Beautifully rendered clouds greet you as you are transported the the cyber world of Oz. Various avatars are presented, all of which look a bit ridiculous but cute in a way, a voice plays like an advertisement over it all, and you can observe the slick graphics that are to be found in the background. You are lead to Kenji Koiso and his friend Takashi Sakuma, high school students who moderate Oz as a part-time job. Him and his friend discuss the theme for the summer: watermelon, fireworks, and (potentially) girls. You are then given a view of the real world, and a glimpse of Natsuki Shinohara. She arrives asking if either of the two would like to have a part-time job. Both show interest, but she says that she can only take one.
You are then presented with the title of the movie, and you know that you are about to watch something special; the rare kind of movie that manages to capture the essence contained in classics like Spirited Away.
Kenji is taken to the country side and introduced by Natsuki as her boyfriend, for her grandmother's sake. It is of course not a great situation for him, but her reasons are understandable. You meet her family, some you will like, others you will absolutely hate, but all are very well characterized. Kazuma Ikezawa, a 13 year old who prefers to be on his computer than interact with the family, I found to be particularly interesting, and he does become fairly significant. The kids can make you want to pull out your hair, some of the mothers seem to deserve a punch in the face at times, and a few of the guys can get fired up while others keep a pretty level head. Their interactions and conflicts are always entertaining. Eventually Natsuki's uncle Wabisuke is introduced, and it seems that when the jerk comes so does the trouble. Kenji is found out to be a fake boyfriend, Natsuki apparently built his fake persona on Wabisuke after she had a crush on him (I am shocked I found it so creepy when something like Arrested Development made me want to root for someone to win over his cousin. I guess it's all in the execution), and Kenji is tricked into hacking Oz from what he thought was simply a complex math problem he received on his phone. The Summer War begins.
The movie's visuals are very impressive. The art style for the real world looks classic, much like that of Studio Ghibli movies, and (thought I have not yet seen it) the director's previous work The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Backgrounds are detailed while characters are kept simple, not unlike that of Durarara!! and Tekkonkinkreet, though not quite as contrasting. The world of Oz mixes computer animation with drawn seamlessly, the first time I have ever seen it done successfully, and it not once felt jarring going between the real world and it. It inspired a sense of wonder. When I watched Evangellion 1.11: You are (Not) Alone and Evangellion 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance, I found the use of cg distracting, not blending well. In Oz the exact opposite is true, and it has the exact opposite effect. The formats never seeming out of place with each other, which is an impressive feat. Avatars look cooler as the movie progresses and tensions rise, which was welcome. Also characters in the real world all have distinct, but not mold-breaking designs, and are all easy to identify. One thing worth note is that the movie uses actual brands, which was refreshing. The animation at points is especially stunning. A scene with a character's avatar transforming is one of the highlights, though there are many to watch for.
The music for the movie is pretty standard fare. It stops altogether when appropriate, provides fitting background for scenes, but nothing really stood out.
The landmark work that it is, the English dub was given the huge task of doing the film justice. It succeeded. Various acting veterans were cast, and pretty much all voices fit perfectly. The voice of Kenji sounded incredibly familiar to me (odd because I prefer watch most anime in Japanese), so I looked him up and nothing seemed to ring a bell. Perhaps he used an alias in whatever I recognize him from. He does a fine job portraying Kenji, and you can get a sense of his emotions and thoughts throughout the film, which is also due to the great story telling. He does, however, not quite match the acting found on the Japanese side, but it is really just comparing good to great. The Japanese actor for Natsuki however is a real weakness in the cast. In an interview she says it was her first go at voice acting. That explains it. The English Natsuki however delivered a spirited performance. Both language tracks as a whole show appropriate switches in tone when the film becomes more serious, when it is funny, when it is emotional, etc. I am a viewer who almost always prefers to watch something in Japanese, but I think that the film itself is stronger as a whole in English. That is pretty rare.
Special features on the bluray include an interview with some of the main Japanese voice actors and director, a few teasers/tv spots for the movie, and a few promos for other Funimation licensed anime (about half of which are their heavy hitters, and the other half consisting of things that are pretty weak and simply not selling). The interview with the director is a bit tame, simply his thoughts on the film, but I found the interview with the voice of Kenji to be the most interesting. He spoke of how he realized his generation speaks and in what context, his time recording with the rest of the cast, and a few generally interesting points. I did not find any of the trailers for the movie to be of note.
Between The Girl Who Leapt through Time and Summer Wars, Mamoru Hosoda stands to be known as one of anime's historically important directors. Summer Wars radiates with the sense that it will be a classic. It has action, comedy, emotion, character development, and most importantly, it is fun to watch. That is not to say that it is without it's flaws. There could be more development on the side of the family, especially the relationship between Kenji and Natsuki. It is by no means poorly done, but some more emphasis could have been placed on it. If my one real complaint is that I wish it were a bit longer to allow that then I think it accomplished it's goal. Summer Wars really is a movie that I can see myself watching again with any friends without any hesitation; hopefully you guys go out, watch it and think the same.
