Wild Card Wednesday: The Boy and the Beast (Bakemono no ko)

Director: Mamoru Hosoda

Year: 2015

Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure

Summary: When a young orphaned boy living on the streets of Shibuya stumbles upon a fantastic world of beasts, he's taken in by a gruff warrior beast looking for an apprentice.

4/5 Pineapples

Review:

The great thing that I've noticed about most animes is that they're typically more dynamic than meets the eye.

The Boy and the Beast is not simply a story about an orphan boy that becomes a beasts apprentice in a fantastical animal world like the summary would suggest. There are so many other side-plots and underlying lessons to be learned that contribute to this story of growth, doubt, darkness, and coming to terms with your inner beast.

The Boy and the Beast follows a 9 year old boy, Ren, whose mother died in a fire. His aunt and uncle try to take him in, but Ren wants to be with his father - whom he doesn't know. His father isn't around, and we're unsure of why until later. Ren, being young and stubborn, decides to run away and live on his own.

We soon learn there's a certain darkness lurking inside him as he struggles to find a secure place to live and a sense of belonging anywhere, or to anyone. Though we're not entirely sure what that darkness is, it's literally captured as a swirling dark orb in the chest of his reflection and in his shadows in times of uncertainty. Whether it's an entity of it's own or simply a feeling, is unclear until later.

In all of his loneliness and cowering on the streets, he befriends a small fluff-ball of a mouse named Chiko who keeps him company.

One night, he catches the attention of a hooded bear-like creature named Kumatetsu that's passing through the city with his monkey-like friend Tatara who are discussing Kumatetsu's need for an apprentice. Kumatetsu entertains the idea of taking in a human apprentice and harasses Ren about the possibility. He thinks better of it and begins to move on, but not before turning to ask, "What do you think, kid? Wanna come with me?" Ren, scared that he's face to face with an actual talking bear, is frozen in fear and confusion before Kumatetsu shrugs and continues on his way.

Being a wandering, homeless child on the streets, Ren later encounters cops that try to take him in to the proper authorities. In an effort to escape them, Ren runs as fast as he can through the city and is drawn to a particular alley. He runs through it, and the alley becomes that of a maze. Ren begins to panic before catching sight of a brightly lit landscape on the other end of the alleyway. He makes his way toward it and is transported to another realm - while the alleyway seals itself behind him.

Jutengai, The Beast Kingdom, resembles feudal Japan but run and occupied entirely by humanoid animals.

Ren stumbles into Hyakushubo, a pig-like monk who tells Ren all about Jutengai. He informs him that the human and beast world is typically kept separate because beasts can become gods and humans cannot. But, overall, he assures Ren that he will get him back to his own world safely.

Jutengai's Lord, a bunny-beast with a cute lisp, is retiring to reincarnate as a god. The thing is, he needs time to decide what god he'd like to become. But once he's decided, he will choose who will take his place. That decision will be determined by a duel.

While strolling through the city, Kumatetsu (the bear that harrassed Ren earlier on the street of the human world) spots Ren, and assumes he came to be his apprentice. Kumatetsu's personality is pretty overbearing, and Ren is scared, so he's essentially roped in to following Kumatetsu's orders. Hyakushubo tries to convince Kumatetsu to be a better beast and return Ren to his own world, but Kumatetsu - being the head-strong and selfish being that he is - ignores his advice.

Kumatetsu is an underdog in The Beast Kingdom, second to Iouzan who is a bore-like creature that's, in contrast, well respected in Jutengai. Kumatetsu needs an apprentice because he wants to fight Iouzan for the position of Lord. The only thing is, to qualify, you need an apprentice and no one respects Kumatetsu enough to follow his orders and call him 'Master'. Eventually Ren, having nowhere else to live or go, with no way out, and with nothing else to do, gives up on being stubborn and becomes Kumatetsu's apprentice. He begins copying every single thing Kumatetsu does, and he even takes on a new beast-name, Kyuta.

While adjusting to his new environment, Ren (or Kyuta, whichever you prefer) has a few run-ins with some local bullies, Ichirohiko and Jiromaru - the sons of Iouzan. They consider humans to be weak and vulnerable and pick on Ren endlessly. Ichirohiko does show kindness to Ren though and prevents excessive torment from his brother onto him on multiple occasions. We're not sure why Ichirohiko seems to favor and protect Ren.

Honestly, my first impression was that he was a she dressed as a "he".

After a few months of training with Kumatetsu, Ren and the beast grow very close - like a father and son Ren is also able to prove his bullies wrong, prove his strength, and therefore gain their respect and friendship.

Ren eventually turns 17 and at this point is considered an experienced fighter. Suddenly, everyone is lining up to be Kumatetsu's next apprentice, though Kumatetsu doesn't believe any of them are worthy of his teachings.

