Ride Your Wave
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is a 2019 Japanese
animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
romantic fantasy Romantic fantasy, or "romantasy", is a Genre, subgenre of fantasy fiction that combines fantasy and Romance novel, romance, describing a fantasy story using many of the elements and conventions of the chivalric romance genre. One of the key featur ...
film directed by
Masaaki Yuasa is a Japanese director, screenwriter, and animator affiliated with Science SARU, a Japanese animation studio which he co-founded with producer Eunyoung Choi in 2013. Yuasa previously served as president of Science SARU, but stepped down from th ...
and produced by
Science Saru , stylized as Science SARU, is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Kichijōji, Musashino, Tokyo. Established on February 4, 2013, by producer Eunyoung Choi and director Masaaki Yuasa, the studio has produced four feature films and five a ...
. It premiered at the
Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...
on June 10, 2019 and was released in Japan on June 21, 2019.


Plot

19-year-old Hinako Mukaimizu moves to an oceanside town to attend college and go surfing, without future thoughts. When a fireworks display sets her apartment building ablaze, she is rescued by Minato Hinageshi, a 21-year-old firefighter with a strong sense of justice. Hinako is drawn to his capable personality, and they bond when he learns how to surf. They spend time together. After telling Hinako the waves are the best to surf in after Christmas because if you make a wish it will come true, he goes to the beach the next day by himself and goes surfing without Hinako, but dies when attempting to save a jetskiier. Hinako is distraught by his death and moves to an apartment away from the beach. One day, she finds out he appears in water whenever she sings "Brand New Story", a song the two of them often sang together. While the others cannot see him, Hinako and Minato spend time with each other again, even in public. However, Minato is reminded of his mortality, after realizing he cannot physically touch Hinako and when his co-worker, Wasabi, confesses to her. He asks Hinako to move on with her life, but she declines. However, she realizes she is too reliant on him after she stops him from going to heaven. When Hinako goes to pay her respects at Minato's house, his sister Yōko tells her what inspired Minato to become a firefighter. Hinako learns she was the one who saved Minato from drowning when they were young. When she unlocks the phone, she reads the drafted text message, telling her to "ride her own wave." She enrolls in a lifeguard training course, hoping to stop being dependent on Minato. Meanwhile, Yōko confesses to Wasabi, reminding him he had inspired her to return to school when she was bullied. At her part-time job, Yōko overhears the same group that set off the previous fireworks planning to do so again at the abandoned building housing a large Christmas tree. Hinako accompanies her as they tail the group to collect evidence. The fireworks cause the building set ablaze, and Hinako and Yōko are trapped. However, Hinako summons Minato, who sends a wave of water up the building, extinguishing the fire. Hinako and Yōko ride on a backboard down the wave. After exchanging final farewells with Yōko, Wasabi, and Hinako, Minato's spirit ascends to heaven. The next Christmas, Hinako, Yōko and Wasabi, the latter two now dating, visit the Chiba Port Tower to celebrate Hinako receiving her lifeguard certification. As Yōko and Wasabi leave, Hinako sings to a fountain, but Minato does not appear. The tower reads a message he wrote for her the previous year and Hinako breaks down. Afterwards, Hinako continues her lifeguard duty and surfing.


Voice cast

; : :A 21-year-old firefighter interested in Hinako, whom he calls a "hero". He is also a sous-chef. ; : :A 19-year-old college student, part-time florist, and a surfer. ; : :Minato's younger sister and a high school student working part-time at a café. Her nickname is
blue-ringed octopus Blue-ringed octopuses, comprising the genus ''Hapalochlaena'', are four extremely venomous species of octopus that are found in tide pools and coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from Japan to Australia. They can be identified by thei ...
. ; : :Minato's firefighting partner.


