengai. Since he did not receive school education after the age of 9, he was not good at reading and writing letters, but he learned to study from Kaede, a high school girl he met in the library (Kaede's teaching method was good and Kyuta's own strong knowledge. Due to his curiosity, Ren learning content rises from elementary school level to high school level in a short period of time), and she recommends him to take university entrance exams.

In the aftermath, Ren celebrates his victory with Kaede in the Beast Kingdom and returns to the human world. After reconciling with his father and himself, Ren decides to live once again in the human world with Kumatetsu forever residing in his heart.

Abilities
Taking Ren as a disciple, Kumatetsu gives him a new name, Kyūta. Their initial training sessions go poorly, but Kyūta realizes that he can learn from Kumatetsu by imitating him while performing his household chores. The boy gradually discovers that he can predict his master's movements, and can dodge and move adeptly in combat. As a child, Ren was short and weak, but while receiving Kumatetsu's guidance, he awakened to a talent for martial arts, and easily defeated multiple opponents of the city's delinquents, and finally, he easily threw Kumatetsu on his back.

They soon begin training together. After eight years, the teenage Kyūta has become a distinguished kendo practitioner. It was about His swordsmanship and martial arts skills have reached considerable proficiency, which has led to his great confidence in life. After the fight of being a new lord, Kumatetsu uses his new privilege as the lord and reincarnates as a deity, taking the form of a sword "to be handled with the heart" in reference to their first training session together. Kumatetsu merges with his pupil's form, filling his empty void within him giving Kyūta an ability in his own (telekinesis and illusions).

Production
Planning for this work was launched in September 2012, immediately after the release of the previous work "Wolf Children, Ame and Yuki". It took about 1 year and 1 month to develop the plot, and about 4 months from October 2013 to develop the script. Simultaneously, character design began in December 2013, and storyboard development took eight months from March 2014. Illustrating started in May 2014 and was completed in May 2015.

The character designs are from Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, who was in charge of director Hosoda's works from "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" to "Wolf Children's Rain and Snow/Wolf Children", director Mamoru Hosoda, animation director Takaaki Yamashita, and a stylist who handles the costumes in the works. Satoko Okudera, who was in charge of the script until the previous work, was removed and became a screenwriter cooperation, and became the sole name of Mamoru. Takaaki Yamashita and Tatsuzo Nishida, who have continued to support Hosoda's work, serve as animation directors, and Takashi Omori, Yohei Takamatsu, and Yoichi Nishikawa participate as art directors.

In addition, Masakatsu Takagi, who has worked on film music such as the documentary film "Kingdom of Dreams and Madness" depicting Studio Ghibli, will be in charge of the music.

Staff

 * Original/Director/Screenplay - Mamoru Hosoda
 * Character Design - Mamoru Hosoda, Takaaki Yamashita, Daisuke Iga
 * Animation director - Takaaki Yamashita, Tatsuzo Nishida
 * Original picture - Takeshi Inamura, Toshiyuki Inoue, Hideki Hamasu, Kazutaka Ozaki, Ei Inoue, Takayuki Hamada, Shunsuke Hirota, Masahiko Kubo, Ayako Hata, Yu Honda, Atsuko Tanaka, Shinji Otsuka, Kenji Yazaki, Tadashi Sakazaki, Kitaro Kosaka, Ai Kagawa, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Tatsuya Sotomaru, Hideki Takahashi, Hiroko Minowa, Yasumi Ogura, Ai Takashi, Akira Honma, Hiroyuki Aoyama, Ken Koike
 * Art Director - Takashi Omori, Yohei Takamatsu, Yoichi Nishikawa
 * Music - Masakatsu Takagi
 * Producer - Yoshio Nakayama, Yuka Saito, Shinichiro Inoue, Minami Ichikawa, Noboru Kashiwagi, Riichiro Nakamura, Yuya Yabushita, Yoshikazu Kumagai
 * General Producer - Seiji Okuda
 * Executive Producers - Daisuke Kadoya, Nozomi Takahashi
 * Producers - Yuichiro Saito, Takuya Ito, Jun Chiba, Genki Kawamura
 * Line Producer - Sumire Wake
 * Associate Producers - Yuzuru Sato, Osamu Ito, Tomoko Suzuki
 * Color design - Osamu Mikasa
 * CG Director - Ryo Horibe
 * Art setting - Asato Kamijo
 * Costume - Daisuke Iga
 * Editing - Shigeru Nishiyama
 * Recording - Yoshio Ohara
 * Sound Effects - Yuji Akazawa
 * Music Producer - Kyoko Kitahara
 * Casting Director - Satoshi Masuda
 * Assistant Director- Hiroyasu Aoki
 * Animation/finishing/production cooperation - Madhouse, Comics Wave Film, O Production, Studio Takuranke, Telecom Animation Film, Studio Khara, WHITE FOX, Sunrise, Leiden Film, Animation Studio Artland, Eight Bit Rocket, Studio Fuga, Aoi Studio, Nippon Television Music, Toho Music, Tokyo Laboratory, Eiken, etc.
 * Special Sponsor - SUNTORY
 * Distribution - Toho Animation
 * Planning/Production - Studio Map
 * Production Secretary - Nippon Television Network, Studio map
 * Production - THE BOY AND THE BEAST - FILM PARTNERS (Nippon Television Network, Studio Map, KADOKAWA, Toho, Bop, Dentsu, Yomiuri Television, DN Dream Partners / STV / MMT / SDT / CTV / HTV / FBS)

