Mamoru Hosoda

Mamoru Hosoda (細田 守, Hosoda Mamoru, born September 19, 1967) is a Japanese film director and animator. He is best known as the creator of the Cosmolina franchise (2000-present), the Nickelodeon animated superhero series Deathspider (2022-2028) and the Adult Swim series It's Fine (2025-31). He won seven Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award.
== Life and career ==
=== Early life and initial work at Toei Animation ===
Hosoda was born in Kamiichi, Nakaniikawa District, Toyama, Japan. His father worked as a railway engineer, and his mother was a tailor. Hosoda initially felt inspired to take up animation as a career after seeing The Castle of Cagliostro, the first film directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli fame. He majored in oil painting at the Kanazawa College of Art in Ishikawa Prefecture.
After graduation, Hosoda was able to land an animation job at Toei Animation, after submitting a short film that he had animated in his spare time. He initially applied at Studio Ghibli; though he did not get the job, he received a rejection letter of praise from Hayao Miyazaki himself.
During his time at Toei, Hosoda worked his way up, garnering public attention in the early 2000s with the first two films in the Digimon Adventure series. Shortly after the release of Our War Game!, Hosoda attracted the eye of Ghibli head producer Toshio Suzuki.
=== Studio Ghibli ===
Studio Ghibli announced that Hosoda was to direct the film Howl's Moving Castle in September 2001. This was scheduled for a summer 2003 release. However, production on the film became strained due to creative differences. According to Hosoda, he "was told to make [the movie] similar to how Miyazaki would have made it, but [he] wanted to make [his] own film the way [he] wanted to make it". In the end, Hosoda left in the summer of 2002 during the early production stages, after failing to come up with a concept acceptable to Studio Ghibli bosses.
=== Return to Toei, departure to Madhouse ===
Proceeding his departure from Ghibli, Hosoda returned to Toei and worked on a few animations in collaboration with artist Takashi Murakami, such as the commercial Superflat Monogram for Louis Vuitton and directed a One Piece feature film, One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island.
In 2004, Mamoru Hosada met Yuichiro Saito, with whom he worked together in the opening of Shinichiro Watanabe’s Samurai Champloo (2004). That experience would lead to future collaborations between them.
During this time, he directed an episode of Ojamajo Doremi, which was inspired by his turbulent time at Ghibli. This episode led to him being hired at the animation studio Madhouse, which he worked at from 2005 to 2011.
At Madhouse, Hosoda earned critical acclaim with his directing efforts, including 2006's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (which won Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year in 2007) and 2009's Summer Wars (which won the same award in 2010).
=== Studio Chizu ===
Hosoda left Madhouse in 2011 to establish his own animation studio, Studio Chizu, with Yuichiro Saito who produced The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars. As of November 2021, Studio Chizu has released twleve films directed by Hosoda: 2012's Wolf Children, 2015's The Boy and the Beast, 2016's Cosmolina: Apocalypse, 2018's Mirai, 2021's Belle, 2023's Black Bat, 2024's Ava, 2027's Ena, 2030's It's Fine: Journey Across Time and War of the Toons, 2032's It's Fine in Space and 2033's Altercore. Mirai, Black Bat, Ava and Altercore were nominated for Best Animated Feature for the 2019 2024, 2025 and 2034 Oscars while Ava 2, War of the Toons and It's Fine in Space won the award for the 2028, 2031 and 2033 Oscars.
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Studios 	Notes
1999	Digimon Adventure: Episode 0 	Toei CompanyToei Animation	Released as part of the Spring 1999 Toei Animation Fair, alongside Yu-Gi-Oh! and Doctor Slump: Arale's Surprise Burn. Written by Reiko Yoshida.
1999	GeGeGe no Kitarō: Kitarō's Ghost Train 	Toei CompanyToei Animation	A short 3D film released at various events including at Hanayashiki, and re-released as part of the Toei 3D Animation Fair in October 2009.
2000	Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! 	Toei CompanyToei Animation	Released as part of the Toei Animation Fair (being screened alongside One Piece: The Movie). Written by Reiko Yoshida.
2000	Digimon Adventure 3D: Digimon Grand Prix! 	Toei CompanyToei Animation	Originally screened at the Time Machine of Dreams theme park attraction at Sanrio Puroland, and re-released as part of the Toei 3D Animation Fair in October 2009. Written by Atsushi Maekawa.
