夏日大作戰
Patrick W. Galbraith of Otaku2.com compared the design of OZ to Takashi Murakami's artwork, specifically "the flatness, or slick, polished surfaces" and then contrasted them with the sequences in Nagano noting, "it has a warm and lived in feel to it, aided by a scrupulous attention to detail." Of the story and characters Galbraith wrote that "scenes such as the large family coming together and talking over dinner are heartwarming and hilarious" and compared the movie to "a moving picture book, a family photo album turned back a few decades." He also noted the audience response, reporting sold-out screenings two nights in a row, and highlighting handwritten notes left at the theater by "hordes of fans who on the spot decided to move to Nagano." In conclusion, Galbraith wrote "there is an innocence and purity to this work that really reminds [him] of Miyazaki Hayao and Studio Ghibli back in the day, and the stellar backgrounds invoke Shinkai Makoto." Justin Sevakis of Anime News Network gave the film an 'A' rating and wrote that "decades from now, "Summer Wars" will be seen as the official arrival of [director] Mamoru Hosoda into the realm of historically important anime directors." He called the film "a near-perfect blend of social satire and science fiction, at once timely and timeless, sardonic and optimistic." and noted that the film is "practically overflowing with sharp social insight in a way we have not seen from anime in years." Sevakis praised Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's character designs and highlighted the visuals as "sharp and consistently great". In summing the film up he called "Summer Wars" "Incredibly entertaining, and intriguingly intelligent. Accessible and fast-paced. Pretty much perfect." Similarities have been commented on between the film and a previous work of Hosoda, "". "Neo" magazine has stated that "Our War Game" is "plainly a prototype" of Summer Wars.