Nami yo Kiitekure (Wave, Listen to Me!)

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Alternative Titles

English: Wave, Listen to Me!

Synonyms: Nami yo Kiite Kure

Japanese: 波よ聞いてくれ

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 12

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Apr 4, 2020 to Jun 20, 2020

Premiered: Spring 2020

Broadcast: Saturdays at 02:25 (JST)

Producers: Mainichi Broadcasting System, Kodansha, DMM pictures, DMM Music

Licensors: Funimation

Studios: Sunrise

Source: Manga

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Seinen

Duration: 24 min. per ep.

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

Statistics

Score: 7.38¹ (scored by 18,437 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1995²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #2073

Members: 55,938

Favorites: 98

7.38

Ranked #1995Popularity #2073Members 55,938

Spring 2020TVSunrise

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Synopsis

Restaurant worker Minare Koda has recently been through a bad breakup. Heartbroken and drunk after a night out, she rants about her misery to a complete stranger—Kanetsugu Matou, a radio station director local to Sapporo, Hokkaido.

The next day at work, Minare is shocked to hear a recording of herself from the previous night playing over the radio. Flustered, she rushes to the radio station in a frenzy to stop the broadcast. As she confronts Matou, a chain of events leads to her giving an impromptu talk live on air, explaining her savage drunken speech. With her energetic voice, she delivers a smooth dialogue with no hesitation, which Matou recognizes as raw talent.

Minare soon becomes a late-night talk show host under Matou's direction, covering amusing narratives set in Sapporo, all while balancing her day job and personal life to make ends meet.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Adaptation:

Nami yo Kiitekure

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Koda, Minare

Main

Sugiyama, Riho
Japanese

Nanba, Mizuho

Supporting

Iwami, Manaka
Japanese

Matou, Kanetsugu

Supporting

Fuji, Shinshuu
Japanese

Tachibana, Makie

Supporting

Noto, Mamiko
Japanese

Oki, Shinji

Supporting

Uchiyama, Kouki
Japanese

Nakahara, Chuuya

Supporting

Yano, Masaaki
Japanese

Koumoto, Ryuusuke

Supporting

Ishikawa, Kaito
Japanese

Chishiro, Madoka

Supporting

Ohara, Sayaka
Japanese

Kureko, Katsumi

Supporting

Yamaji, Kazuhiro
Japanese

Takarada, Yoshiki

Supporting

Shimada, Bin
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Minamikawa, Tatsuma

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Takahashi, Tsuyoshi

Sound Director

Okada, Kenjirou

Storyboard

tacica

Theme Song Arrangement, Theme Song Performance

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Opening Theme

"aranami" by tacica

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Ending Theme

#1: "Pride" by Harumi (遥海) (eps 1-3, 5-12)
#2: "Believe In Myself" by Harumi (遥海) (ep 4)

More reviews

Reviews

Jun 19, 2020

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

Stark700 (All reviews)

55 people found this review helpful

Someone wake me up from this weird dream because I feel like I entered the Twilight Zone. Watching Nami yo Kittekure (Wave, Listen to Me!) is perhaps one of the most bizarre yet exhilarating experiences I’ve had this year.

At the heart the show is about a woman named Minare Koda, who is dealing with a breakup with her ex-boyfriend. After an incident with an older man from a drunken night, her voice becomes an icon and she enters a world she’s never began to imagine before. Welcome to a world where voices expressionism is an icon and sensation. That being said, Nami yo Kittekure translates into a comedy-drama story with windows for romance and unorthodox storytelling. I say this it’s unorthodox because this show blends a variety of genres together that makes it very special.

