# Hodaka Morishima Hodaka Morishima makes youth feel immediate rather than charming: watching him means sitting with the impatience, uncertainty, and conviction of someone who has not learned to make every feeling sound reasonable. Weathering With You gives that tension its center, and the film works best when his earnestness is allowed to be awkward. ## Fast Facts - **Japanese name:** 森嶋帆高 - **Age:** 16 - **Height:** about 170 cm - **Gender:** Male - **Occupation:** University student - **Japanese VA:** Kotarou Daigo - **English VA:** Brandon Engman ## Appearance Hodaka is presented as a young student, and that plain fact shapes the way his presence reads on screen. There is a particular friction in seeing someone still close to adolescence carry the focus of a feature film: every pause can seem too long, every certainty a little exposed. The performance does not need to make him seem older for the story to take him seriously. His youth is part of the texture, not a shorthand for innocence or a reason to dismiss what he feels. That makes his quieter moments worth watching closely. They leave space for the audience to decide whether his confidence feels reassuring, alarming, or simply familiar. ## Personality Hodaka's defining quality is how plainly he commits to what he feels. He does not come across as a carefully polished idea of a young lead, with every reaction arranged to make him easy to admire. His earnestness can be uncomfortable, and that discomfort is useful. A viewer may want him to pause, reconsider, or find a more composed way to express himself; the film lets that impulse sit beside the pull of his sincerity. I read him as someone whose feelings arrive before his explanations do. That can make him frustrating, but it also gives his presence a human scale. He is not compelling because every judgment is correct. He is compelling because watching him take his own convictions seriously makes the audience examine its own instinct to temper them. ## Hodaka Morishima's Story ### Spoiler-free introduction At the start, the safest way to understand Hodaka is as a young person whose feelings have real weight in the film. His student life gives the character a familiar point of contact, but the performance avoids making him feel like a lesson about growing up. Pay attention to the gaps between what he seems sure of and what he can explain. Those gaps create a gentle unease, and they are part of the pleasure of watching him: he feels close enough to recognize, yet not so neatly understandable that the audience can settle into judging him from a distance. The film asks you to stay with his perspective without promising that every impulse will be comfortable. That is a good starting expectation for his story. ### Spoilers beyond the opening setup As the film develops, Hodaka's sincerity becomes harder to treat as a simple virtue. The same directness that makes him easy to root for can place pressure on the viewer, because conviction has consequences even when it comes from a good place. I think the strongest way to watch him is to resist turning that tension into a verdict. The film is more affecting when his choices remain emotionally legible without being automatically approved. That distinction gives his later presence a sharper edge: affection for him and concern about him can coexist. There is no need to reduce the character to a tidy lesson about courage or responsibility. His story leaves room for the audience to feel the appeal of acting on a conviction and the cost of living with what that conviction asks of others. ## Watch Hodaka Morishima's Story Start with Weathering With You. Hodaka is the main character, so the film offers a sustained view of how his earnestness feels rather than a quick introduction designed to summarize him. Go in for the character as much as the atmosphere: he gives the movie an emotional center that can be sincere, prickly, and difficult to dismiss. The Japanese performance is by Kotarou Daigo, while Brandon Engman voices him in English. Either version suits a character whose appeal depends on sounding young without turning youth into a gimmick. The film is a good fit if you enjoy leads who make you think about the difference between understanding someone and agreeing with them. I would not sell Hodaka as effortlessly likable. His presence works because the viewer has room to feel warmth and impatience at once, and because the story trusts that mixture to hold attention. **Start here:** [Weathering With You](https://hozuna.com/anime/weathering-with-you) — Amazon Prime Video, Max, Netflix - [Weathering With You](https://hozuna.com/anime/weathering-with-you) (2019) — Amazon Prime Video, Max, Netflix ## Questions **Who is Hodaka Morishima?** Hodaka Morishima is the main character of Weathering With You and a university student. His earnestness gives the film a youthful perspective that can feel both appealing and uncomfortable. **How old is Hodaka Morishima?** Hodaka is 16. That youth is part of how his confidence and uncertainty read on screen, rather than a detail the film needs to explain away. **Who voices Hodaka Morishima in English?** Brandon Engman voices Hodaka in English. Kotarou Daigo provides the Japanese voice performance. **Where can I watch Hodaka Morishima?** Hodaka's story is in Weathering With You (2019), which is available on Amazon Prime Video, Max, and Netflix. It is a feature film centered on him. **Is Hodaka worth watching for?** Yes, if you enjoy a lead whose sincerity can be moving and exasperating in the same scene. Hodaka gives the film an emotional point of view that invites sympathy without requiring the viewer to approve of every impulse.