Not inferior to Makoto Shinkai, Here are 6 Must-Watch Films by Mamoru Hosoda

Kapanlagi.com - The film YOUR NAME by Makoto Shinkai, which was released in 2016, achieved great success internationally. The success also brought back some of his old works to be discussed again. This also includes the comparison between Makoto Shinkai and several anime film directors, one of them being Mamoru Hosoda.

Mamoru Hosoda has repeatedly achieved success with the animated films he has made. With his success, he established his own animation studio named Studio Chizu. He and his partner, Yuichiro Sato, have produced several films that are too good to be missed.

Here are six films by Mamoru Hosoda that are a must-watch.

1. THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME

myanimelist.net/anime/2236/Toki_wo_Kakeru_Shoujo

This film tells the story of a high school girl named Makoto who realizes that she has the power to perform a time leap after she almost dies in an accident. Shortly after gaining her power, Makoto always uses the time leap to avoid unwanted events. Because of this, Makoto learns a secret that has been kept by one of her friends named Chiaki.

THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME, or commonly known as TOKI WO KAKERU SHOJO, is an adaptation of a novel with the same title written by Tsutsui Yasutaka. After its release, this film successfully won several awards, including the Best Animated Film at the Sitges Film Festival 2006, Animation of the Year at the Japan Academy Prize in 2007. The staff who worked on this film also received several awards, including awards for the director, scriptwriter, art direction, and character design. This film also won the Grand Prize at the 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival for animated films.

2. SUMMER WARS

myanimelist.net/anime/5681/Summer Wars

SUMMER WARS tells the story of a mathematical genius named Kenji who is a moderator of a virtual world called OZ. He is brought to Ueda by his friend named Natsuki Shinohara to celebrate her grandmother's birthday. Upon arriving at the Shinohara family's residence, Kenji receives a mysterious code which is apparently used by an AI device to hack into the virtual world of OZ. Kenji, who is accused of being the hacker, must deal with and stop the AI device named Love Machine from further damaging OZ.

This film, released on August 1, 2009, began production in 2006. It ranked 7th at the box office in its first week of release. The film also won several prestigious awards, such as the Animation of the Year at the Japanese Academy Awards 2010. It also became the first Japanese animated film to be nominated for the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland in 2009. The film also established Mamoru Hosoda as the second director, after Hayao Miyazaki of Ghibli, to be nominated for an Annie Award.

3. WOLF CHILDREN

myanimelist.net/anime/12355/Ookami_Kodomo_no_Ame_to_Yuki

Tells the story of a mother's relationship with her two children, this film has gained many fans because of its touching story. A college student named Hana falls in love with a young man who attends the same class as her. However, the young man turns out to be a werewolf. After being blessed with two children, the young man disappears and is rumored to be dead.

This film focuses on Hana's story as a single mother and her efforts to raise her children named Yuki and Ame. Hana decides to move to a village to raise her children, who are also werewolves, and protect their identities.

OOKAMI KODOMO NO AME TO YUKI, another name for WOLF CHILDREN, successfully brought home several prestigious awards, such as Animation of the Year at the Japan Academy Prize 2013 and Tokyo International Anime Fair 2013. This film also won the Audience Award at the New York International Children's Film Festival 2013 and 2014 Best Anime Disc from Home Media Magazine.

4. THE BOY AND THE BEAST

myanimelist.net/anime/28805/Bakemono_no_Ko

THE BOY AND THE BEAST tells the story of an orphan named Ren. One day, on the streets of Shibuya, he meets Kumatetsu, a bakemono looking for a disciple. Ren, now a disciple of Kumatetsu, is given the name Kyuta by his master. Kyuta lives his days as Kumatetsu's disciple in the bakemono world before eventually finding his way back to the human world.

This film was released on July 11, 2015 in Japan and on October 16, 2015 for its international release at the Toronto International Film Festival. It became the second highest-grossing film in Japan in 2015 with a total sales of $48.6 million (or around Rp. 670 billion.)

5. MIRAI

myanimelist.net/anime/36936/Mirai_no_Mirai

Film MIRAI tells the story of a little boy named Kun, a four-year-old boy who is jealous of his newborn sister named Mirai. Mirai, who has just been born, receives a lot of attention from their parents. Kun, who is upset about this, one day meets a strange man in his garden. In the garden, Kun also experiences time travel where he goes to the past and the future to get to know his family.

This film was first released in Japan on July 20, 2018. Many international releases followed in the same year. This film was also nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2019 Oscars and the 79th Golden Globe Awards.

6. BELLE

myanimelist.net/anime/44807/Ryuu_to_Sobakasu_no_Hime

Belle is the latest animated film by Mamoru Hosoda, which premiered on July 15, 2021, at the Cannes Film Festival 2021 and was released in theaters the next day. This film tells the story of a high school girl who lives in the real world, in Japan, and a virtual world called "U." The girl uses the name Belle for herself in the virtual world.

This film features the famous actor Takeru Sato as the voice actor for The Dragon, or Kei. During its production process, Studio Chizu, the studio behind this film, received assistance from Jin Kim and Michael Camacho, an animator and character designer from Disney, as well as Cartoon Saloon, an Irish studio, to work on the backgrounds of the "U" world.

So, those are the films by Mamoru Hosoda that are just as amazing as Makoto Shinkai's. Do you like any of the films mentioned above? Write your answers below!

Written by: Salmaa Fadh

(kpl/mag)