A relatively early Ghibli film, Ocean Waves puts the studio's technical mastery toward a novel adaptation recounting the story of a teenage boy's fraught relationship with a selfish, self-centered girl who has his wrapped around her little finger when they're not outright busy hating each other. Told zealously through his point of view, partial knowledge of what's going on is very much a theme. On the one hand it mirrors how we an only know ourselves, which causes misunderstandings with others. On the other, high school is a microcosm, and when they get older, the characters reveal secrets and acknowledge that their world was "too small", which made them care about the wrong things. At times - and this speaks to their maturity - it seems more about a bromance corrupted by shared feelings for a girl, and it's where the best moments can be found. Perhaps that's why I resent the ending a little bit. But until that movie moment, I find a lot of truth in Ocean Waves.
I like Ghibli-movies as much as anyone else, but apparently I'm in the minority that I didn't really care for this one.
The animation is fine, and while the plot is a somewhat mundane teen drama, that's not a huge problem by itself. But I simply didn't understand the characters. Especially the love interest, who is just capricious, unlikeable, and hard to get a feeling for. Sure, they are teens, but the character growth is fairly limited.
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Siskoid
A relatively early Ghibli film, Ocean Waves puts the studio's technical mastery toward a novel adaptation recounting the story of a teenage boy's fraught relationship with a selfish, self-centered girl who has his wrapped around her little finger when they're not outright busy hating each other. Told zealously through his point of view, partial knowledge of what's going on is very much a theme. On the one hand it mirrors how we an only know ourselves, which causes misunderstandings with others. On the other, high school is a microcosm, and when they get older, the characters reveal secrets and acknowledge that their world was "too small", which made them care about the wrong things. At times - and this speaks to their maturity - it seems more about a bromance corrupted by shared feelings for a girl, and it's where the best moments can be found. Perhaps that's why I resent the ending a little bit. But until that movie moment, I find a lot of truth in Ocean Waves.Tanvi
Sweet and nostalgic :)Windill
Very good sentimental anime in which two college boys remember their feelings for their high-school classmate.CSSCHNEIDER
Fantastic and under appreciated gem.marco_n65
A very pleasant surprise.Pedr20
Ghibli's gayest moviestroopsoldaatje
I like Ghibli-movies as much as anyone else, but apparently I'm in the minority that I didn't really care for this one.The animation is fine, and while the plot is a somewhat mundane teen drama, that's not a huge problem by itself. But I simply didn't understand the characters. Especially the love interest, who is just capricious, unlikeable, and hard to get a feeling for. Sure, they are teens, but the character growth is fairly limited.