Animisery – A Blog About Living Miserably with Anime (Among Other Things)

I know you might visit for a perspective charged with levity (or at least mild levity) but with the passing of my father this week, I’m honestly struggling at times to find the brighter side in some regards. My dad and I have a history fraught with tension and miscommunication but I also grasp what my father did for me and sacrificed for my childhood as well as have memories of deep kindness and humor. It would be simple enough if I could just miss him in our parting but I also have reminders of the anguish he thrust on me so my feelings leap and bound between two extremes. Regardless, he was my dad and I love him and I miss him dearly. I also just wanted to explain the gap in posts. It’s easy to forget to appreciate the people around you in the doldrums of our everyday life. I love you, dad.

Not to act too manic but let’s talk some anime. I hope you like the works of Mamoru Hosoda and Digimon because that’s all I’m going to have for you this month! I spent a good time at my grandma’s to help with my dad’s funeral arrangements and give her company and she, and I know this is going to be extreme for some of you, doesn’t have any sort of WiFi. As such, all I could do was watch cable and play on my Steam Deck during my leisure time. I did download all of Solo Leveling’s second season on my phone before I departed but I never really felt like giving it a go. Extreme power fantasies and mourning don’t mix, I guess. I started a few anime such as Orb and Black Lagoon before I headed off to grandmama’s house but alas I didn’t finish them so they won’t be on this recap. I HIGHLY recommend Orb though. At eight episodes in, I feel like I’m witnessing something special which seems to be the consensus when I do bring up with my anime enjoying friends who’ve seen it. Let’s go and grab a cold Hosoda from the fridge right now though.

THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME

This is my second re-watch of this film but I figured I’d put it here to boast my numbers plus I did honestly have my mind changed about this movie on this new experience. I originally saw the movie fresh out of high school in that fever state of when you’re madly in love with being in love and everything seems so hopeful and willfully amazing. So yes it was before the year 2016.

My initial viewing of this movie left my absolutely god smacked in awe. The visuals were unlike anything I had seen before (I had maybe be back into anime for around a few months) and the story resonated with me as a youthful teenager who loved the sentimentality of the relationship between the leads. Now, in the year 2025, I think it’s still an outstanding film which should be on your “200 Anime To Watch Before You Die” card yet I found myself enjoying it less since the time had passed. Makoto’s charm had been replaced with utter annoyance at her incompetence and brazen disregard for anything except herself. In other words, Makoto is a very well realized portrayal of a teenager. She also festers huge amounts of agitation in me and I connected with her less and less. She is my biggest complaint but she still isn’t without charm and the plot of the film is still as whimsically fun (until it very suddenly isn’t) and the characters are all lovable and the hackneyed message of “our mistakes make us who we are, appreciate every moment even if it’s not a pleasant one” is carried out well. Overall, it’s still a very fun film that I recommend. It’s an 8 leaps out of 10 possible leaps movie to me for sure.

SUMMER WARS

This was another one of Hosoda’s films that I re-watched this month! My first experience with this movie was honestly passively watching in on Adult Swim’s Toonami back in the day and I can tell you that watching this movie (or maybe any movie honestly) does not benefit from commercials. Giving yourself some air from Summer Wars will probably remove your investment from this film as I dropped into this film on my re-watch and never came back up for air until I was finished.

Summer Wars contains the DNA of Hosoda’s previous work Digimon: Our War Game! in so much as that Hosoda really wanted to show the internet as a living and breathing facility where BIG FIGHTS IN HUGE WHITE SPACES occur and, with Summer Wars, his dream is finally realized. The thing about Summer Wars is that it also manages to blend a touching, if slightly shallow, family drama with a massive selection of family members who are fun but ultimately are just one note characters barring the grandma and the other leads. You’ve got the macho uncle, the stupid dumb kids, the sport obsessed aunt, and more and they’re all not really filled with anything other than those characteristics until the very end where everyone has a come together moment. I’m not willingly spoiling anything as Summer Wars is a very predictable film by any means yet the execution and spirit within manifest a very very enjoyable time. Predictability may be on display (and honestly a twice told tale told terrific is better than seeing something new with huge flaws) yet it always managed to have my attention with an emotional turn of the knife that couldn’t have been achieved if I didn’t enjoy this characters. Summer Wars is probably one of the most approachable of Hosoda’s films and I respect it for it. It’s a 9 out of 10 film in my opinion. Would dive and fight rabbits in a combat tournament again.

