Mamoru Hosoda General Thread

Non-Eva Anime and Manga discussion

Moderators: Rebuild/OT Moderators, Board Staff

NAveryW
Insect Politician
Insect Politician
User avatar
Age: 33
Posts: 5064
Joined: Dec 21, 2006

Mamoru Hosoda General Thread

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby NAveryW » Mon Feb 11, 2013 12:20 am

I'd like a thread to talk about Mamoru Hosoda and his works in general. In particular, the movies and episodes he directed of existing Toei franchises and the common elements that permeate his works across the board are things I feel are overlooked and are also things I want to look into more with other people. Also, his ill-fated adventure at Ghibli and his near miss as director of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. (Actually, I'm not sure if there's anything to be said about that last one other than that he was offered to direct The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya and declined.)

If you like his Madhouse movies and haven't seen his Toei ouvre, don't hesitate to dig in. His contributions are almost always distinctly his; one of his Ashita no Nadja episodes felt like an Ashita no Nadja episode and his One Piece episode felt like a One Piece episode, but usually he'd do completely his own thing using the elements provided.

Right now I consider his most nearly perfect work overall to be his first Digimon Adventure movie; at first I thought this may be because I had the lowest expectations going in, but I've watched it repeatedly for the sake of taking it apart (and hopefully reverse-engineering it to my own ends) and still the only criticism I can muster is that it would be nice if it had had an original soundtrack rather than using a chopped-up version of "Bolero". But I still get what he was going for with "Bolero" and it works as well as I could expect a stock piece to work.

To start off with the question I'm most interested in right now so I'll expect everyone to ignore it, there's a particularly distinctive kind of jump cut Hosoda used both in his first Digimon Adventure movie and his episode of Ojamajo DoReMi Dokkan!. If you've seen them you'll know what I'm talking about. I'm curious if he developed it himself or if he took it from another director the way... you know, the way nearly every interesting cinematic technique was taken from something else.

(No, I haven't gotten to see Wolf Children yet.)
"Today?... hmm... today... right... Um... I'm just gonna wing it." -Guess who

Fireball
First Ancestor
First Ancestor
User avatar
Posts: 4247
Joined: Sep 17, 2010
Location: Karlsland

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby Fireball » Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:35 am

Freaking loved his One Piece movie. One of the most fun into grimdark emotional experiences I ever had.
Avatar: Rommel-chan

"I was born into the wrong time" - laughed the girl


「<ゝω・)\綺羅星☆!!/
[/size]

NAveryW
Insect Politician
Insect Politician
User avatar
Age: 33
Posts: 5064
Joined: Dec 21, 2006

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby NAveryW » Mon Feb 11, 2013 2:02 am

His One Piece movie gets even better when you learn the allegory behind it. And this isn't one of those fan theory secret meaning things; Hosoda's outright conceded it. (tl;dr: the island is Ghibli and Baron Omatsuri is Hayao Miyazaki).
"Today?... hmm... today... right... Um... I'm just gonna wing it." -Guess who

robersora
Laissez-faire in Moderation
Laissez-faire in Moderation
User avatar
Age: 32
Posts: 4437
Joined: May 17, 2011
Location: Europe, Austria
Gender: Male

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby robersora » Mon Feb 11, 2013 7:27 pm

View Original PostNAveryW wrote:His One Piece movie gets even better when you learn the allegory behind it. And this isn't one of those fan theory secret meaning things; Hosoda's outright conceded it. (tl;dr: the island is Ghibli and Baron Omatsuri is Hayao Miyazaki).


Damn, that's pretty interesting!


...there's a particularly distinctive kind of jump cut Hosoda used both in his first Digimon Adventure movie...


I'm sorry, but although I've seen the first Digimon-Movie, I have no idea, what you mean... Would you care to elaborate? Thank you.

Mamoru Hosada is a pretty decent director, I really enjoyed the One Piece movie and The Girl... despite its flaws. I never really understood, why people found Summer Wars to be that good. In my opinion it's just a bloated Hollywood-style version of the great second Digimon Movie... It never really sold me.

