Summer Wars

Watched Summer Wars with DIsk over the weekend. It's nice and entertaining, but I guess the technical sophistication is somewhat below our expectation. =P; With a geek as main character and the "virtual world" as central theme, the "wars" feel only slightly above game level to me. I suppose they do need to simplify things to keep it mainstream? All in all it's still pretty exciting to watch. ^^

Some reviews promised a twist, but I didn't really see any unexpected turn that isn't already in the synopsis. Because of such anticipation of my own, when Kazuma (sidekick character) first showed up, I thought he might be a girl (well yeah, we only got to see his back the first time) and that maybe the main guy would fall for 'her' instead. =D; That of course is nothing novel either because many a manga have employed that plot, lol.

The unexpected thing, however, is to find that the ending theme was by Yamashita Tatsurou, whom I knew through KinKi Kids because he wrote their debut song (he sounded like an influential musician from the way they talked about him).




Probably chosen because of the "summer" in the title ("Our Summer Dream")? =) That compelled me to list out all J-pop (or related) songs with "summer" in the title that I know.. =DD


* Kobukuro, "Summer Rain"
Kobukuro + Cross Game is double awesomeness, even though this one is not my favourite out of all Kobukuro songs nor of all Cross Game soundtracks. =)P

* "Summer Snow" drama theme songs:
- Sissel, "Summer Snow"
- KinKi Kids, "Natsu no Ousama" (King of Summer)
Quite a contrasting pair, but I do like both in their own ways.

* Southern All Stars, "Merry Xmas in Summer"
Very much an oldie. I've always been enchanted by the vocalist's deep voice.

* Tackey & Tsubasa, "Ho! Summer"
I wonder if this group goes for the 'silly' image or if it's an unintended effect, lol.

* YUI, "SUMMER SONG"
To be honest I don't know her music well, but she's got a quiet lovely feel.


(Since those already included the Japanese word for "summer" by chance, let me also slyly take the opportunity to recommend some more.. =3)

* DEEN, "Kimi ga Inai Natsu" (A Summer without You)
A 'regular' in my playlist when I'm feeling selective. I think DEEN-san sounds slightly less nasal in the PV than live. xP

* Mr.Children, "Kimi ga Ita Natsu" (The Summer When You Were Here)
Used to confuse this quite often with DEEN's.. =D;

* Inoue Yousui, "Natsu no Owari no Harmony" (Harmony at the End of Summer)
I like the 'unusual' feel of this song.

* KinKi Kids, "Natsu Moyou" (Summer Pattern)
And this, I like the folksy (Okinawa) sound.

* Yuzu, "Natsu Matsuri" (Summer Festival)
Cheerful-sounding guys. I'm easily baited by the harmony-style duet and harmonica accompaniment. ^^

* ZARD, "Natsu wo Matsu SAIL no You ni" (Like a Sail Waiting for Summer)
Not my favourite ZARD song, but it's nostalgic to hear her voice, and the video is nice. From one of the Detective Conan movies.

* Suga Shikao, "Manatsu no Yoru no Yume" (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
From Death Note the movie, suitably haunting.

* Southern All Stars, "Manatsu no Kajitsu" (A Midsummer Fruit)
The original of the melody used by Jacky Cheung in "Mei Tian Ai Ni Duo Yi Xie".


And lastly, why not the lovely Natsukawa Rimi too.. =33