Why Fans Turned Against Mamoru Hosoda s Scarlet

I watched The Endless Scarlet. There's no way it could be that boring. It surpasses Snow White to become the worst of this year. An experience like a nightmare you have when you have the flu. A hell like being forced to listen for two hours to a shallow lecture in a clumsy speaking style. Around the inexplicable musical scene, a splitting pain ran through my head and I was overwhelmed by a Went to watch The Limitless Scarlet with a friend. I was planning to fall asleep without my friend noticing if it got boring, but I got so pissed off at myself for wasting time sitting here that I couldn't sleep. The tea with my friend afterwards was enjoyable, which was the saving grace. I don't want them making child actress Mana Ashi to do work like this. It'll be a stain on her record. Endless Scarlet. That's way too amazing. Reminded me of that Japanese language class in high school where we only did answer checks and explanations for homework. I glanced at the clock like seven times. Felt like I was at my part-time job. Endless Scarlet is seriously bad. SERIOUSLY BAD. So, a lot of people really hate Scarlet, and I've been looking forward to it all year. **** me, dude. So, Mamoru Hosoda is considered one of the great modern day anime directors, having directed some of the most critically acclaimed anime films like Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and has even received an Oscar nomination for his work in the past. I really would say that when it comes to the Japanese film industry, he is a titan, a true auteur, not unlike Hayao Miyazaki or Makoto Shinkai. Which is why the current reception to his latest film, Scarlet, the tale of a medieval princess out for vengeance after her father's death, is shocking to say the least. People really hate this movie, and when I say hate, I mean pure spiteful venomous hatred, as if this movie stole something from them after they watched it. Now, before I get into this, I just want people to know beforehand that this is not a review of the film Scarlet. As I'm editing this, this movie has only been released in Japan, with a wider global release next year. Rather, I simply wanted to go over the very negative backlash to this film from the people who have seen it, and analyze how this sudden negative shift towards one of Japan's most prolific directors might not actually be as sudden as it seems. But before I can begin to explain this shifting attitude towards Hosoda, we first need to understand why he became as big of a director as he is today. Like many big name directors, Hosoda started out fairly small, working on various anime TV series. However, it was his time as a director on Digimon where some of his earliest best known work would emerge. Specifically, the two short films Digimon Adventure, as well as Digimon Adventure Our War Game. Both of which would be kind of Frankenstein together to form what we in America would call Digimon the Movie, a film that to this day is still one of my all-time favorite childhood films. I mean, how could it not be? It has Omnimon in it. Oh my god, look at him! He's so cool! How is he so cool? This is like the greatest day ever! This is where Mamoru Hosoda's distinct art style was born, an art style that he would use in every single one of his future films. Defined by very clean and simple, yet vastly expressive character designs and warm naturalistic backdrops lovingly brought to life. This is an art style that has become iconic in its own right, something that when seen is immediately identifiable as his. And it was this art style that would bring to life the films that would define his career as a director. From 2006 to 2012, Mamoru Hosoda had what I can only describe as an absolutely generational run of films. 2006's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, 2009's Summer Wars, and 2012's Wolf Children. What I personally refer to as the golden trinity of Mamoru Hosoda's work. These movies are masterpieces and should honestly just be seen by everyone regardless of whether you like anime or not. Hosoda's films have this theme of average everyday life mixed with the more fantastical, and it makes his movies both incredibly relatable as well as spectacular. All beautifully brought to life through his signature art style with characters that are so emotionally resonant that you feel like you're there with them. In fact, and some of you might know this already, but Wolf Children is actually the movie that inspired me to get my very first job. When I watched Hana go through so much work just to take care of her children, it gave me perspective and made me want to be stronger and more disciplined. THAT is the power that Hosoda's films had on me, to be able to change my life in a way that was substantial. And why, to this day, he is still one of my all-time favorite directors. So, then, what has brought us to this moment? Where now, his latest film is seen as a disaster by many. So, I'll be the first to admit, I do not hate any of the films that Hosoda has directed after Wolf Children. I'm still very fond of all of them. However, ever since the release of The Boy and the Beast, people had begun to note that the overall quality of Hosoda's films had begun to decline. Now, decline does not necessarily mean bad, most of these films are still fairly well-received, with one of them, Mirai, actually having