Anime Review ~ Ocean Waves – A Story of Memories, Silent Love and Teenage Friendship

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is well. Today I am going to write about an amazing anime movie called Ocean Waves (Umi ga Kikoeru). This is a different work from Studio Ghibli because there are no supernatural events or complicated stories here. Here is a deep expression of real life emotions, misunderstandings, friendship and the emotions of youth. In this post I will first share a brief summary of the movie and then my review. Let's get started.    Story Summary   Ocean Waves is a 1993 Studio Studio Ghibli television film that is basically a subtle representation of the feelings of young life. The story centers on a young man named Taku Morisaki who is busy with his work life in Tokyo. One day on the train, he suddenly sees his old classmate Rikako Muto and at that moment he remembers many memories from the past. The movie then slowly takes us to Taku's school life where everything was very simple yet full of emotions. Rikako was a new student from Tokyo. She was beautiful, intelligent, but a bit stubborn. At first, she was different from everyone else at her new school, but she gradually developed a relationship with Taku and her friend Matsu. However, Rikako's inner conflicts, her family problems, and her own loneliness made her even more complicated. Taku wanted to help her, but Rikako's arrogance and pride created a distance between them.  Some misunderstandings and small incidents in the middle of the story revealed the depth of their relationship. Rikako sometimes behaved in ways that were painful for Taku, but even in that, Taku realized that Rikako was actually struggling with pain. In the last part of the movie, we see Taku realize years later that his feelings for Rikako were never just friendship. That feeling was an unspoken love that silently filled his heart over time. The story of Ocean Waves is very simple but its feelings are deep. There is no big drama, no action, but there is misunderstandings, guilt, and that silent love that we often cannot express.    My Review   Ocean Waves is one of the softest and most peaceful Studio Ghibli movies I have ever seen. It is a story that easily resonates with our teenage days. When I first saw it, it felt like I was opening a page from my old school life. Rikako's character left a mark on me. Because she is a girl who has love inside but regrets not being able to express it. But when I see the story through Taku's eyes, I understand how many times we cannot understand our own feelings until someone leaves our lives. Studio Ghibli animation is always different, but the visual design of Ocean Waves feels more real. The city scene, the ocean waves, the summer breeze, everything is so delicately portrayed that it feels like the viewer is in that environment. The background music of the movie is also incredibly calm, gentle, and fits the atmosphere of the story perfectly.  For me, Ocean Waves biggest strength is its nostalgia. It reminds us of those times when we liked someone but didn't have the courage to say it, when we didn't know the difference between friendship and love. Those feelings are captured in this movie in a way that leaves a kind of painful feeling in the mind of the viewer. That's it for today. You can share your opinion about this anime movie in the comments.Thanks you so much for reading. See you next :)   YouTube Trailer   https://youtu.be/tfkHiHjrqa8?si=Mn-1K_n7VBqujco3