2000	Cosmolina 	Toho
Touchstone Pictures (International)
Studio Ghibli	
2003	Superflat Monogram 	Toei Animation 	Short film with Takashi Murakami.
2003	Cosmolina 2 	Toho
Touchstone Pictures (International)
Studio Ghibli	
2005	One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island	Toei Company
Toei Animation	
2006	Cosmolina: Payback 	Toho
Touchstone Pictures
Studio Ghibli	
2006	The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 	Kadokawa Herald Pictures
Madhouse	
2008	Larry and Mike 	Toho
Touchstone Pictures (International)
Studio Chizu	
2009	Summer Wars 	Warner Bros. Pictures
Madhouse	
2012	Kate and Rina 	Toho
Touchstone Pictures (International)
Studio Chizu	
2012	Wolf Children 	Toho
Studio Chizu 	
2015	The Boy and The Beast 	Toho
Studio Chizu 	
2016	Cosmolina: Apocalypse 	Toho
Touchstone Pictures (International)
Studio Ghibli
Studio Chizu	
2018	Mirai 	Toho
Studio Chizu 	Nominated-Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
2021	Belle 	Toho
Studio Chizu 	
2023	Black Bat 	Warner Bros. Pictures
RatPac-Dune Entertainment
DC Films
Studio Chizu	Nominated-Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
2024	Ava 	Warner Bros. Pictures
New Line Cinema
RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Studio Chizu	Nominated-Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
2025	Ena 	Warner Bros. Pictures
New Line Cinema
RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Studio Chizu	Nominated-Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
2027	Ava 2 	Warner Bros. Pictures
New Line Cinema
RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Studio Chizu	Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
2030	It's Fine: Journey Across Time 	Warner Bros. Pictures
New Line Cinema
Village Roadshow Pictures
RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Adult Swim
Studio Chizu	
2030	War of the Toons 	Warner Bros. Pictures
New Line Cinema
Village Roadshow Pictures
RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Studio Chizu	Academy Award for Best PictureAcademy Award for Best DirectorAcademy Award for Best Original ScreenplayAcademy Award for Best Animated Feature
2032	It's Fine in Space 	Warner Bros. Pictures
New Line Cinema
Village Roadshow Pictures
RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Adult Swim
Studio Chizu	Academy Award for Best Animated FeatureAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
2033	Altercore: A Deathspider Story 	Paramount Animation
Nickelodeon Movies
Studio Chizu	Nominated-Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
=== Television ===
* Digimon Adventure (episode 21, 1999)
* Ojamajo Doremi Dokkan (episode 40, 49)
* One Piece (episode 199)
* Ashita no Nadja (opening, ending, episodes 5, 12, 26)
* Samurai Champloo (opening under the pseudonym Katsuyo Hashimoto)
* Freedom Guy (creator, director, opening, ending)
* Cosmolina Presents: Diabolical (creator, opening, episode 3, 8)
* Deathspider (creator, director, opening, ending)
* Star Wars: Visions (episode 22, 28)
*It's Fine (creator, director, opening, ending)
=== As key animator ===
* Ashita no Nadja (episode 26)
* Crying Freeman
* Dragon Ball: The Path to Power
* Dragon Ball Z (episode 173)
* Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan
* Dragon Ball Z: Broly - Second Coming
* Galaxy Express 999 ~Eternal Fantasy~
* GeGeGe no Kitarō (1996 series, Episode 94, 105, 113)
* GeGeGe no Kitarō: Dai-Kaijū (Japanese, 1996 film)
* Slam Dunk (episodes 29, 70)
* Sailor Moon Sailor Stars (episode 7)
* Sailor Moon Super S: The Movie
* Yu Yu Hakusho The Movie: Poltergeist Report
== Awards and nominations ==
Year	Group 	Category 	Nominated work 	Result
2018	Academy Awards	Best Animated Feature 	Mirai 	Nominated
2023	Academy Awards	Best Animated Feature 	Black Bat 	Nominated
2024	Academy Awards	Best Animated Feature 	Ava 	Nominated
2027	Academy Awards	Best Animated Feature 	Ena 	Won
2030	Academy Awards	Best Picture 	War of the Toons 	Won
2030	Academy Awards	Best Animated Feature 	War of the Toons 	Won
2030	Academy Awards	Best Director 	War of the Toons 	Won
2030	Academy Awards	Best Original Screenplay	War of the Toons 	Won
2032	Academy Awards	Best Animated Feature 	It's Fine in Space 	Won
2032	Academy Awards	Best Adapted Screenplay 	It's Fine in Space 	Won
2033	Academy Awards	Best Animated Feature 	Altercore: A Deathspider Story	Nominated
*
Category:1967 births
Category:Anime directors
Category:Fantasy film directors
Category:Japanese film directors
Category:People from Toyama Prefecture
Category:Science fiction film directors
Category:Action film directors
Category:Comedy film directors
Category:Living people
Category:Academy Awards
Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners
Category:Academy Award winners
Category:Peabody Award winners
Category:Best Picture Academy Award winners
Category:Best Directing Academy Award winners
Category:Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
Category:Directors of Best Animated Feature Academy Award winners