[Anime Review]/The Many Battles of Summer Wars

I admit, I'm a bit late to the party on this one but I'm kind of glad that I waited. Also, surprisingly enough, the experience managed to remain spoiler free. Don't even ask how that happened, it had to be some kind of divine intervention from above on that one.

So anyways, as many already know, Summer Wars came out in late summer of 2010 and was just the thing that Mamoru Hosoda needed to break out fully from Studio Ghibli's shadow. Not saying that working for Miyazaki at Ghibli is bad, but if you're going to go out on your own, this is the way to do it. Don't know if it'll be as timeless as some of the other films, but I'm thinking it'll stick around for quite a while.


It really was a nice surprise and the opening did great job of explaining things in a manner that was easy to understand. Whether that was because the subject matter is so close to being reality as it is or something else entirely, I don't really know. Either way, it worked.

• Genre: Sci-Fi/Drama/Romance/Comedy
• Length:114minutes
• Rating: 8.5/10
• Recommendation: Definitely going to say that you should watch this, there's no question. It's a great piece of film that dives into a lot of interesting topics and brings up a few concepts that, while maybe not in our reality, aren't too far away in the future either. Likeable characters, a great cast of voice actors and some truly awesome animation make this one not to be missed! 

Our story revolves mostly around high school student, and math genius, Kenji Koiso, who has been unwittingly invited to help celebrate the 90th birthday of Natsuki Shinohara's great-grandmother, Sakae Jinnouchi. However, the reason for this isn't as straightforward as Natsuki makes it out to be when she gets him to agree to go on the trip.

It seems she's promised her grandmother that she would bring her fiance home before her grandmother's death. Problem is? Kenji isn't even her boyfriend.

So, there's the set up for one battle of many and you can probably guess how this one ends up.


Granted, it's how it happens that is the more interesting part. See, Kenji works as a part time maintenance operator for Oz, a vast and all encompassing virtual world that is pretty much everywhere along with his friend Takashi Sakuma. Everyone depends on it, it runs the world's services, bank accounts, transit systems...everything. However, not all is well in the land of Oz. Well, not since a code had been cracked, which allowed the system security measures to be hacked. This results in all kind of chaos.

Now, before we go any further, it should be noted that Natsuki's family is a very old family. They live in a huge, massive estate and are pretty much connected to everything and every one due to their family history. Sakae and the rest of the Jinnouchi Clan are descendents of a legendary samurai who managed to challenge the Tokugawa clan in the 1600's. Powerful and wealthy as they seem to be, it's discovered that Natsuki's grand-uncle, isn't very much welcome. In fact, he turns up out of nowhere after having lived for 10 years in the US. Let's say that it isn't the warmest welcome in family history either.

Speaking of the family, it's huge. There's tons of them and they're unique in their own ways and drive various subplots along that, while many films ignore, this one does not. There's so much going on that it feels like that family reunion you went to years ago, it's comforting in it's chaos. Layer on top of that the whole mystery of what's going on with Oz and how those events effect our family gathering and you've got a recipe for a story that just feels alive.

So, we have a huge family, a fake fiance and a world that's extremely reliant on the virtual world of Oz. I think we can see where this is going and what kind of calamity will befall these folks. I won't go into too many details about this though. Mostly since half the fun, in my eyes, is seeing it all unfold before you (I've never really given out many spoilers, but this one I'm really not going to aside from what I've already stated) for the first time. It's a wondrous thing and I don't want to ruin that.

The one thing I will say is that the events that take place in Oz, while strange and bizarre, really add something to the story as a whole. Sure it could've been left out and the movie would've been great as it was, but it wouldn't have had the sense of adventure and wonder that it ends up having. It, like all the members of the Jinnouchi Clan, is an integral cog in this machine. Also, the battles and final moments that take place in Oz are nothing short of amazing either and really show the chaos that the internet and virtual world's can be. 

Overall, the quality of the animation is nothing short of great and the characters, while a motley crew of insanity, are really likeable and you end up really pulling for them as they go through this troubling time on many levels. On top of that, the soundtrack and voice work is also great and fits perfectly with the tone of what's going on at the moment, just one more thing to draw you in.

In the end, this is a story of family, forgiveness and banding together in the face of extreme adversity. Sure, it's been done to death, but it's presented in a way that's fresh and inviting. You part of the family and the situations going on. Personally, that's a rare thing and I think that it should be commended in achieving that. For two hours, I was pulled into their world and I cared about what was happening on many levels. That's not something that happens everyday and I hope that  Mamoru Hosoda keeps it up in future films. I know that I can't wait to see what he does next.