Summer Wars (2009)

Hurrah! Summer has arrived, fourth of July celebrations have been commencing a day early, and my cat is passed out on my glass table.

With the coming of summer, comes the parade of geek conventions. I've just attended the anime convention in Anaheim, called Am2. I had an amazing time, all the while modeling my first cosplay outfit! It wasn't perfect, but alot of pride and heart went into it.

So how befitting is it to mention "Summer Wars?". Very.

If you've seen "Digimon: the Movie", then you would be familiar with the middle story arc. Where the Ty and TJ(?) fought an online monster that threatened to dismantle technology for everyone. That was the most awesome and exciting part of the movie. I believe the writer or creater of that segment wanted to expand that story,and thus came out with "Summer Wars".

In the movie, the internet is visualized as a bright world inhabited by avatars of different forms. We are introduced to two high school students who work as maintenance drones for the system;Kenji and his best friend (whose name I forgotten because his part is so minor). Kenji is approached by his crush, Natsuki for a simple enough favor by accompanying her to a family reunion in the country. Once he gets there, Natsuki drops the bomb by revealing the real reason she invited him: To pretend to be her boyfriend. Why? I forget but damn that would just piss me off.

In fact, I see no reason why Kenji has a crush on Natsuki. She's pretty vapid and mean. They do eventually get together but I only see it because he was the one to save the world. Natsuki reminds me of those cheerleaders who bypass the nerds who write eloquent love letters to jump into the arms of the quarterback who made the winning pass. The same quarterback that will later spend hours playing Halo instead of realizing she exists. Ok, that is way off tangent.

For some reason I can't remember, kenji recieves a text with a mathematical code he has to decipher. Apparently that's his thing. Most people have suduko, he has math puzzles. Unfortunately, this math puzzle unlocks the access into the internet world, paving the way for a mysterious data gobbler that begins to mess with everything. From credit cards, to machine portals, to nuclear weapon access. EVERYTHING.

Although he becomes a wanted fugitive overnight, Kenji attempts to right the wrongs. With the reluctant help of Natsuki and her family, Kenji's adventures lead him to not only save the world but to also unite a family.

Some parts of the movie did drag on for a bit. Hence why I can't remember certain plot points. For the most part, it was pretty fun and become exciting and suspenseful towards the end. There were a few heartbreaking parts but mostly it was fun.

The character that really stood out for me was Natsuki's grandmother. She had the most fleshed out backstory and she was bad ass! Props for the granny!

Kenji was kind of boring. It made me wish that Ty would come by and push Kenji aside.

You already know my thoughts on Natsuki.

The style is not similar but even more shinier if possible. I kept thinking of the Takashi Murakami art exhibit I saw at MOCA in LA. Just in a very PG sense. Think of clean, solid colors in a glowing background. Often times, I hurt my eyes trying to focus on characters but I eventually got used to it.

I know I mentioned the battles and the final fight. I believe that those fights carry the power of the movie and by describing them, I will dilute the awesome. So I won't. Enjoy.

I believe there are lessons in this movie. Not one central lesson but many. One may possibly point out to the vulnerable of peoples dependence to the internet. Another may be blood is thicker than water. I'm leaning more for " you just don't know who anyone is until shit hits the fan".

All in all, I still enjoyed the movie and definitely adding to my "Must Get" pile. Toodles :)