Summer Wars(サマーウォーズ)

Washington Post by

Considering it's anime, Summer Wars starts out more like a bad romantic comedy.

The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck

Running almost two hours, its increasingly convoluted narrative may be too difficult to follow for younger viewers. But its thematic ambition and dazzling visual style ultimately make it one of the more rewarding anime efforts to reach these shores.

Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas

Hosoda, who directed the cult film "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," has made a sophisticated yet poignant family entertainment with an appeal beyond Japanese animation buffs.

Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov

Summer Wars is a magnificently manufactured piece of film entertainment that goes beyond the obvious and manages to comment, often obliquely, on everything from Facebook to virtual war and/or terrorism without ever seeming heavy-handed or strident.

Time Out by Nick Schager

Summer Wars surprisingly celebrates togetherness and bravery as much as binary-mathematics expertise, all helped along by a kick-ass synthesis of traditional hand-drawn scenes and fluid, rainbow-explosive CG artistry.

Village Voice by Nicolas Rapold

It's hard to appreciate things like the character detail amid the insufferably squealy voicing and arbitrary suspense.

San Francisco Chronicle by Peter Hartlaub

It's the kind of fun and quirky film that you don't see very often in art houses this time of year.

The New York Times by Rachel Saltz

There's a lovely, unhurried quality to Mr. Hosoda's storytelling, which nicely matches the clean, classically composed images of his outer story.

Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea

An enjoyably trippy Japanese animated feature.

Boston Globe by Ty Burr

In Summer Wars, it's what's old that's made to seem refreshingly new.