In late summer of 2010 the anime and film community lost one of its brightest stars with the passing of Satoshi Kon. With Miyazaki getting up there in age there was now a clamor to see who would take on the mantle that Kon had left behind with his passing. It didn’t take long for many fans of anime to finally look at Mamori Hosoda as the heir apparent. While Hosoda’s body of work as a feature-length animation film director hasn’t been as extensive as Kon’s or Miyazaki’s what he has done has garnered a near universal acclaim for their excellent storytelling, fully-conceived characters and lush, humanistic animation style.

In 2009’s most people were finally made aware of Hosoda’s skill as a director with the worldwide success of Summer Wars and this success made people look forward to what his next film would be. It took three years, but in 2012 Hosoda and anime fans were finally given his next film with the animated film Wolf Children Ame and Yuki (Ōkami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki). It would be a departure from the scifi themes which has been Hosoda’s go to themes for his first two films.

Wolf Children explores the themes of the unconventional family unit of a single mother of two children born of her love and relationship with an Okami (a sort of spirit-animal who can turn from human to wolf). It’s these two young children, Ame and Yuki (who have inherited their father’s gift for turning into wolves themselves), who become the focus of the film. The two children must navigate their childhood and teenage years knowing that they’re different from the rest of the kids in school and both must make the life-altering decisions to follow their own paths whether it be as a human or as a wolf.

To say that the film skews more towards the naturalistic and humanistic themes of the Hayao Miyazaki films would be an understatement. Hosoda doesn’t steal from the master, but instead takes what made the Miyazaki films such timeless and global classics to spin his own tale on the role of a mother’s love for her children even after suffering through a terrible loss and right up to the exploration of nature. So much of the wonder in this film comes from the two children exploring the wild nature around them. It’s a joy to see and at times will even bring tears to some.

It’s no wonder that Hosoda has become the latest name to be seen as Miyazaki’s next heir apparent. While it’s unfair to put so much on Hosoda to accomplish he seems to be more than willing to take on the task and have done so with surprising success.

Wolf Children Ame and Yuki might be a slight departure from Hosoda’s two previous works, but it just goes to show that he’s a director who is willing to branch out thematically and stylistically. This latest film might not be on the same level as his two previous, but it’s definitely one that should help build his reputation as one of the best director’s in the anime and film community.