Anime's Next Big Thing: Mamoru Hosoda, Animator of the Human Soul

[@Kittycatlurver25]

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is one of my favourite films ever. While it doesn't deal with themes as surreal as his other films, it's so understated and thoughtfully engaging. It's main themes of love, friendship, and ultimately missed opportunity really ring close to home. Also i really love his realistic and quaint presentation of Japanese High school life - no generic tropes and dramatic self fulfilling prophecies from the protagonist, just life as it is with people operating normally in their day to day. The shots of people studying or falling asleep in the library, the sound of the cicadas in scenes, and the normal depiction of boisterous boyish energy was really refreshing. The friendship of Makoto, Chiaki, and Kosuke was especially charming. As painful as it is to imagine what Makoto and Chiaki could have been, whenever i rewatch it i'm so struck about uncompromisingly honest the dynamic between the 3 of them was. The montage of Makoto re-experiencing all her memories with the 2 of them with "Kawaranai Mono" playing in the background is so heartbreaking. "We can look at experiences from multiple points of view to more richly understand and appreciate eachother and ourselves. He pushes us to confront emotional challenges with gravity, depth and respect, and to arrive finally at a place of human warmth, acceptance and love" perfectly describes Makoto's character growth. ah my heart

[@ste5766]

Mamoru Hosada deserves a lot of praise for his work. Wolf Children is the best anime movie I have ever watched and one the best movies in general. The Boy and the Beast was also amazing, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was great too.

[@shironasama0445]

Ste P Hana is so incredibly well written. In one single watch, she became my role model of perseverance and to smile through my tears. She connected to me unlike any other character.

[@3numa3llis]

I hope you will see Summer Wars soon. The first half can be a bit tedious, but the second half is amazing especially at the climax. Another amazing movie is the recent The Night is Short, Walk on Girl. Hope you'd seen this amazing masterpiece.

[@nmeyers92]

They all have such unique storylines, AMAZING music, beautiful drawing/animation, and great character development. Him and Miyazaki are some of the best in the game.

[@LegendarySpaceRipper]

Good director and writer but his comments on Ghibli were unkind and untrue as he claims Miyazaki only has female characters that do as they are told. Miyazaki and other Ghibli directors have had plenty of female protagonists who go against the grain and are stand up for themselves. What makes it sadder is that he was nearly the successor to Miyazaki.

[@JoshuaFagan]

I was not expecting this channel to do a video on Mamoru Hosoda, but wow am I glad it did! He's still so underappreciated here in the West. His character work is masterful. He imbues personal struggles with gravitas and heft.

[@harshshitole6293]

West has lot of anime streaming and viewing options compared to India,generally speaking, animation is underappreciated medium.

[@montyp7704]

Wolf Children is not only a great family movie and coming of age story but it in watching Hana go through single motherhood, it makes a great Mother's Day film. It definitely made me appreciate my mother more especially in that scene where she struggled all day to learn how to farm some potatoes. It was such a powerful scene to me. Despite how tiring and frustrating it was, she kept going for her kids and their future.

[@StudentCleric]

Wolf Children is a movie that absolutely changed my life, I saw it when I was 16 years old and I think I sobbed for forty minutes after the first time I saw it. I was an unsure teenager who wasn't sure who I wanted to be at the time, but there was something in that movie that stuck with me and I would go onto see it a million times, I just watched it again last week, and the more I saw it, the more I realized why it stuck with me. As the oldest of four kids, I've been taking care of people since I was two years old and I took on the lifetime job of older sibling. I was watching my younger siblings develop and change under me and it left me both conflicted and proud, a lot like Hana regarding Ame and Yuki. I'm 21 now and I can point to different parts of this movie and say that Hana as a character exemplifies everything I want to be. I want to be a mother like Hana, I want to be strong enough to care for my family and my eventual children, and this movie helped me realize this about myself. I didn't know who I wanted to be at 16, but the fact that this movie made me sob for almost an hour after was nothing more than my realizing that something in me had changed entirely. I owe my sense of self to Wolf Children, and that's why its my favorite movie of all time.

[@JoshuaFagan]

Fun fact about Hosoda: His first job directing was on the Digimon movie in 2000. I remember watching that when I was a kid. I had no idea its director would go on to produce some of my all-time favorite works of animation. (Summer Wars is in a lot of ways a remake of that Digimon film.)

