Summer Wars

Hmmmm... I think I'll start off by saying that I don't watch anime movies often, previously at all. I just can't keep my interest with them, then I get distracted and wind up doing something else. After the several recommendations I got for this movie, I decided to rent it from the library and watch it. I knew I was going to lose interest in it, and... well, I was wrong. I watched Summer Wars all the way through, and I loved it. It's starts out by showing us the virtual world of OZ. The world of OZ looked adorable to me, with the designs and avatars. It was cute. The more I watch, I'm shocked because I find out EVERYTHING is ran by OZ. Everything. Then, after showing us OZ, it shows us the avatars of Kenji Koiso and Sakuma, who are apparently 'part time code-monkeys' (said by Sakuma) that run maintenance checks on OZ. Suddenly, Natsuki comes into the picture, offering a part-time job to either one. Let's start with the story portion of the review now. Honestly, I loved the storyline. With the story, it basically likes to lead you to believe that something big is going to happen, then suddenly, it's like it says, "No, we're going in this direction now." It was surprising, and that's a good thing! I don't want to be able to predict what's about to happen, because then you know what happens before you watch it! That's boring. The surprises I got in the story left me very happy. Art next. The art style is not my favorite, but I do like it. It's not very detailed, but it's very... hmmm... clean. It's simple, yes, but it's still good. Plus, it was colorful. Colorful is good. What got me was the animation. I LOVED the animation. I've seen a lot of anime's where the character's movements seemed stiff. With Summer Wars, the characters movement weren't stiff. The movement was... I can't really describe it, but it was so good for me. Sound now. I honestly don't have a lot to say on sound, because I don't really focus on it. I just have one thing that bugs me. There's a scene where someone brings in squid, and everytime he lifts a lid of a cooler to reveal the squid, this shiny-like-oh-here's-something-cool noise goes off at the same time he's speaking. I didn't like that. Characters next. The characters were amazing. I loved that the main villain wasn't really a person. Plus, and may be wrong, but was there an antihero I spotted in there? I could be wrong at that. Anyways, the characters had unique personalities and quirks and looks... in other words, they are all not the same. What's also great is that the characters do develop some in some way. Enjoyment. I loved it. The movie kept my interest the entire time. With the fantastic animation, characters, and storyline, no wonder I did. I wish I still had the movie from the library so I could watch it again. It's that good. Definitely worth watching.

It was a fan-freaking-tastic movie with fantastic plot twists. What a great story! You will be amazed by it every time. The things that attracted me were the art and the voice actors as well as story but okay, at first I thought it's a slice-of-life, just an ordinary crush or love during summer but boy, was I wrong. It's completely different - full of action, family drama, and awesome cool characters and a guy who was just in the middle of it and became the center of attention in a wrong way and after an epic battle against all odds, he learns to never give up no matter what and becomes an apple of everyone's eyes. It's a wonderful story that lifts your spirits up and it's so great because of its realism. It's not fantasy - this story could actually happen to anyone at any time. It's happening in our real world. I love stories like that. Easy to understand, but very authentic, original, and not boring. I'm in love with this movie. One of the top ten movies, a masterpiece you definitely must watch. Go watch it now. I'm definitely watching it again...

After watching this anime movie at 3:40 a.m., I absolutely had to blog about my experience watching it. This movie had me on edge the entire way. Starting from a simple laid-back family household to a world crisis, this movie explores both romance and action in, what I considered to be, flawless execution. The comedy and the action scenes really blend in well with the pinch of drama. Although I did find it kinda funny how the big fight came down to some gambling, the movie never wavered in holding my attention. Each part, from the lax family dinner, the world gone mad, the childhood love, the fate of the world on their shoulders, never failed to add more and more to the whole look and feel of the movie; all crafting a beautifully produced storyline and movie. If you’re ever setting around bored with nothing to do, I highly suggest looking into this movie. Being 2 hours long, prepare yourself for no distractions otherwise you just might lose track of some of the punchlines. Recommended for all. Overall rating 10/10.

