Ocean Waves

Produced by the legendary Studio Ghibli in 1993, Ocean Waves offers a wistful remembrance of high school days, framed as a flashback by Taku, a college student returning home from Tokyo. Taku recalls his best friend Yutaka and a transfer student named Rikako, the latter a girl who seems poised and sophisticated to the boys in Kochi but snobbish and unfriendly to the local girls. What could be a simple romantic melodrama turns out to be delicate portrait of the turbulent emotions under the surface of the social landscape of high school, with jealousies and frustrations, as well as the anxieties of home life that Taku never discusses. The story here is told in a gentle, naturalistic style (even the emotional outbursts are relatively subdued) that is both simple and graceful. Presented in separate DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo editions, rated PG-13, in Japanese with English subtitles, extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette, and a bonus animated short (exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a feature-length gallery of artwork and layouts that are set to the film soundtrack). Recommended. (S. Axmaker)