Summer Wars: After the success of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Madhouse gave the director a chance to create an original movie this time. Hosoda Mamoru created a movie based on the concept of virtuality and Artificial Intelligence. And how two characters deal with the frontier drawn by reality clashing against the utopian universe of social media. One of the protagonists is a Math prodigy presented as a lonely student. And another one, the daughter of a big family coming back home for vacations.
The director wanted to create 80 members of a big family in the city of Ueda. Characterized as a family of Samurai ascendance, with pride in protecting all members as the Land itself. Based on the real Samurai Sanada clan, who once governed over Ueda. Hosoda was influenced after meeting the family of his wife. And the shock for himself to be accepted into a big family. The virtual world of the social media OZ was strongly influenced by the classic Nintendo aesthetics and the Japanese website Mixi. But the work of Murakami Takashi was one definitive factor in creating the colorful net of OZ.
Hosoda Mamoru and The Superflat Aesthetics
Hosode Mamoru is a director always looking for inspiration in his own experience through life. Before the production of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. he was in charge of the development of Howl’s Moving Castle as director of the Ghibli’s movie. The project ended in development’s hell and he stepped down. Coming back to Toei and taking over several small projects. The same time when he directed Ojamajo’s episode that would get the attention of Madhouse. But before that, he went into work with artist Murakami Takashi.
Murakami Takashi is a popular contemporary Japanese artist. Commonly associated with a trend to break down the barriers of the Elite arts and popular content like anime and manga. He developed the Superflat theory. Seen in the West as a basic critic of popular art in Japan, the concept is more a revalorization of postwar era illustration in Japan. With Superflat, the artist tried to destroy the concept of high arts and low ones. A flat surface makes a painting by a famous and celebrated artist to be at the same level of a manga, or even those of the Japanese Shunga, an influence for today’s Hentai anime.
Hosoda Mamoru collaborated with Murakami Takashi for a Louis Buiton Bags campaign. And went to incorporate some of the concepts of Superflat into the social media OZ. But more into the way he blended the reality of Ueda with the virtual world. The same way this will be the basis for another of his movies, years later: Belle. Take a look at the official website of Takaoka Collections to have a taste of the Superflat world.
Summer Wars is Hosoda Mamoru at his best
Summer Wars brings back some magic from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Sadamoto Yoshiyuki designed characters for the movie. Yes, the designer from the original Neon Genesis Evangelion. And Okudera Satoku took charge of the script once again. As she will collaborate with the director for Wolf Children. The song for the movie “Our Summer Dream”, is by the worldwide famous Yamashita Tatsuro, popular these days thanks to the Youtube labeled City Pop genre.
The success of his first movie built up high expectations for Summer Wars. And Kadokawa promoted the film in Japan as overseas markets. The pre-sales of tickets alone made it a success between audiences. Summer Wars premiered on August 1, 2009. And it is still today the best movie by Hosoda Mamoru, in my humble opinion.