Release
The film was released on July 11, 2015 in Japan. The film received its International Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and its UK Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 16, 2015.

In December 2014, Gaumont secured international sales outside Asia and theatrical distribution rights in France. The film was released in France on January 13, 2016. Funimation licensed the film for the United States release; it opened in select theaters there on March 4, 2016. It has been licensed by StudioCanal for the UK and Ireland release, Madman Entertainment for the Australian release, and Mongrel Media for the Canadian release.

Musical
"For details, see Bakemono no Ko (Theatrical Company Shiki)" From April 30, 2022, a new original musical based on this work will be a long-running performance by the Shiki Theater Company. The special sponsor is Mitsui Fudosan.

Collaboration

 * In 2015, Suntory Foods' GREEN DA, KA, and RA commercials broadcast a collaboration commercial featuring the same CM characters and Kyuta and Kumatetsu from this work.
 * In 2015, goods in collaboration with the fashion brands "Kastane" and "CIAOPANIC TYPY" were released.

Box office
The film was #1 at the Japanese box office during its opening weekend, replacing Avengers: Age of Ultron, and earning approximately US$5.4 million on 492,000 admissions from 457 screens. In its second weekend, The Boy and the Beast earned $3.89 million, marking a 29.1% decline and dropping to number two, overtaken by Hero 2. The film was Japan's second highest-grossing film in the year 2015 with a total box office gross of (converted from yen) US$48.6 million.

The film ranked #28 at the American box office during its opening weekend on March 4, 2016. As of March 16, 2016, the film has an American box office gross of $474,308.

Critical response
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 88% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 69 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Boy and the Beast combines familiar parts to create a gripping, beautifully animated adventure with inventive storytelling to match its visual appeal." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 65 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Mark Schilling of The Japan Times said that the film "has more in common with the “Harry Potter” series than the usual female-centered Miyazaki fantasy" and would later say that the storyline "stays centered on Kyūta’s long, vexed struggle to become not only strong, but also whole." Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku said The Boy and the Beast "is an entertaining coming-of-age adventure on one hand and an excellent thematic exploration on the other. This is one of those films that is perfect for any age group—there’s something for everyone in this one." Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times said the film "is a bracing tale of two flawed individuals who find the love and discipline they need to assume their rightful places in their respective worlds." Peter Debruge of Variety called it "an action-packed buddy movie that strategically combines several of Japanese fans’ favorite ingredients: conflicted teens, supernatural creatures and epic battles." Peter Keough of The Boston Globe gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars and wrote that Hosoda "does know how to mix an eclectic array of film plots and concepts into a mish-mash that seems original." Pat Padua of The Washington Post wrote, "But it is the world of man, not beast, that makes this coming-of-age movie most touching."

While popular in Japan, in the west the film has a more mixed reaction. Andy Webster of The New York Times was more critical of the film, saying "Mr. Hosoda is skilled with fight scenes, and his settings — the pastel-hued Jūtengai and the drab Shibuya, evoked at times with surveillance-camera perspectives and crowd-paranoia angles — are impressive. But the characterizations and conflicts here are strictly generic." Sherilyn Connelly of The Village Voice said that the film "works with many common anime tropes but doesn't find anything new to say about them." Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and said "A huge success in Japan, this thrilling, if overlong, epic from director Mamoru Hosoda (Wolf Children, Summer Wars) is part Karate Kid and part Japanese folklore." Jacob Chapman of Anime News Network had a mixed response to the film and said "The Boy and The Beast is the kind of movie you put on to please a kid with its loudness and color, but promptly leave the room to do something else.

External Link

 * Bakemono no Ko ─ Official Manga Website (in Japanese)
 * Film Animation "Bakemono no Ko" Official Website (in Japanese)
 * Film Animation "Bakemono no Ko" Official (@bakemono_movie) - Twitter
 * Bakemono no Ko ─ Youtube Playlist
 * Bakemono no Ko ─ Wikipedia  JP 
 * Bakemono no Ko ─ Wikipedia EN

Trivia
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