This is the first review I have ever written for an anime, but it comes without saying this anime movie was one of my favorites. As for all the anime movies I have seen there haven't been that many, I usually stick to Miyazaki movies but I was quite surprised with Summer Wars, it gave a great story and awesome animation. The animation was on a whole different level, I loved it, it was new and a work of art. I watched this movie with my family and it was a great hit, we definitely did not fall asleep like other movies that aren't animated. The characters were great, but kind of stereotypical, but nothing against that. The main family was splendid, they had every different kind of character. To all that want to watch this movie, I recommend it, it brought out the best of an anime movie without making it the stereotypical boring story, if your looking for a movie to watch on a saturday night and you have nothing else to watch, definitely watch this one. I loved this one for the animation, the story and how not boring it was! :3 All in all it was a splendid watch.

Having grown up watching Evangelion, there is a sense of nostalgia when seeing the style of art. The storyline is very fresh as well with great overall bits and pieces ranging from a comedy to a drama to a love story. Prior to this, I had seen Mamoru Hosoda's others works like "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" as well as his version of the One Piece movie "Baron Omatsuri" which I believe is the best One Piece movie to date. Hosoda truly knows how to draw on the viewers emotions as well as providing just enough character development. But enough about the overall, lets start with the animation. Again, the nostalgia is very strong, but Summer Wars outdid itself. Normally you would see a poster or a picture of the manga/anime/movie and think the actual art isn't done as well. Like the animation styles of the two previous Hosoda films I mentioned, the art does well in both action as well as dramatic scenes. The coloring perfect as well, giving warm tones when needed as well as not blending the backgrounds, but actually drawing them into view as to give more of a country scene to go with the theme. The story does draw on a few different plots, but does it in a way that is very fresh. Themes like "A.I. running amok" and "earth-object collision" as well as "family tradition/honor" as used but refreshed. From beginning to end, the story was very captivating and didn't necessarily lead me to believe something was GOING TO or SUPPOSED TO happen, but rather just HAPPENED and worked perfectly. The music seemed to go with the art and story so well that I can't think of anything that really bothered me. The computer parts had quirky music and the dramatic scenes had "dramatic" tones. Not really much to say but it did help set the tones as it is supposed to. Overall, I am very happy this movie came out as well as Hosoda doing his job in making another stellar display of his work. Hopefully we will see another masterpiece roll around the corner. Recommendation: A+

