Summer Wars

With an abundance of films made by Studio Ghibli, Mamoru Hosoda really found something to call his own by stepping outside that famed studio and finding focus on a movie that plays on themes of cyber warfare and the value of family.

Kenji Koiso is an average high school student with a skill in mathematics and a job with OZ, an online virtual reality world where many users browse and socialize with each other. But when he's given a "job" by his crush Natsuki Jinnouchi to travel to the country with her during the summer, he gets himself in over his head when he's framed online by a rogue AI called Love Machine.

For an anime film, I found this to be enjoyable and cleverly crafted. The cyber realm setting does borrow off the elements (albeit even a similar scenario) of one segment from Digimon: The Movie, but Hosoda admitted that Digimon is a prototype to Summer Wars. Now Kenji clearly lacks social skills, but his extensive math knowledge is put to the test as he and the rest of the Jinnouchi clan come together to put an end to this AI. The characters feel relatable and the family values remind me so much of my own that it feels inviting and immersive just by getting to know several of Natsuki's extensive family members.

Although the movie may start off slow, there are some moments throughout its two-hour run time that give off an emotional sense when it comes to either angst amongst family or even the intense fight scenes in cyberspace. Hosoda's previous work The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was pretty impressive, so his follow-up Summer Wars is another hit. I also see parallels to the series Digimon (specifically, its segment Our War Game) in terms of story and concept since Hosoda coincidentally once contributed to that series years prior. Whether you're an avid anime fan or simply an average film-goer (and regardless of animation medium), its story is simple, yet complex in balancing the virtual world and reality. As for OZ itself, it's like a hybrid of Miyazaki's art style crossed with Nintendo's designs. Made me want to watch the movie again whenever I choose.

Summer Wars is another excellent movie from Madhouse and Mamoru Hosada, the director of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

Like TGWLTT, Summer Wars is a science fiction movie with heart. Instead of the humorous, poignant tone of the previous movie, Summer Wars focuses on family bonds and the inherent potential for mayhem that is an unavoidable part of our incredibly connected, increasingly virtual society. It's an easy to follow story that should have a lot of appeal for a broad audience.

The dubbing and animation are wonderful, and the fact that so much of the events play out in the virtual world provides a lot of opportunities for some eye-catching visuals. The music is fine, but not quite up to the fantastic score of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

I slightly prefer TGWLTT, but both movies are fully recommended and I've given them the same score. They're wonderful films, even in comparison to the amazing movies that have been coming out of Studio Ghibli for years. I can't wait to see what Hosada is working on next.

What is most striking about this movie is the detail that's been put into the animation.

Only the characters in this animation looks like animation. All the background detail looks so real. It's hard to believe that someone went to this length to put perfection on celluloid. Not only are the scenic details so perfect, the behavior of the Japanese family is also captured perfectly.

Kenji a math prodigy high school student who is working part time as a software maintenance crew for virtual reality computer network called Oz is invited to a family gathering by Natsuki at her home town of Ueda city in Nagano prefecture. Unbeknownst to him, he's been introduced to her family as her fiancé. The evening he arrives at Natsuki's family home, he receives a sequence of numbers in his phone's text message. Using his mathematical genius to work, he figures out what the code means, and sends it back to the sender. Next day, Oz network has been hacked in by a malicious computer virus that can learn and expend its control over the Oz community. Oz is connected to almost every public service, and the computer virus take control of the community. It's now up to Kenji and Natsuki's family to figure out how to beat the computer virus.

The movie is made for Japanese audience, and it's better if seen with the original Japanese dialog with subtitles. You will get better nuance about how family's interaction is occurring. It's even better if you can understand Japanese. The subtle nuance of character's emotion and intent will be missed otherwise. People who didn't like this movie invariably saw the English dubbed version which doesn't convey the true charm of this movie. Some movie just doesn't translate well when dubbed like "Back to the Future". If you've seen a dubbed version of Back to the Future in other languages, you'll see that all the humorous details didn't make it across the translation. This movie is one such movie.

One of the best anime movie to be ever created, Summer Wars is one movie that's worth watching. See the stunning details put into this incredible work of art.

I adore this movie. Something about its mad mix of colourful, vibrant portrayal of virtual world and down to earth family life in rural Japan really appeals to me. These two stories are so far away from one another, yet they manage to tell a coherent, heartwarming story about the bonds that define us and that allow us to function with one another. It's a simple story - though yes, as a scifi story it has some bizarre elements - but it's told well, with special attention paid to the quiet moments and the little gestures we make when in the company of someone else.

And I really liked the Jinnouchi Clan. I could easily place myself among these people and feel immediately at home. I know that one uncle, who's loud and boisterous and all about big, material things. I have one. I know that teenage emo cousin, who's made of awkward. I have one. I know that aunt, who's bossing people around with a verbal whip and shrill voice. I have one, unfortunately.

So yes, I love this movie, and definitely recommend it to each and every one out there. If there is something that I have to nitpick about, it's that the movie doesn't have that awe-inspiring quality. It's not going to be an instant classic that everyone will talk about in the coming years. It has all the right elements. Stunning visuals, great story, identifiable characters, good romance, nice music... Yet it lacks that special something, that final spark. Instead it's just a really nice film.

If you can imagine the easy going yet fascinating Hayao Miyazaki stories, with their kind heartedness and deep Japanese roots being mixed with Denou Coil, you will get Summer Wars. It has good animation, a really cute story and features a cyber battle between a Japanese family and a malicious A.I. inside something that can be seen as the future of Facebook.

What I found really nice in the film is that traditional family values are mixed with modern views of the world, a beautiful countryside scenery is mixed with the virtual cyber world of OZ. There are both moral values to be learned from the story as well as the excitement of a crisis and how giving your best can get one past it. I found brilliant the way the scenes of cyber battle were intertwined with scenes of Japanese baseball, birthday then dying rituals, the individual traits of all of the members of the family, all without losing anything, just adding more and more depth to each scene.

I highly recommend it for all anime fans and for people who might become so, after watching a masterpiece like Summer Wars.