Looking forward to Wolf Children, though...
2Q||3.33 _ 神殺しを行う
Decadent Stoned Slacker Socialist

Fireball
First Ancestor
First Ancestor
User avatar
Posts: 4247
Joined: Sep 17, 2010
Location: Karlsland

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby Fireball » Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:04 pm

View Original PostNAveryW wrote:His One Piece movie gets even better when you learn the allegory behind it. And this isn't one of those fan theory secret meaning things; Hosoda's outright conceded it. (tl;dr: the island is Ghibli and Baron Omatsuri is Hayao Miyazaki).

Wow, that's absolutely amazing and makes so much sense in context.
Avatar: Rommel-chan

"I was born into the wrong time" - laughed the girl


「<ゝω・)\綺羅星☆!!/
[/size]

chee
EGF Hate Machine
EGF Hate Machine
User avatar
Age: 35
Posts: 3393
Joined: Jul 16, 2007

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby chee » Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:43 pm

I loved The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, I liked his One Piece movie, but I thought Summer Wars was overrated and average, despite how certain users here will try to convince you it's some kind of brilliant Baudrillardian metaphor or some shit. Hosoda doesn't strike me as being interested in ideas like that.

I'm not particularly motivated to watch Wolf Children.
Last edited by chee on Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:54 pm, edited 6 times in total.

NAveryW
Insect Politician
Insect Politician
User avatar
Age: 33
Posts: 5064
Joined: Dec 21, 2006

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby NAveryW » Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:44 pm

View Original Postrobersora wrote:I'm sorry, but although I've seen the first Digimon-Movie, I have no idea, what you mean... Would you care to elaborate? Thank you.
When Agumon looks over his shoulder repeatedly in different directions. Each time he does so, the camera cuts to a different angle, with Agumon now standing in a different location. The same technique is used in Doremi.

View Original Postrobersora wrote:I never really understood, why people found Summer Wars to be that good. In my opinion it's just a bloated Hollywood-style version of the great second Digimon Movie... It never really sold me.
I do like Summer Wars but consider it to be my least favorite of Hosoda's movies just because it's the only one that has certain things I outright dislike about it. I know he's a Hollywood traditionalist in general but his movies always display enough of an auteur touch to balance that out. Summer Wars felt too distinctly Hollywood to me in familiar ways I'd rather not be so familiar with, particularly the groanworthy "pretend to be my boyfriend" plot that I knew from the beginning could only turn out one way. I mean, potentially it could go a different way, but I knew it wouldn't.

I do think Summer Wars works better as a stand-alone movie than Digimon Adventure: Children's War Game, which expects its viewers to be passingly familiar with the characters and the way Digimon combat works but also contains a surprising number of continuity errors if taken as a continuation of the TV series. (I've reconciled some of the continuity problems in terms of character personalities since I last posted about it in the Digimon thread, but have noticed several more much less easily reconcilable errors.) It's also unfortunate that, as a result of Hosoda's commitment to verisimilitude which usually serves him so well, the technology portrayed in Children's War Game is now so old that most children now in the age Digimon is targeted toward wouldn't understand what I consider to be the best jokes. Summer Wars is set in a near future based loosely on existing technology so hopefully it won't become as dated as quickly.
"Today?... hmm... today... right... Um... I'm just gonna wing it." -Guess who

robersora
Laissez-faire in Moderation
Laissez-faire in Moderation
User avatar
Age: 32
Posts: 4437
Joined: May 17, 2011
Location: Europe, Austria
Gender: Male

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby robersora » Wed Feb 13, 2013 5:15 pm

View Original PostNAveryW wrote:When Agumon looks over his shoulder repeatedly in different directions. Each time he does so, the camera cuts to a different angle, with Agumon now standing in a different location. The same technique is used in Doremi.