Let’s face some facts first. The art of radio talking isn’t something most of us are interested in, or at least, at a mainstream level. Sure, there are podcasts that offers consistent content and radio shows that achieves fames on occasions. However, it has never really reached an overwhelming popularity that it became an international sensation. That being said, Minare Koda is an amateur at her job without much experience. To make matters worse, she’s still dealing with a bad breakup and isn’t something easy to just over. Now that she’s in profession of unknown territory, the risks increase tenfold as her voice is broadcasted for the world to hear. What’s actually intriguing is how she managed to make her circumstances into a blessing in disguise or at the very least, a chance to turn her life around. And as the main female protagonist, Minare carries the story with a passionate personality combined with a degree of stubbornness. She wants to prove herself and be a better person although there are many obstacles in her way. In a sense, I see this anime as her own personal journey of redemption.

As an anime with adult characters, it’s quite refreshing to see the diversity of the cast. Matou, the chief director and person that Minare bumped into after her drunken night, is the guy to look for when you need help. Being a laid back individual, he has a keen eye for talent. The result is how Minare ends up as a radio talk host at MRS. And at MRS, she encounters other individuals who she must to adapt with in order to survive such as assistant director Mizuho Nanba and mixer Ryusuke Komoto. What’s fascinating about Minare’s life at this point is how unpredictable it is, with everyday being a seemingly new challenge for her to overcome. Plus, let’s not also forget about the people she used to work with including Chuuya Nakahara, Makie Tachibana, and Yoshiki Takarada. What sells to me most is just how expressive Minare is when interacting with these characters. The amount of emotions she delivers is astonishing, sometimes a bit over the line but always grabs your attention. At its best, Minare’s character enables us to see the struggles of a young woman fighting in a world that’s stacked against her.

I’ve said it before but watching the variety of genres mixed together in this anime works successfully. One of the additional genre is romance, something that isn’t too keen on developing but cleverly woven into the show. We have to remember that the series takes place in an adult working world so high school drama is tossed out the window. These characters are adults now and is part of the working society. Relationships goes beyond the teenage romance with levels of age gaps between certain characters. Minare also seems to be hesitant to fall in love especially after a bad breakup. Let’s face it, is she even ready with all the pressure stacked on top of her? With characters like Nakahara, you’d have to see for herself for how unpredictable the story is. Then again, this anime is so hyper energetic that sometimes, you forget the romance or plot is there. It could be a double edged sword that occasionally makes fun of itself too much. In fact, there’s an immense amount of comedy that goes well beyond how characters behave. We follow Minare’s life journey as she now has a purpose, a goal that the viewers wants to see how much she can achieve. If you remember that along with the amount of humor, then Nami yo Kittekure will be a real treat.

Studio Sunrise is known for some of its involvement in some outlandish projects. Nami yo Kittekure is no exception as we examine the bizarre world of radio. At the center of it all is Minare, with a voice of charisma and passion. Adapting her character to life is no simple task especially with her overwhelming character expressions. It’s a selling point in the show that makes the best to make her character look alive. That’s also say, Minare personality shines the best when dealing with her daily life problems such as her new job and ex-boyfriend, Mitsuo Suga. But with everything said, Minare’s voice is an icon for this show, a testament that she earned her place in the radio world. Riho Sugiyama, the voice actress, did an outstanding job at bringing her character to life. Each episode, the audience will be glowed to the screen to see how she behaves with others. If there’s a voice acting award to be given this year, she’s got my vote.

It’s not a dream. It’s a reality, a world where Minare wakes up and realizes how different it is now that she’s part of the radio broadcasting experience. Let it be that her journey will be an experience like no other. This is the type of anime that you don’t find too often these days as it manages its themes and genres together so well. And honestly, I want this reality to continue.

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Jun 19, 2020

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

SingleH (All reviews)

52 people found this review helpful

In keeping with the rant-fueled, on-air radio motif this anime is centered around, I thought I’d shake up my formula by recording myself impromptu reviewing this show and then transcribing it into a MAL review unedited, so enjoy seeing just how much of a hack I am without the weeks of heavy editing I put into my usual writing. I censored names and stuff I wouldn’t put in my proper reviews, but otherwise the following is raw and unscripted.

In advance, thank you for reading.

———

So you’ll always expect a show which, either, is very esoteric and appeals to a small number of people and/or a show which is super high-minded and “deep” about stuff—you’ll always expect those shows to have a much lower score than they deserve…assuming they deserve a high score. Because, again, they’re just so niche that, to the average viewer, you’re not going to—it’ll just miss the mark entirely.

