Summer Wars (Review)
Summer Wars Proves Kids Should Play Video Games.
Summer Wars is a brilliant anime film that not only blends together whimsical aspects with intelligent dialogue but also strikes a chord close to home for all those social media-addicted members of the audience, which, let’s face it, is pretty much everyone these days. From the same director as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Mamoru Hosoda), and following up on the same themes of science fiction and coming of age, it’s this sort of thought-provoking family film style that leads people to believe that Mamoru Hosoda might be one of the greatest storytellers in Japan today.
The film focuses on high school math whiz Kenji Koiso (voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas, who might be recognized as the voice of Dean Venture from The Venture Brothers), who also works as the moderator for the advanced social media networking site OZ (think of it as Facebook version 100.0). In OZ, everyone can link their phones, televisions, e-mail and even their work privileges. It looks like it’s just going to be another boring summer for Kenji, until the most popular girl at school, Natsuki Shinohara (voiced by Brina Palencia), offers him a job out in the country for a few days. Shy Kenji agrees; however, when he gets there, he learns that he’s supposed to pretend to be Natsuki’s fiancé. Meanwhile, a tremendous threat has laid siege to OZ and goes from causing harmless trouble to threatening to destroy the planet. So, it’s up to Kenji and Natsuki’s family (including a second cousin whose avatar is the fighting champion King Kazama) to save the day.
Summer Wars uniquely parallels reality with the digital world, emphasizing the difference that advancing technology has played in separating the two. Not only are the two worlds separated thematically, but also in animation style. OZ is a slick, computer-generated, fast-paced world with disregard for physics (hence the incredible fight sequences), whereas the real world is humorous, detail-oriented and full of warmth. Despite their differences, both worlds are dazzling with captivating character designs. At its heart, it’s a film about analog vs. digital, but essentially never condemns either world, though it does warn about putting too many eggs in a digital basket.
While the film is spectacular, at times it does threaten to be overly sentimental as it lavishes the audiences with arguments for the benefits of the analog world and the importance of family. On top of this, the extended family is so massive that it becomes difficult to remember who most of the secondary characters are as the story goes on. Of course, the primary characters stand out, but it cheapens the family-first theme when it becomes too hard to tell aunts and uncles apart.
However, the least-impressive aspect of the anime is its attempt at suspense. There’s just nothing threatening about a villain named Love Machine. Even without the lack of suspense, though, the film tells a multi-tiered story that embraces the themes of unity and togetherness. While most characters seem to get on the same page about saving the world, one or two stand off to the side and even hinder efforts resorting to saying, “It’s only a game.” In a way, this tension makes up for the lack of suspense but is only superficial in doing so.
Despite a few minor downfalls, Summer Wars is an anime that has a broad appeal despite falling into a few stereotypes. While it might not be something that younger children can follow easily, it should be something that young teens to adults will enjoy because of the relevant social commentary it offers. We’ve said this about a few films in the past, but Summer Wars is a film that will be easily accessible to even those who aren’t fans of anime, and it is easily comparable to the quality seen in even Hayao Miyazaki’s movies. It might not be action-packed, but it is certainly a nice film to sit down with on a lazy Sunday.
