For once, it's a reasonably new release I'm talking about... Summer Wars just came out on DVD and Blu-Ray a couple of days back. It's a nice anime movie, concerning a high-school computer/math nerd and the popular girl that convinces him to accompany her to a family gathering in the countryside, where she expects him to pass himself off as her fiancee. Of course, the family turns out to be "landed" family from several hundred years back that, while no longer rich, still has influential contacts all over, which poses its own set of problems... and there's a standardized, worldwide computer architecture that covers everything from gaming to mission-critical systems (which, for any budding computer engineers out there, would be a Bad Thing)... and something gets let loose in that system, so additional chaos ensues.
Now, having read that, it would be fair to assume that the movie is an impenetrable mish-mash of story lines from a group that couldn't make up their mind as to what sort of film they really wanted to make. Nothing could be further from the truth... whether it's the mix of real life and online activity, or the ratio of funny to sad bits, the one word that best describes this movie is balanced. Yes, there are a few characters who stand out, but it's not in the sense of "here's the anointed hero coming to save the day" that is so common in anime... rather, there are a few necessary roles needed to give the story the gentle nudges it needs to get started or keep going, but, outside of those moments, it's really a case of everybody doing what they feel is the right thing. Sometimes, that "right thing" turns out to be terribly wrong... but, that's life, isn't it?
So, long story short, it's not a perfect film, but it's definitely worth your time to watch. I think the DVD version, at least, is available through Netflix... if you can get your hands on the Blu-Ray, all the better.
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