Wolf Children
Dir: Mamoru Hosoda
2012
****
While I enjoyed Mamoru Hosoda's 2006 film 'The Girl Who Leaped Through Time', I did have issues with the certain aspects of the story. He didn't write that film but he did write Wolf Children and it's safe to say he's as good a writer as he is an animator. I don't want to compare this work to that of Studio Ghibli's too much but I would say that this seems to be very much an adult version of their style. The animation is stunning and the balance of cuteness and brutality is superb and not often found in film, at least not to this high quality. I'm love/hate when it comes to most Manga and Anime, the themes often aimed at a younger more miserable audience (moody teenagers) but Wolf Children is definitely in the 'Love' category.