If you loved the animated film, I do recommend this manga series written by Hosoda Mamoru but also featuring the wonderful artwork of Sugimoto Iqura. You get a bit more than what was featured in the animated film and it works out wonderfully in trying to show much more in terms of emotion but also in means of overall character development. “Summer Wars: Complete Edition” is recommended!
MANGA TITLE: Summer Wars: Complete Edition
Story by Hosoda Mamoru
Art by Sugimoto Iqura
Character Design by Sadamoto Yoshiyuki
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Kadokawa Shoten
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: Vertical Comics
RATED: T for Teen
JAPAN RELEASE DATE: 2009-2010
US RELEASE DATE: November 6, 2018
Summer Wars: Complete Edition contains volumes 1-3 of the manga in an omnibus edition featuring story by Mamoru Hosoda with illustrations by Iqura Sugimoto.
Kenji Koiso is a high schooler with a crush on Natsuki Shinohara, a kendo club beauty. His aptitude for numbers earns him a part-time job working maintenance on the global virtual reality world, OZ. One day before summer vacation, Natsuki asks Kenji for a favor—accompany her to her great-grandmother’s 90th birthday celebration in the countryside. As Kenji tries to find his footing among the boisterous and tightly-knit Jinnouchi clan, he gets a mysterious email with a complex code and the message: “Solve me.” Little does Kenji know what solving the code will lead to…
In 2009, the animated sci-fi film “Summer Wars” was released in theaters.
Directed by Hosoda Mamoru, best known for his work with Madhouse and then founding “Studio Chizu”, he has received acclaim for films such as “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”, “Wolf Children”, “The Boy and the Beast” and “Mirai”.
The animated film would gross over US$1million for its opening weekend and would achieve success worldwide, earning over $18 million. “Summer Wars” would receive numerous awards such as the 2010 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year, the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival’s Animation Division Grand Prize and many more.
While the animated film would receive a lot of love by fans, the manga series featured on Kadokawa Ace was written by Hosoda Mamoru and featured artwork by Sugmito Iqura.
While the storyline would be the same as the animated film, Hosoda said the manga would explore the emotions of the characters much more, than what was featured in the animated film. So, there are additional artwork that helps build character development than what could have been offered in an animated film.
The manga series was released in tankobon (graphic novel) versions from 2009-2010 in Japan and now all three volumes are collected via Vertical Comics in an omnibus version titled “Summer Wars: Complete Edition”.
The manga begins with Koiso Kenji discussing how he’s good with math yet failed to win during a mathematics competition. While a bit saddened that he was not able to do well, if there is another thing he is good at is taking part of the computer-simulated virtual reality world OZ, which he is a part-time moderator along with his friend Sakuma Takashi.
One day, while the two were moderating, Shinohara Natsuki needs one of their help. While Kenji wanted to volunteer (as he has always been attracted to Natsuki), Takashi is selected. But somehow, for some reason when Takashi finds out what has happened, he decides to bow out and Kenji decides to take part in helping Natsuki out.
Shinohara tells him she would like Kenji to come with her for her great-grandmother Jinnouchi Sakae’s 90th birthday and he must pretend that he is her fiance with other details that he must fib about. While Kenji doesn’t want to lie, for the sake of being closer with Natsuki, he agrees to do it.
And as he meets her family including her 13-year-old cousin Ikezawa Kazuma, who plays a lot on OZ.
Kenji is is introduced to her grandmother as her fiance, and everyone is surprised, her grandmother accepts Kenji and even challenges him to a game of Koi-Koi and has a condition that he must promise her if she wins.
Later that evening, the mood all changes during the family reunion when Natsuki’s half-great uncle, Jinnouchi Wabisuke arrives. No one has seen him for ten years.
Apparently, Jinnouchi was adopted and taken in by the Jinnouchi family and stole the family fortune a decade ago and lived in the US.
Despite taking the money, grandma Sakae is still concerned for his well-being and wants him to eat.
That night, Kenji receives a mysterious e-mail with a mathematical code. He easily cracks it and immediately, an artificial intelligence known as Love Machine has used the code, hacks into Kenji’s OZ account and hacks the infrastructure, causing damage to computer systems worldwide as it now consuming OZ’s mainframe, creating traffic congestion by disabling electronic devices and continues to wreak havoc.
Immediately, media reports that Kenji is responsible and Natsuki’s family are concerned that Natsuki maybe with a criminal. Kenji vows he is innocent.
Kenji wants to do all he can to stop Love Machine but to everyone’s surprise, Jinnouchi Wabsiuke tells him that he can’t. Because he is the person who created the artificial intelligence and the AI can’t be defeated.
But Kenji is determined to stop it. But while doing all he can to stop it, tragedy hits the family.
I absolutely enjoyed the “Summer Wars” animated film and while it has been nearly seven years since I have watched the film, it was great to revisit the storyline in manga format.
And to my surprise, while the animated film was magnificent, the manga series does a great job in exploring Kenji. Because a manga format allows for emotion, subtle things that Kenji sees, may it be him looking at Natsuki, her grandmother, family members, etc. There is more that could be added to develop the character through manga than the animated film.
Hosoda even goes into it at the end of the manga of how the manga was able to accomplish that and how thrilled he was with the end product and I have to agree, the manga was not a rehash, it actually gave us a bit more without affecting the main storyline.
So, if you loved the animated film, I do recommend this manga series written by Hosoda Mamoru but also featuring the wonderful artwork of Sugimoto Iqura. You get a bit more than what was featured in the animated film and it works out wonderfully in trying to show much more in terms of emotion but also in means of overall character development.
“Summer Wars: Complete Edition” is recommended!
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