So to conclude…. I’m gonna go watch this movie again.

I wrote about the movie here.
http://www.mangatherapy.com/post/1659502530/summer-wars

Summer Wars also probably wants to teach responsibility when it comes to technology.

Yeah, connection between people is a big part of the movie, whether it’s something simple and traditional like family or something complex and modern like the OZ world.

The technology+tradition aspect is certainly reflective of Japan’s uniqueness as a country that is perhaps the most technologically advanced, yet continues to hang on to centuries-old customs, traditions, and ideologies.

I believe there have been other anime where America’s militaristic tenancies have been highlighted. I guess some people might have a problem with that but I think it’s pretty realistic.

I watched a low-quality avi file of Summer Wars. Watching those OZ scenes on Blu-Ray would be amazing. Hope I can do that one day =)

The main message I got was that no matter what medium, we’re all connected in someway (even if only 13.5% of the accounts got behind Natsuki).. I feel their meaning was that the world of the internet is supposed to be just a medium for communication in comparison with when Sakae called all her acquaintances to calm everyone is equally like the Jinnochi avatars bonding all around Japan for the trap.

I’m reminded of the proverb “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” from the OZ problem. Already we’re starting to see the beginnings of an OZ-like situation with World of Warcraft and Second Life and that does lead to a possible situation (WoW already has some money related concepts iirc).

As for your point about technology mixing in with the old culture, I feel that it’s much like Japan’s society to mix current technology with old traditions more so than in other countries. The shot of the satellite dish on the mansion before everyone brought all the vehicles in seems to go along with that theme.

Personally, I thought it was a big point to mention that it was released by the American military. That seemed a bit too realistic in my opinion given the past actions of that military. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an virus-like problem come about within the future as we do become more reliant on networks (such as online money transactions and databases).

I’m incredibly tempted at the current moment to purchase the DVD/Blu-Ray, but I’ve got a trip in the process of being planned, so I may have to hold off until then to get it.

Yeah, the concept of the entire Internet being contained within one Facebook/Gaia/Skype-like program makes for intense suspense and plot possibilities. But like we’ve both mentioned, reality isn’t really too far from becoming like that.

You’re right that the ethics of OZ are not the concern of the movie. OZ has just been accepted by all the characters and the real concern is the virus that disrupts it. But for me at least, a hidden, subtle concern is whether something as massive as OZ should exist at all.

I’m going to just cut and repaste what I said before:

“Summer Wars imagines a future where a single ubiquitous digital environment controls a lot of very important things. But the amazing thing is that Oz itself isn’t the threat. It isn’t even very elitist or arcane. It actually seems quite nice, even familiar. That’s probably because it is: The social interaction is kind of Facebook and kind of Skype, the avatars are a better take on Gaia Online, the shopping and data management is all stuff we do now.”