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Ocean Waves

Play trailer 1:16 Poster for Ocean Waves PG-13 2016 1h 12m Adventure Drama Anime Play Trailer Watchlist
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89% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
The arrival of a pretty transfer student from Tokyo sets in motion a change in the relationship between two best friends.
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Ocean Waves

Critics Reviews

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Scott Marks San Diego Reader 02/16/2017
0/5
I'm not calling for Marvin the Martian to lead a parade of pink elephants down Main Street, but what's the point of animating if the end goal is to simply trace over an ABC Afterschool Special? Go to Full Review Valerie Complex Black Girl Nerds 01/06/2017
3/5
The title Ocean Waves lends credence to the story as it refers to the idea that teenage feelings are like waves: ever changing. Go to Full Review Brian Tallerico RogerEbert.com 12/28/2016
3/4
A delicate, well-told drama that may lack the depth of something like Only Yesterday but proves that Miyazaki and Takahata's students were listening to their teachers. Go to Full Review Nicholas Oon Maximum Hype (YouTube) 09/05/2021
An exceptionally raw and unique Studio Ghibli movie. A film that deserves your attention, and a film that, to me, is criminally underrated. Go to Full Review Steven Prokopy Third Coast Review 05/01/2020
The stakes of the film are fairly low, but it does an admirable job of capturing the frame of mind of teenagers and early 20-somethings, to whom such events mean the world while they are caught up in the moment. Go to Full Review Rachel Wagner Rotoscopers 02/06/2019
5/10
It has some nice moments and the animation is lovely so I'm glad I saw it. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Abraham G @AbrahamHill Jan 27 Buenos paisajes y animación, no decepciona, pero la historia no es convincente. See more Lucas O @LucasOMovies Aug 5 Rating: 56% This movie had some solid animation but lacked the Ghibli flair. I am not a huge fan of slice of life stories, and this was a slice of life/coming-of-age romance. It wasn't bad, but just very mid. Nothing made it stand out. The voice acting was good and I did enjoy the ending, but again nothing super bad or good, which makes it forgettable. Also be warned there is no ocean waves like the title implies, haha. (Supposedly its symbolic for teenage emotion) See more Michael D @RT54292459 04/02/2025 As a general movie, it's passable. But as a Studio Ghibli movie, it's terrible and unfitting. See more Trixie T @RT19336540 10/14/2024 the ending is kinda a cliffhanger See more Irvin R @RT69118555 08/30/2024 Es una buena película, algo confusa cuando la ves por primera vez, pero después de verla por segunda vez te das cuenta de que no es solo una simple película que habla del amor de dos adolescentes, sino que profundiza más sobre lo confuso y complejo que pueden ser los sentimientos cuando uno es joven, sin dejar de lado su hermosa y linda animación.'Puedo escuchar el mar' es un nombre metafórico. El mar es, muchas veces, violento e intenso, y otras veces, tranquilo y pasivo, tal como muchas emociones. See more Liam D @Mediawatcher2003 08/23/2024 One of Studio Ghibli’s most underappreciated movies. It treads familiar territory like in; Whisper Of The Heart and Only Yesterday but still a great movie by itself See more Read all reviews
Ocean Waves

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Cast & Crew

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Tomomi Mochizuki

Director

Nobuo Tobita

Taku Morisaki

Toshihiko Seki

Yutaka Matsuno

Yoko Sakamoto

Rikako Muto

Yuri Amano

Akiko Shimizu

Kae Araki

Yumi Kohama

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Ocean Waves

Ocean Waves: US Release Trailer Ocean Waves: US Release Trailer 1:16 View more videos
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Ocean Waves

Ocean Waves (1993) Ocean Waves (1993) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis The arrival of a pretty transfer student from Tokyo sets in motion a change in the relationship between two best friends.
Director
Tomomi Mochizuki
Producer
Nozomu Takahashi, Hideo Ogata, Hitohiro Wada
Screenwriter
Keiko Niwa
Distributor
GKIDS
Production Co
Studio Ghibli, Nippon Television Network, Tokuma Shoten
Rating
PG-13 (Some Thematic Material)
Genre
Adventure, Drama, Anime
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 28, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 13, 2019
Runtime
1h 12m
Sound Mix
Dolby
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