DIGIMON ADVENTURE tri. 1: Reunion

I got back hugely into Digimon with last month’s beginning stint at the Hosoda fountain so I thought I might try to keep the magic going and watch the Digimon Adventure tri films that had come out to serve as an epilogue to the series. Honestly, this probably would have served me better with a refresher to Digimon Adventure and not just watching two movies and playing the game Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (an alright RPG for sure). I know the characters and their personalities but I felt disconnected with such a long time apart since the last time I rewatched Digimon Adventure was in high school when I acquired some of the DVDs. I wish I could tell you that I had something more critical to say but honestly the film fell very flat for me at times. I had fun seeing my old animated friends in high school but the drama between them was honestly mildly annoying as it was very much “I’m not talking about my feelings so now everyone doesn’t know why I’m doing what I’m doing” kind of drama which is obnoxious to me. It being the main cause of strife between Tai and Matt only served to grow my ire more as they could’ve easily fixed things between themselves if Matt had just bothered Tai some more about his feelings. I guess it’s a well written macho teenager in that regard but when a big part of your plot is two dudes throwing the idiot ball around then I can’t really be thrilled. It’s probably just nitpicks anyways as I did walk away feeling good about it and planned to watch more but it just didn’t happen. Digimon Adventure tri’s first film gets a solid 7 out of 10 for having some fun monster fights even with tepid characterization of its cast.

THE BOY AND THE BEAST

This is one of the safest entries for Hosoda as this is the film of his that I can safely say that you’ve seen before. It’s essentially anime The Jungle Book if you’re being overly simplistic about what the film is and I am indeed being overly simplistic. The relationship between the titular beast and boy is nothing short of every animated feature where the two leads groan and hate each other but slowly kindle a reluctant friendship and the world isn’t really pulling any weight either. It’s a generic fantasy world where anthropomorphic animals rule and it’s on the opposite side of the human world and humans aren’t allowed can you feel you eyes rolling into the back of your eyes like I am just typing that? In despite of a very by the numbers of by the numbers plot, The Boy and the Beast is still a winner of film and I did enjoy the entirety of the film even if I knew almost every story beat as if I were playing Hot Cross Buns on the recorder. The animation is imbued with that signature Hosoda energy (excluding the whale of a problem at the end of the film HAHAHAHAHAHA only real Boy Beasties will get that one) and there’s honestly never a dull moment. I would honestly say The Boy and the Beast is a solid anime movie for any kids you know as the content isn’t rife with complex themes or outlandish violence and it’s honestly capped off with a wholesome ending that serves up smiles. It’s not my favorite Hosoda film but it’s honestly an undeniable solid piece of entertainment. 8 boys out of 10 beasts would recommend or something I don’t know

WOLF CHILDREN

Dude. I love this movie. What I thought would be award bait film making where sad things happen to happy people quickly made me the fool as I quickly became hugely invested in our entire cast from the moment the movie took out the trash. If you know, you know. I have a huge weak spot for shows about families due in part to my own personal trauma but mostly because they’re always so hard for me not to find joy in. I knew that eventually the sad things would pile on again for my wolf children family yet I embraced the moments of happiness before those fleeting minutes led to dread and heartbreak. I especially found myself loving just how childlike the wolf children in question ended up being with a blend of lovable scamp and absolute taking the piss out of me annoyance. It’s a wholesome film with powerful moments of levity mixed with dour moments of legitimate family drama that culminates into an ending that I’m a little mixed on yet still savored as it passed across my eyelids. I don’t want to talk any more on this movie because, if you are reading this blog for any kind of recommendation, I think you should enjoy yourself in a preferably blind to the plot mindset. This was the highlight of Hosoda’s works for me and should be something everyone experiences once even if they’re not a fan of anime. I would sincerely recommend this to my family if they wanted a film to watch. As you can tell, Wolf Children is an absolutely sublime movie in my opinion and is nigh on perfect warranting a perfect 10 out of 10 from me. Check it out when you can!

