Summer Wars

Really good movie with a really great feel a must watch! Open to read more! Loved this anime movie was so good had a awesome feel and one of the directors being one who is responsible for digimon it had a really pleasant digimon vibe to it. Brought back a lot of memories of digimon just because of the art work of the characters and such. This is a movie i would recommend to anime lovers and movie lovers it has such a good story really gripping and simple but great. Really did a great job on this movie so don't miss out!

Though its plot is unique, Summer Wars has a slightly unoriginal concept with the online world of Oz. Though, I do love that Oz looks completely different than the reality within the film (it's as if a toddler's imagination exploded). Around halfway through the movie, the storyline seemed to drag to the point where I often paused the movie to check on the time, hoping the film would be over soon. I also found the plot to be predictable. The characters were also somewhat predictable, but this fact is overshadowed by their lovable and realistic interactions with one another. They emphasize the importance of unity and family relationships, which I think viewers would enjoy.

Back in the year 2000, Mamoru Hosoda has directed a Digimon movie called "Our War Game", that by itself is a great movie but that is not for this review. In 2009, Mamoru Hosoda came back to the story of 'A virus has taken over the internet and some kids have to save it with their internet based powers' that he did so well in "Our War Game". But this time it's a little different. Mamoru Hosoda has taken that plot and amped it up to 11 in Summer Wars. While in "Our War Game", the characters had their development already in the original Digimon Adventure series, Summer Wars had character development to almost every character in it's short amount of time. As with all of his movies, Mamoru Hosoda has put a lot of effort to make this movie look beautiful, and he succeed in doing so. While the parts inside of OZ has some of the best action sequences i have seen, it also has a very unique art style, with weird character designs and red lines instead of the usual black lines. Overall, Summer Wars in an amazing piece of brilliance like any other movie by Mamoru Hosoda, and if you haven't already, you have to see it.