I’m always accused of hating anime because I’ve seen so much, yet my mean score is grossly low. And everyone looks at that and is like, “Uwah god! Why do you even watch anime? You obviously just hate it. Why do you have to hate so much? Uuuuuuwaaah you’re such a contrarian.” And I explained it to one person, one person only, because explaining it to them and seeing how easy it was to explain to them given just how hard they came at me, I figured, if I can explain it to this person, then I can explain it to everyone else so I thusly don’t feel the need to because it’s a waste of my time—and I’m too busy anyway. So I explained it to this one person, and I was satisfied for life, and haven’t bothered with the asinine comment since. What I said to them was, how often do you go see a movie? And they’re like, I don’t know, every month, every other month, a normal amount. To which I said, okay, well why do you go see the movies you go see? And they said, well, because they look like they interest me, so I go see it as I’m pretty sure I’m going to like it. And I said, okay, cool. Now imagine you see every single movie, period. Like, you go out—every single movie that’s showing in theaters, you go, and you see it. Do you think your score, your average score for movies, would be as high as it is now? And they go, well, no, because—oh, okay, I get it. And that’s how I explained it to them; that’s why my mean score is so low. I fucking love anime. Like, it’s the same thing with…everything else, you know? I like eating. I like food. We all like food, right? But there’s a lot of food that we would hate. Granted, I guess this isn’t really a good example considering most people probably like most food, but if you’re a picky eater, you don’t like most food, but you still like food! …Anyway, I’m talking about myself too much and J*** will probably take this review down for being irrelevant again.

But the point is, it’s a niche show. Like, it is a josei slice of life show, so if you wanna categorize it, that’s the category to put it in, but the way it goes about executing that formula is…not very formulaic and will inevitably fall outside the bounds of most people’s strike zones. It’s a show about Minare Koda who is just a normal ass person, she’s just getting by as a part-timer, not trying to get rich quick but also not about to let herself stagnate completely. She’s implied to have no higher education, but if she was to find any more success then she had at the start of the story, which is to say, no success at all, then it wouldn’t be through a high-paying, white-collar job either way. Just, you know, maintaining as a waitress for the time being, and she has this bad break-up—and it’s amazing because the show starts with a monologue. As the title of the show suggests, or at least as the Japanese title of the show suggests, it’s about radio and about being a talk show host, which she becomes over the course of the show. So it starts with her monologue and she’s like, you know, I like to think I can get over any tragedy in five days, but I’m always the biggest mess on the fifth day, and then for the remaining twelve episodes she proceeds to be a total mess, and it’s…relatable, um…

*nervous laughter*

If you’re young—I’m not trying to be condescending or talk down to anyone, but if you are a young viewer, if you’re a college kid and you haven’t really gone out in the world yet, or if you’re even younger—if you’re like a teenager or something and still in highschool—you probably don’t want to watch this show. The characters are dumb people. They make a lot of dumb decisions, dumb uninformed decisions, and they’re probably going to annoy you. A lot of young people like to think of themselves as really smart just because they haven’t—how do I say this. A lot of young people are, like, really arrogant—and not in a bad kind of way! Or, yes, in a bad way, but not in an intentionally mean-spirited way. They’re not trying to be like, oh, I’m this genius motherfucker, I’m this prodigy—some of them are, but a lot of them aren’t. A lot of them are just subtly arrogant, and they kind of just look at adults as these weird, illogical creatures who make crazy decisions even though they have all the responsibility and everything to lose. You know, adults are always, always, constantly talking down to kids—parents are always telling their children, you don’t know what in the hell you’re talking about, you haven’t lived life, I have, I make the decisions, I know what’s right for you. And then the kids hear that, and they look at their parents and they see these adults just break themselves down: like going through substance abuse issues, going through affairs, breaking families, breaking the law, being hypocrites. All these stereotypically self-destructive decisions are stereotypical because they happen to a lot of people. And kids look at this and go, well, adults clearly aren’t that smart because how are they pulling all this shit? And…if you’re young, you will look at this show and you will see that. You will see a lot of people making overemotional decisions because, you know, they’re adults now, and everything’s on them, and it’s stressful, and they’re just out in society doing their thing, and they’re also fucking stupid.