Summer Wars - A film with a very unique and touching story to tell, and unfortunately a whole lot of missed potential. It falls flat in a lot of areas and there is no mistaking that, but I'd say with what remains; it's still worth your time. Summer Wars is first and foremost about family, and the strength that comes with a prideful and close family. It is very much a love-letter to traditional family values and the strength of having pride in your own. The Jinnouchi family is without a doubt the best part of this movie. The family dynamics and the relationships within are incredibly realistic and even more-so relatable. You follow Kenji, who, like you; is an outsider looking-in on this close family in their get-together, and also like him; you start to fall in love with them all as you learn more and more about many of the characters in the family and their backgrounds. Watching this it filled me with nostalgia of my own family get-togethers and my family is neither Japanese, or this huge. I'd imagine it manages to do this with most viewers, just because of how beautiful the portrayal is and how the beauty of pride in a/your family is a relatable feeling to all, no matter your country. Well that, and all the very relatable family figures... In this family you've got the strong, very-respected and traditional head of the family: Sakae, mom, and grandma of many; the not-so-respected family-outcast who isn't so close: Wabisuke; the impressionable, angsty teenage girl of the family: Natsuki; the introverted and nerdy teenager: Kazuma; and all the many different aunts and uncles from different backgrounds and walks of life, with their many mischievous little children and few grown-up, aspiring children. All in all, there is four generations of this family that is shown; and the way the show portrays the many dynamics that would come with that is near-perfect, and it all goes a long way in making the film feel very grounded--despite it's absurd, and often unbelievable story--and enjoyable despite it's many shortcomings. The film is about how the pride and love within this huge family brings all these very different people together under one roof and with one goal; to tackle an otherwise very huge, important and seemingly unsolvable problem. So with this interesting premise, message and lovely portrayal-- where does it go wrong? Well, to put it candidly: this film fails mostly in it's execution of story. Summer Wars wants to have this grounded and relatable portrayal of family; but it also wants a very wacky (and seemingly ill-devised...) story/plot to accompany it, and it ends up at times feeling like two different films that were badly meshed together. The villain of the story, "Love Machine"; while clearly not the main or secondary focus of the film--is weak as a character and as a result, feels very nonthreatening (which he very much is not supposed to be). He has, that I can remember, no actual lines of dialogue. In the film he is simply meant to represent the damages that disconnect in a family can bring and how pride can be a double-edged sword. And this is not a subtle representation either--the villain feels like a walking, 1-dimensional symbol. NOT like an actual character. And this ends up hurting both the enjoyment you'll get from the film and your interest in the story. Next, there's the love interest Natsuki... This character isn't much better than the antagonist of the film. The film wants to make you feel for her at a certain sad point, and root for the protagonist, Kenji, in his interest for her; but the character is never really fleshed out much, nor made that like-able. The film starts out with her lying/using Kenji in a rather selfish and thoughtless manner, and then never really gives her a moment to shine or be made redeemable afterwards, so you never really "root" for her or for Kenji's success at winning her love--which makes that whole part of the story also rather pointless and unenjoyable. Now with these two rather subpar characters out of the way, there is also the case of the writing in this film. It feels very inconsistent. Often you'll find yourself having to refrain from questioning many parts of the story involving OZ and Love Machine, because not too much of what happens with them makes a whole lot of sense. Yeah, you could argue that they didn't go for realism to begin with, but I can't help but feel they wanted to leave a message in here about technology and how the world is depending on it more and more and the strain that could put on traditional family values-- but such a message fails when so much of what happens in the story feels absolutely unbelievable and appears completely illogical to begin with. And with such a realistic and endearing portrayal of family, such an absurd and unrealistic plot just ends up feeling out of place. I feel like they could have still gone for absurd, but at least tried to make the plot relatively airtight in it's execution, NOT leaving the viewer to constantly wonder just how certain events happened the way they did or why certain characters would do what they did. As the viewer you're thrown between realistic and believable to unrealistic and unbelievable way, way too much; and not in a well-structured way. With my biggest love and three biggest gripes of this film out of the way, what else is there? Well in-terms of praising it, I'd say on the whole; the film is still somewhat competently made. The art is simple, but still very colourful, beautiful and nice to look at, and the animation feels very fluid. The soundtrack for this film is rarely anything but fitting; to the abstract and sweet background tunes while you watch the family's slice-of-life moments, to the tense and dramatic action-songs. The voice actors also all do great jobs (especially that of Sakae and Wabisuke!) and are definitely responsible for much of the "life" of the family. Overall I'd say this film is good. It's not bad, but it's not great either; and after finishing it I couldn't help but feel like it really could have been something truly special. ...Would I call this film disappointing? Maybe. But not from my expectations going-in, but from the initial setup and end-payoff. It takes you on a seemingly very promising ride that ends up going a bit too far downhill, and never really recovers.

This is a children's movie, plain and simple. Not a family movie as advertised. What's the difference? Children's media is made to get kids to sit down and shut up, family media is made with the intention to have multiple age groups interested. Overall 5/10 - Enjoyment 6/10: Let me put this one first and say I understand its a kid's film, made for kids, and I can't judge it by the same merits as a show aimed at my age group. As I watched the movie I tried to keep this in mind, but even 10 year old me would be bored. It was a bland film with some good but overall didn't really work. Had their focus been more on Oz, it would probably rank much higher. Story 3/10: Its way worse than the synopsis had led me to believe. Coming from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo), I expected much better from Mamoru Hosoda. Instead I got something with a few interesting ideas but overall a very basic plot. The main problem with this movie is that it promises too much. The opening 20 minutes or so look very interesting but its not long before you realize you have to trudge on through the rest. Character 3/10: There were SO MANY! How can I say I like the characters when all but three are up for two seconds? I suppose I can talk about the main characters, though, sort of. We have male lead 002, female lead/love interest 497, and skilled quiet fighter 033. Art and Sound 7/10: I really don't have much to say about these. They got the job done, and the art/animation had a few nice touches. However, if you don't like product placement, run. Oz itself is very bright and colorful, rendered in CGI but somewhat stylized to fit in with the 2D animation.