“Summer Wars” is a 2009 anime film directed by Mamoru Hosoda, the director of “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” and “Digimon: The Movie”. It tells the tale of a shy, nerdy college student named Kenji, who works part-time as a programmer for a virtual interactive type of web-land known as Oz. One day, the most popular girl in college, Natsuki, asks him to come with her to her family home out in the countryside for the holidays. Kenji accepts, but little did he know he was being set up for a fake marriage, and has to play along. However, one night, Kenji is sent a mysterious coded text message, which he breaks and unleashes a deadly computer virus known as “Love Machine” onto the world of Oz, causing havoc and potentially putting the entire world at serious risk. Now it’s up to him and his new batch of oddball family members to try and stop it. To explain why “Summer Wars” is one of my favorite anime films of all time, I may need to get a bit sentimental at points, so if you’re a sucker for a sob story, brace yourself. What ultimately works very well with this film is the fact that it adds a touch of ingenuity, even though you’ve pretty much already seen this plot in “Digimon: The Movie”. However, “Summer Wars” does it much, much better. Kenji is extremely relatable and likable as the goofball protagonist, and his interactions with Natsuki’s extremely large family is nothing short of a truly honest slice of life outcome. His chemistry with Natsuki is especially well executed, as they seemingly begin as pretend and slowly develop feelings for each other. Natsuki does a fine job too at being, well, invisible for most of the film until the very climax, but her presence really never obscures the highlighted characters. Apart from Kenji, another character that deserves an honorable mention is Natsuki’s grandmother, Sakae, who is a fine example of old people being utterly badass. She becomes the star of the movie a lot of times, and sets up some of the more emotional moments. Now as I said earlier, the reason “Summer Wars” resonates with me so much is for a pretty big sentimental reason: family. This film beautifully captures the feeling of belonging and homeliness as being in a family entails, and not to mention that the family in here might be stark raving lunatics, but that’s what makes them all the more likable. Each member comes with their own quirk and characteristic that fits into this oddball gang, and the family in itself becomes one character which you constantly root for, and honestly feel like you’re a part of the family too. It’s “Summer Wars”‘ trump card, and they make it work splendidly. In terms of plot, it’s essentially a rehash of the first “Digimon” movie, as I mentioned earlier, but instead, “Summer Wars” decides to take its own imaginative route and delve deeper into the digital aspect of pop culture than the “Digimon” movie ever did. It shows how we are so hopelessly dependent on technology to run our day-to-day routines, that when it’s taken over by a crazy computer virus, we panic and it feels like our lives would end. The computer virus, Love Machine, is particularly menacing and knows how to wreak havoc in all the wrong places, putting our heroes in life-threatening situations at the flick of a button. Fortunately, they have their own “avatars” (who are basically Digimon) to defend themselves and fight off Love Machine, especially the star fighter, King Kazma, a walking, punk bunny rabbit who is actually Natsuki’s cousin, Kazuma. The action scenes go hand-in-hand with the animation, which deserves praise through its ass. Animation-wise, it’s one of the most breathtakingly stunning anime films I’ve seen in recent memory. It perfectly blends 2D and 3D animation when we are in the world of Oz to bring this digital utopia to life. It will leave you floored at times, and it never lets up its magical flare either. You are taken along for a thrilling visual experience, and it’s as if Mamoru Hosoda knew that perfectly well when he was directing some of the more epic action sequences. The sound is also a factor that wraps up the film in a neat little bow of perfection. The soundtrack consists of some catchy melodic tunes while also adding in folk and pop songs (not the idiotic kind like Lady Gaga. Please.) to heighten the emotional scenes. Also, the English dub is quite good, and I’d highly recommend seeing the dub because the entire cast give it their all, and it shines. I could talk all day about this film, so I’ll leave it at this: “Summer Wars” came out at a time when technology was dominant in mainstream culture, and it pretty much deconstructs the effects of losing that technology down to the bone, including the worldwide panic and stress that your toaster won’t turn on. It’s beautifully animated, has very likable characters, a mood-setting soundtrack, and a sense of belonging and comfort in family rarely delivered in today’s films in general. It will make you all warm and fuzzy inside once its over, and leaves its imprint far in your mind if you, too, can connect as deeply as I did with this. “Summer Wars” is epic, funny, visually dazzling, emotional, and most of all, a masterpiece.

Disclaimer My reviews use the same rating system that I have posted on my profile, along with my subjective views on the series. If you have any opinions on my reviews of a certain series, feel free to comment on my wall. The premise is all about the detailed connections of a family, big or small, young or old, respected or hated, everyone is family. Even when one doesn't think so, this is the truth. Who could ask more from a family than to respect and love each other? That's what families are there for right? We respect eachother, love each other, help each other, and when worse comes to worse, we fight with each other. Does this mean love isn't there? No, it just means that we need time to understand each other. Summer wars depicts this perfectly. Story: 10/10 Animation - The animation is solid, there was never a moment of regret in my mind, and they depicted everything so fluidly. 10/10 Sound - They have some great music in here, but the voice acting falls a bit short. 8/10 Characters - Who could neglect characters when it comes to the bonds of a family? Nobody, and Summer Wars did not disappoint. I will say this though, some of the characters should have gotten more time to express themselves throughout the story. By not doing so, it left a bit of a voided feeling on me, hence the characters not getting a full 10. 8/10 "When it comes to our families, we love them, we hate them, we respect them, we fight with them, and in the end, we are a part of them." - JD (@YandereTheEmo) September 15, 2013 Overall: 9/10

