The Man Who Leapt Through Film, an illustrated look at Mamoru Hosoda and his films.

You don’t need to enjoy anime to appreciate its art or entertainment value. For example, I’ve only seen a dozen or so anime films, but have enjoyed each one of them for different reasons. Those film fans who don’t know anime at all still enjoy the work of Mamoru Hosoda. The Man Who Leapt Through Film is a coffee table-style book for movie fans, anime people, Japanohpiles, as well as animation fans who are curious about the creative process. It’s also a clever head nod to one of Hosoda’s most popular films, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

The first thing that any reader will recognize when they pick up The Man Who Leapt Through Film is the size and scope of the book. It’s encyclopedic in nature, but instead of being the tepid learning vessel you might be expecting, it’s loaded with photographs and animated panels showing how various shots were devised. Sure, it’s still educational, but it’s Nat Geo Kids, when you might be expecting an old-school Encyclopedia Britannica.  

There are rough sketches, finished frames of animation, marketing materials, photographs from scouting locations, maps of set locations and so much more. Are you the kind of movie fan who has ever watched a director’s or star’s audio commentary whilst the original movie is playing? That way you’re seeing the movie, but hearing what the creators were thinking during its creation or stories that happened during production. You’re a fan of the film, you’ve seen it before and what is of interest to you are those stories behind the story. 

What’s unique and surprising about The Man Who Leapt Through Film is that instead of already being a fan of his work, the book will make you a fan. The possible caveat to this is that you really need to appreciate or like anime or well-produced films. If you don’t like either of those then it’s a wonder why you’re still reading this review. I may just write popcorn a thousand times, just to see if that’s the case.

The book starts out by exploring Hosoda’s early years and how he’d always been a fan of making animation that meant something. He wasn’t out to craft feel-good bits that made his classmates applaud; rather, he wanted to do something different. That feeling is one that resonated through several of his more recent films that have ebbed and flowed with his personal life, as well as, the responses to prior releases.

The next six chapters look at the Hosoda’s feature films that he’s directed since 2006 including, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Wolf Children, The Boy and the Beast, Mirai and Belle. If you’ve seen one of them you’ll be hooked. If you haven’t seen any of them then you’ll be curious about seeing at least of them and will quickly look up where you can stream it.

The animation stills in The Man Who Leapt Through Film are jaw-dropping in their beauty. Some of them occupy a small portion of the page, with background text around it, whereas some will spread their beauty over two pages, and every size combination in between. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading about each particular film. Hosoda had a purpose with each film that was profiled and whenever he tackled a project it was full on, with no doubts and he set out to make it the best that he could. You Japanophiles will appreciate the rural settings that are shown, as well as, the stories that set up each movie.

This is a cat video and potato chip book for sure. You’ll open it because you have a moment to relax and find yourself reading about some film that you haven’t seen yet, but will look to see where it’s streaming the moment that you’re free. The Man Who Leapt Through Film is also one of those books that makes a statement. It’ll be at home in your forever library as a means to look at reference material for those movies that you now watch. Initially, it might feel like a love letter to someone that you don’t know, but keep reading and you’ll quickly understand why anime is for everyone.  

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