Flickerman: Mamoru Hosoda

Have you not heard about this great man?

No? Well, bless your furry little heads.

Some of you may not know about this, but this Japanese director and animator was once the man attached to direct Howl's Moving Castle by anime production giant, Studio Ghibli. Later on, however, he dropped out to pursue a personal project, an anime movie inspired by the 1967 book titled Toki o kakeru shoujo. And it wasn't like the book was anything special. Sure it was an immensely popular book with a painfully touching story, but it has already been adapted into two feature films, two TV series and a manga on the way.

So people were probably asking why this odd, bespectacled dude chose to direct an overdone Japanese novel over a classic Diana Wynne Jones that has never been adapted into anything before, ever? Hayao Miyazaki probably thought Hosoda was kidding around. Hell, I'd think he was kidding around! I can totally see it now, Miyazaki sitting on his retirement sofa, looking at Hosoda, chuckling to himself and thinking "Man, this guy is funny!" only to realize minutes later the man wasn't freaking kidding anyone. This guy was dead serious about leaving and it dawned on Miyazaki that he had to bid goodbye to his retirement couch for a while because some douche just backed out on him.

Nevertheless, I say anyone with enough guts to leave a prestigious Ghibli project for the sake of pure idealism (he once said in an interview that he wasn't able to get along with the Ghibli staff on an artistic level), rocks any boat of mine, anytime. Especially when the same man faces Studio Ghibli head on by releasing Toki o kakeru shoujo around the same time as the studio's then-newest release, Tales From Earthsea. Keep in mind that Ghibli is load-ed and could afford several hundred screenings with massive promotions, while Hosoda's film ran quietly on a single screen in Shinjuku with no fanfare. But thanks to the Internet, word got out just how good the film was, and at that year's Japanese Academy Awards, Toki o kakeru shoujo, globally known as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, managed to sideline Ghibli and grab the top honor in animation, cementing Hosoda's presence in the industry. (Of course, Tales From Earthsea being one of Ghibli's biggest disappointment also helps, I guess - talk about adding salt to Miyazaki's wound!)

For several years before, Mamoru Hosoda has already made a name for himself directing several anime episodes and two Digimon movies. Although I'm honestly no fan of Digimon (and will only admit to watching a few of their episodes, and that's just for keeping my little brother company) I am, however, a COLOSSAL fan of One Piece. You know, the one about pirates. It was Hosoda who helmed the sixth One Piece movie in 2005, titled Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island, now considered by fans aplenty as the best One Piece movie to date due to its stylish artwork and strong, profound storyline which ran several shades darker than normal.

The greatest!

But it was the critically acclaimed and award-winning The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) that really put Hosoda's name on the map. The story was simple, about a high school girl who accidentally acquired the ability to (quite literally) leap back and forth in time. Manufactured mainly for teenage girls, the storyline was easy to follow. The heroine, Makoto Konno was a tomboy and a slacker whose biggest problem was keeping her pudding away from her little sister, and loved nothing more than hanging out with her two male best friends, Kosuke and Chiaki.

Things changed when she escaped a near-fatal train accident one day by leaping a few minutes back in time. Then she started using her newly acquired power for trivial things, such as getting her pudding back, resit exams and avoid mishaps during class. But it became complicated after Chiaki awkwardly confessed his feelings for her and she tried going back and forth in time to avoid him ever since, but why does it hurt more to watch him from afar? And what are the consequences of abusing time, will it hurt her and the people she loves? To me, it's the twist and bittersweet ending that really made it good, because it teaches you that every course of action has aftereffects, and sometimes you just have to grow up and face that inevitable change like a man (or woman).

Time waits for no one, and embarrassing stunts like this will be remembered forever.

Hosoda's latest film is another critical hit, entitled Summer Wars (2009), this time surrounding the theme of family, world salvation and of course, plenty of sci-fi. The world of Summer Wars revolve around a virtual networking platform called OZ, where people all over the world meet up, hang out, interact with one another, get jobs and work there using their own custom-made avatars (basically it's Internet!Earth filled with Internet!Lives on an entirely different level).

The hero of this story is Kenji Koiso, a socially ill-adept, teenage mathematical genius who was tricked by his crush, Natsuki, into coming with her to her larger-than-life family gathering and pose as her 'college-student fiance'. Now which would you rather choose, work in OZ for the rest of the Summer, or spend it with the girl you have the hots for? Of course the kid accepted the role.

At the family estate, Kenji was taken aback by how freaking huge Natsuki's extended family was and stammered out the lies she had prepared for him. He immediately felt out of place, so when he received an email with a mysterious mathematical code - something he is actually good at - he quickly cracked it overnight and without any further thoughts, sent it back to the sender.

The next day, he was in shock to see his face on every news story on television - the world of OZ has been hacked by a rogue virus called Love Machine, deleting thousands of important governmental and military accounts in OZ, and Kenji is the prime suspect! Confused but more ashamed than ever, he was forced to leave Natsuki's family gathering. But as things progressed, it seems that he may be the one who can help glue the family even tighter and save OZ and the world from a possible destruction.

Nosebleed destruction.

Summer Wars differs from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by coming off as a happier movie, especially when you compare the endings. But both films have tragedies and problematic obstacles that strikes a chord in all of us, and both successfully deliver their messages quite clearly, that mistakes can be redeemed once you prove to be responsible to yourselves.

Albeit being fairly 'new' to the Japanese animation scene, Hosoda already has a distinct style to his animation, which can be seen in nearly all of his movies. The 'time world' Makoto repeatedly fell into in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the world of OZ in Summer Wars, and even the transformation change of the digimon creatures in Digimon. Each of them profess a world of clean, uncluttered background, with layers and composites of virtual effects. This distinction is mostly seen in the short film and campaign for Louis Vuitton Superflat Monogram, a 2003 collaboration with digital and contemporary artist Takashi Murakami.

Even as we speak, Mamoru Hosoda's Summer Wars is still circulating the film festival circuit on a global level. Some may say that he is the next Hayao Miyazaki, but I say no, he's not. Hosoda has a style that is much different from Miyazaki (whom I also consider a GOD) in writing, animating and directing. But he is definitely a character to be reckoned with, an up-and-coming force within the Japanese animation industry, and I have faith in saying that his next project will be just as good as his previous ones, if not, even better.