Ocean Waves

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Ocean Waves

PG-13

2016

1h 12m

Adventure

Drama

Anime

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Popcornmeter

89%

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18 Reviews

63%

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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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Scott Marks

San Diego Reader

Feb 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?

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Valerie Complex

Black Girl Nerds

Jan 6, 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.

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Brian Tallerico

RogerEbert.com

Dec 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.

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Nicholas Oon

Maximum Hype (YouTube)

Sep 5, 2021

An exceptionally raw and unique Studio Ghibli movie. A film that deserves your attention, and a film that, to me, is criminally underrated.

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Steven Prokopy

Third Coast Review

May 1, 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.

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Rachel Wagner

Rotoscopers

Feb 6, 2019

5/10

It has some nice moments and the animation is lovely so I'm glad I saw it.

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Abraham G

@AbrahamHill Jan 27, 2026

Buenos paisajes y animación, no decepciona, pero la historia no es convincente.

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Lucas O

@LucasOMovies Aug 5, 2025

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)

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Michael D

@RT54292459 Apr 2, 2025

As a general movie, it's passable. But as a Studio Ghibli movie, it's terrible and unfitting.

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Trixie T

@RT19336540 Oct 14, 2024

the ending is kinda a cliffhanger

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Liam D

@Mediawatcher2003 Aug 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

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Jhosep G

@RT48819495 Jun 26, 2024

I love the way this movie explores the hardships that young people have to go through. Highly relatable and the asthetics and the way they go through everything is just great. Only giving five stars because Rotten Tomatoes doesn't allow for more. And those people rating it less than five stars, are you guys okay?

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Tomomi Mochizuki

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Nobuo Tobita

Taku Morisaki

Toshihiko Seki

Yutaka Matsuno

Yoko Sakamoto

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Kae Araki

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Ocean Waves: US Release Trailer

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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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