The Boy and the Beast Review

In a busy Tokyo street, a boy called Ren stands alone. He looks at his surroundings with hate and fury. He steals some food and goes to an abandoned corner to eat it. Two hooded figures approach him. One of the figures lifts his head and Ren looks, in horror, that the figure is a beast. The beast, Kumatetsu, asks Ren if he wants to become his apprentice. Ren doesn't say anything and Kumatetsu leaves. After the shock wears off, Ren follows Kumatetsu and enters the Beast Kingdom where beasts live. After a while, Ren becomes Kumatetsu's apprentice and helps his master perfect his technique so he can become Grandmaster and in the process, learn to let go of his anger and discover the meaning of family.

Review: 'The Boy and the Beast' is the First Great 2016 Animated Feature

Sometimes living in France is a good thing; while the apparently catastrophic Norm of the North was released this weekend in the United States, French cinemas got another family film instead: The Boy and the Beast. The new Mamoru Hosoda movie was a hit last summer in Japan, and it just opened in France this week. It will arrive in the US soon (12th February), yet there is still no official date for the UK, but hopefully it will open in 2016 as well.
So yes, The Boy and the Beast is indeed better than Norm of the North appears to be. Read the review below to find out why.