Realism in anime is a goal of most writers, as they aim to make their story relatable to the average watcher, to make their story have the most effect on one's emotions. However, realism is a difficult to reach goal, and it is obvious to see why, as stories are complex and unique to each and every situation that occurs in life. Much of anime does not successfully capture realism, and so a lot of anime misses out on the difficult to obtain jewel of realism. However, Summer Wars, in my opinion, is one of the more relatable and realistic animes to cross my view. If you have a particularly large family, chances are your family has a lot of depth and history, with their own specific and particular stories to tell. If you have ever been to a large family meeting, chances are Summer Wars may be somewhat relatable to you. Summer Wars tells the story of a gathering of an extremely large Japanese family from all different branches of society, and they paint traditional family member views extremely well. The older family members are headstrong in their traditional views they grew up with, the children are curious in everything that they do and pretend the world is ruled by them, etc. The characters that are portrayed in Summer Wars are almost spot on to an old fashioned traditional family, as their personalities almost completely replicate real life family members that you meet at these type of gatherings (particularly if you're Asian I think, as I have met many many personalities similar to the ones in Summer Wars). Summer Wars, alongside with showing family values, also shows a fight between traditional views and modern views of the world. It is near impossible in this 21st century to be kept up to date without using the world wide web, and older members of families may not or never understand that fact. In Summer Wars, the net is represented as a world titled "OZ", in where the net is shown as both your average browser, and as a sandbox-styled world. As in the real world, society revolves around the success of OZ, as lives, families, and power in society all lie in OZ. However, older members of society do not seem to understand the strength of OZ, treating it more so as a game rather than real life. The story revolves around a hacking program taking over the precious little world of everyone on the planet, as with power of the web comes power over the world. With the net taken over, older adults still treat the hijack as a game rather than a potential real threat, and the battle emerges over traditional views of life or modern views of life. Without revealing too much, the battle will continue to rage throughout the movie, as it still goes in throughout the lives of many people today. The portrayal of this fight is a somewhat unique plot, as this is one fight that most anime do not touch on, rather portraying a standard romance or the such for realism. Although the story begins to get a little cheesy at about the halfway mark, this fight is one of the anime's main strengths, as it is extremely realistic and relatable to the world today. This anime is further boosted by the artistic way they decided to portray the story. The OZ hub is animated with amazing skill, as the world is a mix of all different type of avatars that people would create, with a stunning 3D world portraying them. The music also complements the animation, as the music sets the mood well to complement the anxiety of the next scene. Overall, I would give this movie between a 9-10. The realistic story that is portrayed in the movie is a new and unique one that brings real world issues to face, and even though the story does become cheesy at about halfway, it is still definitely one that is worth a watch, as one may as well see their own family in the precious little world of Summer Wars.

After watching The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, I looked up the studio which produced it, curious to see what else they'd done. Summer Wars seemed interesting enough, so I made a mental note to watch it sometime. However, I eventually forgot about it. One day, I was watching Funimation, and lo and behold, it was on. Barely ten minutes into the movie, and I knew I was watching another TGWLTT. Story: 10/10 Words cannot describe how much I loved the story. I normally don't like many slice-of-life anime, so I was surprised that I enjoyed this one in particular. Yes, the idea of such an advanced network was a little bit unbelievable, but everything else seemed so much like real life that it surprises me that I still love it. Art: 9/10 Not much to say here; the art was amazing, and the animation was smooth. It's not the classic, retro feel I usually like, but it was still good. Sound: 9/10 I expected nothing less from the team behind TGWLTT. Granted, the music isn't as memorable as the music from the previously mentioned anime(coughKawaranaiMonocough), but it's still pretty good ear-candy. Character: 10/10 I loved everyone in this movie. Everyone had some sort of quirk that made them not only relatable, but humorous and fun. Enjoyment: 10/10 I can't think of anything else to add, it was just really fun to watch. Relatable characters, great music, and a story that mixes drama, humor, and action together perfectly. Overall: 10/10

