Ocean Waves is a departure from the Studio Ghibli I’ve come to recognise.

Ocean Waves is a departure from the Studio Ghibli I’ve come to recognise.

Story

Ocean Waves follows a love triangle between two good friends, Taku and Yukata and the new girl in their year Rikako.

While not as ambitious as the movies that came out before and after and before it, the simplicity makes it stand out to me. The characters in this movie have emotions and aren’t afraid to show. That’s why I like it as much as it does.

Voice Acting

The voice acting is stellar. Movies like this require the acting (or in this case voice acting) to carry the performance and Yōko Sakamoto who plays Rikako. she is able to balance arrogance and charisma in a well-developed character.

Our protagonist, Taku voiced by Nobuo Tobita is complicated in his own way. He’s insecure in the way he recounts the events of the story, and seeing him come to the revelation he comes to is endearing.

Writing/Direction

The first Studio Ghibli that directed by Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata. I am not familiar enough with Studio Ghibli to say that I can see a huge difference, but I can say that it isn’t as “ambitious” as the movies that came before it.