#New Visual And Staff Credits For Mamoru Hosada’s Belle Revealed

Mamoru Hosada’s Belle (Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime, meaning The Dragon and the Freckled Princess in Japanese) has received new staff details as well as a new visual depicting the virtual forms of the titular Belle (known as Suzu in the movie’s real world setting) and the dragon. 

The newly announced staff includes illustrator Kageichi Akiya as the designer of the dragon, Takaaki Yamashita (Mirai screen designer) as the animation director in regards to the virtual world of “U,” Hiroyuki Aoyama (Mirai animation director) as the character designer and the real world’s animation director, Nobutaka Ike (Princess Principal) as art director, Anri Jōjō (Mirai production designer) as art designer, and Ryō Horibe (Mirai) and Digital Frontier’s Yohei Shimozawa (Doraemon: Nobita’s Treasure Island) as CG directors.

From May 15 to May 18, Studio Chizu previewed the character designs for Belle’s classmates Shinobu Hisatake/Shinobu-kun, Shinjirō Chikami/Kamishin, Ruka Watanabe/Ruka-chan, and Hiroka Betsuyaku/Hiro-chan, whose voice actors were revealed near the start of May. Also revealed during the month were the voice actors of several characters involved in the hunt for the dragon as well as the movie’s July 16 release date in Japan.

Belle was announced in December 2020 and received a full trailer in April 2021.  The movie’s staff includes Frozen character designer Jin Kim, British architect and designer Eric Wong, and Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart from Irish studio Cartoon Saloon, which produced the Oscar-nominated Song of the Sea, The Secret of the Kells, and Wolfwalkers. Studio Chizu is handling the animation production.

The Studio Chizu website describes the story as:

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.