And it’s relatable—again, if you are of age, and you’ve had your share of real decisions to make, if you’ve been on your own terms and made your own decisions, many of which you likely regret, then this show will be incredibly relatable and poignant to you. Now, this show is also really funny, despite, um, what I just said. Something that adults are great at is being unempathetic, and laughing at other people even though they’re more than likely looking in some sort of mirror. The great woes of teenagerdom—and I extent that into being a college kid, like, from ages twelve to twenty six, you are very concerned with what other people think of you…which is fine. I mean, it can hurt a lot of people permanently, trust me of all people, I know, but generally, it’s not a dangerously unhealthy practice, because the fact that’s all you have to worry about is a good thing which should be a reassurance. The only thing you really have on your shoulders at the time is who you want to look like, so when you fail at that and gain a toxic social status, you feel as if you’ve failed as a person. Whereas when you’re an adult, though, all that shit is kind of diluted by the gravity of everything else on your plate, so you’re a lot more detached about what bothers you on a societal level. As a kid, you’ll watch, like, The Big Bang Theory, or The Office, or Friends and laugh at these…human, but transparently fictitious situations and personalities, but if you were to have seen something like…The Howard Stern Show, then you’d see these freaks he brings on and just be put-off by them because you’ll get to a point where you just have to sit back and accept the reality these people are not screen-written. These are just weird bastards who are just out there doing their thing, and like, THAT is real cringe radio. Obviously, no one in this show is on that level, but they’re stupid and they make bad decisions, so when you watch it and they overreact to certain things and they have all these boisterous conversations you’re—it’s like the self-deprecating laugh, it’s like, you’re an idiot, but, boy, have I been there before? And if you’re young, you probably haven’t had the chance to fuck up badly enough to have actually been there yourself, so everyone will probably just come across as a totally unbelievable character.

Although it’s not a comedy—that’s another thing. MAL is misguided in tagging it as such and giving viewers the wrong idea as to what they should be expecting. It’s funny, but it is not a comedy, and that’s a very important distinction to make there. It’s just a drama starring these losers which just happens to have the ability to make you puke from laughter. The humor in this show is very Japanese, and I know that’s a buzzword people use to excuse why they found a show unfunny, because for some reason, people in the anime community don’t find Japanese comedy that funny. Which I get, kind of, because the whole idea behind the phrase is just to say, we don’t understand why this group of people finds these kinds of jokes funny. So let me explain it to you if you think that way. Comedy is based on the society in which the joke is being made, right? So if you live in a country like America where—and this isn’t about comedy, just a difference in social order—like America, which is all about liberty and freedom of expression and speech, saying what you want to say, and being an asshole because, yeah, I’m an American, and I can do what I want. If you live in a country like that, watch anime, and you see like—how all these anime portray sibling relationships as being abnormally aware of one another, like the whole siblings meme of a brother or sister being way too obsessed with their sister or brother’s perception of them. In Japan, that is more of a real thing, because they are actually beholden to their family members in that country. In America, if you have a falling out with a sibling or even your parents, you’ll just have a big fight, say fuck off, and leave the house and you’ll make it on your own. That’s how it works in America. In Japan, the idea of “disowning your child,” something we in the West reserve for hyper-religious families, you know—like you’ll hear gay people go, yeah, when I came out to my parents, they “disowned” me, and you’re like, wow, you’re parents are…really into that God shit, huh? Well, in Japan, that’s a common thing for non-religious reasons. Like, normal families will quote unquote disown their children for—you know the whole Asian stereotype of bringing dishonor to the family? I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a million times: generalizations and stereotypes exist because enough people whom it regards have fit that descriptor at some point. I’m not saying they’re all true. I’m just saying they came about because someone had something physical to point at at one time. Comedy works the exact same way.

