Summary
Mamoru Hosoda may not be as big a household name in anime as Hayao Miyazaki or Makoto Shinkai, but his movies have nonetheless struck a chord with global audiences thanks to their thrilling concepts and touching coming-of-age stories. Having started his career directing franchise movies, he has since made a name for his original works that delight with their vivid art styles and heartwarming stories.
Where a director like Miyazaki immerses you in a fantastical landscape to explore themes of family and self-discovery, Mamoru Hosoda takes the opposite approach. The conflict of his characters is front and centre to his works, with the fantasy or sci-fi elements serving to better frame the themes.
8Digimon: The Movie
A Relic Of The Past
Digimon: The Movie combines several of Mamoru Hosoda’s previous short films in the franchise into a feature-length vignette-style movie. The result is a disjointed work that suffers from the understandable, but still unfortunate, edits that were made to each of the four stories and an English dub that feels very 2000 in its execution.
With that said, Digimon: The Movie has developed a dedicated cult following in the years since its release. For many anime fans, this is still the film that Mamoru Hosoda is most well-known for, although it would be hard to argue that he hasn’t grown a lot as a filmmaker across all of his subsequent works.
7One Piece: Baron Omatsuri And The Secret Island
A Memorable Island Vacation With The Straw Hats
Mamoru Hosoda continued his franchise work with One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island. While this non-canon film captured the spirit and energy of the series, it also wasn’t afraid to take its time and explore some of these iconic characters on a deeper level.
The setting, pacing, and writing are all some of the tightest in any Mamoru Hosoda film, all of which contribute to a climax that hits you right in the emotional guts. While both the One Piece franchise and Mamoru would go on to bigger and better things, Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island is still well worth a watch for fans of Luffy and the Straw Hats.
6Mirai
A Familial Education
Mirai is perhaps the most low-key of all of Mamoru Hosoda’s works. While it does incorporate supernatural elements, they all serve to tell the relatively simple story of a young boy learning more about his family.
After becoming the older brother to his baby sister, Kun struggles to find his place in a family that no longer treats him like the centre of the universe. And while the story of Kun gradually learning to accept his place in the family through visiting the past and future lives of his relatives is heartwarming, the episodic nature of the film’s story does leave it feeling less cohesive than some of Mamoru’s other movies.
5Summer Wars
Time To Play
Summer Wars was easily the most ambitious film Mamoru Hosoda had directed at the time of its release, and that scale can work to the movie’s detriment. With so many moving parts and subplots and characters to keep track of, Summer Wars can occasionally feel unsteady when the plot really starts to get going.
Grounding the film is the family dynamic explored during the Ueda estate scenes. They contrast brilliantly with the sequences spent in the VR world of OZ which, while thrilling, is a concept that Mamoru would execute better in one of his later films.
4The Boy And The Beast
The Kendo Kid
The Boy and the Beast see Mamoru Hosoda let his imagination run wild with one of the most vividly realised worlds and concepts he has ever put to film. This movie is brimming with action scenes and breathtaking landscapes that showcase some of the sharpest animations to ever grace anime.
The story of Ren crossing over into the beast world as a child where he befriends kendo master Kumatetsu provides the backdrop for atouching student-mentor relationshipthat will likely make you well up more than a few times before the credits roll. While the film’s pacing can drag a bit in its second half, it’s hard not to get sucked into adventure at the heart of The Boy and the Beast.
3Belle
A Tale As Old As Time
While Belle is often billed as Mamoru Hosoda’s sci-fi retelling of Beauty and the Beast, that label is a rather oversimplification of this beautifully layered movie. At its core, Belle is the story of a young woman overcoming her social anxiety by finding her voice in cyberspace.
This powerful narrative is bolstered by Belle being Mamoru Hosoda’s most aesthetically ambitious work to date. The jaw-dropping sequences in the virtual world of U are perhaps only outdone by the awe-inspiring musical numbers which, crucially, pack just as much of a bunch whether you are watching the film subbed or dubbed.
2The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Let’s Do The Time Warp Again
Mamoru Hosoda branched out from his franchise film work with his first original movie The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. As its name suggests, this film focuses on teenage girl Makoto who discovers she can literally jump back to the past – a skill that has unknown consequences for both her and her friends.
This endearing coming-of-age andromance animecontinues to tug at the heartstrings after all of these years thanks to its excellent cast of characters and refreshingly low-stakes take on time travel. It endures as one of Mamoru Hosoda’s most beloved works and showcased his potential as a multi-faceted director who could skilfully combine grounded scenarios with supernatural wonder.
1Wolf Children
Leader Of The Pack
Wolf Children is Mamoru Hosoda’s most complete movie andone of the greatest anime films of all time. The story of Hana falling in love with a wolf man and raising two wolf children on her own in the picturesque Japanese countryside takes so many twists and turns – each as heartwarming or breaking as the last.
The film tackles the complications of family and growing up in such earnest detail while also using the double-life concept in ways that never feel forced or pulpy. It’s simply a masterpiece of filmmaking and dramatic storytelling that continues to win over the hearts of anime and non-anime fans around the world.
