The thing about watching Mamoru Hosoda's tv episode directing work in contrast to his more recent film work is you can see how much he really excelled in minalism. Ojamajo Doremi Dokkan episode 40 is like 60% Doremi just walking around the city with these lovingly rendered backgrounds, and its one of the most beautiful and emotionally resonant things he's ever directed imo. He knows how to make the most out of a little.
Compare that to his more recent work and you can see that as time has gone on his style has become more and more maximalist. It was cool the first time he did it in Summer Wars, but he just keeps doing it, and the spectacle has lost all meaning.
In Belle he does the same, maximalist representation of the internet he did in Summer Wars again, and it does nothing for me. There's only one scene in that movie I actually like. A long flat wide shot where a girl stands completely still, head in hands in embarassment after the guy she likes found out she has a crush on him, and he comically keeps running out of frame before coming back in awkwardly trying to connect with her, and the camera doesn't cut to a closer shot until they find something they can talk with and bond over.
It's funny, it's simple, and it's a thousand times more effective than any complex scene of Belle singing with cgi everywhere and the whole world adoring her through comment bubbles all over the screen.
Please Hosoda, embrace your roots again! Make something simple again! No more needless over the top spectacle, please!
