Why "Summer Wars" is More Than Just a Rehash of "Our War Game!" to Me

©Akiyoshi Hongo・Toei Animation ©Toei・Toei Animation・Shueisha・Fuji TV・Bandai ©2009 SUMMER WARS FILM PARTNERS

When I first saw Summer Wars some time in 2010, it was my second time seeing a Mamoru Hosoda film, as I had seen the Digimon film Our War Game! when it was shown on domestic TV some years before. Like many people who had seen both, of course I noticed the similarity of their plots; both of them involve a malevolent digital entity wreaking havoc on the real world by making internet-connected devices and services go haywire, and in the climax, the main characters attempting to stop it must race against time as it threaten to obliterate them with a deadly strike from the skies (a nuclear missile strike in Our War Game!, an asteroid probe collision in Summer Wars).

Those similarities have attracted various comparisons over the years, discussing the similarities, differences, and the merits of each film (take these articles and videos, just as some examples). What I would like to do here, though, is to add a personal account on why I regard Summer Wars to be more than just a rehash of Our War Game!, and why I still value the former most dearly among Hosoda’s filmography.

As noted in the articles cited above, a key difference between the two films is in the interpersonal relationships and conflicts of the characters. Our War Game! is a part of the Digimon media franchise, and it stars the main characters from the TV series, chosen children and their Digital Monster partners who have saved both the Digital and real worlds before. It shows them now drifting apart due to differing real life commitments and rocky relationships, hindering them from fully coming back together to face a new digital threat. Friendship is the principal relationship of the film.

"A Japanese family will save the world." ©2009 SUMMER WARS FILM PARTNERS

In comparison, Summer Wars is a more standalone film; the characters are original to the film itself. The protagonist, Kenji, finds himself brought by his senior Natsuki to attend her great-grandmother Jinnouchi Sakae’s birthday at the Jinnouchi family estate as Natsuki’s pretend fiancé. When the digital menace strikes, Kenji has to work together with and brings together the Jinnouchi family to put an end to it. While family is not the only relationship that matters in the film—in one striking sequence, Sakae leverages her decades-worth of social capital using an analog telephone to give emotional support to those working to keep the situation under control—pretty much all of the relationships revolve around the family.

Hosoda has mentioned that Summer Wars drew inspiration from his own experience meeting his then fiancé’s relatives, and that through it he wanted to convey the overwhelming experience of suddenly becoming a part of a family with a bunch of people with whom he had no prior relationship with. And I do think that the single child Kenji’s interactions with the Jinnouchis convey that really well. However, I also personally see the film from a different position.

It's not a familiar situation for Kenji, but... ©2009 SUMMER WARS FILM PARTNERS

In my country, economic development has led to much migration to urban agglomerations such as that of the capital Jakarta. During long holiday seasons like that of the Eid-al-Fitr, it is common for families to make a homecoming trip popularly known as mudik to the town or village where they come from to meet with their relatives. My family was no exception to this tradition, making annual trips especially to my maternal grandparents’ home. During such trips our family would stay at least for several days at together that home with my mother’s siblings and their families. I would play games—indoor and outdoor—with my cousins, we would have cakes and meals together (my late grandma loved to make those), among other things. It’s not too different from the Jinnouchis in Summer Wars. Even unpleasant family secrets and frictions are something that I can relate to as well. So, rather than with Kenji, I actually relate more with Natsuki as a regular participant of such a large family gathering.

The busy kitchen of my grandma's home is one of the memorable parts of my childhood ©2009 SUMMER WARS FILM PARTNERS

And that’s also why Summer Wars feels so dear to me; I see a part of my own childhood life experience that I don’t get from Our War Game!. It doesn’t mean Our War Game! is a lesser work than Summer Wars, of course. Rather than a matter of which one is better, it just demonstrates how someone’s personal contexts can influence how much a piece of media can affect them, something The Weeb Crew Podcast touched upon in their episode with fandom scholar Patrick Galbraith. Other people who don’t share a similar life experience as me may not share a similar sentiment for the film, but it’s still something that have much value to me.

Before ending this piece, I want to address one more thing. I mentioned earlier that I saw Our War Game! when it was shown on domestic TV. To be precise, I actually saw it during one of those long mudik trips. We were taking a rest on one of the rest areas along the way, and I spent the time watching TV at a restaurant there. The restaurant’s TV was showing Our War Game! and having been a viewer of the TV series, I really enjoyed it. it’s a concise film with thrilling stakes, and it was cool to see Omegamon in action for the first time. Thankfully, the film isn’t too long and we stayed at the rest area long enough for me to watch the film until the end.

So, in the end, my experiences with Our War Game! and Summer Wars were both actually tied to the memories of mudik after all.