I hated, hated, hated 2/3rds of this anime. But I liked the ending… or, rather, I liked every ending they kept adding to the movie, thus somehow solidifying my opinion the flick is an absolute mess while also making me grudgingly nod my head and admit it was (finally) working.

Belle is set in a future where almost everyone has joined a virtual world. A despondent high school girl joins and almost inadvertently becomes a mega singing star… as long as she’s hidden behind her avatar (I think she’s from Montana. Or perhaps her favorite movie is Hanna…). For unknown, arbitrary reasons, another user whose avatar is a beast crashes one of her concerts and she becomes mysteriously obsessed with the true identity of the hacker. And so does the random superhero team who likes to butt in for plot reasons. 

This movie is a mess on a thematic, plotting, and character motivation level. I hated so much of it… completely baffled why anyone was doing pretty much anything. I was not engrossed in this uncompelling story as it kept churning along. It was on its merry way to a terribe review… 

BUT, I have to admit that when they finally reveal the identity of the Beast, it’s a pretty decent bit of storytelling. One that leads to a genuinely beautiful performance in the virtual world. Which should have been the natural end of the movie… but it had to just keep going, annoying me. 

BUT that leads to a lovely moment of human connection and an example of how conflicts can be resolved non-violently. Dammit movie, I whish you would just suck. And then it keeps going (argh) for another scene that was pretty good too.

This movie is a mess but, honestly, if you can see past the plot and thematic problems I had with it, you’ll probably love it. Because there’s some really thoughtful and lovely moments buried at the tail end of this flick.

Score: 71