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The Boy and The Beast
The Boy and The Beast “In a wonderfully dramatic anime story,
  a young orphaned boy runs away to live
  on the street rather than be controlled
  by his unfeeling distant family; but he
  becomes lost in a land of beasts where
  he learns the skills that enable him to
  take on a frightening dark force in The
  Boy and The Beast...”

AFTER THE DEATH OF HIS MOTHER, nine-year-old Ren (voiced by Luci Chritian, Eric Vale & Shôta Sometani) is faced with the whims of his cold, unfeeling relatives as his parents were divorced and his father cannot be found.

Desperately unhappy and grieving for his mother, Ren runs away from the family he dislikes so intensely to live on the streets. At a railway station he is spotted by two policemen and as he desperately escapes from them he loses his way — only to arrive in a land of beasts.

“The Boy and The Beast
is a wonderfully
dramatic, well observed
anime story of learning
and earning respect
that stretches the
imagination and keeps
up the momentum...”
Hungry and with nowhere to go and with only a little furry creature he calls Chico (voice of Sumire Morohoshi) for company, he bumps into Tatara (voice of Ian Sinclair and Yô Ôizumi) and Hyakushubo (voice of Alex Organ), a priest-in-training, and their large, brusque and powerful friend Kumatetsu (John Swasey and Kôji Yakusho), who is hoping to be in the running to be the Lord of Jutengal — The Land of the Beasts — to take over from the existing Lord (voice of Steve Powell) who will pass on to become reincarnated as a God.

But Kumatetsu has to stand against the equally powerful Iozen (voice of Sean Hennigan and Kazuhiro Yamaj), a father of two children, Jiromaru (voice of Brittney Karbowski, Josh Grelle and Momoka Ôno)and Ichirohiko (voice of Morgan Berry, Austin Tindle and Kappei Yamaguchi), who appears to be the favourite to win.

Kumatetsu offers to take Ren on as his pupil, renaming him Kyuta. At first Ren, now known as Kyuta, kicks against the discipline and Kumatetsu is not very understanding, but with Tatara and Hyakushubo's help he rethinks the way he is teaching Kyuta and in turn Kyuta finds a way he can learn from the beast.

Kyuta becomes fond of Kumatetsu and little realises that the lessons he has learned and the strength, courage and friendship he has gained from his connection with the beast will help him in his attempt to stop the coming darkness that threatens both worlds.

The Boy and The Beast is a wonderfully dramatic, well observed anime story of learning and earning respect that stretches the imagination and keeps up the momentum with a seamless mix of classic hand-drawn animation and GCI, from award-winning Japanese Director Mamoru Hosada (Wolf Children).

The Boy and The Beast also features: Kaede voiced by Bryn Apprill and Suzu Hirose); Kyuta's Mother voiced by Jessica Cavanagh and Kumiko Asô; Kyuta's Father voiced by Chuck Huber & Keishi Nagatsuka.

Music by Masakatsu Takagi; Cinematography by Ryo Horibe; Producers are: Atsushi Chiba, Takuya Itô, and Genki Kawamura; Written and Directed by Mamoru Hosoda.

* STUDIOCANAL announces the release of The Boy and The Beast in the UK on Digital Download, DVD and Blu-ray on 4 September 2017. Certificate: 12 | Running Time: 116 Minutes | Languages: English and Japanese with English Subtitles.

"The Boy and The Beast is a wonderfully dramatic, well observed anime story of learning and earning respect that stretches the imagination and keeps up the momentum" **** — Maggie Woods, MotorBar

"A beautifully animated tale!" **** — Daily Express

"Enchanting" ***** — The Skinny

"An effervescent anime" — Heyuguys
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