OCEAN WAVES is one of the lesser films from the Studio Ghibli studio, thanks in part to a more simple and straightforward story set in the contemporary world and the lack of a director of Hayao Miyazaki's calibre. The most popular Ghibli movies tend to be the brash and moving fantasy epics about saving the environment and quirky creatures and the like, whereas OCEAN WAVES is all about high school life and romance.
In many ways it's a simple two hander charting the relationship between an awkward high school student and the hot-headed girl he loves. There's plenty of arguing along the way, but the film's narration gives this a wonderfully nostalgic and wishful feel as a young man looks back over the mistakes and events of his earlier life. This gives the movie an edge and prevents it from being just a romance, a genre I generally avoid at all costs. The voice actors are very good although the quality of the animation is more basic than usual for a Ghibli movie. A slighter piece, then, but still a worthwhile one.
In many ways it's a simple two hander charting the relationship between an awkward high school student and the hot-headed girl he loves. There's plenty of arguing along the way, but the film's narration gives this a wonderfully nostalgic and wishful feel as a young man looks back over the mistakes and events of his earlier life. This gives the movie an edge and prevents it from being just a romance, a genre I generally avoid at all costs. The voice actors are very good although the quality of the animation is more basic than usual for a Ghibli movie. A slighter piece, then, but still a worthwhile one.