It’s been almost 3 years since I’ve seen this film so it’s a pretty good time for a revisit. Summer Wars is a film that deals with the cyber threat that can be caused by data programs that we built to keep us secure. If you ever watched Megaman, then you know that this typically backfires on the humans. It’s a heart warming film although I think it tried being a little too “American.”

Well, the plot begins as Natsuki hired Kenji to be her fake boyfriend for a few days. She promised her great grandmother that she would bring him along so she had to resort to this desperate gamble. It’s not a bad situation for Kenji since he’ll get a lot of free food, but he’ll have to survive this dangerous ordeal. He may have prepared for the worst, but even that is not enough as a satellite begins to fall down and threatens to cause an extinction level event across the country. The only way to stop it is to destroy the legendary Love Machine virus that has taken over the internet. One of Natsuki’s relatives is the owner of the legendary King Kazma, but it’s going to take a team effort to defeat him.

Well, I suppose that I should touch on the “American” comment before I go further. This film is one of those really high budget, theatrical experiences that feels like it could almost be American. Summer Wars, that airplane film, Spirited Away, they could almost pass for a product in the U.S.A. They just don’t have that anime feel that a film like Bleach or DBZ would have. It’s not because the film is pretty down to Earth though as Kanon and Case Closed still retain an intense anime feel to them. It’s something about the actual character designs and the animation in itself. It could be that it’s hand drawn, but it still doesn’t add up. There’s just some kind of “American” feeling here that’s hard to describe, yet hard to miss. I’ll admit that it does hurt the film a little since that anime feeling is why anime typically trumps western animation in the first place.

Back to the film, Kenji is not a bad main character, but he’s definitely not my kind of lead. He’s extremely shy and timid. Kenji never really gets over this and he lets the others push him around. When it comes time to fight, he chokes and the villain just pounds on him over and over again until he’s saved by King Kazma. He’s a math whiz, which definitely comes in handy. It’s his strong suit and those scenes are always pretty fun for him. Now, if only he would have more confidence and a tough aura about him…then he could have been a really good character.

Natsuki is the main heroine and she’s not very good at reading the mood. When the heroes are having a big confrontation with the mysterious uncle, she still jumps in with a happy greeting. Reading the mood is key when you’re in life or death situations since you need to react quickly and without hesitation. This weakness could cost her. More importantly, it’s hard to believe that she wouldn’t be aware of the drama around Wabisuke. Bringing along Kenji as her fake boyfriend was also a dicey move and the promise to her great grandmother was definitely ill advised. She may just be a little too realistic for me. She doesn’t go around beating up the main character or yelling a lot of hardcore lines. She panics a little too much and I would have liked to have seen her fight more.

Wabisuke is actually a pretty decent character and I was on his side when it came down to the Love Machine debate. He may have built it, but he sold the program to the US Army. I don’t think that he was in the wrong there since the army is the one who used it. He just wanted the money and building things is what we do. So, I was against Sakae and the others there since Wabisuke didn’t do anything wrong. He helps out in crunchtime and that’s how it should be. He was easily the most likable member of the family.

Kazama is the owner of King Kazma. King Kazma looks like a bunny, but his hand to hand skills are not to be underestimated. In the real world, Kazama became an accomplished fighter and that allows him to type his commands into the computer with a very good amount of speed. It’s all done through the keyboard so you have to be a good button masher. It’s like a less advanced version of Angelic Layer. The line between the cyber world and the real one tends to blur in the film as a person’s psyche seems to go to the digital world sometimes, but it’s technically realistic for the most part. Kazama’s not a bad character although he also tends to panic at some points, which doesn’t help him.

Sakae is a pretty nice lady and she helps out a lot during the big crisis by calling all of her relatives. She has friends in very high places at this point so that’s definitely good for her. I do think that she was in the wrong during the Wabisuke situation, but I guess you can’t win them all right? She’s definitely a decent supporting character and I’m glad that she crushed Kenji in the card game.

The fight scenes are pretty cool when they happen. Unfortunately, they are very short, but it certainly helps the film. A little action here and there is better than none and all of the best scenes are in the cyber world. King Kazma is definitely a solid fighter and the Love Machine’s human form made for a good villain. It’s a little embarrassing that Kenji couldn’t land a single hit, but we can safely say that he was just paralyzed with fear. The true graphics of the server was too much for him so I guess it’s sort of a legitimate reason for his defeat.

