Mamoru Hosoda’s Belle Just Keeps Looking More and More Gorgeous

The anime maestro’s latest looks like a mash-up between Beauty and the Beast and his own Summer Wars.

Back in February, I shared the first teaser for Mamoru Hosoda’s upcoming Belle, which offered a tantalizing glimpse at the anime maestro’s latest. The first full Japanese trailer dropped earlier this week, giving us a better glimpse of Belle — and it looks even more gorgeous.

The film follows a young girl from rural Japan who becomes a superstar in a virtual world called “U” and subsequently goes on a series of adventures. Based on the trailer’s stunning imagery alone, the film looks like something of a mash-up between Beauty and the Beast and Hosoda’s own Summer Wars.

In a previous statement, Hosoda described Belle as “the movie that I have always wanted to create,” which is saying something given the man’s already impressive filmography. Belle is currently set to arrive in Japanese theaters this July.

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