Let me start this review by saying, that since Hajime No Ippo , I've never given any other anime a perfect 10 score. I really hate grading something "perfect", because there are only few, and maybe not even few animes that can fit into that category. And I'm most certainly sure that many of you would disagree with me, heck, maybe even I change my mind when the emotions calm down. But at this moment, right after watching this brilliant piece of art, I can say nothing less than : Absolutely Brilliant. The story started very slow, and I found it hard to follow the plot, but later on, everything kinda felt right. The mixture of cyber-punk, fantasy, science fiction, love romance and family drama-comedy, mixed with slice of life, just make an astonishing and breathtaking anime cocktail, to be enjoyed by everyone. Even though the story is filled with various cliche's, they somehow still work, and they complete this anime extravaganza. There are some scenes that I've seen in many other animes, but never really laughed and enjoyed like in Summer Wars. And there are some scenes that reminded me, and made me felt like I'm watching some of the cult movies like "The independence Day". Without bothering you too much with story, art, sound, and other segments of the movie, I'll just say, this is, without a doubt, one of the most astonishing surprises since I started watching anime. And this one is really worth watching, because it will make you enjoy the little things, it will make you laugh, it will make you sit on the edge of your seat, but it will certainly not disappoint you. Cheers.

I LOVE this movie. I give everything a 10. Story: The plot was very original. It was strange and amazing and definatly something I would watch multiple times(I actually did watch it multiple times X3). Art: I love the art style. It's not crazy, but it's simple-ness is beautiful. But the OZ world does have a more crazy style compared to the real-world style. Sound: The voices were perfect, and the background music was AMAZING! Characters: I loved them all. Kenji, the kid who is extremely good at math, Kazuma, the OZ battle addict, and Natsuki, the girl who is really good at some... game. I forget what the game was called, something like Hanafuda or something. Enjoyment and Overall: I loved this movie, and it's definatly worth watching. :D

“Never turn your back on family, even when they hurt you.” I lost my Grandmother earlier this year, it was the first time in my life where I’ve been through a situation like this and was old enough to understand. She was sick for the last couple months and we were caring for her but her passing came so suddenly that nobody in my family expected it. Most of us gathered together to mourn her loss, some of us were in pain while others were crying. The news of her passing came so suddenly that I wasn’t able to truly process the situation and understand how to feel about it. I felt guilty but I felt that that I should’ve been more emotional about it. This was something that I never discussed with anybody, neither on Twitter nor in real life so I hid my feelings from almost everybody. Our family soon got over this but it was a huge loss for all of us. So when watching Summer Wars months later, seeing a huge family love and care for each other under the watch of their loving Grandmother really struck a chord with me. However it wasn’t until halfway through where something happens and it hit me hard. I was finally able to express the emotions that I wanted to feel when I heard the news of my Grandmother. I related to these characters pain and I cried along with them. I related to them so much even through our situations are very different. It made me cry but I was also happy that this movie did this to me because it finally brought things into full circle. This is a movie that I didn’t expect to need in my life but I’m so happy that it is. I doubt that many of you would love this movie as much as I did as I probably would’ve rated this lower if I didn’t relate to it so much but I saw it at the right time in my life. I’m so happy that I saw it and for what it did to me.

Welcome to my review of the film "Summer Wars." My English is imperfect, so expect some errors in my text. This film was released on August 1, 2009 and was animated by Studio MadHouse, the same that animated most recently Hunter x Hunter (2011) and One Punch Man in this last season. In short, Summer Wars tries to overcome the public's expectations with very good animation, not clichés characters and one of the only plot that may exist where the so-called "protagonist" (named Koiso) is called to a family reunion from the most popular girl in school called Kazuma Ikezawa where, starting from there happens to be her suposed boyfriend because she needs that excuse to be well regarded. But her grandmother, the person in whom Kazuma has the greatest respect, happens to discover and not only that, Koiso (the boy) ends up doing crap in the world called OZ (what society would call SAO due to be the " virtual world" nonsense). This world is almost the same as Accel World and SAO together with a mixture of Log Horizon and any other animes on virtual worlds, OZ turns out to be the most cliché that there is in this movie and it's the only thing that I don't like in the movie because it ends by taking the essence of a Mamoru Hosoda films such as the "Digimon" movie, "Wolf Children" and also "Bakemono in Ko", films that are so well regarded by the society due to the story and the way they are told. Don't get me wrong, OZ is a great place but when I first buy this movie I was expecting anything except - Virtual Worlds bullshit - due to the way this gender in defined in the anime industry. OZ is unique but it's wrong in a way that people see to be happen in a "summer holidays" movie. Studio Madhouse make without a doubt a perfect job as always, I should say that this is by far the best studio in terms of quality and imperfections in the scenes, but sometimes there is a lack of scenes that do make att to the title of the movie. (It's my favourite Studio anyway including Ghibli too) My overall score is 8, because it will be such a good movie but without the Virtual World "thing", just the "summer holidays" excuse and the fact that Koiso will be the boyfriend of the most popular girl to make this movie even more unique, fantastic and to give that "shoujo" piece to the cake.

