THE FAMILY IN SUMMER WARS AND WOLF CHILDREN.
Citation
(2017) THE FAMILY IN SUMMER WARS AND WOLF CHILDREN., no. 40.
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.