(L) Summer Wars

[Tyabann]

I have the exact same problem that existed in the v1: The sound desynchs RIGHT when the first battle sequence begins.

It's not unwatchable per se, but I'd much rather not have to watch it like this.

[Jill-Jênn]

I have the same problems. Couldn't you shift the audio track? I shifted the subtitles (-1,250 ms I think) so they could fit with the Korean ones and mask them, but I should have shifted the audio too.

[Zwei]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

About the subs... is anyone else still having synch problems, even with the v2?

I also had problems with the subs, the problem is with the movie itself and not just on your part. I couldn't really enjoy the movie thoroughly which is why I gave it a 5/10 for now.

Considering I also fell asleep during The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, I don't have a good opinion about Satoko Okudera.

[Tyabann]

Despite issues, I managed to watch it... and I loved it.

9/10 if only because OZ is the coolest virtual world ever.

[Fevvers]

Hmmm... Just watched the show, and well, it was okay. Nothing bad, just decent. I thought TokiKake was better to be honest, though Summer Wars also suffered some of the same faults I saw in the former, namely the jarring transition between lighthearted fun to Serious Business and the forceful sledgehammering in some scenes.

If there's one thing I do like in this film though, as I always end up liking in previous Hosoda films, is the carefree and teasing (and if I may say so as well, realistic) banter between the characters, as with Natsuki's family here. It was a familiar scene, the gossipy aunts and uncles, naughty and curious nieces and nephews, the token eccentric... Needless to say, it brought a smile to my face.

Voice acting is brilliant as well, along with their inflections. Then again, I felt the same way with TokiKake.

Overall, it's not Hosoda's best, however it was still an enjoyable if not an ultimately unmemorable ride.

[SuperKnuckles]

I agree. It jumped too much from the sci-fi stuff to the family stuff and it felt like it didn't quite know where its head is until maybe the final 30 minutes. But by then, the story came awfully close to being extremely cliche.. Well, it WAS cliche, but at least it wrapped up nicely unlike that totally unexplainable twist in Tokikake.

Though I agree, Tokikake was the more fun movie, before that silly time travel twist.

The family thing in itself was pretty funny though. Just a whole body tangle of a matriarch family.

[roriconfan]

Recipe: Take one half standard slice of life comedy with ecchi overtones, and one half Digimon formula. Stir them in a bawl for ninety minutes and add a rather high budget for flavour. The result is Summer Wars.

As simple as the above description sounds, this is what the movie is all about. The basic story is the following:

Spoiler:

We have the stereotypical spineless geek boy (blushes even by touching a girl), with a bad future career yet with a good heart, being forced to pretend being the lover and future husband of the prettiest girl of his school to her entire family, just because she promised her one step before the grave grandmother to let her see the next heir of their proud, old fashioned house. Some misunderstandings, some ecchi, some erotic teasing and lots of secondary characters in the form of relatives doing their eccentric stuff. And then the story switches to the internet, where the dork’s virtual avatar is hijacked by an A.I. which plans to absorb all the unreal and bring chaos to the entire world and must be stopped with the aid of beat-them-up players.

It is an ok scenario for a movie that never tries to be serious but doesn’t want to be for kids either. The cast is very lively albeit following the stereotypes by the book and without leaving too much room for much or any smooth character development. So, it does help you spend your time in a joyful way without making you think of gasp too much.

The animation is of rather high budget as the characters have a wonderful lively body language and the 3D visuals used to represent the virtual world are indeed geeky detailed and very reminiscent of videogames. Each block of arena or message board is represented in an interesting way and Love Machine’s Hindu God appearance and battle style are plain awesome. Even the real world is presented fine in all its typical glory, with characters being drawn in plain outfits fitting their persona and a house mixing the traditional with the modern in decoration… inside a land-bound ship, in the green outskirts. You still can’t consider the whole thing as good as a Miyazaki production as the animation is not that smooth in motion or rich in textures but the aesthetics are in the right place and win the viewer in what they show. A thing that I don’t know if exists separately than the rest are the huge Korean hardsubs that filled almost one third of the screen and hid a lot of stuff from my eyes.

Voice acting felt rather dry as although the actors tried to breathe life into their characters, they still don’t sound very professional. Maybe this applies just to the Japanese dub since it is basically a Korean production. Anyway, besides this minor glitch, the characters feel alive and interesting and the background music is somewhat epic in style with all that happens while the sound effects during the battles are pretty damn good.

In all, it was a fine movie to spend the evening although it is not a masterpiece in any way as the plot is far fetched and flows too convenient while the characters are just colourful stereotypes without much room for development.

