Mamoru Hosoda
Mamoru Hosoda entered the original anime feature film scene in 2006 with the release of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars in 2009 for Madhouse. Studio Chizu was then formed in 2011 as an “auteur’s studio” to grant Hosoda more creative freedom with his subsequent films. He was quite active even before his first original film, directing several anime series movies including the excellent One Piece Movie #6, Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island. His original feature films listed below are of the utmost quality in both the visual and story departments and have quickly propelled him to the forefront of the anime scene. Good for viewers of all ages (except perhaps for particularly young kids as they might get a bit bored), Hosoda’s films both can and should be enjoyed by anime lovers of all kinds.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
Toki o Kakeru Shōjo (時をかける少)
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This is seriously a good movie with very well-developed characters, awesome animation, and a solid story based upon a book by the same name. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is quite shojo, as can be gathered from the title, because it deals primarily with the relationships between the characters and how the main character Kazuko Yoshiyama tries to “helpfully” manipulate them through the use of her seemingly randomly acquired ability to jump through time. There’s no epic travelling to the dark ages or anything featured in the movie, just hopping back and forth between a couple of days, but it’s engrossing none-the-less and was a very impressive first original movie from Hosoda.
Summer Wars (2009)
Samā Wōzu (サマーウォーズ)
(Remember to click on the images to enlarge them!)
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The second original full-length anime to come from the mind of Mamoru Hosoda. If The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was not enough to convince some people, Summer Wars really solidified Hosodasan as a huge contender in the anime movie industry. Presented in two very distinct styles (as pictured above), the story revolves around Kenji Koiso who is conscripted into “working” for one of the older girls at his school by accompanying her to the 90th birthday party of her grandmother out in the country. Taking place in a mildly fictionalized version of 2010 Japan, most everything is the same except some mutant Facebook/Animal Crossing/Second Life social network connects almost everyone (and everything) in Japan. The movie avoids dystopia by portraying this social network much like Facebook in 2010, enhancing people’s lives and businesses instead of consuming them. Anyways, trouble happens both at the grandma’s birthday and in the online world and Hosodasan is able to shape it into a wonderful portrayal of quintessential Japanese culture and the deep family/clan bonds that still largely remain from feudal times, while mixing in a very large helping of the pleasant strangeness that can only come from anime. Perhaps Hosodasan will be able to fill the large shoes left by Satoshi Kon after his recent passing and become the premiere director of more surrealistic anime movies. Touching, genuine, and enthralling from start to finish, you would be doing yourself a great disservice if you didn’t watch this gem of contemporary anime. Recommended for anyone with a heart who wants to see a great story about the power of family.
Wolf Children (2012)
Ōkami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki (おおかみこどもの雨と雪) (lit. “Wolf Children Ame and Yuki”)
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Hosoda keeps the hits coming with another wonderfully animated and told story. Wolf Children follows the complicated story of a woman named Hana from when she falls in love with a man who turns out to be a werewolf in college through her difficulty raising her two werewolf children, Yuki and Ame, alone after their father’s untimely death and how they try to cope with the children’s secret were-abilities in modern society with no elder were-person to guide them. Although the premise is certainly unusual and the movie is long clocking in at just under two hours, the emotions expressed through the movie are truly heartfelt and the concept makes you think about what you’d do if you were in a similar (however impossible) situation. While probably too diverse for younger children, Wolf Children is a great family movie none-the-less and is sure to impress with its top notch animation and poignant sentimentality.