Summer Wars
Anime That Deserve a Live-Action Netflix Adaptation
Most movies that involve a sentient virus or computer program that wants to control or destroy the world focus on that singular plot point, but Summer Wars seamlessly makes it a B-plot that is woven seamlessly into a story about family, community, and teamwork. And the ever-present anime trope of playing card games to defeat villains. Summer Wars is a masterpiece of a film that has won numerous awards and is almost guaranteed to make you cry.
You probably wonder why Summer Wars, a feature-length anime movie, deserves to be turned into a live-action Netflix adaptation. The same reason why The Seven Samurai was remade into The Magnificent Seven: while the message and themes are timeless and universal, the settings and characters are placed squarely in Japan and Japanese culture, which might go over some viewers’ heads. Plus, anime just turns off some people. If Summer Wars were turned into a live-action Netflix original, viewers who would not have given the original movie a second thought might find themselves enjoying the story. Also, a remake would be the perfect opportunity to include callbacks to what is essentially the prototype of Summer Wars, Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! It was, after all, directed by Summer Wars’ creator, Mamoru Hosoda.
