Kaho Nakamur, Takeru Satoh, Kōji Yakusho (voices)
From Oscar-nominated anime director Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu (creators of Mirai, Wolf Children and Summer Wars) comes Belle, the fantastical, heartfelt story of a socially awkward girl who becomes a megastar in a virtual world.
Shy high school student Suzu (voiced by Kaho Nakamura) lives in a rural village. Finding it difficult to cope with everyday life, she instead regularly escapes into ‘U’, a virtual world where she transforms into an unlikely alter ego: enchanting, globally-beloved singer Belle. Online, as Belle, she encounters a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes. As their hunt escalates, Suzu embarks on an epic, emotional quest to uncover the beast’s identity, as well as investigating her own.
A delirious, captivating and eye-popping vision, bursting with ideas, Belle explores how social media and technology have transformed our lives and our relationship to ourselves, including how they can help people process or divert pain. A hit in Japan, where its story of female empowerment has resonated with national audiences, in part by providing a counterpoint to anime’s sometimes problematically helpless and hyper-sexualised heroines, it received a 14-minute standing ovation at its premiere at Cannes.