THE FAMILY IN SUMMER WARS AND WOLF CHILDREN.

Abstract

As the title suggests, the focus of this discussion concerns the idea of the nation and the family in Japanese cinema. Understanding of nationhood and the family has been up to much debate over the past 100 years stemming from the end of the Tokugawa Era and the emergence of the Meiji Restoration and through the defeat of the Second World War and the economic struggle of the 1980's. As Hayao Miyazaki is set to retire in the coming years, people are already predicting who the 'next' Miyazaki is. This discussion will be based on textual analysis with close references to two anime films; 'Summer Wars' (2009) and 'Wolf Children' (2012), both made by Mamoru Hosoda, one of the filmmakers considered to be Miyazaki's successor. This dissertation will examine and compare the two films in terms of their characterisation, ideas of family and use of setting and discover that despite their very differing set ups, they appear to be more similar upon closer inspection.