[@gabbyb7347]

He also directed Digimon's first OVA (which could be seen as a pilot episode)

[@cervgiovanni]

ah. full circle. I love Digimon

[@sailortally8256]

I saw Mirai in theaters last night, its a lot more contemporary in its execution than Hosodas other films. Though it still hits hard with his trademark tearjerker endings.

[@shironasama0445]

I hope we can all agree Wolf Children is Hosoda’s best film of all.

[@JoshuaFagan]

Absolutely. That's one of my favorite films of all time, anime or otherwise.

[@ste5766]

One of the best movies I have ever watched, anime or live action.

[@ShaudaySmith]

That movie is one of the few that speaks to me on nearly every emotional level.

[@shironasama0445]

Joshua Fagan Agree wholeheartedly. Also, Hana is my favorite film protagonist of all time.

[@smaakjeks]

+Satou Plus: adorable wolf kids!

[@Eijididnothingwrong]

I highly recommend ALL of Hosoda's work. Wolf Children and Summer Wars are particularly fantastic.

[@AnimeWolf5193]

Wolf Children made me cry and that is a badge of honor.

[@grashanon]

I really liked " The girl who leaped through time", it felt like a poetry for me. I really liked the plot and how it ended. I feel that Mamoru Hosoda is like a modern version of what ghibli is. Ghibli has its own threshold of ideas that are centered on Miyazaki but sometimes it dosen't appeal to a younger audience just because of the context of its creator. With Hosoda, when I watched his movies, I feel that he is very in tune with what Ghibli has shown (before) and the modern values of animation (contemporary). I really love the feelings and emotions in his movies. Thank you so much for this video!

[@jacobdominguez7808]

One of the greatest filmmakers working today. I can't wait to see Mirai later this month.😊

[@enriquedelayeurrea3451]

He is my favorite anime director, and among the greatest directors overall. With Hosoda every frame conveys a meaning and an emotion. He uses everything cinema and animation has to offer to transmit the right feeling each moment. Every time I watch a film of his, I catch a new small detail that keeps the film as a new watch every time. In Summer Wars you feel just like the protagonist is feeling at every second. In Wolf Children, your emotions go from the wholesome cuteness of the children, to the sadness of knowing they don't feel like they belong. Even his Digimon low budgeted episode, is one of the most mature display of emotions by children.

[@morivice6835]

Yeah some Mamoru Hosuda love

[@batatapalio2676]

THIS MAN DESERVES THE WORLD, his movies are so beautiful it touches my soul

[@Zoroasto1]

Wolf Children is one of my favorite movies of all time. Thanks for make this video.

[@MadameTamma]

I don't think I've seen a Mamoru Hosoda movie that didn't make me cry over how emotionally beautiful it was. I Don't normally cry at most emotional movies but every single one of those films made me shed some tears.

[@arcana1283]

Wolf Children is still my favorite movie

[@biazacha]

Is always great to see some love to the newer generation of Japanese directors; in the past years the movies are going back to be stronger like they were in the and 90s, wich for me is a response of how mechanic and saturated the anime industry have become. People like Hosoda, Yamada Naoko or Shinkai Makoto are a breath of fresh air with a solid work full of soul and meaning.

[@aristica3166]

I first watched Wolf Children when I was 12 and 5 years later it's still my favourite anime movie

[@ty_sylicus]

The man has a lot of heart. Hosoda knows how to share important stories with us. I love all of his films so far. Summer Wars has to be my favorite.

[@cassidy4037]

I love "anime" movies, they are beautiful to watch and truly tingle your feels, while at the same time being so deeply profound with so much meaning the deeper and deeper you go. Yet always having that message that even anyone can see.

[@addisonhigbee6269]

Y'all forgot to mention that his directorial debut was the Digimon movie back in 1999, and even then it was an amazing film to start out on! I'm happy to see how much he has grown as a director since then.

[@SaraBearRawr0312]

Mamoru Hosoda and Makoto Shinkai have already done amazing things in their own right and i can't wait to experience their works going forward just as previous generations experienced Miyazakis works as they evolved.

