Brief Summary
This video explores the influence and impact of Mamoru Hosoda's Digimon films, particularly "Our War Game," on the anime industry and beyond. It covers Hosoda's early work, his brief stint at Studio Ghibli, and how his Digimon creations inspired later works like "Summer Wars" and "Belle," as well as influencing figures in high fashion.
- "Our War Game" was groundbreaking for its depiction of the internet and influenced later works.
- Hosoda's work on Digimon caught the attention of major figures like Takashi Murakami and Hayao Miyazaki.
- Despite initial success, Hosoda's time at Studio Ghibli was short-lived due to creative differences.
- Hosoda's Digimon themes of youth empowerment and the internet's potential continue to resonate in his later films.
The video introduces "Our War Game," a Digimon film from 2000, highlighting its significant influence on both Digimon fans and the broader anime industry. The film's director, Mamoru Hosoda, is praised for his groundbreaking animation, which attracted attention from Studio Ghibli and Louis Vuitton. The video aims to explore Hosoda's thoughts on his Digimon work, drawing from Charles Solomon's biography, "The Man Who Leapt Through Film," which discusses the connections between "Our War Game" and Hosoda's subsequent films like "Summer Wars" and "Belle."
Mamoru Hosoda's early career at Toei Animation involved directing television series like "GeGeGe no Kitaro" before he was asked to direct a Digimon movie. Initially unfamiliar with Digimon, Hosoda likened it to Pokémon, but the distributors wanted a monster movie in the style of Godzilla. To meet this request, Hosoda altered the designs of Greymon and Agumon for the film. Despite exceeding the budgeted number of drawings by 50%, the film was completed on time and was well-received, positioning Hosoda and his crew at the forefront of the Japanese animation industry.
"Our War Game," a 40-minute film released in 2000, is celebrated for its depiction of the internet world, characterized by a white backdrop, bursts of color, and virtual monsters outlined in red. This iconic look was revisited in later Digimon iterations and Hosoda's other films, such as "Summer Wars." The film's unique visual style caught the attention of Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami, influential figures in art and fashion.
In 2002, Takashi Murakami approached Toei Animation to create a promotional video for Louis Vuitton. Hosoda noted that Louis Vuitton was specifically interested in the digital world aesthetic he created in "Our War Game," characterized by a clean white slate with bursts of color. This collaboration highlights the significant impact of "Our War Game" beyond the Digimon franchise, influencing high fashion.
Shortly after the release of "Our War Game," Hosoda was approached by Studio Ghibli to direct "Howl's Moving Castle." At 33, Hosoda saw this as an opportunity to direct his first feature-length film and was excited to work at the renowned studio. However, due to creative differences and being perceived as an outsider, Hosoda was fired from Studio Ghibli in 2002. Hayao Miyazaki ultimately directed the released version of "Howl's Moving Castle." After being fired, Hosoda returned to Toei Animation before founding Studio Chizu.
In 2009, Hosoda and Studio Chizu released "Summer Wars," which shares similarities with "Our War Game," including a utopian internet world and a rogue digital monster initiating a cyber attack. "Summer Wars" expanded on these concepts into a full feature film without the constraints of the Digimon IP. Hosoda has addressed comparisons between "Summer Wars" and Digimon, noting that while there are similarities, they are distinct environments and movies.
Studio Chizu released "Belle" in 2021, a social media-themed take on "Beauty and the Beast" and the third film in Hosoda's internet trilogy. Unlike the optimistic digital worlds of Digimon and "Summer Wars," the world of "Belle" is bleaker, reflecting the shift in how the internet is perceived. Hosoda notes that the internet, once seen as a place of hope, has become a space where people can harm others anonymously. The design of "Belle's" cyber world, created by Eric Wong, reflects this coldness and anonymity, contrasting with the optimistic cyber world of "Our War Game." Despite this darker portrayal, Hosoda maintains a theme of hope, believing that future generations will find new and better ways to use the internet.
The video concludes by emphasizing the lasting impact of Hosoda's Digimon films and their influence on his subsequent works and the broader animation industry. Hosoda's Digimon films caught the attention of influential figures like Takashi Murakami, Louis Vuitton, and Hayao Miyazaki, and inspired future creators like Eric Wong. The video encourages viewers to share their thoughts on Hosoda's Digimon films and highlights the book "The Man Who Leapt Through Film" as a valuable resource for understanding Hosoda's career and creative process.