I basically covered the animation in the “American” discussion so I don’t really need to go over that again. Needless to say, it is good animation, but I just miss that anime feel. If I had to put a label on it, maybe lack of color is what I’m looking for. The film’s not very colorful in the human world so everyone is pretty faded. It also brings back traumatic memories of FLCL so that could also help me instinctively not like it as much as I could have. I’ve always preferred the traditional animation from TV shows and cash in films to the big budget productions because of this American feel. So, saying that this animation is technically below average for me may sound dicey, but that’s just because it can’t beat the standard animation that anime typically have. It’s naturally tough to compare a realistic slice of life to something like Naruto, but look as Kanon. It was pretty realistic, but the animation is still leagues beyond this one.

There is unfortunately some fanservice in the film at the very end. Natsuki gets a random transformation sequence that doesn’t have a purpose in the film. It was definitely shoehorned in at the very last second and the only bonus is that she got a super form at the end of it. The fanservice was not necessary for this transformation. There is also a brief scene where a baby is sucking to get his nutrients and I always wince there. It’s so unnecessary and I’ve always found that kind of thing gross. Just jot it down as one of the numerous reasons as to why I don’t care for babies. Luckily, it’s only there for an instant, but it’s a “not cool” moment.

As far as slice of life films go, I think the cast was definitely one of the main weak points. The writers seemed to be going for more of a total realistic vibe so it can be dicey. I’m all for really cheery films and they can be pretty fun in their own way like My Little Pony, Frozen, or Pokemon, but this one didn’t work for me. It’s not because they’re happy, but it may be just how expressive they are. They’re just bubbling over with happiness and the comedy scenes don’t work for me.

Actually, I think I just nailed it. The comedy is not my style. Like the old man recounting some of the famous war battles or Kenji constantly blushing. It’s just not my kind of humor I suppose as I prefer sarcasm and jokes that involve witty dialogue or quick thinking. This film has that sophisticated feeling that should definitely work for many, but I couldn’t dig it. On the whole, the film is actually a little hard to describe as we’ve seen throughout this film. I would say that it’s too mainstream, but that also counts titles like Sword Art Online (That was good before the series died in arc 2) and Soul Eater so that’s not specific enough. Maybe it’s more of a mainstream, realistic, film, which is why so much of it just didn’t appeal to me. I typically enjoy things that are not universally accepted like Yugioh GX (Black sheep of Yugioh until Zexal) and the Amazing Spider Man films.

Well, regardless, the film still isn’t a bad one. As I mentioned, the fight scenes are fun when they happen and I do like all of the scenes in the cyber world. You can just imagine how great the film would have been if it had all been there. I could have watched them do battle for 2 hours easy. The avatars were pretty cool and it definitely could have been like Megaman or Accel World. The actual film is about 2 hours and it was maybe a little too long for its own good, but my motto is technically “the longer the better” so it’s always hard to count that as a negative. More length usually equals more fights right? Love Machine’s final form was epic so I’m glad that we got to see that one. It’s too bad that it never got to fight, but I suppose that it was already pretty OP at that point. It’s design is like the Phantom Blot, but given an anime spin, which is basically always a good spin to put on it.

The soundtrack is decent. There aren’t many tunes, but we get a good theme when the Love Machine is beating up on Kenji. It’s a nice techno theme that sets you up for the nice fight that’s about to begin. (It still should have been a lot longer since it would have been awesome to have seen them really go at it. Unfortunately, the kids interfered over in the real world) Unfortunately, that’s one of the only themes in the film so I can’t really say that it’s a good soundtrack, but it gets the job done. I would have liked some more battle themes and that would have definitely helped the film out some more. Fights are the way to victory.

Overall, Summer Wars is a decent film. It’s not quite as good as the average anime film due to a lack of action and the animation style not being my favorite, but things reverse when you compare it to a lot of the big films here in the U.S.A. (Animation films anyway) It can hold its own there and the fight scenes to put it above a lot of them. The cast can be pretty annoying, which drags the film down, but if you want an emotional tale about family and friendship, this is the place for you. If not, check out Super Android 13 for an example of what I’m talking about when I say that you need to watch an anime’s anime film. That one is the perfect example of what to expect inside one of those.

Overall 5/10