Summer Wars is an absolute beautiful movie directed by the potential next great name in anime Mamoru Hosoda. It tells an extravagant tale of the importance of family and how they come together in a time of crisis. Story/Character: I could go on a tangent about the greatest part of this movie being Hosoda's beautiful art, but in my personal opinion the story/character development is really where this movie shines. Not only do we get a family bursting at the seams with different personalities and backgrounds, but we also get to see the intimidating virus "Love Machine" grow over time into a life threatening nightmare. Love Machine show cases the common theme that we rely too much on technology in every aspect in our lives, and is countered by the Jinnouchi's strong relationships over long distances and spans of time. Their Granny's final words she left conveyed feelings of forgiveness, acceptance, and many other valuable lessons that I found brought myself to tears. Art/Sound: The art in this movie as stated before is phenomenal. Hosoda's background with various other studios working on projects such as the Digimon movies shows glaringly in this movie. Also, his talent as an oil painter is brilliantly illustrated in the lush backgrounds surrounding the Jinnouchi Manor. One minor detail that people don't gather from Hosoda's works is the red outline that the characters bear inside of the digital and or fantasy world. This gives us the feeling that we are in a realm outside of reality immersing you in the fantastic world building in this movie. Not much can be said about the sound other than it has the type of soundtrack I would expect from this film and wasn't something that stood out to me. Overall: If you are a fan of movies from Studio Ghilbi and the Digimon films this is a movie for you. Heart wrenching scenes show casing the importance of family and unwavering determination, exhilrating fight scenes inside of a digital world, and some unforgettable characters leave me with a rating of 9 for this movie. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and I can't wait to see more works from Hosoda!

I absolutely adored this movie! Out of all the movies I have seen this is most definitely the best one. The story was well developed, the characters were all unique and enjoyable. There was a perfect balance of suspense, drama, and comedy with a hint of romance. Definitely a must see :]!

Warnings: Brief nudity (a character's online avatar changing clothes; one moment where an aunt is nursing her baby; one of the family members gets in the tub in order to wash her baby, but really nothing can be seen); some language, innuendo and a lot of thematic violence and tension Okay. Let's start out with the truth. After seeing The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, I was ready to swear off any of the director's current or future works. But by then, we already had Summer Wars from the library, so tonight we settled down and decided to give the guy one more chance. Right choice. I am not going to completely compare Summer Wars to the incredibly talented Miyazaki. Two different directors, two different approaches. In Summer Wars' case, there's more of a gritty, real-life feel, then the rhythmic, barely-grazing flow of, say, Spirited Away or Castle in the Sky. In Summer Wars, there are lies, family intrigue and heartbreak and a death that even shook us to the core, even though we were kind of expecting it. (That isn't a spoiler, is it?) There are nosebleeds and moments where your nerves are so frayed, you aren't sure if everything is ever going to be alright again. But it pulls through. The storyline is a brilliant mix of sci-fi with contemporary, real-world scenarios. I mean, who doesn't depend on technology these days? When you look at the evil computer system threatening to destroy the world within the movie, you know that a day like that for us might not be too far off. Scary, but the director sure made me aware of what could happen. I particularly liked the theme of family, of being able to pull together when times are hard and you're not sure if you'll be here the next minute; and of believing in yourself, and being able to depend on yourself and realize you are more than you think you are. I'm sorry this isn't the most coherent review. I'm still basking in after-movie awesomeness and suffering from a sugar crash at the same time. Just know, that this is totally worth your time, and if you find your nose bleeding at some time in the film? It all ends okay. I promise you.

