Ocean Waves

While waiting at Kichijoji Station, Tokyo, Taku Morisaki spots a woman he once knew on the platform across the tracks, and a small moment of recognition pulls him into memory. A photo of Rikako Mutou later clatters from a shelf as he leaves his apartment, and the flight to Kochi Prefecture becomes a frame for a retrospective tale. Narrated by Taku, the film retraces a summer when Rikako, a confident transfer student, walks into his life and shakes up his friendships. What starts as a casual romance grows complicated, testing loyalties and shaping the adults they will become, without surrendering its cautious, reflective mood. The camera lingers on quiet city scenes that echo his memory.

Directed by Tomomi Mochizuki, Ocean Waves was produced by Studio Ghibli and adapted from a novel by Saeko Himuro and Keiko Niwa; it debuted in 1993 as a television feature and later screened in cinemas, expanding the studio's reach worldwide.

Critics note the film's restrained, memory drenched tone and its focus on adolescence, friendship, and first love. Through a steady voiceover and precise dialogue, the story examines how a single summer can redirect a path toward adulthood, long after the days are over and a touch of melancholy.

Animation was produced by Studio Ghibli under Tomomi Mochizuki; adapting Himuro and Niwa's coming of age novel into a concise feature. The cast includes Nobuo Tobita as Taku Morisaki, Yoko Sakamoto as Rikako Mutou, and Toshihiko Seki as Yutaka Matsuno. The visuals favor quiet realism over fantasy.

Over time Ocean Waves has come to be seen as a rare Ghibli entry that favors realism and intimate emotion over fantasy. Its quiet approach has influenced how audiences and some animators view anime stories set outside the magical mode. It is frequently cited in discussions about non fantasy anime.