Mamoru Hosoda, the man behind movies like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and other groundbreaking anime movies, had some choice words for Hayao Miyazaki, the Ghibli co-founder and director.
Hosoda has been compared to Miyazaki multiple times, as is the new norm when it comes to any anime director. The Ghibli director’s internationally popular movies can be blamed for that. However, Hosoda is not ready to accept Miyazaki as the God of anime movies.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time’s Director Calls Out Hayao Miyazaki Extremists
Miyazaki is often regarded as the superior director when it comes to anime movies. Some fans even consider him the epitome of directorial genius. Of course, Miyazaki does deserve most of the praise as someone who has maintained both the visual and storytelling quality of his movies for decades.
However, there comes a time when the praises become too much, and Hosoda knows it. In an interview with Vulture, the director explained:
With regards to Miyazaki, there’s certainly a lot of praise, and a lot of it is deserved. But there’s some that goes so extreme, that he’s a god, he’s amazing, he transcends all this. And perhaps I think that level of comparison and using that type of language to compare and then criticize other directors is, for me, a little questionable.
Hosoda is not against the praises that the Ghibli director receives, but he is definitely against every director being dragged into comparing them to Miyazaki. According to the Summer Wars director, this extreme way of thinking is boring because there are lots of amazing talents, creators, and directors out there. In his opinion, it’s diversity that adds value to the industry and provides the audience with different experiences and flavors.
Miyazaki Might Have Won Two Oscars, but It’s Not Mamoru Hosoda’s Goal
Mamoru Hosoda’s 2018 movie, Mirai, was nominated for the Oscars but lost to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Japanese anime has yet to win an Academy Award that did not belong to Miyazaki. The Ghibli director has won the Best Animated Feature award for Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron.
In the interview, Hosoda was asked about his movie getting a nomination but not winning, and if he cares about winning an Oscar. To this, Hosoda answered:
But that’s not why we make movies. First and foremost, the goal should always be to make a good film.
While creators will always want to feel recognized for their works and see everything through the audience’s perspective, the goal isn’t winning a specific award. However, it is never the goal, and what is more attractive is actually exploring the unknown. The fact that new challenges might yield something great or even a huge failure is always a surprise, and one no one can predict.
Here is a table with all of Mamoru Hosoda’s directed movies and their IMDB ratings:
What do you think about Hosoda’s comments regarding the Spirited Away creator? Do you think the Ghibli director receives too much praise? Let us know in the comments below.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time anime movie is available to rent on Amazon and can’t be streamed.