The main plotline concerning Kenji and the Jinnouchi family is straight out of an 80's sitcom. Here it works though because the tone of the film is quite quirky. Kenji of course plays the socially awkward doesn't really know how to act in front of people card for most of the movie. The family of course is a very eccentric bunch with each having their own personality traits of what makes them unique. This plotline plays all the bases that you've seen in many a story. It's handled better than most though because it lets us spend time with the family and all their quirky quirkiness. However it still is a pretty cliché storyline. The family does what one would expect a family like this to do: tease Kenji, be protective of Natsuki, be loud, eat a lot it's all here. There are some genuinely funny bits in here like the final battle being spliced with the aunt's cheering of the baseball team and the moving of the ice blocks and the grandma giving the beat down to one of her family members so it has that going for it. It does however have one more purpose that is executed well in the story and that's it's juxtaposition. While Kenji is off being awkward OZ is hacked. A hacker is stealing accounts by the hundreds, destroying crucial parts of OZ and in general is causing a mess. It's known only as Love Machine. Love Machine is wreaking havoc upon the servers of OZ and unfortunately the first account it stole and grew from was Kenji's so he's the main suspect. Nobody can defeat Love Machine not even the greatest fighter in OZ King Kazma. Love Machine begins to mess with traffic lights, entire cities and even power supply plants and satellites. Since everything and everyone is connected to OZ when shit starts to go down it really does. So it looks like it's up to Kenji and the power of family to defeat him (yes I know how dumb that sounded). This is where the film really gets it right in my opinion. You usually can't have a plot that has a sweet family/romantic story combined with kick ass action without one of the two feeling forced however due to the fact that they pretty much take place in two different worlds it works. I like the feeling that we're getting two complete stories in one and that makes the film's somewhat lengthy running time for these types of stories feel a lot more bearable. The two stories work with each other in a balance that comes into full play at the climax of the film which makes it feel all worthwhile. It can sometimes come off as comedic though whenever someone is defeated in OZ and it cuts back to the real world I'm reminded of the one World of Warcraft episode of South Park. It's still a great way to tell a story though and it works well in its favor. Let's talk about the animation shall we? The animation for the world of OZ is really nice to look at. I usually don't like when CG is used in hand drawn animation but in the world of OZ it obviously fits. I like how dynamic the avatars can get and the animation for a lot of the big action scenes which include of all things a card game. I don't really know how to describe any other way really but the cinematography (which I guess you can't really call it that but whatever) is well done with the quote "camera" weaving in and out of the action well. The animation in the real world though is a little less impressive. It feels kind of unnerving and artificial. Movements are kind of jerky and stiff and it kind of makes me feel uncomfortable. It works well enough but I've seen this animation style from other projects before and it produced the same emotions for me there. Maybe that's the director's intent but I've never really been a fan of this style. Voice acting is also pretty good as well not much really to complain about here since everybody does their roles essentially the way they should be done but nothing really here to write home about either. Summer Wars is overall worth a look. If you can get past the clichés of the family story and the predictable plot you should have a good time. I give it three and a half stars out of five. Give it a spin in your DVD or Blu-Ray player and find out yourself. 3.5/5

ok so i watched summer wars because,...i cant think of why i watched this movie i just could not enjoy this movie to its full extent and know why?, the fucking Digimon movie! By the Digimon movie i mean the one that was released in America that really had like the first two Japanese released Digimon movies condensed into one. But the longer i watched this the more i thought of the god damn digimon movie and how much this seemed to be ripping it off. I dont know why, maybe because the art style was very similar or the fact that the heroes of the movie used digital companions to stop the threat of a nuclear fall out caused by a virus that was created/empowered by the protagonist and defeated at the last possible second, oh yeah and the protagonist that caused the viruses power is also a master computer hacker and still in middle school. Whatever the reason the main point is it was like watching the Digimon movie but with no feelings of nostalgia which makes it virtually worthless

