Anime is a genre that I have been loving more and more since my introduction to it over 10 years ago, when I discovered the breath-taking Spirited Away from the iconic Japanese studio 'Studio Ghibli'.
Since then, I have gone outside of the world of Hayao Miyazaki and found some other highly talented anime directors.
One in particular that can certainly match Ghibli for its drama and fantasy, is Mamoru Hosoda.
Over the past several years, I have seen the majority of his impressive back catalogue. From the thoroughly entertaining 'The Boy And The Beast', to the emotional and heartfelt 'Mirai', 'Wolf Children' and the imaginative 'Summer Wars' and 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time'.
Now his latest work managed to be a bit of all of those. From the very beginning, you get an absolute visual spectacle that only anime's can produce. Hosoda's has a real sense of scope in this one that was already there when I saw Summer Wars. Said film is the closest comparison to his previous works.
The majority of the story is a mix of those films involving virtual reality and social media, but mixing in a classic love story.
Then the final act suddenly hits your feelings by covering a very hard-hitting and sensitive topic that I feel Hosoda has been building towards in all of his other films.
Along with the striking visuals, the music plays a vital role and the soundtrack as a whole is worth a few listens.
The only negatives I have towards this is when comparing it to his other projects. I felt there wasn't enough as strong characters and the emotional impact of the finale didn't quite fully hit home for me to leave me totally satisfied.
But this shows how high of a pedestal Hosoda's has made himself. It is most definitely another strong piece of work that I felt completely engrossing and cinematic. While on paper it feels like a culmination of everything else he has made, it's not the masterpiece some have been saying. However, I am being very picky here.
The imagery gives the film great rewatchability as you'll never get tired of looking at every inch of the on-screen content along with hearing the moving songs. The use of the topics at the end were brave to use and pretty well executed.
With Miyazaki virtually retired, Hosoda looks to be the next top anime director out there along with possibly Makoto Shinkai. I remain highly anticipated for any future feature's of his.
Rating: 8/10
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