Summer Wars Review

Summer Wars

Japanese Title: サマーウォーズ

Chinese Title: 夏日大作戰

Genre: Science Fiction, Comedy, Romance

Language: Japanese

Year: 2009

Synopsis:

Math wizard Kenji Koiso accompanies his schoolmate Natsuki Shinohara to her great-grandma’s home for the preparation of her 90^th birthday. He meets Sakae Jinnouchi, the birthday celebrant, and is shocked when Natsuki introduces him as her boyfriend. Later on, Natsuki privately tells Kenji that she did that to please her great-grandma and begs him to continue pretending.

Natsuki’s relatives, who are also at the house to help in the preparation, are descendants of a samurai. During Kenji’s stay at Sakae’s place, he receives a mysterious email containing nothing but a series of numbers. Thinking that it is a math problem, he cracks the code and sends a reply even without knowing the sender. The next day, he learns that OZ, a virtual reality world, has been hacked by a high school student. To his surprise, his picture is flashed all over the news, making him the suspect.

The world has been dependent on OZ. With OZ quickly falling to pieces, chaos ensues. The real culprit is an artificial intelligence known as the Love Machine. Kenji has to do something to stop the terrorism. Together with Natsuki and her huge family, Kenji tries to fix the problem before it is damaged beyond repair.

Cheerfulnuts’ Review:

Summer Wars is about helping each other and being confident with one’s skills. Kenji is a boy who seriously lacks confidence despite being a math whiz. In his short stay in Sakae’s house where he gets a chance to meet Natsuki’s relatives, he learns the value of family. When OZ starts to fall into pieces, through Kenji’s determination, the Jinnouchi clan sticks more closely together to defeat the Love Machine.

There’s one point in the movie where the family has to choose between two important things. While OZ is quickly taking people’s accounts, Kenji speaks out (something that he has never done before) and tells the family to focus defeating the Love Machine before it harms another person, to which Naomi violently reacts. She asks, “How can we worry about other people in a day like this?” In a meeting among the males, Riichi agrees with Kenji and says, “You’re right. You have to protect others to protect yourself.” This line may not be true at all times, but I like the message.

I love seeing the characters help each other, and that, I think, is the gist of the story. With everyone’s encouragement, Kenji becomes tougher and more confident. Summer Wars shows us that it doesn’t need physical strength to be a hero. Everyone can be a hero.

My gripe is Summer Wars is a bit overwhelming to watch. It’s easy to get mixed up with the names and the faces. There are too many characters all at once. With so many characters, it’s difficult to fully appreciate each of them. Having said that, the huge number of characters makes this movie much more entertaining. The story is set mostly in a single place – Sakae’s house. I could imagine that if there were only a few people there, I would have felt like watching a movie about human extinction or about a massacre of people living inside a house.

The OZ is a bit complicated concept to understand. I wish the movie would have shown more concretely how the virtual world is connected with reality. Nevertheless, it is very amusing and fun to watch the avatars interact in the virtual world.

My conclusion is, Summer Wars is not really a remarkable movie, but it’s still cute to watch.

Cheerfulnuts’ Verdict:

6 out of 10 stars

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Spirited Away Review

Sprited Away

Japanese Title: 千と千尋の神隠し

Chinese Title: 千與千尋

The Spiriting Away of Sen and Chihiro

Genre: Fantasy- Adventure

Language: Japanese

Year: 2001

Synopsis:

Ten-year-old Chihiro, together with her parents, is on her way to their new home. She is upset about the move and her parents try to convince her that the change isn’t so bad. They get lost and reach an old building with a dark entrance. Curious, her parents decide to go in despite Chihiro’s protest. They get in and find themselves in what seems like an abandoned theme park. They go further into the area and find lines of restaurants with food on the counter. Chihiro’s parents start to eat while Chihiro looks at the place in awe. It starts to get dark, but when Chihiro goes back to her parents, both have already turned into pigs. As she panics, a mysterious boy named Haku comes to her rescue. She learns that humans aren’t welcomed there, and Haku tells her to find work in order to stay and to save her parents. She is later faced with Yubaba, the head of the bathhouse. Yubaba allows her to work in the bathhouse in exchange for her name. She is now called Sen instead. She starts living in the strange world where she encounters different interesting creatures. At the same time, she tries not to forget who she is and why she is there.