I haven't watched an anime movie that was good enough to capture my heart like Summer Wars in a long time. I've seen memorable ones such as Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and I have to say Summer Wars is definitely up there with them. Story: 8/10. Judging by the story alone, it is basically your typical anime plot. You have a bad guy and you have a good guy who battle it out to save the world. Throw in a bit of romance and comedy and you have the story. Art: 10/10. Simple, yet beautifully crafted and effective at delivering the picture. It's modern animation, what do you expect? Sound: 9/10. (Japanese dubbed) The voice overs were terrific, I've had no problems with them whatsoever. The sound effects and music were nice and really amplified the mood they wanted to present to the audience during a particular scene. Character: 8/10. Character development was sketchy, although the movie focuses on Natsuki's family, we know a limited amount about other characters and their backgrounds. However, seeing that this movie is only 2 hours long, it was still enough to create a character that was understandable. Enjoyment: 10/10. You will enjoy it. No more no less. Overall: 10/10. This movie has become one of my favorite movies of all time. The story, characters, and presentation are done really well to bring an innovative, dramatic, romantic, comedic-filled movie.

Summer Wars Quick summary: A film about a young boy meets a large family of one of his female classmates and their struggle against a computer A.I. that hacks into an online social networking world and threatens the existence of mankind. Not only do they have to stop this powerful A.I., they have their own family problems to deal with as well. >Story: 7 >Enjoyment: 9 Honestly, I was quite disappointed when I first saw this film. The plot of an Artificial Intelligent being hacking the online world of OZ which also affects the real world had been done before. If you're a fan of the Digimon series you've probably seen the second film from that series, "Digimon: Our War Game". It has the same plot only, instead of an A.I., it's a digital monster that messes with reality from the internet. Not only are the plots somewhat similar, turns out the director is one and the same! It kind of annoyed me that the director recycled one of his previous films and made a new version. But this was just my first impression. I still thought the film was quite good. I'm a fan of Director Hosoda's work so I ended up buying the film because I hadn't seen it in a while. It blows me away every time I watch it. Although the plot has been used once already, it's applied in a new way so I had to make myself just forget about the Digimon version and just watch Summer Wars like I hadn't seen anything like it before. I had to ' live in the moment' so-to-speak... whatever. Anyway, having that mindset I could then really enjoy the film. The story also revolves a lot on family and how they stick together to overcome the problems they face. It may be over-dramatized or exaggerated a bit but it all works out for the best. >Art: 7 More like 7.5 average. The character animation I would rate between 6/7 it's very simple, but it works IMO, and that's part of Director Hosoda's style similar to his other films. The backgrounds and such I would rate between 8/9 it's a lot more detailed and looks beautiful. I think the contrast of detailed backgrounds and simple characters and animation make the film stand out more. The style is very noticeable. >Sound: 9 Music was great. Very action..y. The music switches from computer/electronic sounds, when focusing on the OZ online world, to piano/instruments when focusing on the real world and the family. It really sets the mood especially for those certain moments. >Character: 10 I think the characters were portrayed very well. Each had a distinct personality that made you like them or hate them, laugh or be annoyed, etc. The development was very nicely done. I really enjoyed the family aspect of the movie. This movie may have been made with Japanese people in mind, but all of us who happen to have large families like this one have experienced a gathering like this - minus the battle against artificial intelligence. Like they say and show throughout the film, family, communication, and helping others when they're in need are all important. >Overall: 9 Like I said earlier in my review, this film blows me away every time I watch it. It's a great family movie with intense action and dramatic moments. I highly recommend watching it!