[@RGld-jg8rs]

When I was 10 I watched 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time', I distinctively remember bawling my eyes at the end

[@lavieenrose7925]

The wrap-up was a terrific articulation of what I’ve been thinking about the last couple days. What we speak of as ordinary life is, in truth, a grand adventure worth journeying. The excitement and meaningful moments aren’t in what’s portrayed by today’s modern secular culture, but rather in the simple, common and uncommon moments, and in healthy relationships of all kinds. This understanding takes a great deal of cultivation of gratitude and thankfulness.

[@jessebelanger1314]

I'm really glad you guys made a video about Mamoru. I think even non anime fans should give his movies a try.

[@wesderer]

All my favorite anime movies came from the same guy omg, argh I'm in love with this fact, crying and smiling because he is truly amazing.

[@vickisigh2674]

i cried throughout the entirety of this video, thank you for such beautiful analysis!

[@ama4121]

Thank you so much for making this video! I recently saw the boy and the beast and it still touches me just thinking about it 😭❤ I've really began loving mamorus works and I am excited to watch Mirai!

[@agdragonstanvip8894]

I cried watching "wolf children" .

[@ThatOneGuy7550]

I mean, he's been around for a while, his first movie was the Digimon movie, I totally agree though, Hosoda's a great director. Also Summer Wars is my favourite film by Hosoda.

[@delireent.3960]

Mamoru hosoda IS my favorite !!!!

[@SharkWitchMeruna]

Will you tackle Digimon/Summer Wars/Belle (also from Hosoda, all about how the digital world has kinda changed between the 2 decades they were made)?

[@Lukz243]

why are people searching for the Next Miyazaki?

[@sarahzameel2401]

Because they can never get enough of ghibli

[@tyleryam9885]

His digimon direct was dope.

[@coffeequoh]

so this is why The Girl Who Leapt Through Time got me real hard, for real *for real*

[@tsarstepan]

I already have my ticket for Mirai (got it back in September). Can't wait for the day after my birthday.

[@netraeng8676]

Mamoru Hasoda forever!!!

[@akhileshkumar9678]

I had never watched Wolf children. But now, I would. Thanks for the motivation.

[@aisuluzhaksylyk821]

3:12 that was angelic...

[@mbithiz]

Living legend!

[@VincoMalus]

Amazing analysis/&dissection🙏🏿💪🏿

[@tommyross7529]

Automatic like and comment cuz these ladies kick ass!!!

[@animefreek217]

I loved every movie mentioned here and i've seen all of them. My only issue with Mamoru Hosoda are his endings. they always seem a little lackluster. except for summer wars that one ended pretty well.

[@diegominor3096]

I saw a screening of Mirai in VIFF 2018 and I can definitely say it's good and the animation is superb, it's a very heartwarming story but it also has a lot of pacing issues and repetition which does get kinda tedious, i'd give it an 8/10

[@thetake]

For tickets and showtimes of Mamoru Hosoda's Mirai, visit: MiraiMovie.com Enter to win free tickets here: gleam.io/O6eJl/mirai-screenprism Support ScreenPrism on Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=7792695 Subscribe to keep up with our latest videos, and let us know what you want to see next!

[@6709LeftzBehind]

It's interesting his films are about relationships and families. I think society is centered around family. In the US families are still concentrated into that nuclear picture of a husband, wife, and kids, so if you don't get married you don't have a family or place in society. You're on the fringes, as an aunt or uncle if you're lucky. I think that's because there's a bad habit of children disassociating themselves from their parents and "leaving home" when they get old enough to have a family. Sometimes that's financially motivated, but there's a fair share of unhappy childhoods that inspire a true severance of bonds. I'm more interested in how people learn to be happy without family, not in an orphan sense (although maybe orphaning is a symbol for frayed familial bonds) because they tend to lean on the support of friends until they grow big enough to have a family, but as a fully grown person without a partner, without children, how do you find a comfortable place in society? Often we're taught there's something wrong with these people, they're selfish, or outcasts or hermits, and often they're subject to attack from the community because they have no ties within it. I don't know of any reassuring tropes or instances for this type of person. No one thinks or wants to think they'll be alone, childless, and friendless in their old age, but I suppose that's a possibility we all face and some come to confront.

[@syn010110]

the extensive focus on family is not unique to this director's media. it's a pretty standard ordinary subject for most artists to use. having no family is like being separated from the whole human condition.

