DVD Review – Summer Wars (First Published: May 2011) The Blurb

The visual elements of an film are as important as the story itself, sometimes more so. Summer Wars, directed by , is no different. The film may start out as the typical popular girl/geeky guy romantic comedy formula, but soon turns out to be quite a dramatic sci-fi action adventure. Only in anime can such a clash of genres seem to make sense.

Summer Wars tells the story of awkward but kind maths genius Kenji, a moderator of the social network server OZ who pretends to be resident popular girl and secret crush Natsuki’s boyfriend and accompanies her home in time for her great-grandmother’s birthday in Ueda, Japan. There, Kenji meets the assorted fruits and nuts that are the Jinnouchis, extended family and all who, at first, don’t take so kindly to him.

The world of OZ, meanwhile, is a social network millions rely on for most of their everyday needs, such as paying bills, checking emails, train schedules and the like, with two regal whales named John and Yoko acting as guardians (no, really). When OZ is attacked by Love Machine, an (don’t ask me about the technological terms and concepts, numbers and science were never my forte) hacks into the OZ mainframe using Kenji’s virtual profile, it causes technological meltdown worldwide and stealing millions of OZ user accounts, as well as risks bringing down new recently-launched satellite crashing to Earth. Kenji must fight to save both his name and the world from major catastrophe before Love Machine causes permanent damage, with the help of Natsuki and her cousin, fellow tech geek Kazuma, fighting alongside him.

Summer Wars gives us a great snapshot into the life of a large, bustling family who connect with one another well and do show a strong sense of togetherness, even with their minor squabbling, and while main players Kenji, Kazuma and Natsuki are brilliant in their own right, one standout character is that of Jinnouchi family matriarch Grandma Sakae, who is a wise yet no-nonsense force to be reckoned with, as demonstrated in one heart-warming scene in particular showing Sakae on the phone motivating people into helping save humanity in a time of emergency. You simply just don’t see enough arse-kicking grandmas on film nowadays.

Summer Wars also provides some of the most brilliant and awe-inspiring visual sequences in anime from recent years, seamlessly blending both CGI animation and traditional anime. Bright, vibrant colours against stark white backgrounds transport viewers into the of Oz at times almost resembling video game sequences that makes The Sims virtual world seem like an Atari game, while the aptly summery and lush green settings of Grandma’s Sakae’s home in Ueda are clean and fluid, and just as beautiful to watch. One sequence in particular in Oz featuring a giant hand made entirely of little virtual people proves to be both scary and breathtaking at just how far anime has truly come. The film’s sound quality, meanwhile, is amazingly clear and well-dubbed for English audiences, and even sound helps to add to the atmospheric worlds of both the real and the virtual.

Although Summer Wars is no doubt exciting and fun, at times it feels that it really can’t decide what type of story it wants to be: Action? Cyber-Mystery? Romance? Family Drama? Diversity can be great for a plot, but the narrative shifts so quickly at times from one different genre the other, that you don’t realise it until after the fact. However, this doesn’t weaken what is no doubt an imaginative and ambitious story, but from time to time it can be rather jarring. The narrative could devote a little more clarity to its structure.

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One of the stranger aspects of Summer Wars, I seemed to notice, though, was the amount of product placement clearly within shot throughout the film – Datsun, Dr Pepper, Yamaha, Adidas, Isuzu, Dell. Coincidence, perhaps? (I doubt it).

For such an amazingly visual and intricate film, there are only a handful of extras on the Summer Wars DVD, and at least half of those are simply made up of theatrical and TV trailers. The most interesting among them, however, such as interviews with the director and Japanese cast and a cast greeting from the first-ever preview of Summer Wars in Japan, do provide some fascinating insights into the making of the film.

The strongest social network of all in Summer Wars proves to be that of family and humanity in general, as well as demonstrating the importance of coming together when times are tough. Sticking together is the real winner when fighting to bring the virtual world of Oz back to normal and, as corny as it may seem to some, is a lesson we could all learn from as the interconnectedness of technology continues to physically disconnect more and more of us from one another.

Bianca Bozzi

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