If you live in a country like America, you can be a loud boisterous asshole because that’s just life, or if you see someone else being a loud boisterous asshole you’ll be like, well, that guy’s just a fucker, I guess I’ll just ignore him, this person’s annoying. In Japan, you’re a lot more considerate socially. If someone’s being a loud boisterous asshole, that’s not just a daily nuisance, that’s, like, an event. So when you notice how much slapstick style comedy there is in anime, that’s not, the Japanese are unfunny, that’s, the Japanese have a totally different idea of what “funny” is. Their humor relies on physical comedy—which isn’t that amusing to us, because in America, we are always physical! We are always up in your face, so seeing that is just like, oh, that’s annoying, and I see this everyday. In Japan, people are a lot more orderly, so when you see someone in anime or TV being disorderly, that’s a rarity. So if you refuse to see humor the way those of foreign upbringings do, then the comedy in this show will just fall on deaf ears. The main character is expertly fit to be a radio host because she is that type of person. This person is loud, and high-pitched, and unafraid to speak, you know, she…acts like an American! I mean, I don’t think it’s a coincidence she is the one female character in the show with blonde, dyed hair, and all else are natural Japanese brunettes, you know? She acts like an American i.e. she’s loud, she talks about her problems that no one else wants to talk about, she’s totally unabashed, she has very little shame, again, she acts like an American, and that’s why she’s the perfect fit for this line of work. But what that translates to for the average viewer is, this is just another loud annoying bitch I don’t want to listen to, and I can see a lot of guys—a lot of men—who will watch this show and probably just think she’s obnoxious. You know, this is a very honest show, it’s extremely realistic, a lot of people in the anime community will probably just think she’s a slut, and that’s a perfect segue into my final topic of just how real this show is.

A lot of quote unquote “josei” anime and manga—when I get into them, I can only think: this is just shoujo. Nana, Paradise Kiss, Jellyfish Princess, like, all the classics, they’re all fundamentally immature. Like, I hope you understand that, dear reader. When you watch those shows, and you see these kinds of people being portrayed the way they’re being portrayed, and you can walk away from those works thinking they were written for adult women as a sort of—I don’t know—like, a Fifty Shades of Grey esque, blast from the past, smut thing which reminds of the good ol’ days where you could just go out for the night and not worry, no kids, that kind of thing? Sure. But if you can watch those shows and think they’re meant for adult women as serious, meaningful drama? Then either a) you know a lot of stupid adult women or b)…you’re…wrong. Because they’re just about the same old teen drama at their core. Sure, they are about slightly older people doing slightly more mature things—LIKE FUCKING—but that doesn’t make the themes portrayed or the ideas explored any less childish. In Nami yo Kiitekure, it is actually portrayed like real life made for consumption by an adult audience. There was this one episode with a kanji pun about debt collection, and I was just like, damn, no wonder this show has a seven point one on MAL. My point is when you think of what a josei anime is, that’s not what I think of. This…is what I think of. And on that note, it’s probably the best josei anime I’ve ever seen just because it is actually realistic. And it is fucking good.

But it’s only on paper, mind you, because the show is…ugly? I don’t know. It’s a Sunrise show, and if the credits don’t lie it was made in-house, by Sunrise staff, so I guess it was a passion project or something? It’s interesting more prestigious studios are doing this now. Production IG recently—they released this show called Kabukichou Sherlock, and the entire staff was comprised of newcomers, or at least newcomers to their respective positions—for those of you who don’t know IG has a training program because they’re this powerhouse studio, they are the best studio, so like Kyoto Animation—I don’t know if Kyoto Animation has this anymore after what happened but—they have a very rigorous training program they put newcomers though…so maybe this was the result of something like that? My point is, it looked fine, but it didn’t really look like an IG show, and it was made by a lot of young people. And this, I don’t know, because the blu-rays aren’t out yet, so you don’t know the full credits list yet, but I feel like it was the fruits of something like that. I feel like this was a passion project greenlit by a veteran of the industry who is now becoming a director or something and doesn’t mind giving the young people the debut most producers would be too hesitant to.