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Transcript
Full transcript of “Digimon Movie Director Looks Back 25 Years Later”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 believe it or not the best Digimon story is 25 years old here in 2025 our war game the middle part of Fox kids Digimon the movie released in Japanese theaters on March 4th 2000 a quarter of a century ago this film wasn't just influential for Digimon fans like me but for a moment in 2000 the biggest names in the anime industry were taking note of Hoda's groundbreaking Digimon animations everyone from Studio jibli to Louis Vuitton wanted a piece of the film's director mamor Hoda on this channel I have praised our game endlessly how I think it's the closest thing we have to perfect Digimon media but in today's video I'm not going to recycle my thoughts on the movie I want to let you hear from the movies director one of my most treasured books is Charles Solomon's the man who leapt through film an art book SL biography that goes through mamor Hoda's prolific career in
0:46 animation from his time at toi through the founding of studio chisu all the way to his latest film Bell the book features quotes from Hoda courtesy of Solomon interviews and contains a ton of Hoda's thoughts on his old Digimon films it also talks about the connections between our war game and summer warss and Bell films that I consider spiritual sequels to our war game so let's go through what Hoda had to say about his work with Digimon starting with 1999's Digimon Adventure short film what many of us recognize as the Act One prequel in Digimon the movie with the big aimon and red Greymon Hoda had worked at toi animation on television series like gig no Kitaro and akachan secret 3 rising to the role of director shortly after his 30th birthday in 1998 after a short leave following the passing of his father when returning to toi he was asked if he' consider directing a movie what would become Digimon Adventure
1:32 quote I didn't even ask anything about it before saying I do it he says it turned out to be Digimon Adventure I had no clue what Digimon was about from the name I guessed it must be something like Pokemon not exactly words Digimon fans want to hear given the endless Pokemon and Digimon comparisons we still get 25 years later but while Hoda was thinking Pokemon apparently the high-ups were thinking more Monster movie more Kaiju quote the suits at the distributor asked me to make Digimon into a monster movie they didn't realize that Digimon was competing with Pokémon which was on TV not those Godzilla style theatrical movies so to meet this Godzilla style request Solomon says that Hoda is the one who asked Bondi if they could alter the Greymon and auman Designs just for this film which is why you get that big auman and the red Greymon Hoda's first Digimon film was completed on time but
2:18 reportedly went over the budgeted number of drawings by over 50% to quote Solomon the overages ruffled feathers in the production department but Hoda felt his crew's work put them at the Forefront of the Japanese animation industry they had made a short film that everyone was talking about with the first film complete and a pit stop directing episode 21 of Digimon Adventure the TV anime Hoda's work turned to our war game a 40-minute film that would release alongside one piece the movie at the 2000 spring toy anime Fair one of the film's crowning accomplishments besides introducing omegamon was Hoda's jaw-dropping depiction of the internet World it had this white backdrop with bursts of colors lines Clockworks and virtual monsters outlined in red instead of black line work this look was so iconic that Digimon would revisit it from time to time and Hoda too would
3:03 revisit this look in future films like summer Wars the girl who left Through Time Mei know me it also caught the attention of Louis Vuitton and tekashi murakami two Mega names in the world of Art and fashion fast forwarding to 2002 murakami came to toi animation looking for help creating a promotional video for Louis Vuitton Hoda told Solomon quote when Louis Vuitton approached us I heard they said we want to work with this mamor Hoda that was flattering but when I looked at their presentation I could see that the digital world we created in our war game was the look they were going for a clean white slate with bursts of color here and there personally I don't think too many Digimon fans know about this Louis Vuitton video from the early 2000s but here's another instance of our war games reach going well beyond the world of Digimon inspiring High fashion but rewinding to 200 shortly after the release of our war game Hoda was actually tapped by Studio jibli to
3:50 direct their upcoming project Howl's Moving Castle quote they were looking for an upand cominging director for how Moving Castle I was 33 years old and it was my chance to direct my first feature length film I knew working at jibli was going to be different from toi there was a little anxiety there but being a huge fan of their movies I responded with a resounding yes so a year before Spirited Away released in 2001 Hoda was looking to be the new star at the legendary Animation Studio directing pre-production on what would be their next big film unfortunately we never got Hoda's version of howls as things fell apart according to Solomon quote Hoda was regarded as a newcomer and an outsider at jibli his attempts to make the film his way were met with resistance in 2002 Hoda was fired from studio jibli and haa Miyazaki would go on to direct the version of how's Moving Castle that would ultimately be released
