Belle (竜とそばかすの姫, Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime, literally "The Dragon and Freckled Princess") is a 2021 Japanese animated science fantasy film written and directed by Mamoru Hosoda and produced by Studio Chizu. The film premiered on July 15, 2021 at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, where it was well-received by critics with a standing ovation that lasted 14 minutes. It was theatrically released in Japan on July 16, 2021.
Suzu Naito is a 17-year-old high school student who lives in a rural Kōchi Prefecture. When she was young, she was close with her mother who supported her love for singing and writing songs. However, one day, Suzu witnessed her mother attempted save a child from flooding river at the cost of her own life. The traumatic experience caused Suzu to resent her mother for "abandoning" her for a stranger's child, and she's unable to sing. Any pressure for her to sing would make Suzu cry and sick, alienating her from most of her classmates for exception of her childhood friend Shinobu Hisatake whom she has a crush on, the most popular girl Luka Watanabe, her sportsman classmate Shinjiro Chikami nicknamed Kamishin, and her computer geek best friend Hiroka Betsuyaku nicknamed Hiro. Under Hiro's suggestion, Suzu signs into the popular virtual world known as "U", and creates a pretty avatar with freckles she names "Bell", the English translation of her own name's meaning. Upon logging into U, Suzu finds herself capable of singing like she used to. Bell's appearance is at first criticized due to her freckles, but after making several appearances while singing, Bell soon became a big hit. Following her popularity, people start to refer her as "Belle", which means beautiful in French.
During one of Belle's concerts, a dragon avatar, simply called "The Dragon", makes his appearance and ruins the concert. This prompts a vigilante group led by the self-righteous Justian to attack the Dragon with the accusation for ruining the peace of U. Suzu feels intrigued by the Dragon and so, starts to gather information about him. She couldn't find out any useful information other than he was popular amongst children as their hero. Suzu enters U as Belle to search for the Dragon while evading Justian. She is lead into the Dragon's castle by an angel avatar and finally meets the Dragon. Despite their rocky start, Belle grows closer with the Dragon. Meanwhile, in the real world, Ruka confides to Suzu that she has someone she likes. Since both Ruka and Shinobu are the most popular students at school, Suzu mistakenly believes that Shinobu was the one Ruka likes until Ruka later clarifies that the one she likes is Kamishin. With Suzu's help, Ruka and Kamishin begin to date.
Back at U, Justian and his group locate the Dragon's castle and attack it, destroying the whole castle in flames but failed to capture the Dragon. Since Belle was close with the Dragon, Justian interrogates Belle, threatening he will unveil her identity to the whole world if she refuses to cooperate. The Dragon rescues Belle at the last second, saving her from being unveiled before leaving once more. Suzu and Hiro immediately try to find out the Dragon's real identity before Justian could. Suzu is able to find the Dragon's real-life person, Kei, after hearing his younger brother sing the song that should be known only between her and the Dragon. From the live video, it's revealed that Kei and his brother are being abused by his father. Suzu contacts Kei to help, but Kei doesn't believe that she's Belle. To earn Kei's trust, Shinobu urges Suzu to sing as herself in U. Following Shinobu's urging, Suzu unveils herself to the whole world in U and begins to sing, gaining support from everyone listening. Watching Belle as Suzu, Kei decides to trust Suzu and tries to contact her again. Unfortunately, Kei's father sees the recorded video of his abuse posted online and immediately cuts off the internet connection before Kei could tell his address to Suzu.
From the recording of the room, Kamishin recognizes the buildings near Kei's hometown in Kawasaki, Kanagawa nearby Tokyo. Because the authorities can't act until 48 hours passed, Suzu quickly rushes to the city by herself to find Kei. Arriving at Kei's hometown, Suzu protects Kei and his brother from their father. Once the situation is settled, Suzu and Kei thank each other for giving them courage. The next day, Suzu returns home with her father welcoming her at the station. Shinobu praises Suzu for her bravery and decides to stop being her guardian in her mother's place. Finally understanding her mother's actions, Suzu comes into terms with her death and is ready to sing with her friends.