Ocean Waves (1993)

As a young man returns home after his first year away at college he recalls his senior year of high school and the iron-willed, big city girl that turned his world upside down.

Director:

Tomomi Mochizuki

Writers:

Saeko Himuro (novel), Keiko Niwa (screenplay) (as Kaori Nakamura)

Stars:

Nobuo Tobita, Toshihiko Seki, Yoko Sakamoto

Cast

Credited cast:
Nobuo Tobita	...	Taku Morisaki (voice)
Toshihiko Seki	...	Yutaka Matsuno (voice)
Yoko Sakamoto	...	Rikako Muto (voice)
Yuri Amano	...	Akiko Shimizu (voice)
Kae Araki	...	Yumi Kohama (voice)
Jun'ichi Kanemaru	...	Okada (voice)
Ai Satô	...	Taku's mother (voice)
Aya Hisakawa	...	Girl (voice)
Tomokazu Seki	...	Minarai (voice)
Hikaru Midorikawa	...	Tadashi Yamao (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rin Mizuhara	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Sumi Shimamoto	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Reiko Suzuki	...	(voice)

Storyline

The main character travels to his hometown for his high school reunion. During the trip, he recalls the memories of the days in high school. Friendship, subtle love, a trip to Tokyo and so on all came back to him as the film evolves.

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Plot Keywords:

studio ghibli | two word title | love | friendship | high school reunion | 

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Genres:

Animation | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some thematic material

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

5 May 1993 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Ocean Waves

Filming Locations:

Kochi, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nippon Television Network (NTV), Studio Ghibli, Tokuma Shoten

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Toward the end of the movie, a poster for Studio Ghibli's previous film, Porco Rosso (1992) appears.

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Connections

References Porco Rosso (1992)

User Reviews

Another lesser-known Ghibli triumph

When I first saw "Nausicaa" in 2005 I went ahead and watched the brief docu on the Birth of Studio Ghibli that came with it. It contained a snippet of every film they produced from "Nausicaa" to "Howl". Of the films that caught my eye that had not yet been released in the U.S., the one I was most intrigued by was "The Ocean Waves". Perhaps what caught my attention was that the staff that animated the movie were all in their 20s and 30s, coming into their own since being recruited for "Only Yesterday" two years earlier, when Hayao Miyasaki and Ghibli decided to cultivate their own animators rather than delegating to external studios.

Upon first viewing this film exceeded my expectations, and the energy and enthusiasm of youth simply surged throughout its ~72 minutes. I feel more connected to this film than some other Ghibli works mainly because the it involves characters in their late-teens to 20s living in the 90s, has a male protagonist, and also because the characters are so exquisitely deep and textured, and are the heart of the piece. No live-action actors or actresses could mimic their superb performances, and the modern urban and suburban settings are so richly detailed that this film feels more real than many live-action films in this genre. And as with all Studio Ghibli films; no matter who composes it, the score is first-rate, working in concert with the visuals to create the whole spectrum of moods and emotions exerted by the cast.

In all, "The Ocean Waves" was a brilliant success on the part of the young animation team – deserving of a 10 in my humble opinion - and proof that Studio Ghibli is just as proficient portraying real life in the present-day time settings as it is at creating sublime works of fantasy. American Ghibli fans can only hope a DVD or Blu-ray is someday released here in the States, even though English voice actors would be hard-pressed to replicate their Japanese counterparts' work.