4:36 after the firing Hoda returned to toi where he'd work on projects like the Louis Vuitton promotion and one piece Baron omatsuri in the secret Island before departing to create the girl who left through time and found studio chisu in 2009 Hoda and Studio chisu released Summer Wars on August 1st actually Oda day for Digimon fans the film shares a ton of similarities with our war game from this gorgeous utopian internet world to a rogue digital monster initializing a Cyber attack that concludes with a missile aimed at our heroes homes but Summer Wars was more than a digimon copy paste it was an attempt to expand that concept into a full feature film without IP restrictions or obligations Hoda has said quote journalists ask me all the time did you get the look of Summer Wars from the Louis Vuitton Monogram but Digimon actually precedes it when Summer Wars was first released there was a lot of comparisons to Digimon we're entering the cyber world uh it's the same movie
5:23 but they're completely different environments and different movies in 2021 Studio chisu released Bell sort of a social media spin on beaut and the Beast and what I considered the third in Hoda's internet Trilogy while also set in a digital internet world like summer Wars and our war game the world of you was Far Bleaker than that of digimon's internet or Summer Wars Oz Hoda said quote Digimon came out in 2000 Summer Wars was 2009 there had been a massive shift in how we used the internet and how the internet had affected Our Lives the internet really began exploding in the 2000s it seemed like this place of hope where the younger generation would drive the path forward that was an overarching theme in Digimon where the younger generation had to rise to the challenge today no one really sees the internet that way anymore over the last 20 years we've gotten more tools including social media a lot of people are on the internet to harm others under
6:08 a veil of anonymity which shows how the internet has shifted this is a large part of why Bell's cyber world of you designed by Eric Wong is not Oz 2.0 or R War Games internet 3.0 quote from Eric Wong Hoda wanted a nocturnal atmosphere for you to reflect the coldness in the 2020s version of the internet it would be a place of anonymity Secrets Darkness as opposed to the optimistic Cy world of 2000r war game still Hoda deciding to drop his iconic bright and warm internet Vision wasn't him giving up on the future Hoda says quote I believe there are going to be new ways to use the internet for better causes I want to push that message in spite of everything kids will pave a path to a new world that idea led to Bell there are people who use the internet in different ways in the film but the underlying theme is Hope even with a new landscape new technologies new threats Hoda has not let himself forget the overarching theme
6:54 in Digimon where the younger generation would drive the path forward the man who leapt through film is an excellent insight into Hoda and Studio chisu one that I highly recommend these quotes I shared from Hoda and anecdotes from Solomon as well as others in the Japanese animation industry are just a small portion of the fascinating information inside the book I hope you enjoyed hearing about our war game from A New Perspective from Hoda's perspective how our war game caught the attention of tekashi murakami Louis Vuitton hayya Miyazaki studio jibli and how it inspired future creators like Bell's Eric Wong who grew up watching Digimon films as a kid before growing up and working with Hoda on Bell what what did you think about Hoda's Digimon films adventure and our war game let me know in the comments what they meant to you 25 years later if you saw them jam-packed into the fox Kids film with that pop punk soundtrack if you watched
7:39 The Originals online if you've watched the new dubs for these films that discotech put out in 2024 happy 25th birthday to our war game there is no the digo channel without that movie just blowing my mind as a kid if you get a chance don't hesitate to pick up the man who leapt through film and speaking of books I wrote and released my own anime inspired novel back in December that you can pick up and read now it's called do mon Revolution it's a total Love Letter to 2000's anime like Digimon metabots Monster Rancher and honestly it's heavily inspired by The Works of Hoda half the time I was writing I was listening to the soundtracks for wolf children to boy and the Beast the book is available digitally and as a paperback and I'll link to it in the pin comment if you like Digimon or Hoda films I think you'll really dig my book thank you for watching Digimon con is happening this week and I'll be sure to cover any breaking news with explainers as soon as I can take care and I'll see
8:25 you in the next video