If I can compare it to something, it reminds me of Haibane Renmei, because that show is ugly as sin, but is also obviously inspired. You know, you watch Haibane Renmei and you’re like—I don’t think it’s as good as most people do, but when you watch it you know it’s a meaningful show. It’s a show with a lot of heart, it’s a show with a lot of meaning to it, even though—talk about immaturity—it is a very childish story, there is tons of melodrama in that show, but the ideas behind it are very heartfelt and valuable. But it is ugly, so when you watch it you’re like, okay, this was obviously made by a lot of impassioned people who found a young visionary among their ranks, got behind him as a director who had a smart idea and a powerful message to send, and thought, I want to be a part of this project and I want to help send that message. And so they made it, and it wasn’t the best looking thing in the world because they weren’t the most talented people in the world, but God damn it, they gave it their all, and what we got is what we got. Nami yo Kiitekure applies to all the same technical criticism, and also has an equal amount of things to say…about society, and people, and relationships, and just the modern doomer human condition—it just…it has a lot to say and is very genuine and cathartic to watch…and, um, even though it might not be the most beautiful show in the world, it was obviously made by people who didn’t care if it was or not…and just wanted to say what they wanted to say, though the medium they love most, which is anime.

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Jul 1, 2020

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Agent_Redacted (All reviews)

22 people found this review helpful

Radio's quite an old technology, and as a mere human who's probably still hatching into adulthood I'd say that radios aren't really my type of thing. I rarely listen to them and when I do it's mostly from stupid reasons such as my father opening it inside his car or when there's somehow a radio lying about near my present designation. Still, does disliking radio really affect my perspective towards an anime which is essentially, ultimately about radio broadcasting? The answer is, of course, totally obvious, a straight "No".

Heck, I actually laughed a lot whilst watching Wave, Listen to me. The concept of making a radio broadcast an anime already piqued my interest ever since I set my eyes on it. I despise radios, but at the same time I also enjoy watching the adult industrial anime kind of stuff. Shirobako, Sakura Quest, Genshiken, you name it. Now that that's clarified. Let me just spit out the pros and cons of this show and go straight to the final blow ( conclusion ) so this review won't be too long.

( PRO ) Strong, Realistic, Female protagonist.

Even her character design, especially her eyes look too fucking realistic it's creepy. In a good way. Her personality's also quite realistic and not like some anime where the female protagonist goes "Ayayaya" or "K-k-kyou-kun..?". No overreacts and exaggerates and just straight-up "Yo, homie.". Pretty good. I love the female protagonist and she's probably the main reason why I enjoyed watching this show so much.

( PRO ) Comical and Chill

If you're the type of watcher like me who sometimes just want to enjoy something chill to watch where you could simply place your laptop, ipad somewhere or hold your phone and skydive into your bed and prepare to have a good, relaxing time where you just laugh about occasionally then this show might just be perfect for you. The comedies are on-point. Not too funny, but funny enough to lighten me up. It's also pretty chill. Not too chill as to not make it boring. A pretty good chill and intense ratio.

( CON ) Too Short, felt a bit lacking

About half of the entire series is all about our female protagonist's life and how she became a radio broadcaster. I mean, of course development is necessary. But what I'm trying to say is the other half where she finally does her job as a radio broadcaster felt a bit lacking. Too less man. I'd say this needs at least 3-4 more episodes where she just does her radio broadcast like the first episode. Which was actually another reason why I continued watching the show. To see if there's more to what I saw on the first episode. And as sad as it may sound, after finishing the show I think I didn't really get what I wanted fully. It kind of just felt half-hearted.

Season 2 pls.

Overall Wave, Listen to Me! was outstanding and I'd say regardless of its lack in some points the story was perfect and I really liked the characters. Oh, forgot to mention the sound but that's perfect as well. Voice acting were 10/10. Actually felt like listening to a radio. Anyways. This anime was very good and in a matter of fact possibly a hidden gem of Spring 2020. I recommend this to everybody. It's very good.

