Details have been slim overall for some time but summer 2021 will feature a new anime film from Mamoru Hosoda with Belle. Working with Studio Chizu, it’s also known as Ryu to Sobakasu no Hime which translates as The Princess of Dragons and Freckles. Hosoda is directing it and working on the screenplay for it while being credited for the original work as well. It looks like this is another online world type of film where it looks to explore coming-of-age themes.
Now, the production has rolled out its first formal teaser for it while confirming that it will open in theaters in Japan in July 2021. What’s extra fascinating with this one is that it looks like the character designs came from Jin Kim, who worked on numerous Disney productions with Frozen to Moana, and that there’s some great mutual respect between Hosoda and Kim and have wanted to work together for some time. This became possible after Mirai.
In addition to that, the project also collaborated with Cartoon Saloon out of Ireland and a London-based architect named Eric Wong to design the internet space for the film settings.
Plot Concept: Our protagonist, Suzu, is a 17-year old high school girl, who lives in the countryside of Kochi Prefecture with her father, after losing her mother at a young age. She loves singing with her mother more than anything else, but as a result of her mother’s death was no longer able to sing.
It wasn’t long before she and her father grew more and more distant from each other, and Suzu closed her heart to the rest of the world.
When Suzu felt that writing music was her only purpose left in life, she then discovers the massive online space known as “U,” where she takes on her persona, Belle.
Another me. Another reality. We are no longer limited to a single world.
Suzu quickly realizes that when she is inside “U” as her avatar, Belle, she can sing quite naturally. As she continues to showcase her own music in the virtual world, she fast becomes the rising star of “U.”
Nonetheless, that surprise is short-lived. Suddenly, a mysterious dragon-shaped creature appears before her…
[Source: ANN]
