01
Only Yesterday
Why this pick
Its reflective, memory-shaped storytelling and unhurried observation of small social frictions echo Ocean Waves' mature, bittersweet view of adolescence.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1993 1h 12m JPN
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
Ocean Waves
AnimationAnimeDramaRomance
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved Ocean Waves, try these.
01
02
The Whispering Star
Why this pick
A remarkably quiet Japanese film built from pauses, travel, and delicate emotional residue; it shares Ocean Waves' contemplative rhythm and sensitivity to ordinary details.
03
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Why this pick
Its breezy school-life texture, close friendships, and wistful sense of time passing give it a similarly intimate coming-of-age feeling, with a gentle fantastical frame.
04
Typhoon Club
Why this pick
This is a more volatile and formally daring portrait of teenagers, but its humid atmosphere and alertness to shifting friendship and attraction suit Ocean Waves' emotional realism.
05
April Story
Why this pick
Its soft, restrained depiction of a young woman beginning a new chapter carries the same quiet romantic uncertainty and attention to fleeting everyday encounters.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
Ocean Waves is a high school love story set in Kochi, Japan. Morisaki Taku and Matsuno Yutaka are best friends when a girl from Tokyo named Muto Rikako transfers to their school. Excluding herself from group activities, she's eventually labeled a snob. Matsuno has a crush on Rikako, so it's no surprise that he gets a little jealous when Morisaki and Rikako start spending more time together. The rumors around school get worse, but Morisaki still insists there is nothing between him and Rikako.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Nobuo Tobita
Taku Morisaki (voice)
Yuri Amano
Akiko Shimizu (voice)
Kae Araki
Yumi Kohama (voice)
Jun'ichi Kanemaru
Okada (voice)
Ai Satou
Taku's Mother (voice)
Aya Hisakawa
Girl (voice)
Tomokazu Seki
Minarai (voice)
Hikaru Midorikawa
Tadashi Yamao (voice)