Summer Wars is a movie filled with personality, beautiful art, and great music. The whole movie is a wild ride exploring many different themes and emotions with a rather satisfying ending. The best aspect has to be the uniqueness and diversity of Natuski's extended family. There are cute children, adolescent gamers, a baseball star.... and they pretty much have a family in every type of job. With all these connections this family is able to overcome seemingly impossible tasks. As a a result it was very entertaining to watch. But even though the large family was bursting with personality, there was a lack of development in our main characters. Kenji is an extremely talented math wiz single handedly cracking the code of OZ in one night. But thats pretty much all he had to offer for the first half of the movie. It isn't until the last 10 minutes that kenji began to shine. As a main character, Kenji should have accomplished and developed much more in the amount of screen time he was given. Natsuki is a cute girl who asks tricks Kenji into acting her fiance while she visited her hometown. You would think there is more to it than that but thats about it... I really wanted to like Natsuki as a character but all she really did was use Kenji to fulfill a promise she made her grandmother. Its a bit disappointing that their relationship doesn't really develop into something more interesting. Instead, she's much more in love with her uncle so theres even less reason for Kenji to be there with her family. Overall, Summer Wars is still a great film that is fun watch, just don't approach it with super high expectations or you might get disappointed in the development of the main characters.

A big and united family can overcome any hardships, or can they? Story: 8/10 The very well paced movie starts off showing us what is "Oz" and how much the world is connected to it. Not a very creative beggining, but it's understadable. After the explanation, the actual story begins; Kenji goes with Natsuki to her family house for work. When he gets there he discovers what exactly is the work, that is, to pretend to be Natsuki's boyfriend until the end of their trip. If you want to know the rest just read the synopsis >.> From that point the story develops the characters ties and sets the plot (for many: the boring part). With that done the drama is created and they have a reason to do what they do (no spoiler :P) After the whole dramatic part, we are faced with thrilling action. The whole family unites to save the world from chaos! Pretty cliché huh? But it's still very captivating and well done. In short, to create the whole drama the plot develops slowly, but makes it worth it at the end. Art: 8/10 High amount of details in facial expressions. Exceptional work done with "Oz". Top notch animation. Loses points in the actual model for the characters. Characters: 9/10 As I mentioned before, the movie is very well paced, so the introductions to the characters (explaning what they are capable of) and character developmenting (personality creation) are smoothly done. You might get attached to some characters and be disgusted with others, and that only shows how remarkably well created they are. Ejoyment: 8/10 The start and the whole "save the world" part aren't all that new, but are still quite enjoyable, to shake off that cliché they touch a rather controversial subject: the social network. And they do well with that. Also, the big, happy and united family and the problems they face is something touching to be seen. A truly fun, sad, tense and happy anime for the whole family. Rather short review because I tried to not spoil anything.

If One Piece has nakama; Summer Wars has family….and math. It was an incredible experience watching this movie. This movie gave me a roller coaster ride from start to finish because I didn't know what to expect. It started from just a voluntary part time job because of a crush to meeting a random family you never knew to causing the world into chaos and to saving the world. I never knew such elements will blend well together and generate an excellent movie. The goods - Excellent pacing - Family themed story done well - Great animation - Great soundtrack - Execution of comedy and drama done right - Creative using the digital world as a setting - No dull moment - High replay value The flaws - Some scenes are kind of cheesy - Computer jargon's will confuse you - Minor characters may annoy you But enough of that whatever the flaws this movie has other from what I have mentioned are overshadowed by how great this movie is. If you have two hours of your time then please watch this movie, every second of your life is worth it. Now as an IT student as myself I need to work on my math, I might save the world one day.

