This week,
Mamoru Hosoda's latest anime masterwork,
Summer Wars, came out in Blu-Ray and DVD. I thought this would make an excellent topic for this new article I call
Thinking Out Loud.
Summer Wars/Our War Game Fan-Art
Any
of you who watched the video review Tom and I recorded for this site
know that I gave it a 4.5/5 rating. If you have not seen the video
review, I suggest you go
watch it before
you continue reading. Watching the movie might also be ideal, since I
will be relying on light spoilage. During the review, I heavily
defended
Digimon Adventure: Our War Game (
Digimon: Bokura no War Game) as the original source for most of
Summer Wars' plot. Most people are unaware of this, so I decided to show you a comparison of the "Hosoda Wars".
The two movies I'm comparing,
Summer Wars and
Digimon: Our War Game,
have a nine year difference and yet a lot of aspects are alike. The
first thing I want to talk about is the setting. Digimon, a
pre-established franchise, is already based off a digital world where
the existence of these creatures called
Digimon inhabit. Using the Internet as the setting for Digimon is not unexpected.
Summer Wars, on the other hand, is set in a realistic present time setting where people use an advance section of the Internet called
OZ.
According to the movie, OZ is what social networking will be like in a
couple of years. The users can create an avatar that can be used for
entertainment, business, gaming, shopping, and even health purposes in
Japan's day-to-day life. The look of the Internet and OZ is quite
similar also:
While
digimon are separate entities than their human partners, their
connection to the people in the "real world" is very similar to the
avatars in Summer Wars' users. In both movies when the Internet
connection resulted to be a problem to continue navigating the internet,
the avatar and the digimon "powered down", even though the digimon have
a will of their own.
The main villain of both movies is a
virus that wrecks havoc for the inter-webs. Digimon's antagonist is a
virus/digimon hybrid called Infermon (named Diaboromon when digivolved)
who is eating the internet's information that causes streetlights, cell
phones, computers, and other electronic appliances to go haywire. Summer
Wars' antagonist is not all that different. The virus is called
Love Machine created
to take over avatars and eat OZ's digital information as a weapons test
drive. Since OZ is connected to pretty much everything, the
malfunctions causes chaos for all of Japan. Both villains create
impossible situations for the protagonist that not only create
repercussions for the safety of the world but makes for a fascinating
visual-intake of Internet battles.
The
reality of the situation is that while both villains cause chaos,
nothing compares to the repercussions that lead to the climax. I guess
it is my duty to call it out: Spoiler! The viruses end up sending a nuke
(
Our War Game)/satellite (
Summer Wars) hurdling down to
Earth, with the coordinates set for the protagonist's location. This is
the moment in both movies when we worry for the safety of the characters
even more as both villains set a countdown for impact.
The
final battle does also bare similarities in both movies. I won't give
it away, but in both cases there is a point in the movie when the heroes
seem helpless against their combatant. This is the Internet of course,
and nothing is kept a secret in the World Wide Web. While this is
happening, the rest of the world is watching through their electronic
devices. In Our War Game, the overload of onlookers create for a perfect
liability and an asset. The e-mails sent in favor of the heroes is
brings enough strength to the table to defeat the villain. Summer Wars
does not depart too much from this idea. Rather than using e-mails, the
heroes are helped by the overload of user's avatars in favor of helping
defeat Love Machine.
Summer Wars/Our War Game Fan-Art
Let
me make it clear, I am not saying that both movies are identical to
each other. The plot of each one is taken into different directions
while still maintaining the similar plot devices to move the story
forward. The biggest difference between them is the large cast
both hold.
Digimon uses pre-established characters that people can not automatically jump in and understand.
Summer Wars on the other hand, introduces a complete new cast of characters, all being developed in front of the viewers eyes.
Digimon,
having 50+ anime episodes that allowed the character development needed
does not accomplish what Summer Wars establishes in a 90 minute film.
Is
one better than the other? I don't think so. These two movies are the
result of an exceptional work of double vision. Nine years ago,
Our War Game showcased
the characters I know and love. From an outsider's perspective the
movie alone would leave a lot to be desired for. As an addition to this
large franchise this is the perfect fit. Summer Wars is a contemporary
movie that, as we have mentioned before here on the site, would be the
best way to introduce anyone to anime. In the end both of these
fun-filled, action-packed family films carry that Hosoda stamp that are
sure to ensure an exceptional entertainment experience.
dikutip dari
http://www.animevice.com/news/summer-wars-vs-digimon-our-war-game/5100/
