Famous Scenes from "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" and "Summer Wars," Plus Independent Works from Junior High! "Mamoru Hosoda’s Roots Exhibition" Report

Mamoru Hosoda is an animation film director known for masterpiece films such as "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" and "Summer Wars." During his time at Toei Doga (now Toei Animation), he helmed titles like "Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!," creating masterpieces that remain etched in the memories of children and anime fans of that era.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of Director Mamoru Hosoda's version of "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," which premiered in 2006, the "Mamoru Hosoda’s Roots Exhibition" is currently being held at CREATIVE MUSEUM TOKYO. The exhibition features production materials from works like "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," "Summer Wars," and "Wolf Children," as well as works from Director Hosoda's student days.

This article introduces the highlights of the exhibition, focusing on photographs taken during the press preview held the day before the event opened.

"The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," directed by Hosoda, started on a small scale upon its initial release but received high acclaim both domestically and internationally, becoming a smash hit. At the "Mamoru Hosoda’s Roots Exhibition," production materials for "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" were displayed alongside the production process. Through storyboards, key animation, and animation director corrections, visitors can catch a glimpse of the raw interactions on the production floor at the time.

In the section for "Summer Wars," released in 2009, visitors can enjoy a visual exhibition where they can experience "OZ," the online virtual world that appears in the film. In addition to production materials, the exhibition allowed for a deep dive into the work from various angles, featuring life-sized figures of "King Kazma" and "Love Machine," multilingual displays of famous scenes, and promotional materials from back when feature phones were still the primary focus of marketing campaigns.

Passing through a corridor themed around the time-leap device accompanied by memorable lines from "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," the exhibition delves deeper into Director Hosoda's further roots. Born in Toyama Prefecture, Director Hosoda independently produced a one-minute paper animation titled "one sided war" during his junior high school years to apply for an open audition for animators for "Shonen Kenya." Although he was not ultimately selected, the work was highly praised by the producer.

This "one sided war" is being shown to the public for the first time in 44 years since its screening at a cultural festival when Director Hosoda was in his third year of junior high school, and visitors can see it in its entirety at the "Mamoru Hosoda’s Roots Exhibition." The content features action animation with fighter jets and dragons moving dynamically, offering a glimpse of Director Hosoda's nascent talent as he began his career as an animator.

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