I believe this is because he holds such a fondness for Ren, and doesn't want to fill the spot that Ren leaves behind (now that he's essentially graduated as an apprentice).

One day while there's a line of people waiting to meet Kumatetsu, Ren and Kumatetsu get in an argument about how he should or should not train. In the midst of a childish tantrum, Ren sprints out the door and begins running from Kumatetsu who is chasing him because, "we're not finished yet!"

Suddenly, Ren recognizes an alley and turns into it to hide from Kumatetsu. It's the exact alley he wandered down when he was 9 years old that brought him to The Beast Kingdom. Curiosity driving him, he continues forward until he enters the human world again.

Fascinated, he explores the city and we find him in a local library. There, he opens the book Moby Dick. In an effort to read it, he asks the girl standing beside him what a page says. She tells him it says, "white whale', curious as to why he can't read it himself. A group of girls sitting at a table near by begin to snicker. They're either just being loud in a public library or they're laughing about his inability to read. Nevertheless, the girl who helped him stands up for him and any other peaceful library folk, and tells the group to "take it outside." She turns back toward Ren but he's gone, and Moby Dick is set back in its place on the shelf.

On her way out of the library she's stopped by the 3 girls that were snickering around the table in the library earlier. They begin to torment her - dumping her books out on the ground and harrassing her - while 3 boys watch and laugh. Ren, near by, sees the injustice happening to a girl who was kind to him. The boys catch sight of Ren and then start to harrass him as well.

Until Ren kicks their ass.

This scares the girls off, and Ren and the girl find solace in a nearby parking lot. She introduces herself as Kaede, and offers to teach him to read in return for him saving her.

He travels between worlds to study with Kaede and train with Kumatetsu. Hyakushubo, Tatara, and Kumatetsu start to notice his absence.

While studying one day, Kaede tells Ren she thinks that the whale in Moby Dick is a reflection of who the Captain in the story is. This is important.

Kaede and Ren grow very close. She encourages Ren to apply for colleges, but to take the college entrance exams, he needs a registration. His original registration expired, but his family registration is still valid. The receptionist asks Ren to verify his fathers address. His mother and father split up when he was young. He lived with his mom, and all this time, he didn't know where his father was until now.

Ren decides to meet his father. He waits outside his apartment for awhile before giving up and deciding to head home. On his way back, he crosses paths with his father and stops to ask him, "Do you know me?" The man hesitates, and Ren turns away saying, "of course not..."

Then a group of small children run past as if to trigger the memory of his own son. The man runs up to Ren and hugs him, apologizing for not recognizing him.

Turns out, Ren's father didn't know his ex-wife had died until awhile after it happened. He went looking for Ren, but heard that he ran away and went to the police to try to find him, but they never found anything. Ren's father didn't forget him like Ren feared he had.

Ren tries to reconcile his relationship with his father, and he confronts Kumatetsu about wanting to attend a human school. He and Kumatetsu get into a big argument. The conflict drives him to make the decision to live with his father, but Ren grows uncertain about needing his father, as well as the role his father will play, in his life at this point. This doubt sparks the darkness (that we saw when he was 9 years old) in Ren's chest again.

Unaware of how to handle all of his conflicting emotions, Ren feels completely alone. He runs to the library where he finds Kaede. He asks her who he is, "am I human or beast?" He's having a breakdown and she's scared of him for the first time.

She decides to literally slap him out of it, and then engulf him in a hug. During the embrace she tells him how she understands. She gets frustrated too. Sometimes to the point where it consumes everything else. But she reassures him that everyone feels it, he's not alone, and everything is going to be okay. She gives him a bookmark from her favorite book - which is really just a red string that she wears around her wrist. She ties it on his wrist and tells him that the next time he feels overwhelmed, he can see the red string and remember that she's on his side.

The red string is SUPER significant in Japanese culture. It's referred to in A LOT of animes, and I was super excited to see it being used in this one. The red string is a beautiful legend that basically states everyone is attached by the pinky, ankle, or wrist to another person by a red string. The string will knot, tangle, and untie, but - despite everything - it will ultimately bring two people together that are destined to make history. For more on the 'Red String of Fate', click here.

Ren returns to Jutengai on the day that Iouzan and Kumatetsu are competing for the position of Lord - since the current Lord finally decided he's going to reincarnate, ironically, as the God of Decision.

Ren catches up with Jiromaru, and when they're finished, Ichirohiko offers to walk Ren outside. For whatever reason, Ichirohiko is suddenly a jerk to Ren and sucker punches him. With Ren doubled over, Ichirohiko kicks Ren repeatedly, telling him that his father, Iouzan, will be the winner in today's match and that Kumatetsu doesn't stand a chance.

Fast forward to Kumatetsu battling Iouzan to become Lord. With Ren's encouragement from the stands, Kumatetsu is actually able to beat Iouzan.

