‘Belle’ is An Exemplary Emotional Experience

Almost twenty hours after leaving the theater, I cannot stop thinking about Belle. This film is my latest obsession. It has captivated my entire soul, and all I want to do is tell people how phenomenal this movie is. I know that it is an incredibly difficult ask for someone. I know that the prospect of going to a theater and being in proximity of people is not a trivial one, even with niche anime films that tend not to have full houses no matter what showing you go to. And yet, I find myself extolling the movie and experience. I found myself openly weeping in the theater and letting the ending credits wash over me like gentle waves even though I knew there probably wasn’t a post-credit easter egg (there wasn’t, but I still think you stay through the credits if only to let your fragile emotional state a chance to mend itself). I have told everyone who is willing to listen that Belle is magnificent that if I had the means, I would buy tickets, popcorn, and gas money for anyone who wanted to watch this film just so I could have more people to talk about it with. The soundtrack is the only thing I’m going to be listening to for the next month. I’m exercising a great deal of emotional and physical restraint writing this review instead of seeing the movie again, so I guess I should probably talk about the movie. When GKIDS started to advertise the US release of Belle, the marketing made it sound like it was an anime interpretation of Beauty and the Beast. The beloved heroine protag…