[@PhantomHainesii]

Gonna be honest, I'm disappointed that you guys went for a misleading title. You aren't talking about Hosoda and his works in general. Half of this video is spent explaining the themes of his most recent movie while showing loads of clips from it that maybe some of us don't want to see out of context.

[@danielsgames8810]

Are you trying to make me cry😭😢

[@mikahong]

"Never turn your back on family even if they hurt you" most toxic thing to ever say to anyone. How can you be this good person to other people that's also supposed to be good people to you but are bad to you. It's essentially saying let them abuse you. Like your giving the familial love to them but not be on the receiving end of it.

[@codysmith3853]

oh man if im crying now i can only imagine how fucked up im gonna get when i actually watch these movies

[@amandam2m]

makoto shinkai next, please

[@autonomoustoker699]

I guess he and Shinkai are in the running for Miyazaki's crown.

[@Covenfan-lg4mx]

This movie sounds like anime this is us

[@jayquillberry4972]

WHERE IS THE Ravenclaw video?! I need my Harry Potter fix!

[@GigaChadh976]

0:17 damnit, why did you have to put Asuna there, and remind me that sword art online existed.

[@ruoweilim7334]

serial anime could never

[@starsatnightsparkle1318]

So this was just an ad?

[@bluemooninthedaylight8073]

I'd have preferred them being upfront about that from the start. I sensed a blandness in this video compared to their more extensive pieces on television and film, and now I know why.

[@syn010110]

it doesn't say "includes paid promotion" so I'm wondering.

[@kida5020]

can you analise Perfect Blue next

[@FlyingFocs]

I've been wondering how to put it, and this is the comparison I would make when describing him to someone unfamiliar: If Miyazaki is the Japanese Walt Disney, Hosoda is the Japanese Steven Spielberg. Similar themes of family, similar themes of growing up, same sense of optimism (for the most part). Not a great analogy, but it's the one I'm going with.

[@juffalimac7514]

The story of the film is good. What let me down was the main character's voice. He sounded silly. I mean, why did they have to put an old woman trying hard to speak like a child.

[@gabbyb7347]

Not a single mention of Digimon? you know, the franchise in which the artist put his foot in the door?

[@johnmartin4119]

Now do a Lion King analysis

[@hornymonster5205]

Why you have to pronounce Mirai like that???

[@iceicetou]

Please do King of the Hill.

[@smaakjeks]

Hhhh.. Damn it, Bobby.

[@RhythmGrizz]

Memoru Hosoda is great for sure. ... but Makoto Shinkai tho

[@aramrvs]

Mamoru Hosoda > Makoto Shinkai

[@ranrunrei]

Aram R/A yess this!!!!!

[@MauriiciioBriito]

Satoshi Kon > Mamoru Hosoda

[@aarond9563]

WOW whole filmography spoilers next time. Please and thank you.

[@cassieweddle1722]

Is anyone here annoyed by the fact that the analyst is mispronouncing Mirai? It's Mi-rai, not Mer-Ai. 😑😑😑😑

[@sophiajune546]

American accent

[@ribcagesteak]

my ranking: 1. Wolf Children 2. Mirai 3. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 4. The Boy and The Beast 5. Summer Wars this dub is giving me cancer.

[@TheHunter4065]

WeebPrism

[@loturzelrestaurant]

Animation can be Art. Or Trash.

[@TheMightyPika]

I can't stand this guy's work. It boils down to finding new ways to celebrate the mundane.

[@Naa45702]

Roman Jones what’s wrong with that? We live mundane lives. Almost all people are average and just live life maybe trying to cause least harm. Why should that not be celebrated? A mom who gets kids to adulthood isn’t solving cancer but that still deserves to be respected. His work is Not my particular cup of tea but I respect talent.

[@TheMightyPika]

@@Naa45702 Yeah, but these movies are celebrating mundanity not in a good constructive way, but in a weird inhuman way. The Iranian "Children of Heaven" sees specific regular people and sympathizes on a profound, understanding level. Mamoru Hosoda writes like he's only known people through other movies. Everything's sanitized. 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time' is populated by uninteresting shallow people with no souls, no real problems, no real personalities, no real futures. They're the people who live in stock photos. That's not artistic talent - that's sales.