Wolf Children
Mamoru Hosoda is Japan’s next great anime director. It’s extremely refreshing to say that because I feel as though great anime is a rarity. I’m a long-time fan of Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Satoshi Kon, but their output is very low – and understandably so. Miyazaki’s unfortunate retirement, the odd once-a-decade Takahata release, and Kon’s death in 2010, etc. has me feeling rather starved for excellence in anime. So, Hosoda is a godsend. Frankly, I’m giddy at the thought that I have yet to see his first two films – The Girl Who Leapt through Time and Summer Wars. But for now, we’ll focus on his latest, a Studio Chizu and Madhouse production: Wolf Children. It’s the story of Hana, a university student when we meet her. She sits in a lecture hall, distracted by a thin, handsome man named Kare. Very soon, the audience is gently eased in to the loving relationship between these two. In fact, we are with Hana when Kare tells her that he is a wolf. (Not a werewolf that transforms onl...