I very rarely give an anime a 10 but this one really deserves it. This is one of the few animes where I start off not liking a character but by the end I am in love with them. Not only is this anime one of the most beautiful animes that I have seen in a while but it has some of the best character development and some of the most heart wrenching moments that I have ever experienced in an anime. I'm not one to often shed a tear but it was hard for me to keep from bawling at the end of this movie. Young or old I encourage everyone to watch this. It starts off slow but it will get you in the end. Definitely a must see!

Man, this was a fun movie. Summer Wars mixes around social commentary on the potential negatives of modern technology with a coming-of-age focus on the developments faced by Kenji and Natsuki as they deal with Natsuki's family and the Love Machine virus affecting Oz, as well as some laughs to deliver on the way. First, let's go into the character aspect of the movie. Summer Wars has a diverse cast of likable characters who contribute both to the reality and wired aspects of the series. Kenji represents the wired aspect of the movie as like many in the younger generation, he is well adjusted to modern technology in the form of social networking on Oz accepting it as part of the norm in his life and feeling socially awkward when interacting with others outside of Oz (i.e. Natsuki and her family). The focus for him in this movie is learning that there are things to appreciate in the real world beyond Oz as he becomes better acquainted with Natsuki's family and falls for Natsuki. In Natsuki's case, she is well-adjusted to living in the real world yet has to come to grips with the affection she has had for her uncle since childhood, who is not so loved by the rest of her family, and her feelings slowly drift towards Kenji. The rest of Natsuki's family make for the highlight of characterization in this movie. Each family member has their own unique personality that stands out and they have a profound influence on different areas of society. Their characters are diverse enough where you can get heartwarming, serious and humorous moments as you see their personalities and actions onscreen from the giddy, drinking uncle talking of his military days to strong-willed family head and great-grandmother Sakae to young renowned online brawler Kazuma. Sakae now stands as one of the most memorable older anime characters I've seen in an anime title thanks to the influence she extends to her modern era thinking family to keep up the good fight against Love Machine's havoc (also symbolic as her social networking skills are still effective, even if the approach to making use of them is more old-fashioned) and scaring the hell out of her grandson, Kazuma, in one scene. Summer Wars also looks into the negative side of modern technology. In this case, the movie explores how man's increased dependency to use technology in handling man's responsibilities and conveniences for everyday living can be turned against it thanks to the threats of hacking and program corruptions. Such problems can prove to be a thorn in the sides of those fulfilling their duties in their fields of work and everyday living, or cause lives in the worst case scenario. Technology even drives some people to develop technologies for their own personal gain that would risk inflicting harm onto others. These are the circumstances that take place with the Love Machine AI as its mischief becomes increasingly hazardous when Kenji, Natsuki and the other family members try to stop its trouble. It also helps that this plot element makes mention of American military involvement in the Love Machine fiasco, which could raise eyebrows with the more patriotic Western viewers. Being on a movie budget, the major highlight of Summer Wars is the CG-animated world that is Oz. There is a ridiculous amount of detail and bright colors made into creating the character avatars and virtual environment that the movie gives off, as well as featuring very fluid movements for online battles, environmental changes and the havoc caused by Love Machine. While not as visually impressive as Oz, the real world scenery and character designs still look quite colorful and vast with a animation style similar to The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (not so surprising as both have the same director and animation studio working on them). There's not really much for me to nitpick about with Summer Wars. I could argue that there were a few points where the implied losses faced by either the Love Machine or the human characters in Oz seemed to come in rather too conveniently with interventions. But with exception to a scene in the final confrontation, I'd be way too cynical to complain about such moments since they occurred with the other family members who interrupted things due to not being as involved with the activities in Oz as those fully aware of the situation like Kenji and Kazuma. Overall, I was quite entertained and immersed with Summer Wars. Having a good mix of comedy, drama, some romance, action via the Oz fights and some social commentary to boot, this is one movie I will definitely be adding to my collection.