As of writing this, Mamoru Hosoda has become incredibly well known amongst the anime community. His films The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and especially Wolf Children have regularly been talked up as the best anime films of the past decade. Summer Wars, however, usually does not make the cut; instead it is more often compared to the Digimon Adventure Movie directed by Hosoda in 1999. So what makes Summer Wars different? To put it simply, Summer Wars lacks focus. The films begins with a description of Oz; an online system that seems to control everything that involves computing - from infrastructure to banking to gaming. This makes it seem like the film will be about how such a ridiculous system would change lives. However it cuts to the protagonist, Kenji, as he gets to go on a trip with Natsuki who he is clearly infatuated with. But, before this relationship can develop, Natsuki's huge family is introduced. Here is where the film loses focus. With so many characters, not much time is spent developing the important characters or exploring themes in the plot. The film continues to introduce new ideas to its own detriment. There's romance, but it never develops and feels forced. There's plenty of family drama, but none of the problems are fleshed out. There's also the issue of Oz, seeming very unrealistic and gimmicky. The lack of direction in the film harms the opportunities it has to make an impact on the viewer. However, Summer Wars does have some positive aspects. The interactions between the characters are enjoyable to watch and thereare plenty of comedic moments. Everything feels silly and extraordinary. The family actually feels like a giant family and the house is as chaotic as you'd expect a huge family reunion to be. The scenes in Oz are great to watch for the visual style, however the action scenes in Oz lack intensity due to how outlandish the plot can be. The soundtrack is satisfactory, while the voice acting is impressive for the variety of characters. Summer Wars is a fairly enjoyable film overall, but there are flaws in its execution that make it a film that can only really be recommended to younger people (ages ~8-12). Hosoda has two films that are better for depicting romance and family; the aforementioned Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Wolf Children. So if you haven't seen those, definitely watch those before watching Summer Wars.

Summer Wars as an amine movie is great, but not only is it a great anime movie it is just a great movie in general. The story is interesting and grabs the viewers attention with its plot and conflict. I really like this world that everything was all depended on one computer system that runs the whole worlds governments called OZ. The animation in this movie is great, but sometimes the animation is outstanding especially when the action is taking place in OZ. This is a movie that people could watch with their friends who aren't into anime and just have a blast watching.

Not a perfect movie, but it doesnt give me the option to rate partial numbers. If I could, Id give it a 94/100. It has a nice story that ties two very distinct worlds, cultures, and priorities, together. The cover features Natsuki, but there are really three or four main characters that share the focus at different times. The mood is whimsical at times but draws you deeply into the fast paced adventure when it needs to. If you liked The girl who leapt through time (this is the same director, Mamoru Hosoda), then you will almost certainly enjoy this movie as well. If he can keep creating great movies like this, I think Mamoru Hosoda might be the next Miyazaki. Seamlessly weaving together child-like fancy with adult themes and concerns.

SUMMER WARS: Welcome to the virtual world of Oz, if it’s for sale, you’ll find it here! What first captured my attention is the adorable art style of the virtual world Oz, which I immediately see in the first sequence of the show. The vibrant colours, contradicted by a plain white background, give off a cute impression. Mamoru Hosoda has a very distinctive art design. His characters are not very detailed, juxtaposed with the dynamic backgrounds and environmental objects. I’ve seen this style in his other major works, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Wolf Children Ame and Yuki, but I think Summer Wars easily takes the cake in direction. There are two interweaving stories in Summer Wars that the audience will subscribe to -- the story of Natsuki’s family and the story of Kenji and his attempts to conquer the Love Machine. How the stories are interwoven is not that smooth however. The show has the tendency to dwell too much on the other. But in the long run, this is actually not a problem. They blend well soon enough. But these stories have flaws of their own. The story of Natsuki’s family has some convenient coincidences, and the story of Kenji really requires suspension of disbelief before you could enjoy it fully. Other than these minor setbacks, the stories are good. The story of Natsuki’s family is very emotional and successfully portrays familial love. The story of Kenji triggers adrenaline rush with its thrilling battles and concepts of unity and such. Speaking of the thrilling battles, I must admit that its utilization of a cute art style has been effective. It gives a sweet atmosphere, and it is quite contradicting to the intensity of the fights. These battles are animated really smoothly, and in their background is also a musical soundtrack that is worth noting. The music is not groundbreaking, but I consider it as something of high quality. It successfully triggers the emotion the show wants to portray. It also gives off a cutesy impression when it needs to. As for the characters, they are nothing complex. Kenji is your usual timid guy. There couldn’t be any plainer girl than Natsuki. The other prominent characters, Sakae and Wabisuke, are actually more interesting than them -- as a personal opinion. But this weak characterization is actually understandable. Summer Wars is not a story that requires deep characters. The characters herein are enough to deliver what the story needs to deliver. Overall, Summer Wars is an anime worth checking out. The art is superb. This is Mamoru Hosoda and Madhouse at the top of their game. This is supported by a story that is both thrilling and touching, a musical score that delivers unusually well, and a characterization that is good enough to convey the messages of the show.