Production

The film was announced at the
Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. According to the FIAPF, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals and the second largest film festival in Asia behind the ...
in 2018, with Yuasa served as a director. He described it as a "simple romantic comedy" that will have "a lot of exciting scenes", including some depicting the contrast between water and fire. Yuasa compared life to "riding a wave", using it as the basis for the story. The film was produced by
Science Saru , stylized as Science SARU, is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Kichijōji, Musashino, Tokyo. Established on February 4, 2013, by producer Eunyoung Choi and director Masaaki Yuasa, the studio has produced four feature films and five a ...
.
Reiko Yoshida is a Japanese screenwriter. She has written and supervised numerous screenplays for anime series, live-action dramas and films. Her major works include ''Kaleido Star'', ''Aria'', ''Maria-sama ga Miteru'', '' D.Gray-man'', ''K-On!'', ''Bakuman'' ...
served as the screenwriter and
Michiru Oshima Michiru (満, みちる, ミチル) is a Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, 1970s J-Pop artist *, Japanese composer *, Japanese pop singer and songwriter *, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese anime scriptwriter *, Japane ...
served as a music composer.
Rina Kawaei is a Japanese actress and former singer, represented by Avex Inc., Avex. She is a former member of the girl group AKB48. As an actress, she has starred in television series such as ''Come Come Everybody'' (2021) and was nominated for Blue Ribbon ...
and
Generations from Exile Tribe Generations from Exile Tribe (Japanese: ジェネレーションズ・フロム・エグザイル・トライブ, stylized as GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE and formerly known as Generations) is a six-member Japanese dance and vocal group formed ...
member
Ryota Katayose is a Japanese singer and actor. He is a vocalist of Generations from Exile Tribe and is represented by LDH. Early life and career Katayose is the only child. He learned to play piano from his grandfather and father. He was a keen football ...
joined the cast on leading roles in January 2019, with the film being Katayose's first voice acting role. Honoka Matsumoto and Kentaro Ito joined the cast on supporting roles in February 2019. The film's theme song is "Brand New Story" by Generations from Exile Tribe. A music video animated by Science Saru, featuring the members and new original scenes from the film, released on June 21, 2019. To promote the film, a two-chapter manga adaptation by Machi Kiachi was serialized in ''Deluxe
BetsuComi , known as before 2000, is a monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Shogakukan. It was conceived as a or "special issue" of its sister magazine '' Shōjo Comic''. It is released on the 13th of each month. Serializations Current * ' ...
'', which contains an original story about Hinako and Minato. On July 2, 2019,
GKIDS GKIDS is an American film and television distributor owned by Toho International. Based in New York City, GKIDS releases mostly international animated films and television series to North American audiences, as well as American films by indepe ...
announced they had licensed the film in North America and was released in 2020.


Release

The film premiered in Japan on June 21, 2019. It premiered in the United Kingdom at Scotland Loves Anime on October 11, 2019, ahead of a home-video release via distributor
Anime Limited Anime Limited, also known as All the Anime, is a British anime distribution company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It releases anime for British, Irish, French and other European audiences. The company was established in 2012 by Andrew Partridge, ...
on November 23, 2020. JL Film Entertainment released the film in China. It was delayed and released on December 7, 2019. The film was released theatrically in North America by
GKIDS GKIDS is an American film and television distributor owned by Toho International. Based in New York City, GKIDS releases mostly international animated films and television series to North American audiences, as well as American films by indepe ...
, first as a one-day special screening on February 19 in cooperation with
Fathom Events Fathom Events is an entertainment content provider that broadcasts entertainment events in movie theaters throughout the United States, including Metropolitan Opera Live in HD, the performing arts, major sporting events, and music concerts. The ...
, and subsequently via traditional release on February 21, 2020. It was later released by GKIDS and
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...
on Blu-ray and DVD on August 4, 2020, with a streaming release on
HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...
following on January 12, 2021.


Reception

The film was released in 299 theaters across Japan on June 21, 2019, and debuted at ninth in the opening week with . On
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds approval rating based on reviews, with an average rating of . On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 65 out of 100 based on 10 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Matt Schley from ''
The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...
'' gave the film four out of five stars, complimenting the "charming cast of characters," while mentioning the film seemed too "normal" for a work by Yuasa. Writing for the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', Charles Solomon called the film Yuasa's "best anime yet", citing its believable characters and polished animation style. Peter Debruge from ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' noted that the film's use of a hit single as its theme song helped broaden its appeal to a more mainstream audience, but also criticized it for pushing its romance themes too strong. The film became one of the Jury Recommended Works in the Animation category at the 23rd
Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival was an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by ...
in 2020.


Accolades


References


External links

* * * {{Science Saru 2010s Japanese films 2019 anime films 2019 films Films about firefighting Films about grief 2010s Japanese-language films Japanese animated fantasy films Japanese ghost films Japanese romantic fantasy films Japanese sports films Science Saru Seven Seas Entertainment titles Surfing films Animated romance films Toho animated films Films scored by Michiru Ōshima Anime with original screenplays Films set in Chiba Prefecture