Completely overcome by rage and showing signs of the same darkness we have seen in Ren's chest in the past, Ichirohiko uses his telekinetic powers to drive Iouzan's blade into Kumatetsu's back.

What telekinetic powers, you might ask? The ones that the darkness apparently provides you, duh.

Ren begins to lose himself in his darkness again - absolutely devastated and enraged by this betrayal - and begins levitating and unsheathing his sword with his new found telekinetic powers that derive from the darkness.. He aims the sword toward Ichirohiko, but Chiko (the mouse, remember him?! He's been around the whole time, living in Ren's hair, and making insignificant appearances until now) crawls onto Ren's face and attempts to calm him down. Chiko bites Ren's nose. Ren instinctively brings his hand to comfort his face and catches a glimpse of the red string on his wrist - remembering Kaede. Ren returns to his normal state.

Meanwhile, Ichirohiko completely loses himself in his hatred for Ren, threatens him, then evaporates/is swallowed up by the darkness.

Kumatetsu is brought to a hospital and put into recovery.

TURNS OUT, human's harbor darkness. The darkness we've seen in Ren is a darkness only humans can experience. Meaning, Ichirohiko is a human. Not a lady dressed as a boy, like I originally thought, rather a human dressed as a beast.

I was close enough, right?

My understanding is that Ichirohiko used to favor Ren because he identified with Ren about being human and feeling like an outsider. But as Ichirohiko got older, he resented the aspect that he was human more and more - making that human-bred darkeness fester in his chest until attempting to murder Kumatetsu.

Ren goes searching for Ichirohiko. He considers himself lucky to have been raised by Kumatetsu, Hyakushubo, and Tatara. He believes that being raised by them is what kept him from being swallowed by darkness during the competition and that he has a moral obligation to show Ichirohiko that he doesn't have to give into the darkness himself.

Ren meets up with Kaede to say goodbye. He gives her his copy of Moby Dick and tells her he can't explain, but he has something he has to do that could end badly for him. She insists on helping him and being with him.

Ichirohiko appears and Ren attempts to protect Kaede who refuses to hide. She drops the book he gave to her while he quarrels with Ichirohiko. When they get the chance, the two of them flee together. Ichirohiko finds the book and manifests himself as a whale.

The whale is a reflection of the Caption in Moby Dick. The whale is a reflection of Ichirohiko in The Boy and the Beast.

Face to face with Ichirohiko again, Ren and Kaede try to convince Ichirohiko that revenge and holding onto anger wont make him happy. Of course, this doesn't shake his desire to murder Ren, so Ren chooses to also lose himself to his own darkness. Ren thinks if he can lose himself to the darkness too, he can then swallow Ichirohiko - which would ultimately kill them. While going through with doing so, Ren hears Kumatetsu's voice as a fiery sword is suddenly soaring through the air and toward the ground in front of Ren.

Essentially, Kumatetsu gave his soul to a sword that Ren could place in his chest to keep his soul on the right track. The sword keeps his darkness away, and he overcomes Ichirohiko with his inner strength and the love he has for Kumatetsu and the others that he cares for.

Ren and Kumatetsu live on as one being - Kumatetsu acting as a literal conscience; an inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one's behavior.

Ren leaves The Beast Kingdom and moves in with his father, never picking up a sword again.

Kaede and Ren remain close.

Chiko is still cute and fluffy.

All is right in the world once again.

~

Analysis:

Darkness is a weakness humans have. It's a symbol of doubt, depression, rage, uncertainty. It's a recurring feeling we we've all experienced, but it's important not to let it consume us or our lives. It can change us into people we never wanted to be. Darkness only perpetuates more darkness. Find peace within yourself.

Finding peace within yourself starts by accepting your darkness, your flaws, and recognizing them. Come to terms with your inner beast and allow that to perpetuate you forward instead of allowing it to swallow you whole and set you back.

Moby Dick was a foreshadowing of Ichirohiko's meltdown!

As for the questions I'm left with, why and how is Kaede so accepting of this bizarre Beast Kingdom? I guess love does that though... More importantly, why don't Ren and Kaede kiss?! We were all waiting for it!

Why was Ren able to leave The Beast Kingdon with ease and by chance when he was 17, but was blocked in Jutengai and trapped by a wall when he was 9?

Unfortunately, it's difficult to discuss anime without is sounding incredibly cheesy. On paper and in writing, it simply doesn't translate as believable, fantastical, or interesting as it is on screen. If you're someone that enjoys animation motion-pictures, it's worth a watch. If for absolutely no other reason, watch this film for Chiko. He's very cute.

Feel free to answer any of my above questions if I missed the answers, or if you have theories of you own!

Thanks for reading! See you again for Shudder Sunday.