[Jill-Jênn]

By the way, I loved the unexpected “Morning Musume” in the subs xD

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

Recipe: Take one half standard slice of life comedy with ecchi overtones

Uh. Were we watching the same movie?

[Jill-Jênn]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

Uh. Were we watching the same movie?

Maybe he got a fake xD

[roriconfan]

I did not. The tendency to add erotic frustration in everything is obvious. Heck, twist it a bit and it can turn to an average ecchi comedy.

[Fatuous One]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

I have the exact same problem that existed in the v1: The sound desynchs RIGHT when the first battle sequence begins.

It's not unwatchable per se, but I'd much rather not have to watch it like this.

I've only heard of people having problems with the 718 one. The original lone .ass sub worked for me perfectly.

[puretsundere]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

The tendency to add erotic frustration in everything is obvious. Heck, twist it a bit and it can turn to an average ecchi comedy.

Umm, this is the Summer Wars forum, right? *checks*
Because that seems like a description of the Kanokon OVAs. Now that's an ecchi comedy.

Honestly, in the entire movie, the only thing even remotely close to ecchi for me was when Natsuki was in the bath, which lasted all of six seconds. I guess you interpreted the movie differently from me (which is fine), but I don't see the ecchi overtones.

[Jill-Jênn]

And for “Morning Musume”, did you notice it too?

[Fatuous One]

Hm? Why was it unexpected? Tasuke said Morning Musume (Moumusu), so it was in the subs.

[Guardian Enzo]

That was a thoroughly enjoyable effort from Hosoda Mamoru and Madhouse. I loved the manic, breathless sense of impending chaos that permeated the movie - starting with Natsuki's insane extended family and carrying right through to the cyberterrorism plot. Oz was a very cool and well-designed universe, and served the plot well - the nuts and bolts of the A.I. takeover were beyond silly, but of course that's not really the point. The characters were eccentric and interesting and the general premise was a winner. One thing I especially like is that SW, just as TGWLTT did, throws you a curve midway through. What's set up as a very clever premise for a screwball romantic comedy suddenly gives way to a science-fiction story in mid-stream - but never totally loses the screwball romantic comedy impulse at it's heart.

Of course it shouldn't even need to be said, but the character designs are terrific. Yoshiyuki Sadamoto is the man here, just as he was for TGWLTT, and for my money he's the best the industry has ever seen.

[Azuma Denton]

Yeah, everything that Mamoru Hosada state at AFA is true.
He states that he is taking an element from Digimon. A story about big crazy yet heart-warming family.

Truly fabolous...
It's been a long time since i last saw an anime movie so touching like this.
The last is Makoto Shinkai's 5cm...


Yeah, i like Kazuma's Digimon avatar and Natsuki's goddess avatar.
Too bad Kenji doesnt get its own cool avatar.


EDIT: I'm definitely waiting for the proper DVDRip...
The Korean Leak is still not enjoyable on some part...

[nero23]

If you use the original Korean file with the hardsubs, and delay the subtitles after the glitch at around the 30 minute mark for 2 seconds, the subs more or less fit together. The Korean file doesn't suffer from the audio desync.

I made this sub out of the one floating around, with the timing adjustments and some edits.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by ac195

OMG, "Skynet" is gonna kill us all...

OH NOES, Agent Smith has gone rogue...

Still a decent movie though, and hey... at least they didn't save the world by winning a game of tic-tac-toe... hanafuda is definitely a step-up from that.

Haha I was feeling it more like one of those Digimon movies. Evil program causing chaos on the internet and nearly blowing everything to hell.

Originally Posted by Azuma Denton

Yeah, i like Kazuma's Digimon avatar and Natsuki's goddess avatar.
Too bad Kenji doesnt get its own cool avatar.

Yeah let's face it Kenji's original and replacement were both pretty lame . At least he managed to help save the day though nearly causing his brain to explode in the process.

Natsuki's was nice. Gotta love getting a power boost so she can engage in the final round of....well cards. Bet Kazuma wouldn't have minded a hand when he was fighting. Still Kazuma's was pretty nice, though damn it had some rough times in this movie.

Overall enjoyed watching it. Have to say that was the most critical game of rock paper scissors that Kenji will ever win .

[Azuma Denton]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Haha I was feeling it more like one of those Digimon movies. Evil program causing chaos on the internet and nearly blowing everything to hell.

It's not suprising. Mamoru Hosada is one of the director of Digimon. He himself also mention that there is some element from Digimon he is applying in Summer Wars.

Yeah let's face it Kenji's original and replacement were both pretty lame . At least he managed to help save the day though nearly causing his brain to explode in the process.

Jyah, his brain must be as hot as that big server behind him...
Nose bleed...