Well, I unfortunately cannot answer this question... But why is this kind of cut so special?
2Q||3.33 _ 神殺しを行う
Decadent Stoned Slacker Socialist

NAveryW
Insect Politician
Insect Politician
User avatar
Age: 33
Posts: 5064
Joined: Dec 21, 2006

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby NAveryW » Wed Feb 13, 2013 10:17 pm

View Original Postrobersora wrote:But why is this kind of cut so special?
I don't think I've ever seen it outside of Hosoda's works. I want to know if that's because it hasn't been used outside his works or if I just haven't seen whatever he copied it from.
"Today?... hmm... today... right... Um... I'm just gonna wing it." -Guess who

Noriko is my wife
Lilith
User avatar
Posts: 119
Joined: Oct 13, 2010
Gender: Male

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby Noriko is my wife » Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:54 pm

Opening/endings that Hosoda did the storyboard for in chronological order

Dennou Sentai Voogie's Angel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO_TVejfu80
Alice SOS
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm15179176
Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbfFBVKWKrU
Ashita no Nadja OP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T19wScSwCM8
Ashita no Nadja ED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJTJ6_rChjk
Samurai Champloo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBcAONrqSnY

moonwolf2024
Armisael
Armisael
User avatar
Age: 39
Posts: 917
Joined: Dec 12, 2012
Location: Deep Space, FL
Gender: Female

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby moonwolf2024 » Thu Feb 21, 2013 1:55 am

I see that he's had his hands in a lot of stuff. Just noticed he was an animator for Crying Freeman and some DBZ movies. Interesting.

I haven't seen Summer Wars yet, but it's on my list. Definitely looking forward to Wolf Children. Looks cute.
Maybe if you shut up and stop over analyzing everything you just might get it........

NAveryW
Insect Politician
Insect Politician
User avatar
Age: 33
Posts: 5064
Joined: Dec 21, 2006

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby NAveryW » Thu Feb 21, 2013 10:10 pm

He also storyboarded some Utena under a pseudonym. I watched the series last year right around the time I was intently studying Hosoda's ouvre so I surprisingly found myself usually able to tell which episodes were his without looking them up.
"Today?... hmm... today... right... Um... I'm just gonna wing it." -Guess who

C.A.P.
Wabbit Duelist
Wabbit Duelist
User avatar
Age: 30
Posts: 2041
Joined: Nov 25, 2010
Location: America
Gender: Male

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby C.A.P. » Fri Feb 22, 2013 12:44 am

^Can you tell us which one he did? His presence didn't jumped out when I last saw the show in full...
"Free-associative internet ravings know no proprietors."-Azathoth
"Cinema's value is that it is inhuman."-chee
"I only meant to stay a while."-ELO

Xard
Banned
User avatar
Posts: 14236
Joined: Jan 03, 2008

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby Xard » Fri Feb 22, 2013 1:07 am

7話・14話・20話・23話・29話(兼脚本、白井千秋名義)・33話・39話・劇場版

Episodes 7, 14, 20, 23, 29, 33, 39 and film.

For 29 he also wrote screenplay.

(note: these are all credited under pseudonym 橋本カツヨ except screenplay credit for 29 which is credited for pseudonym 白井千秋)

I can't really say any episodes in Utena struck me as particularly Hosodaesque when I watched it, Ikuni's own style is so overbearing on everything, but I won't be surprised if more careful watching reveals signs of Hosoda's individuality.

Ikuni gave a lot room for new guys on Utena after all.

NAveryW
Insect Politician
Insect Politician
User avatar
Age: 33
Posts: 5064
Joined: Dec 21, 2006

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby NAveryW » Fri Feb 22, 2013 3:28 pm

I couldn't tell immediately if an episode was Hosoda's or not; just there would usually be one or two elements that would stick out because he uses them so much. I remember one episode I correctly assumed was his simply because actual photographs were used for pictures on a wall. He also has a tendency for a certain kind of horizontal composition that... Here, this may be of interest.

I didn't know he wrote an episode, though.

