Aug 7, 2020
I would like to simply say that as a fan of Masaaki Yuasa's directed works, this film comes off as a little bit... average.
The unique stylistic animation of Yuasa-sensei's work always sends the audience a feeling of intriquing while eccentric at the same time. However, I must say that Ride Your Wave does not give as much of a visual impact as his other films. That being said, if I were simply to rate this film without factoring in the people behind the work, the animation, although not as beautiful as Shinkai-sensei's work, still manages to capture my interest on an artistic level. However,
...
the animation, in my opinion, was not as thought provoking as usual.
When it comes to the plot of the movie, I would say that the romantic tale from this film does not add much more to the table than previous romance drama film. The only selling point of this movie was the fact that the male lead, while deceased, somehow manage to live on as a spirit within water. However, instead of taking a much more philosophical route like Yuasa-sensei did with his other work, Devilman Crybaby, Ride Your Wave simply glosses over the mystery for the romance. Which is not a mistake, per se, however it does make the movie more average, since the selling point was the supernatural aspect of the film.
The only thing I can praise is that the movie manages to capture the emotions of the female lead quite well, showing her sadness in a way that made it quite realistic and human, evoking sympathy from the audience. However, once we get invested to the main characters, we somehow enter the climax where the female lead literally rode the wave on top of a tower, defying gravity, in order to safe a friend. Although the action sequence should be praised, I can't help but think tthat it doesn't mesh well with the rest of the plot, like they don't know whether to focus upon the romance aspect of the film pr the action.
Finally, the release of this film was closely preceded by another film made by a much less famous director called Children of the Sea. Although both films have a much different plotline, the similarities on the background of both films --the sea, made me subconsciously compare the two films. Although I gave the rating of this review objectively without letting this comparison influence me, I couldn't help but think of how Children of the Sea had better animation, plot and a well grounded theme compared to Ride Your Wave.
Therefore, I would recommend for people to watch this film without thinking of it as a Yuasa film nor should people watch this film with other similar themed films. Otherwise, there might be some disappointment coming for you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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