I guess this is a promo picture or something showing the characters
The movie's visuals are very impressive. The art style for the real world looks classic, much like that of Studio Ghibli movies, and (thought I have not yet seen it) the director's previous work The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Backgrounds are detailed while characters are kept simple, not unlike that of Durarara!! and Tekkonkinkreet, though not quite as contrasting. The world of Oz mixes computer animation with drawn seamlessly, the first time I have ever seen it done successfully, and it not once felt jarring going between the real world and it. It inspired a sense of wonder. When I watched Evangellion 1.11: You are (Not) Alone and Evangellion 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance, I found the use of cg distracting, not blending well. In Oz the exact opposite is true, and it has the exact opposite effect. The formats never seeming out of place with each other, which is an impressive feat. Avatars look cooler as the movie progresses and tensions rise, which was welcome. Also characters in the real world all have distinct, but not mold-breaking designs, and are all easy to identify. One thing worth note is that the movie uses actual brands, which was refreshing. The animation at points is especially stunning. A scene with a character's avatar transforming is one of the highlights, though there are many to watch for.
The music for the movie is pretty standard fare. It stops altogether when appropriate, provides fitting background for scenes, but nothing really stood out.
The landmark work that it is, the English dub was given the huge task of doing the film justice. It succeeded. Various acting veterans were cast, and pretty much all voices fit perfectly. The voice of Kenji sounded incredibly familiar to me (odd because I prefer watch most anime in Japanese), so I looked him up and nothing seemed to ring a bell. Perhaps he used an alias in whatever I recognize him from. He does a fine job portraying Kenji, and you can get a sense of his emotions and thoughts throughout the film, which is also due to the great story telling. He does, however, not quite match the acting found on the Japanese side, but it is really just comparing good to great. The Japanese actor for Natsuki however is a real weakness in the cast. In an interview she says it was her first go at voice acting. That explains it. The English Natsuki however delivered a spirited performance. Both language tracks as a whole show appropriate switches in tone when the film becomes more serious, when it is funny, when it is emotional, etc. I am a viewer who almost always prefers to watch something in Japanese, but I think that the film itself is stronger as a whole in English. That is pretty rare.
This is a box
Special features on the bluray include an interview with some of the main Japanese voice actors and director, a few teasers/tv spots for the movie, and a few promos for other Funimation licensed anime (about half of which are their heavy hitters, and the other half consisting of things that are pretty weak and simply not selling). The interview with the director is a bit tame, simply his thoughts on the film, but I found the interview with the voice of Kenji to be the most interesting. He spoke of how he realized his generation speaks and in what context, his time recording with the rest of the cast, and a few generally interesting points. I did not find any of the trailers for the movie to be of note.
Between The Girl Who Leapt through Time and Summer Wars, Mamoru Hosoda stands to be known as one of anime's historically important directors. Summer Wars radiates with the sense that it will be a classic. It has action, comedy, emotion, character development, and most importantly, it is fun to watch. That is not to say that it is without it's flaws. There could be more development on the side of the family, especially the relationship between Kenji and Natsuki. It is by no means poorly done, but some more emphasis could have been placed on it. If my one real complaint is that I wish it were a bit longer to allow that then I think it accomplished it's goal. Summer Wars really is a movie that I can see myself watching again with any friends without any hesitation; hopefully you guys go out, watch it and think the same.
I think I will take this time to explain my rating system. I am going to rate things the a scale of Perishable, Rent Worthy (or torrent), and Shelf Worthy, which I stole am renting from the Shelf Life column at AnimeNewsNetwork. Perishable is not worth seeing at all, Rent is worth watching, and Shelf is something that deserves your hard-earned money. I will also do letter ratings, but the overall score will not be an average of the other aspects. I don't think an amazing work should be rated lower for having an average score, and a terrible work shouldn't get a decent rating because of decent art. A work will get whatever rating I feel it deserves. I am also going to include a recommended otaku-ness scale (for lack of a better word). 0 being not having seen pretty much anything but Studio Ghibli movies and maybe a bit of Dragonball or Naruto when you were a kid, and 5 being understanding every reference and the various aspects of otaku culture (fanservice generally may raise the rating on it a bit).
+ Strong lead characters, has heart, impressive visuals, great mix of action/sci-fi and slice-of-life
- Could be more relationship development, I guess the avatars could have looked cooler at the start
SUMMER WARS
Rating: Shelf Worthy
Overall: A
Story: A-
Characters: A
Art: A
Music: B
Dub vs. Sub: Close, but dub barely wins out
Otaku-ness: 0+ Strong lead characters, has heart, impressive visuals, great mix of action/sci-fi and slice-of-life
- Could be more relationship development, I guess the avatars could have looked cooler at the start
Well that's it, the first official review. I'm going to grab a snack. Provide whatever feedback you have, too much emphasis on some things, not enough on others, were some things totally wrong, everything was perfect, too long in general, too short, just a terrible review, whatever you have to say. Post a comment. Suggest something to review, tell me to never do it again, whatever you want to say.
The rating system is good. I think the article could have been shorter but that's just me.
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