The story follows, Kenji Koiso, a hapless high school student who moon lights as an administrator on Oz. Oz is a massive global online community the everyone uses for most aspects of life; business, finances, entertainment, education, personal, etc. It is the internet in a few years from now, a truly connected global community. The inhabitants take on avatars while in the fully interactive world. Our protagonist, who is a bit of a mathematical savant,is suckered into accompanying the girl of his dreams, Natsuki Shinohara, to her grandmothers 90th birthday party, pretending to be her boyfriend. When they get to the family estate he learns she is from an old and powerful samurai family that had fought against the Tokugawa shogunate. Even with dishonor, the family has remained prosperous.
On the night of the first day, Kenji receives an odd message and quickly cracks a cryptic code presented in it. Unfortunately he discovers the following morning that he had helped an unknown hacker gain access to vital portions of Oz. Now the global network is in danger of being overtaken by this mysterious assailant. At first everyone thinks Kenji is the culprit but soon it is discovered that an advanced AI is the one behind the attack. To make matters worse, the creator of the AI is none other than Wabisuke, grandfathers illegitimate son who disappeared ten year previously after stealing a portion of the family fortune. Now with the culprit being one of their own, grandmother rallies the clan to defeat the AI and restore honor to their family before its too late.
This is a good movie, entertaining, touching and offers an air of caution about the future of the internet. At the same time there are a few annoying aspects with it. I really disliked the premise behind the climax of the story...some things just seemed a bit too far fetched for my taste...to saccharine. The real meat of the movie though is in the large cast of characters that make up the family. Each has a unique and developed personality and the interactions between them all are really fun to watch. The real message in the film is of the bond of family and persevering through hardship by relying on others to help where you are lacking. The animation and character designs are the same as those found in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. While not my favorite movie it is still good and enjoyable. I just really have a problem with the way the climax rolls and that knocks it down quite a bit for me.
The film has been released in North America and has garnered quite a few accolades around the world. You can get it on DVD or DB by Funimation.
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