Ocean Waves (2016)

During the first scene, I was intruiged and excited to see where this would go... Guy sees girl - a 'when and how will he see her again' kinda story. That's what I thoughtWe go back in time and we realise he knew her from years before and I was more intruiged. His friend has a crush on her - yet again, I'm still caught up. And then we meet the character. This is where it all falls to pieces for me. As a girl myself, I found Muto to be the manifestation of all that is bad about girls(or people). She's manipulative, she's selfish and self obsorbed, she's mean and she 'hates' all these country people. And on top of that the main character wonders several times about her manners and (bad) upbringing. And when her classmates gang up on her (not cool tho, but you see where they're coming from), she's yet again defiant, mean and selfish. But Taku sees her as this person who really stand up for herself, and is 'something else' - I disagree. I wonder why Taku and Matsumo fall for her. Except for the fact that she's pretty.... and perhaps because Taku feels bad for her background story, but really you're not even taken through that story in a way that makes you empathise with her. I love how Studio Gibli always have a morale in their stories, but I lack to see what it is in this case.

How can I call myself a true Otaku if I do not love the good anime with the bad, right? Not that Ocean Waves is a bad movie overall. In fact bad does not describe it at all. It was a sweet story about reconnecting with those you care about that you lost contact with, and coming home.But the animation seem like a waste of time. It was a story that could have easily been told in live action and most likely would have taken less time to produce (but maybe it would cost more, I don't know).So while it's a nice story, I can't help but to be so disappointed because that animation did nothing for the story and that is what I expect from my anime.It may be more fair for me to watch the movie again now that the shock of the animation being the bare minimum has taken it's toll. It's a nice romantic slice of life film as it is, but definitely not the anime I like.http://cinemagardens.com

It is a shame that this lesser known Studio Ghibli film has yet to be released in the west as it belongs in any Ghibli fan's collection. It may have been made by junior staff for television but it still of a high quality. The Ghibli film that this reminded me of the most was "Only Yesterday" in that it contains no fantasy elements but instead concentrated on the ordinary lives of ordinary people.The protagonist is a high school student called Taku and the story follows his life after Rikako Muto, a girl from Tokyo transfers to his school. Don't expect a clichéd romance though, Rikako is fairly standoffish and doesn't seem to get along with the other students, with the exception of Taku's friend Matsuno. However while on their class holiday to Hawaii she approaches Taku for help claiming that she has lost the money she bought and needs a loan. It later transpires that she hadn't lost any money but needed it to get back to Tokyo to see her father. Once there things don't go quite how she planned though.As one would expect from a Ghibli film the animation is beautiful and detailed, in some places it looks like they added extra detail just to give the animators practise such as rotating ornament in a building's lobby and the shadow of a bird flying over head.This review was based on watching a fan-subbed version of the film, hopefully it won't be too long before an official release is available as I heard that Optimum have bought the UK distribution rights.

This TV movie was aired back in 1993 on Japanese TV.It's based off of a Manga that has to do with a Japanese High School Student who meets this Girl who is a transfer student from another school.Throughout the movie these 2 students go through some hard situations & arguments, but things turn out smooth after that.This movie has allot of holidays and things only common in Japan. So those who aren't familiar with Japanese High School culture might be a little confused.This TV movie is very good to see. Don't know if it'll ever be Debutted into English. At the moment it's available in Subtitles.Rated PG for Adult Situations and some use of Alchol.