I'm also pretty, pretty certain Hosoda is responsible (uncredited) for the first scene of the first episode of Ashita no Nadja because of how many of his idiosyncracies it displays and because friends separating is a theme he's so fond of. I'm equally certain he's responsible in some fashion, also uncredited, for the second half of the final episode of Digimon Adventure because it's also all about friends separating, it has distinct similarities to his episode of Doremi, and because I don't think anyone else on the Digimon staff would have come up with that bit with the windshield wiper in the bus.

Oh, this reminds me: I haven't seen Penguindrum yet, but this post on NeoGAF says Hosoda is responsible for episode 9. The post seems jokey but Hosoda's never mentioned elsewhere in relation to the show so it seems odd to bring him up there if he's not involved. On the other hand, I haven't seen anyone else anywhere say Hosoda was involved at all with the show. Nobuyuki Takeuchi is credited for boarding and directing episode 9 and only episode 9 of Penguindrum.
"Today?... hmm... today... right... Um... I'm just gonna wing it." -Guess who

DevRei17
Zeruel
Zeruel
Age: 31
Posts: 811
Joined: Dec 29, 2009
Location: Houston
Gender: Male

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby DevRei17 » Sat Feb 23, 2013 4:30 pm

View Original PostC.A.P. wrote:^Can you tell us which one he did? His presence didn't jumped out when I last saw the show in full...

Here's 7:
Link redacted

Noriko is my wife
Lilith
User avatar
Posts: 119
Joined: Oct 13, 2010
Gender: Male

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby Noriko is my wife » Sun Feb 24, 2013 4:38 am

View Original PostNAveryW wrote:

Neogaf is down for maintenance so I can't even read the post but Hosoda had nothing to do with Penguindrum ep 9. Takeuchi is mentioned in the blogpost you linked.

In Nadja's first episode you're probably just seeing similarities between Igarashi and Hosoda which isn't strange at all considering their background.

Alaska Slim
Frigus Ignoramus
Frigus Ignoramus
User avatar
Posts: 5013
Joined: Oct 08, 2007
Location: The Land Up Over
Gender: Male

Re: Mamoru Hosoda General Thread

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby Alaska Slim » Sun Feb 24, 2013 7:19 am

View Original PostNAveryW wrote:Right now I consider his most nearly perfect work overall to be his first Digimon Adventure movie; at first I thought this may be because I had the lowest expectations going in, but I've watched it repeatedly for the sake of taking it apart

Any other thoughts? I'm curious, as I don't recall much going on in that film. I assume it's mostly just from a cinematographic standpoint?
"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." - 1 Thessalonians 5:11

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"God is in his Heaven, and free men walk upon the Earth" - Rev. Robert Sirico, President of the Acton Institute

NAveryW
Insect Politician
Insect Politician
User avatar
Age: 33
Posts: 5064
Joined: Dec 21, 2006

Re: Mamoru Hosoda General Thread

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby NAveryW » Sun Feb 24, 2013 11:38 am

View Original PostAlaska Slim wrote:Any other thoughts? I'm curious, as I don't recall much going on in that film. I assume it's mostly just from a cinematographic standpoint?
I posted my thoughts in the Digimon thread on this forum. You even replied to the posts.
"Today?... hmm... today... right... Um... I'm just gonna wing it." -Guess who

EvangelionFan
Test Subject
Test Subject
User avatar
Age: 32
Posts: 2771
Joined: Jun 16, 2010
Location: Canberra
Gender: Male

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby EvangelionFan » Wed Apr 03, 2013 5:27 pm

Attention Australian Residents!

from SMASH facebook wrote:Dendy Cinemas Newtown will be screening WOLF CHILDREN (Ōkami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki) with a bonus Q and A session with the Director Mamoru Hosoda on the 15th of April!

...
For more information visit
http://www.dendy.com.au/Promotion/Wolf- ... oru-Hosoda


So if you live in the Sydney area and ever wanted to meet THE MAN HOSODA, go go go book ticket go go go go
Voluntary Illusion.
Avatar: Wakaba Shinohara


Return to “Anime and Manga”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests