Acclaimed animation director Mamoru Hosoda's latest film, "Scarlet and the Endless Journey," which he both directed and wrote, didn't exactly wow audiences at its Venice Film Festival premiere in September. After hitting Japanese cinemas on November 21, social media was flooded with overwhelmingly negative reviews. While taste is subjective, the word-of-mouth has definitely put a damper on its box office prospects.
The film's official account recently dropped an update, gleefully announcing it's a "smash hit currently playing in theaters" and even uploaded an interview with director Mamoru Hosoda, sparking another round of online chatter.
In the video, Director Hosoda was asked, "What do you value most when creating?" He chuckled, "Directing isn't really a one-person job to begin with. With AI on the rise, some people might actually be able to finish a project all by themselves... but honestly, doing it alone isn't all that fun."
He added, "The fun part is doing it with everyone, bringing together people with diverse talents to create something special. I think a director's job is to gather talented individuals from different fields and help each person's abilities shine."
But for netizens, with such abysmal word-of-mouth, promoting it as a "smash hit" is just plain confusing. Surely the official team knows how badly the online buzz has crashed; this kind of promotion feels like it's from a completely different universe.
Many also questioned the idea that "a director's job is to help each person's abilities shine," because right now, it doesn't seem to be the case...
Some netizens even reported going to an IMAX screening and finding themselves the only person in a 400-seat theater – a truly unprecedented experience.
Of course, film taste is subjective, and personal preferences vary, but the buzz for Mamoru Hosoda's "Scarlet and the Endless Journey" is undeniably terrible this time around. Its reported first four days in theaters only pulled in 270 million JPY, which might be okay for a regular film, but for a Mamoru Hosoda work, it's a truly dismal opening. As for what it's *really* like, you'll just have to hit the cinema and see for yourself...