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Mamoru Hosoda is one of the most well-known moviemakers in the Japanese film industry. Some of his most popular works includeThe Girl Who Leapt Through TimeandSummer Wars. In fact, his 2018 movie,Mirai, was nominated in the Best Animated Feature Film Category of the 91st Academy Awards.
Due to his popularity, Hosoda has been often compared with the likes of Hayao Miyazaki, another legend in the anime film department. However, the director is himself a fan of Miyazaki’s works and humbly admitted why thePonyoandSpirited Awaycreator is irreplaceable.
Mamoru Hosoda on Being Compared to Hayao Miyazaki
SinceMamoru Hosodais a successful anime film director and animator, it is obvious thathe would be compared to Hayao Miyazakiat some point in time. Inan interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hosoda was asked how he felt being compared to Hayao Miyazaki. Additionally, the spotlight shifted to Makoto Shinkai after the release ofYour Name,so was it a relief for Hosoda?
According to Hosoda, he has been asked the same question in nearly every interview in the last 10 years. Thus, he had his answer ready:
Miyazaki-san was a kind of hero to me while I was growing up, but as a director your mission should be to make better films than him, so in that sense he has to be a kind of rival.
He also added that the success of Shinkai’s film is good for the anime industry at large since it has definitely expanded the market. Makoto Shinkai has also been compared to theSpirited Awaydirector andis often called the next Hayao Miyazaki.But in all honestly, it is Mamoru Hosoda’s style that resembles Ghibli movies the most and the secret is the usage of hand-drawn animation.
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Mamoru Hosoda admitted that he drew by hand but can imagine that at some point, a complete shift to digital means is bound to happen. However, he still wants to delay the transition as much as possible. Hosoda stated thatthere was no one left in America who could draw by hand,and the 2011 Winnie the Pooh production was the last hand-drawn US film. There’s no one left to teach the techniques, but the culture still needs to be preserved, according to him.
Why It’s Hard to Be the Next Hayao Miyazaki
Mamoru Hosoda admitted that people are looking for someone to fill the role of Hayao Miyazaki. The Ghibli co-founder has already attempted a few unsuccessful retirements in the last few years, and every time, fans have tried to resort to another filmmaker, but to no avail. Thankfully, Miyazaki has always bored himself to death, just enough to return.
“I wanted to make my own film”: One Piece Director Left Studio Ghibli After Hayao Miyazaki Became ‘Too Insufferable’ to Tolerate
Hosoda then expanded on why it’s hard to fill Miyazaki’s shoes. According to the director, the conditions of creating hand-drawn anime are getting more and more difficult every year. Fewer artists still have the skills, and even the number of people who can appreciate its worth is declining.
Hosoda has grown up beingstrongly influenced by animationsthat he watched. Some of them were Isao Takahata’sAnne of Green Gables,and Hayao Miyazaki’sLupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. Having grown up in such a golden age of hand-drawn animation, Hosoda knows best of all how significant Hayao Miyazaki’s contributions have been.
Aaheli Pradhan
Anime Content Writer
Articles Published :1558
Aaheli is an Anime Content Writer at FandomWire with 1300+ published articles. With five years of experience under her belt, she is a living, breathing encyclopedia for anime and manga. From Shonen and Shojo to the most niche anime, nothing escapes her radar. Her poisons of choice are Assassination Classroom, Gintama, Ouran High School Host Club and every Ghibli movie ever. She believes in living a slow life, surrounded by incomplete art projects and her beloved cats.
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Hayao MiyazakiMamoru Hosoda
