The beauty of Ocean Waves is in the details, something that rewards those who have a keen eye. There are no over-the-top animation sequences that will sink into your very soul, but it is there. This one frame told so much about the story compared to any line of dialogue. Like a fly on the wall, a person of insignificance. In the early moments of the film where Taku first talked to Rikako outside of the school gate we see that the frame only has Rikako’s face in it even if Yutaka is also present in the scene, it’s as if he was never really there. The narrative itself strays far from the previous focuses of Ghibli films which have been about fantasy, folklore, or World War 2-centered storylines like The Grave Of The Fireflies instead it takes you to Tokyo and introduces you to the imperfections of a perfect girl-Rikako Muto. It’s a story of friendship, maturity, and the idealism of your romantic interest but it never settles on one thing.
#OCEAN WAVES ANIME REVIEW TV#
This might be because it was a TV movie, which might be the reason for the awfully short run time compared to other Ghibli films before it.Īfter watching the film, one can make an argument that if it wasn’t a Studio Ghibli production then it would’ve been gone in the endless annals of bad anime movies and although there is some truth to that statement, Ocean Waves isn’t necessarily a bad movie, it’s just very… shallow.
It tries to become both and in the end, it fails at being either. It is dancing on the border of being made for kids, and for young adults which is a shame because Ocean Waves is a lot of things but if that is the case, then you might as well be nothing at all. There’s a scene where out of pure hatred and contempt for Rikako after her being so ungrateful to him, he decides to slap her in the school hallway which is one of, if not, the best things about the entire movie. There’s a school trip to Hawaii that led to an important trip to Tokyo where Rikako tries to find her father and eventually, Taku decides to tag along, something that will be of bigger relevance later on in the plot. It’s a slow, drama that tells the tale of a love triangle between Rikako, Taku, and Yutaka.
#OCEAN WAVES ANIME REVIEW MOVIE#
It feels like the movie is very restrained. The story of a tragic infatuation for love that ruined friendship, and the movie would’ve been in the halls of Ghibli classics if it was about that. But the childhood innocence and the multi-referential subtlety of a deeper, more mature narrative worked brilliantly ever since Castle in the Sky, but will they ever move on? Will they ever work on something that tackles the problems of life straight on?
The previous success of My Neighbor Totoro (both released in 1988) and Kiki’s Delivery Service in 1989 became the face of 80’s anime.
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