Cheerfulnuts’ Review:

This is not just “another” Hayao Miyazaki movie, but rather, this is one of the movies that had rose Mr. Miyazaki more to fame. Spirited Away is magical and memorable. You will see many interesting (and some creepy) creatures in the movie. As a non-Japanese, I am amused seeing even trivial things that are Japanese. I love everything about the bathhouse. The animation is very fluid and an eye-candy. It is not a bit surprising that it had won the Best Animation at the 75^th Academy Award. Anyone who sees the movie would be immediately glued to the screen.

We could also see how Chihiro, the main character, developed into a better person. From a little girl who is afraid of change or trying new things, to a girl who is more courageous, mature, and loyal. I love seeing her grow and develop some friendships in her adventure.

Like most of Studio Ghibli’s movies, Spirited Away has its subtle romance. Even for a movie that caters to younger audience, the romance is not too cheesy and not too corny. It’s just right for all ages.

I really can’t think of a flaw in this movie, except that I don’t get it 100%. Spirited Away is one of those movies that you don’t understand completely but still love. After I finished watching it, there were some questions in my head. But my questions simply made Spirited Away more mysterious and more fascinating. This movie is something I’d love to watch over and over again, making it my all-time favourite. I highly recommend it to everyone. This is a great movie that is very engaging and would keep your eyes glued to the screen from beginning till end.

Cheerfulnuts’ Verdict:

10 out of 10 stars

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The Secret World of Arrietty Review

The Secret World of Arrietty

Japanese Title: 借りぐらしのアリエッティ

Chinese Title: 借物少女艾莉緹

Alternative Title: The Borrower Arrietty

Language: Japanese

Year: 2010

Based on the English novel The Borrowers (written by Mary Norton), The Secret World of Arrietty is a 2010 Japanese animation film created by Studio Ghibli (the creator of Princess Mononoke and The Spirited Away). It is directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and is written by Hayao Miyazaki, director of several famous anime, and Keiko Niwa. It will be released early this year in the US by Walt Disney Pictures.

The movie won The Animation of the Year award in the 34th Japan Academy Awards.

Note: Borrowers are little people who get their supplies such as food, clothing, and other materials from humans. They are very careful not to be seen by humans since they do not trust them.

Synopsis:

Fourteen-year-old Arrietty is excited to go to her first “borrowing” with her father. She has been training hard for that day. Her family is the only Borrowers left in the area. On her first borrowing, she is accidentally seen by Sho, a sickly teenage boy who has just moved into the old house where Arrietty’s family borrows. She panics and drops a sugar cube to the floor. Though her kind keeps away from humans, Arrietty is curious about Sho. Sho also is fascinated with Arrietty and has been waiting for her reappearance since then. Despite their differences, they feel a connection with each other. After a few more encounters, their friendship starts to grow.

Cheerfulnuts’ Review:

The Secret World of Arrietty didn’t win the Animation of the Year award for nothing. The movie is a complete eye-candy.  I can watch it over and over again and still be amazed by its fluid movement. It is excellent not only in animation but also in every aspect – story, characters, sound, and voice acting.

In The Secret World of Arrietty, it’s more than just the good looks. There is something special about each character. The characters are very endearing. I love how Ghibli movies portray love and friendship between two characters. Since the main characters are young, it is easy for children viewers to identify with them. Despite the movie being made for young audience, it’s not “corny” so adults can still appreciate it.

I find love stories that are very subtle very sweet, though honestly, I’m not even sure if The Secret World of Arriety falls under this category. In the movie, no words of love have been said. You can only see their growing affection for each other through their actions. To me, the subtlety made the movie much more interesting.

I highly recommend this movie to everyone. I had enjoyed a few Ghibli movies before. As a Ghibli fan, I can say that The Secret World of Arrietty doesn’t disappoint me. I love it and will definitely watch it again.

P.S. Before watching the movie for the first time, don’t watch the US trailer (I haven’t seen the Japanese trailer yet). It shows almost the entire movie and there won’t be any mystery left for you.

Cheerfulnuts’ Verdict:

10 out of 10 stars

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