The final episode in our Hosodathon mini series is a bumper special, as Michael, Jake and Steph explore Mamoru Hosoda's early works, and read letters from listeners on their thoughts on Hosoda's films.

Check out Hosoda's early works:

Digimon: Our War Game

One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island

Ojamajo Doremi - Doremi and the Witch That Stopped Being a Witch

Superflat Monogram

Samurai Champloo - opening credits sequence

Thank you for listening along to the Hosodathon with us! Email us with suggestions of what to cover next - [email protected]

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@ghibliotheque

@MichaelJLeader – Michael

@jakehcunningham – Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

Produced by Michael Leader, Jake Cunningham, Harold McShiel and Steph Watts. Music by Anthony Ing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode of our Hosodathon mini series, Michael and Jake talk to the director himself, Mamoru Hosoda, all about the making of Belle.

The interview has been edited in a style that lets you hear only the English translation, but if you want to hear the full conversation with Mamoru Hosoda's answers in Japanese, skip forward 25 minutes.

Let us know what you think of Hosoda's works via email: [email protected] or follow us on Twitter:

@ghibliotheque

@MichaelJLeader – Michael

@jakehcunningham – Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

Produced by Michael Leader, Jake Cunningham, Harold McShiel and Steph Watts. Edited by Steph Watts. Music by Anthony Ing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on our Hosodathon miniseries, Michael, Jake and Steph put on their headsets and dive into the magical world of U to discuss Mamoru Hosoda's latest film, Belle, a modern reworking of Disney's Beauty and the Beast told via the director's unique point of view and storytelling methods.

Belle is out now in UK cinemas. Let us know what you thought of the film, or any of Hosoda's works, via email: [email protected] or follow us on Twitter:

@ghibliotheque

@MichaelJLeader – Michael

@jakehcunningham – Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

Produced by Michael Leader, Jake Cunningham, Harold McShiel and Steph Watts. Edited by James Payne. Music by Anthony Ing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Hosodathon miniseries continues this week with a time-bending tale of a boy whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of a newborn sister. Mirai found director Mamoru Hosoda once again drawing inspiration from his family life, and remains a landmark entry in his filmography for, among other things, premiering at the Cannes Film Festival and becoming the first Japanese animation not made by Studio Ghibli to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature.

Get in touch with Ghibliotheque at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter:

@ghibliotheque

@MichaelJLeader – Michael

@jakehcunningham – Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

Produced by Michael Leader, Jake Cunningham, Harold McShiel and Steph Watts. Music by Anthony Ing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week in our Hosodathon miniseries, Mamoru Hosoda's biggest hit to date: The Boy and the Beast. Inspired by Hosoda becoming a dad, this is an ambitious story of a boy estranged from his family in real-life Tokyo, who finds an unlikely father-figure in the fantasy world filled with beasts and gods.

Get in touch with Ghibliotheque at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter: @ghibliotheque

@MichaelJLeader – Michael

@jakehcunningham – Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

Produced by Michael Leader, Jake Cunningham, Harold McShiel and Steph Watts. Edited by James Payne. Music by Anthony Ing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this third episode of our Hosodathon miniseries, Michael, Jake and Steph discuss Mamoru Hosoda's Wolf Children, the first feature produced by his independent production company Studio Chizu.

Once again mixing personal themes and high-concept storytelling, Hosoda turns his awestruck feelings upon seeing his friends become parents into a sweeping fable about a single mother tasked with bringing up a pair of half-human, half-wolf kids.

Get in touch with Ghibliotheque at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter:

@ghibliotheque

@MichaelJLeader – Michael

@jakehcunningham – Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

Produced by Michael Leader, Jake Cunningham, Harold McShiel and Steph Watts. Edited by James Payne. Music by Anthony Ing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this second episode of our Hosodathon miniseries, Michael, Jake and Steph team up to tackle Mamoru Hosoda's Summer Wars, an epic tale of an everyday, dysfunctional family banding together to face a world-threatening threat in a virtual world - bringing together two of the director's recurring themes: family dynamics and the impact that the internet has on our lives.

Get in touch with Ghibliotheque at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter:

@ghibliotheque

@MichaelJLeader – Michael

@jakehcunningham – Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

Produced by Michael Leader, Jake Cunningham, Harold McShiel and Steph Watts. Edited by James Payne. Music by Anthony Ing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael, Jake and Steph return with an all-new Ghibliotheque spin-off miniseries, leaping into the filmography of one of today's leading anime filmmakers, Mamoru Hosoda, whose latest film Belle is a hotly anticipated new release in early 2022.

We start our Hosodathon journey with 2006's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the fan-favourite anime gem that first introduced many viewers to Hosoda and his work. Coming off the back of years working on long-running anime series at Toei Animation, including Digimon and One Piece, as well as an ill-fated stint at Studio Ghibli as the initial director of Howl's Moving Castle (before Hayao Miyazaki came back out of retirement and took the reins), Mamoru Hosoda sets in motion much of his unique style and many of his recurring themes in this collision of slice-of-life high school comedy and high-concept sci-fi storytelling.

Get in touch with Ghibliotheque at [email protected]or follow us on Twitter:

@ghibliotheque

@MichaelJLeader – Michael

@jakehcunningham – Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

Produced by Michael Leader, Jake Cunningham, Harold McShiel and Steph Watts. Edited by James Payne. Music by Anthony Ing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the annual Ghibliotheque Christmas episode! At the virtual Christmas party, Michael, Jake, Steph and Harold look back at 2021, declare their favourite books, films, games and music of the year, read out some superb casting choices for a Ghibli Nativity play, and of course it wouldn't be a Ghibliotheque Christmas episode without Harold singing some Ghibli remixes of some festive favourites.

Follow Ghibliotheque on Twitter:

@ghibliotheque

@MichaelJLeader – Michael

@jakehcunningham – Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

And get in touch via email at [email protected]

Produced by Michael Leader, Jake Cunningham, Steph Watts & Harold McShiel.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since we're now on hiatus we thought we'd give a nod to a new podcast from some friends and colleagues of the pod, that also digs into the wonderful world of Anime! Anime To Z features comedian Bec Hill and rapper Che Lingo digging through the intricate worlds of some massive anime franchises, starting with the Evangelion rebuild film series.

Have a listen, and if you like it, please subscribe over here - https://podfollow.com/anime-to-z.

Get in touch with Ghibliotheque at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter at @ghibliotheque or Instagram at ghibliotheque.pod.

@MichaelJLeader - Michael

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

Produced by Michael Leader, Jake Cunningham, Harold McShiel and Steph Watts. Music by Anthony Ing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.