Summer Wars & The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Kenji, the teenage hero of Summer Wars, is an alternate for the Japanese Math Olympics team, but math is the only thing he\'s good at. He works part-time doing maintenance for the global computer network Oz, so he jumps at the opportunity when his pretty classmate Natsuki offers him a job--until he discovers she wants him to pose as her fiancé at her grandmother\'s 90th birthday celebration. Kenji has his hands full coping with Natsuki\'s large, eccentric family, who constantly refer to their samurai ancestors as they squabble with each other. But when a malicious AI program known as The Love Machine attacks Oz, Kenji has to solve a series of complex mathematical puzzles to prevent the cyberterrorist from causing a disaster. Mamoru Hosoda captures the oppressive heat of the Japanese summer in the sequences involving Kenji and Natsuki; Oz is rendered in a brightly colored, hallucinatory style. Hosoda worked with Takashi Murakami on the "Superflat" project, and the avatars that populate Oz reflect its depraved cuteness. Summer Wars was a critical and box-office hit in Japan, and deserves a wide audience in America. Hosoda, who also made The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006), is clearly one of the most interesting directors working in Japan. (Suitable for ages 12 and older: brief nudity, cartoon violence) --Charles Solomon

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time scored a big hit in Japan in 2006, and has been eagerly awaited by American otaku. Makoto Konno regards herself as a normal high-school student. She\'s smart, but not brilliant; a little clumsy, but not a klutz; well-liked, but not a social star. Her favorite pastime is playing baseball with her best friends: handsome, studious Kosuke Tsuda and shaggy, offbeat Chiaki Mamiya. When Makoto nearly loses her life in a bicycle accident, she escapes by moving back through time. Her aunt tells her the talent isn\'t unusual in girls her age, and Makoto begins exploiting her ability. But her efforts to improve the present backfire, making school, friendship, and romance even more complicated and difficult--until she discovers a surprising secret about Chiaki. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo) has remained a popular property in Japan since Yasutaka Tsutsui\'s novel appeared in 1967: It\'s been filmed repeatedly in live action and adapted to a manga. Mamoru Hosoda\'s animated prequel to the original story blends warmth and fantasy in ways usually associated with Studio Ghibli films. The relationship Makoto, Kosuke, and Chiaki share is exceptionally well-drawn, and nicely balances the fantastic elements of the story. (Rated 13 and older: minor violence and risqué humor) --Charles Solomon