Most anime can be divided into two sub-genres: slice of life and fantasy. Slice of life focuses on real life circumstances, and often has a comedic tone and focus more on the characters and their relationships. Fantasy is often a grand spectacle with animation and art being the focus of attention. That’s not set in stone by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a decent rule of thumb to follow. However, sometimes you get something that will fuse the two genres. This can be risky as it can make the plot contrived and hard to follow. Every once in a while, you get something that really is special. Well that little something happened in a beautiful little gem known as “Summer Wars.”
“Summer Wars” is about a boy named Kenji who pretends to be the boyfriend of a girl named Natsuki. This is where the slice of life element is. The situation between those two leads to some pretty funny scenes and eventually to some remarkably emotional ones. The fantasy element comes in in the introduction to the world of Oz. Oz is an online universe that functions as a bank, school, fight club, casino, chat-room etc. It’s the central hub for pretty much everything on the planet. Its visual is something to gawk at. The animators really bring this world to life with the use of online avatars and freedom from the grasp of logic that the real world has.
Kenji is sent a code in the middle of the night, which he solves because of his amazing mathematical ability. He accidentally hacks Oz and let’s a virus that goes by the name “Love Machine.” The film follows Kenji as he tries to keep up the lie about Natsuki while trying to stop the whole world from collapsing in on itself.
That theme of balance follows through the entire movie. It’s seen on the animation side with the real worldbeing beautiful but accurate, while the world of Oz is filled with bright colours and brighter characters. In words that sound like it would come off as a mess, like letting a child go to town on a canvas with some paint, the transition between the two worlds is seamless. The movie cleverly uses computers as a sort of portal between reality and Oz. This makes the two worlds different but not separate. There is also balance with Kenji’s ordeals. While trying to maintain the lie and fix Oz, he soon finds himself in over his head. He comes to realise that the only way to rectify this is to face both problems head on, no matter what the cost to himself. The film itself also feels almost like a warning of sorts. We’re in an age where everything is on the Internet and no one can hide anymore. “Summer Wars” poses the question: what if someone is looking for us? What will they find? How will they use it? It’s a cautionary tale of what might be our future given all the wrong people.
“Summer Wars” has a serious side yes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it. Mamoru Hosoda directs; he’s also responsible for another brilliant film called “The Girl Who Lept Through Time,” which you should also totally check out. The reason I mention him is that both of his big films are in no way associated with the powerhouse, Studio Ghibli. I can honestly say that this easily rivals any work that Miyazaki can put forward. That’s not to diminish any of Miyazaki’s work; it’s only to prove to you how much I think of this film. The animation is stunning, the characters are all hand-crafted works of art, and the story can make you weep – but not before it makes you laugh.
– by Paul O’Connor