Well - here's the deal - I just finished watching this movie five minutes ago and felt that I should write this review while I was still under it's impression. The premise of the movie is similar to the movie WarGames(1983) but the focus of the story and the execution vary greatly. As many have mentioned before, the main focus of the movie is FAMILY, and honestly speaking - I would be fine watching this movie even if there was no OZ or the kinda weak MC.... My two favorite characters in this movie are the Grandmother and the Sailor/Fisherman son that tells historic tales of their ancesstors great endeavours. Strictly speaking, the story isn't really new or refreshing but the POV is. Art is so-so, kinda bland characters for a movie and the backgrounds aren't drawn that well, but it's not so bad that it distracts from the rest of the movie. Sound - well the music fits in well throughout the movie and never did I find myself thinking something unrelated to the movie and the plot - meaning it fits well. :) Characters - here's where this puppy shines - IMHO the Grandmother is really the grandest character here and the most developed one. The other ones aren't onedimensional, don't get me wrong - they are all well developed it's just that GM is the cherry on the top.:) Enjoyment - Well, it's a fine movie and you probably won't even notice that it's been two hours, there are just a few places where you might think "Why the f*** is this happening like this/at all" but it's a great experience overall. PS - I must have misread the summary because I was expecting something completely different when I started watching it, but I still greatly enjoyed it and can warmly reccomend it to anyone looking for a hearthwarming movie with a hint of comedy and drama.

Let's jump right into this shall we? Story: 8 It's a pretty original concept.... never mind it's the exact same plot as Digimon 2000 The Movie. Besides that fact it has a very enjoyable simple plot where a boy who is very gifted at doing math goes on a trip with his school crush to see her family across the country. Oh I missed something important, the whole world now relies on some computer program that literally has everything you need in life, so tons of porn. Sometimes while watching the movie you might question well how does training martial arts in real life help you with martial arts in a video game, and this is what I said "oh this must be science". Then a computer virus takes over and everything goes to hell, that's all I'm going to say because anything more would be a spoiler. Art: 10 If you think Attack On Titan or Sword Art Online have good animation then you're going to fucking love this shit. The fight scenes flow extremely well and look so fucking amazing, everything looks fucking amazing. Sound: 9 Now I'm not usually a fan of dubbed, but it was 10/10 perfect in this movie, loved it. Also the soundtrack was pretty, good but I hardly paid attention to it. Character: 7 Well you don't learn much about the characters because they introduce only about 20,000 in the first 20 minutes, seriously way too many characters for one movie. Also it's a movie there isn't a great amount of development other than for the main character and the female lead. Enjoyment: 10 It's really a simple movie, it doesn't make you think very much at all and you're just going to have a good time watching it. I'll even admit that I liked it more than Digimon 2000 The Movie. Overall: 9 Just watch it alright?

