Meiji Yasuda Life's "Summer Wars" CM

Insurance company Meiji Yasuda unveiled their new commercial featuring the grandma from Hosoda Mamoru’s popular animated film “Summer Wars” which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

The words from grandma (from “Summer Wars”) giving inspiration to a company’s insurance sales representative who was struggling three years ago and being inspired by her to work hard.

As for “Summer Wars”, back 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.

The story 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.

It’s definitely an animated film and manga worth watching and reading!