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Jun 19, 2020

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 7

An1meDweeb (All reviews)

18 people found this review helpful

Nami yo Kiitekure, which I’ll be calling “Wave” for short, is quite the sleeper in my books. If it weren’t for such unprecedented times and the resultant cancellation of shows from Spring 2020’s catalog, Wave could have quite easily fallen by the wayside, hovering under a MAL score of 7 for its first few episodes. And what a sad scenario that would have been, as Wave has been a refreshing experience through and through. Here’s my (mostly) spoiler-free thoughts on Wave and why I think this show is most certainly worth your time.

Wave is told from the perspective of the fast-talking Minare Koda, a cynical woman struggling to make ends meet. She works at a curry shop in town with a gay* manager who’s clearly only keeping her around for cheap labor, has a hard time keeping her apartment’s landlord happy, and recently sunk in a considerable amount of money into a scumbag boyfriend who promptly took off with the cash. A shitty boss, money problems, a bad breakup – all these problems led her to the right bar on the right night with the right man to rant to… or so it seems. As it turns out, the man she met was Kanetsugu Matou, a director of a local radio station in Sapporo. He was so impressed with her stutter-less delivery and abrasive takes on men that he recorded her epic rant that night and broadcasted it all over Hokkaido, to Minare’s shock. Matou-san then offers to sign our stunned amateur on to the station, offering her the opportunity to hone her craft the recording booth. Because she has virtually no name recognition and thus has no backing by sponsors, Minare is roped into improvising experimental sketches in the dead of night, allowing Matou to see how far he can push the limits of traditional radio programming. Alongside this new endeavor Wave continues to put Minare’s experiences front-and-center, showcasing her plights with her day job and zany life experiences. If you’re still unsure of what to expect, I would say Wave is decidedly an adult comedy, full of pop culture references and absurdist humor with some crude material in the mix.

The approach Wave takes is a welcome change of pace from your typical slapstick or slice-of-life that you’ve probably grown accustomed to. Wave packs in a ton of jokes and references with influences from both Japan and the West. Yes, the localized gags involving stuff like Japanese pop singers and such went over my head, but there’s still plenty of solid material here. I, for one, enjoy comedies that come at you with everything, and Wave does just that by also throwing in some unexpected absurdist sketches that had me laughing my socks off. The radio sketches are a fun opportunity for the series to explore strange concepts and creative laughs, and there’s a sense that the writers are passionate for their love for radio and popular tropes. However, jokes can only carry a show so far, so it’s a good thing that Wave has the perfect vehicle for them. Minare Koda owns this show in every scene she’s in with her raw energy and great timing. This success is in large part due to her voice actor; relative newcomer** Riho Sugiyama’s energetic line delivery easily puts her alongside the heavy-hitters from Kaguya-Sama S2 in terms of the best VA performances this season. The jaded Minare jumps to conclusions left-and-right, and her hyperactive monologues invite us into that erratic thought process. Be it in the recording booth or out, a bulk of my enjoyment with Wave comes by watching her sweeping changes in intensity and how they elevate the observational humor in every episode. With her relentless overconfidence, sheepish embarrassment and animated commentary, Minare keeps me coming back to Wave week by week.