I Simply watching this after watched Toki Wo Kakeru Shoujo, i have Big interest in Original Anime Movies like this, but it's so damn hard finding those movies. The Story has a perfect concept, it's just like Digimon, but more virtually and realistic, the Story brings enjoyment, fun, laugh and tears (Manly tears were shed when i watched this) The movie itself brings enjoyment to all kind of audiences, i guarantee every people who watched it will like it, From Children to adults, even the people that's not familiar with animated movies. The bigger plus of this Movie is the Soundtrack, the Opening Music, The insert music and the Ending Song, it brings emotional feeling, even make me cried... Well, this anime is very recommended for Family entertainment. FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!

I found this anime to start out a little slow, but it picked up fast. This anime turned out to be one of the best I've seen in a long while. The constant changes in events kept me on edge and controlled my emotions at every moment. This anime has such an impact if you're willing to watch then I promise you won't regret it.

I own this - I have heared the good reviews and upon picking up the DVD, the flattery continues; this is said to rival the works of Studio Ghibli (which I love) - my point being that I when into this wanting to enjoy it... What a dissapointment. :( Story... A teen boy ends up getting roped into multipul conflicts that pretty much blow up at the same time upon accompanying a teen girl to her grandmothers countryside home; he must then work along side her family in order to save the world in a race against the clock. This gives off the illusion of character progression, when the whole thing seemed rushed and convenient, though there is grounds for a decent discussion on the importance of technology in everyday life, so that boosts the story up to a 7/10. Art... Lovely, 10/10. Sound... The vioces are fine, the music threwout fits, no problems, 10/10 Characters... The element that drags the entire movie down! We have a set-up many of us have seen; nerdy, quiet, nice guy with no backbone putting himself out for the; pretty, popular, bossy girl 'many guys would dream of dating'. He ends up amungst her family forced to go along with her lie. The characters we get to know are her family; a tough self righteous gran, a stroppy young teen recluse cousin, an outcast, cool uncle and a range of mouthy individuals who aren't short of something to say. There is an attempt to add some depth to the characters by giving the significant ones an interest, however, all interests are simply convenient for the plot inwhich said characters really don't need to be in the same place at the same time, but thankfully are. Enjoyment... Not too much really? The plot is fine; it's actually quite clever and there where some pretty well though out moments in this story that proved a touching- the odd few scenes were enjoyable. Overall... This will be on my shelf for years - taking up space. It's a shame the story is executed fairly well, but the really is evidence that characters make a movie, and within Summer Wars, they really aren't worth it. I'll add that I'm an individual who has watched a lot of anime and find it easy to spot when many corners have been cut - this is a prime example - very lazy. My pre-teen sister however loves this movie.

Introduction: What do I watch Anime for? Is it for fact and realism? No! The reason I watch Anime is purely for enjoyment and did I enjoy this Anime? Yes!!! Do I recommend it? Yes! Let me tell you why I enjoyed this Anime so much. Positives: The Art is everything we have come to expect from studio Madhouse and the sound accompanies the visuals perfectly. It is stunning to look at without being to overwhelming or detracting from the main plot. This brings me to my next point. The story was completely inspired and interesting. The Anime new when to throw in a twist and how long to hold suspense without making the viewer lose interest. The side story's were also very well done without clashing with the main story. Combined with Romantic element expertly executed throughout, it become a guessing game to will they or wont they. Negatives: With everything Loved about this Anime there was one problem that stood out the most out of everything. The problem was that things were to convenient for the characters. If they needed something then there was always someone around them who could get it. But the convenient thing that stood out the most was definitely the fact that the champion online fighter "King Kazma" just so happens to be the female leads cousin and he just so happens to have an important roll latter on. (This is not a spoiler in case you were wondering) Concluding statement: Most people would think that having everything handed to you would make the Anime boring but this is completely opposite from the truth. By having the non important plot points easily resolved it left more time for the main plot to be fleshed out and fine tuned. What people need to understand is that this is only a 2 hour move and not a 10+ episode Anime series and considering what was produced I couldn't be happier. Final word: I highly recommend watching this Anime as it leaves the viewer with a feeling of satisfaction and happiness. (I couldn't have asked for more)