“Ocean Waves” is a rather mild film from Studio Ghibli. It lacks the creative imagery of “Spirited Away” or “My Neighbour Totoro” and instead feels closest to “Only Yesterday”. “Ocean Waves” was not a theatrical film and was actually a tv film and the main purpose of it was to give some of the younger staff at Studio Ghibli some experience. Given these constraints, it’s actually pretty good.

In this film, we follow Taku Morisaki, a Japanese university student as he returns home after his first year studying. He reminisces about his final year of high school and a girl from Tokyo by the name of Rikako Muto, who had a big impact on him.

There are of course no whacky creatures or anything like that in this film so instead our focus is on a small group of very relatable characters with very relatable problems. The main character has feelings for the big city girl but so does his best friend. The interactions between Taku and Rikako are very believable and engaging. The animation on the characters does look good but not as polished as the other Studio Ghibli films, which is understandable given that this one had a smaller budget.

Like “Only Yesterday”, I question whether or not this really needed to be an animated film. What is on offer is still very good but the movie did not massively impress me. The problem is that many of the other Studio Ghibli pictures are so good that it’s easy to overlook something more mundane such as “Ocean Waves”. If you are a big Studio Ghibli fan then I think you will like this movie but don’t expect it to be as creative or interesting as some of their other movies. For those looking for a gentle coming of age film then this might fit the bill.