Now, as enjoyable as Wave is, it does have a couple of criticisms that I’d like to share with you. First of all, Wave is very much the Minare Koda Show. That’s by no means a bad thing on its own, I think I’ve gushed over her enough so far. However, the rest of the cast don’t really stand out to me and it’s not for lack of trying. These side characters are present in the narrative but have their conflicts either relegated to the background or in service of Minare’s OTT reactions. While I had a blast watching Minare carry practically the entire show on her back, Wave’s supporting cast needs to be explored deeper should the story receive future installments. The other aspect worth noting is the overall tone and writing throughout the series. When it’s not busy doing radio bits with exes and/or extraterrestrials, Wave can seem unsure of the kind of comedy it wants to pull off in a given scene. Wave’s curious mix of observational humor and more surreal set-ups doesn’t gel as well as I hoped at times. It is possible to balance out the two elements in a satisfying way and render me LMAO for full minutes (which is does often). But the show has a bad habit of attempting to paint scenes in a realistic light when they would have worked better as comedic moments***. Likewise, there were points where Wave undercuts more grounded moments with anticlimactic, throwaway jokes. I feel that this balance of Wave’s two halves is skewed in favor of a more plausible perspective, leading to the show stumbling over itself and overexplaining certain scenes. I’d be glad if the show grows more consistent in working out this formula, ‘cause what we have is already so enjoyable. Before I wrap things up, here’s a lightning round covering all the other criteria I missed: the animation is serviceable, the art and presentation gets some good moments, I think the insight into the radio industry was digestible and fun (reminiscent of “Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!’s” many tidbits about animation), the songs and sound design fit the show nicely. I don’t intend to half-ass on these topics; they just didn’t factor into my viewing experience all that much.

Tl;DR: Nami yo Kiitekure is quite likely to have you in stitches. A simply stellar performance by Riho Sugiyama brings our lively lead to life. Minare nails every joke with an energetic, ballsy delivery that would make isekai protagonists quiver in their pants. Not all the comedy works, but the show’s fun take on observational & absurdist humor makes for a welcome change of scenery. Wave, Listen to me absolutely deserves to be heard. 7/10~

STRAY RAMBLINGS (SPOILERS):
- *The show sort of gay-bashes the manager, and it’s a recurring gag that never really works. I’m thinking it could be an issue of dated material, as the manga was first published back in 2014. Still, the homo stuff wasn’t made in good taste here, so have this mild trigger warning.
- **My jaw dropped to the floor when I caught Minare’s rap edit in Gigguk’s Spring 2020 video. Immediately added Wave to my watch list and found her profile on MAL. Said jaw then proceeded to fall further still when I learnt that she has less than ten VA roles to date! I’m definitely rooting for her to nail more parts in the years to come, fantastic effort.
- ***Let me share an example with you. My favorite joke in the entire show was that of the crazy coincidence in episode 5 where Minare was doing an improvised sketch from the POV of a woman who killed her partner. Meanwhile, it turned out that the exact same occurrence was taking place as Minare’s broadcast was aired, and the eerie parallels between the two scenarios and the reactions from the killer and hostage were funny as heck. The whole scene was insane but it functioned perfectly as a one-off joke that came and went, and I was happy to leave things at that. Unfortunately, it turns out that the scene is actually a major plot point, as it’s revealed that it was Mitsuo, Minare’s ex, who was tied up that night. The show tries to give a wonky explanation for all this, but it only highlights the contrivances necessary for this to have taken place and lessens the fantastic gag that came before it.
- Matou’s seeing Minare as a mirror image of Sissel Komei, a woman from his past, is a plotline that shows up every now and then. I just don’t think Wave really goes anywhere with this? It’s just sort of there, and I’m not sure how this thread plays into the show’s themes. Isn’t the story about Minare being her awesome self and bringing that personality to the airwaves? If so, what good is there in attempting to make her character more artificial by selling this idea that she’s a carbon copy of someone else? The only guess that comes to my mind is that she could show up later on in the canon, affecting Minare in some personal way. Oh well, I guess that might count as world-building, so I probably shouldn’t complain.
- BEST GIRL: Mizuho. Just this once, Minare has good taste in romantic interests ;)
- IN A NUTSHELL: Good Morning Vietnam meets Fleabag (If you’re a fan of Minare, I guarantee Phoebe Waller-Bridge will win you over in the same way).
- Lockdown does weird things to people, so I guess I blog now! Thanks so much for making it this far. If you happen to like my verbose over-analysis, come check out the other reviews I’m putting out this season. Also, feel free to leave any feedback for me; I’m still trying to figure a lot of this stuff out. Stay safe, see you in the next one, peace!

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