I was unsure of what to write for this website.  I tried out a couple of different themes and styles for an article, but having said I’d write something about four weeks ago I hurried up and settled on a standard review.  Being in the middle or near the end of three or four current shows I thought I’d wait to write a round up of them in a few weeks and instead critique a film I saw recently.

‘Ocean Waves [Umi ga Kikoeru/I Can Hear the Sea]’ is a lesser known Studio Ghibli production and as such was only released on DVD in the UK this January despite originally airing in 1993.  The film was made for television and direction was passed over to non Ghibli director, Tomomi Mochizuki.  The production was designed as an experiment for the younger staff to produce high quality animation quickly and cheaply, but the project over-ran and exceeded budget. Tomomi himself was already committed to directing the ‘Here is Greenwood’ OAV series with another studio, but because of his passion for the Ocean Waves novel he worked on both titles at the same time and was hospitalized during production suffering from stress after overworking.

Based on the novel by Saeko Himuro, Ocean Waves is a coming of age drama concerning the story of two friends and a new transfer student at their school.  The protagonist, Taku, narrates most of the story on a flight home from university.  He attends high school in a small seaside town with his best friend Yutaka.  When beautiful female classmate, Rikako, transfers to their school Yutaka is asked to show her around school and the local area and soon he falls for her.  Later, on their school trip to Hawaii, Rikako borrows a large sum of money from Taku under false pretences.  She uses the money to travel to Tokyo to see her estranged father, whilst Taku ends up accompanying her.  During the trip Rikako realises new things about herself and her current attitudes.  Before they leave high school to attend different colleges and universities the friends fall out over various disagreements.  Their differences are only resolved when they return to town a year later for a class reunion.

Ocean Waves is animated in a fairly straightforward manner, suited to the simple, realistic story.  The familiar visual style is likely a product of the “faster and cheaper” approach as well, but much of the artwork is both detailed and painstakingly complex, better reflecting Ghibli’s high quality feature output.  Aimed at a more specific audience then Miyazaki’s family friendly fantasy epics, the story itself flows neatly and despite feeling a little predictable, both the characters and their situation feel interesting and true.  The film has a slightly unusual structure.  The story is told mostly in flashback as Taku recalls his relationships with his high school friends, whilst travelling to his class reunion.  It’s also book ended by two similar scenes, opening on Taku spotting a familiar figure at a train station and ending as he chases the figure to another platform.

The real quality of the film is in the sense of realism and intimacy it creates, the impression that this kind of story can and often does play out in real life is ever present and it feels refreshingly personal.  At roughly 72 minutes I was worried it would seem short and rushed like the later, lacklustre Ghibli feature ‘The Cat Returns’, but the short duration seems to suit the work.  The ending resolves the plot but leaves the future of the main characters open to contemplation, neither feeling perfunctory or open ended.  In the end Ocean Waves is an interesting and entertaining feature that’s occasionally funny and touching.  I’m not really inclined to agree that the film deserves the classic reputation it’s garnered from some, but it’s still enjoyable and I’d certainly recommend it to fans of slice of life dramas and/or Studio Ghibli.

Ocean Waves is available on DVD from most retailers that stock Studio Ghibli films and more information about it is available on ANN and the English Ghibli fan-site.

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Filed under: Anime, Comedy, Drama, Reviews, Romance, Slice of Life