Have you heard of Belle? If you haven’t, here’s the trailer!Belle, also known as Ryū to Soba Kasu no Hime, is a movie starring a Japanese high school student who toggles between her real-life and virtual world character.
After witnessing her mother lose her life while trying to save another child from drowning, Suzu became traumatised and lost her ability to sing. She later became withdrawn and quiet.
But, through the encouragement of her friends, she signs on to “U”, a virtual world where she created an avatar with freckles, named Bell. She soon became popular in this world and was known to her fans as “Belle”, French for beautiful.
Feeling lost
In the beginning, Suzu could not understand why her mother would risk her life and abandon her daughter for someone else’s child. Her trauma resulted in her losing her ability to sing. She began to feel lost and disappointed, to seeks solace in the comforts of a virtual world.
In this online world, she rediscovered her joy and love for singing, She felt free, losing the weight of the reality where she was brought up in a single-parent household.
Escaping reality
Soon, she learns that “U” is only virtual and there’s a real person behind every avatar, including “The Dragon”, a character who crashed Suzu’s virtual concert. With a manhunt by Suzu’s virtual fans who threatened to unearth and release his true identity, Suzu can’t help but feel a sense of familiarity and shared pain with “The Dragon”.
In fact, everyone on “U” was escaping reality for many reasons, just like Suzu and “The Dragon”.
Are you ready to face the truth?
Sometimes, facing what’s real can be painful and scary. If you’re up for the challenge, here’s how you can do this. It starts with reflection, a process of looking internally and understanding what we’re feeling and why we feel that way.
Whether we feel positive or negative, everything we feel is valid. Just remember you’re never alone. We’re right here, whenever you’re ready to start this journey