received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Picture. That said, compared to the aforementioned Golden Trinity, these films just felt a little underwhelming in comparison. And I can actually agree with that to a certain degree. I personally still think that The Boy and the Beast is pretty close in quality to his first three films, but I can definitely see that with Mirai and Belle. And it would seem as though the major contributing factor to this decline seems to be, well, Hosoda himself. You see, for his first three films, Hosoda wasn't nearly as involved in the writing process as he would be on his most recent films. Instead, a lot of that work would go to his critically acclaimed writer, Satoko Okudera, who would write the entirety of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars, and would also serve as the co-writer for Wolf Children alongside Hosoda. However, sometime after Wolf Children, Mamoru Hosoda and Satoko Okudera would part ways, though it doesn't seem like this was because of any kind of falling out. Hosoda has stated that he and her both still have a good relationship with one another. Rather, it would seem as though it's just more natural for him to write his films by himself, especially if they're very personal to him. I think this is where the major issues have begun to arise with Hosoda. Because if you watch some of his later films, you begin to notice certain problems with both pacing and kinda sloppily written scenes that were just never really an issue in his earlier films. In particular, the final scenes in Belle where Suzu has to confront the Beast's abusive father, while I don't mind it, I can definitely see how it can come off as very rushed and unnatural. There's also this idea that Mamoru Hosoda has been getting kind of repetitive with his stories. He's explored the concepts of both time travel and the internet twice now, and despite the fact that he uses both of these concepts to tell different stories with different themes and messages, both of the concepts were honestly done better the first time around. However, probably one of the biggest gripes that fans have taken with Hosoda's films is actually a very recent one, his pivot from traditional 2D animation to 3D animation. Now, I think it's a bit drastic when I hear people say that this animation looks bad, I just don't really agree with that at all. However, it is definitely a downgrade from his regular 2D animation and art style. An art style that, as I previously mentioned, is not only ridiculously beautiful, but also linked to many people's nostalgia. Especially with stuff like Digimon, and when his latest film Belle began to incorporate less and less of this art style, well, it was disappointing to say the least. So yeah, while Hosoda is seen as a huge director in anime, his reputation as of late has been slipping a bit. Until now, when we have what is quite possibly his first ever straight up blunder. Scarlet released in Japanese theaters just last month, and as you could all see from the intro of this video, the reception from the Japanese audience has been, well, less than stellar. And judging from what I've heard people say, it would seem as though most of the issues that have been plaguing Hosoda's later films are here in full force, magnified to the point that they really cannot be ignored. The day this film came out, a barrage of Japanese comments came flooding into Twitter, many of which describing the sheer detestment that people had for this film, one even going as far as to say it does everything a film shouldn't do. The most common criticism I've heard of this film is that it is poorly written to the point that it is frustrating to watch. Supposedly, it has a message of letting go of bitterness, rage, and vengeance, and I mean, that's great. I'm all for that. But the issue is that according to the audience, this message is so on the nose that it almost seems as though it's preaching this idea to you rather than letting it unfold naturally. And even as someone who hasn't seen the film yet, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case because it sounds like the kind of writing blunder Hosoda would make. And what's worse is that judging from the word of mouth as well as the trailers that have been shown, it seems as though the 3D animation takes up even more of this film's runtime than in Bell, with the 2D animated segments only coming in in very brief scenes. And yeah, that also sounds pretty disappointing. I just want to make it clear, I'm still excited for this film. Hosoda is still one of my all-time favorite directors, and I still love all of his movies. But I just find it shocking that a critically acclaimed director like Hosoda is capable of making something that so many people hate to this degree. I guess it goes to show that no matter how much weight there is behind your name, that overwhelming praise isn't always guaranteed. But you also can't really judge anything without having seen it. So I'll just reserve my thoughts until next year when I finally can. Until then, I'll just wait with bated breath until that day finally comes. Please be good. Please be good. I don't even care if everyone else in the world hates it. Just so long as I like it. That's all that matters. Please. I've been hyping you up for all these years, Hosoda. I refuse to accept that my goat is washed. He can't be. He can't be washed!