MIRAI

I absolutely could not stand this movie. Let me be clear: child protagonists are okay. It’s okay to have a young child as your lead if you want to tell a story reflective of those experiences. I cannot fault anyone for that. What I can, however, take a huge steaming pile of umbrage with is when you’re child protagonist is an absolute annoying crotch goblin ankle biting piss reeking rugrat shit heel to use plain terms. The main character of Mirai is so genuinely obnoxious (don’t watch the dub if you can manage, maybe that was my issue?) that I had no investment in his development. I get that Hosoda was probably trying to make a message about growing up and the nature of childhood. In that regard, Kun is written very well for a bratty little toddler who carries a film as well as they carry piss stained Huggies in their pants. The rest of the cast isn’t doing any service for the movie as the parents are also a portrait of a “we have to stay together for the kids” marriage and the rest of the cast are so boring that I wonder what they’re doing for the plot outside of holding signs that say “we are character development for the dickhead toddler and nothing more”. The premise isn’t that thrilling either however the ending of Mirai did surprise me with how it tied everything so nicely especially with the final set piece. The train station at the end was honestly what I wish the film was set around as it highlights the only bit of originality that I cared for. It was almost as if another director handled that in particular if I’m being honest about my thoughts. The final “ohana means family” moment did manifest a few tears but it didn’t distract from how much I never want to have this film in front of me ever again. This is easily the low point for Hosoda in my opinion. That’s why it gets 5 smacks with a toy train out of 10 for me.

BELLE

The final anime I watched this month was also a rewatch! Belle is such a hit and miss movie for me with pretty fun highs but also some devastating lows. I bounce between loving this film for it’s seemingly Disney inspired vibes yet I also loathe this film for the very same thing. It is *KIND OF* a musical but I’ve only seen this movie twice in Japanese so don’t expect me to be able to sing a bar of any track. I guess that’s to its detriment as if your music isn’t good then you’re already on the road to a big loss, right? Belle’s music is fine but again: I might struggle to pick a song out of a lineup. The actual characters are a delight though as I oddly enjoyed the real world stories over the tales told in the virtual world Oz wait I mean U. Yeah, this movie really feels like a spiritual sequel to Summer Wars taking place in the same world but constrained to different names for some reason. I could’ve been on board for the Hosodaverse if you wanted to call U the same thing as in Summer Wars. It’s not too late to hop onto the very tired and running out of steam train known as the cinematic universe, Hosoda. Honestly, the narrative is LITERALLY just Beauty and the Beast so maybe hold off. Disney might sue you or something. They have more money than several monotheistic deities do in their entire congregation so I wouldn’t risk it. I struggle to think what it is that made me smitten with this film now that I’m composing my thoughts. Not a single things hit a home run like Summer Wars yet nothing feels unpolished in that kind of way that detracts from my enjoyment. The CGI used in U is neat and I wouldn’t be against Hosoda employing it for the entirety of a film. It’s a nice blend of that Hosoda anime style mixed with a somewhat Disney flow of their computer animated films. It think this might be considered one of his more polarizing films as I’ve frankly seen more negative than positive on this film in particular but it’s very enjoyable for the Disney animation film fan in your life. Guess what? I’m a Disney fan so maybe getting the formula I’ll gulp down in anime form only made it more serviceable for me? I don’t know. Big ol’ 8 pink haired anime girls out of 10 from me.

That’s another month down! March was a particular dry time for my anime watching as I all of these films I only watched for the sake of my podcast. Digimon Adventure tri is also there. I had hoped I’d get through more but losing my dad kind of stripped me of a lot of energy. I hope to surge through some of my back log in April as I did have a few seasonal shows from winter that I would love to talk about. That said, I’m also playing through several games that are ravenous time sinks so who can say? I also have a few books on my backlog pile that are leering at me from across the room too. Regardless, I’ll have at least one anime watched by April’s monthly anime recap! I hope you’ll be there to read it when it drops!

Thank you again to everyone who reads this! It means a lot! Feel free to comment what you watched in March and give some feedback too! Do you like Hosoda’s films? Do you not? I want to know! If you want to hear me talk into a microphone about anime then go check out my podcast, the Anime Brothers Podcast, wherever you get your shows! I’ll see you soon! Hug your parents if you have them.