Even though I respect your opinion if you think that this movie is "good" or maybe even "great", having that thought after watching this movie is something that I find unfathomable. I think that Ocean Waves rightfully deserves the reputation it has and is one of the most aggravating film experiences that I've had to sit through in a while.
ART:
Nothing to critique here; typical early Ghibli style and charm.
SOUND:
The score is forgettable at best and off-putting at worst. Some scenes were coupled with undeserved orchestral swells that made moments feel even more artificial or exasperating than they already were. Voice acting was good for main characters but occasionally spotty for the supporting cast.
CHARACTER and STORY:
Here we go. If you don't already know this movie's reputation, viewers tend to hate the female lead, Rikako. I had seen this trend before watching the movie and was fully prepared to disagree with or at least criticize that line of thinking. "She can't be that bad," I thought. "Surely some people just don't understand her motivations or are blowing her personality out of proportion. Right?"
Boy was I wrong. Not only do I completely agree with this sentiment, but as of now, she is one of the most unlikable characters I have ever been forced to watch. I've seen non-villains and villains alike in movies, people who are antagonistic scumbags that have committed atrocities and all kinds of abominable actions, yet they all seem more human than the self-centered, deceitful, underdeveloped Rikako. As the movie goes on, she only continues to grow more inhuman, irritating and repugnant.
"But that's the point. This is a story of a girl tearing two best friends apart and the struggles of youth. That's why it's a drama."
Is that really the point though? Cause I don't think so, and it doesn't seem like the writers thought that either.
Romance is also listed in the tags, and that seems to be what the story is shooting for, especially with how the movie ends...except that no one in their right mind would find this movie romantic, nor is the romance given proper development or a conclusion. In fact, the romance doesn't even really begin, it's just implied within the last minutes of the film. If you tried to tell me that this was a romance movie before I looked at its Wikipedia and MAL pages, I would've laughed in your face.
The story and "romance" in this movie consists of Rikako being a selfish, manipulative, uncaring asshole and two guys falling in love with her anyway. Her motivations for being an asshole are cliche (you could probably guess them without watching the movie) and never justified. We are given some superficial dialogue about why she turned out this way and then the movie expects us to somehow forgive her for being such a terrible character, even when none of the reasons for her actions are resolved or acknowledged in a meaningful manner.
The two male leads are flat and one-dimensional. Not only do they have seemingly no reason to love her (besides the fact that she is attractive) but the movie doesn't even attempt for either of them to get close to her in any significant way. She uses Taku and then abandons him just as quickly. Yutaka tries to befriend her and fails miserably. This is somehow enough to make the friendship between Taku and Yutaka fall apart.
The movie's third act is short and pointless. Taking a walk together is enough to fix Taku and Yutaka's friendship. A reunion at a bar suddenly makes all the character's reveal how they've "grown" over their time in college, when really the only character that has developed in any way is an irrelevant girl that was barely in the movie. The rest of the them haven't changed at all. What's even more laughable is that after all the pain she's caused them, Taku realizes at the reunion that he still loves Rikako...for some reason (this is especially hilarious when the only memories that he can recall are of her being an asshole to him). What you're looking at is a movie where almost nothing happens, and what does happen is not justified or impactful in any stretch of the imagination. The melodrama is neither entertaining nor well-executed, and you will leave the movie wondering what the hell you're supposed to take away from this experience.
CONCLUSION:
A movie hasn't made me this upset in a long time. This is not a feel-good slice of life and it's also not a romance. It's a drama, and it handles that label with extreme laziness and ineptitude. Unlikable characters with nonexistent development. Meandering dialogue. No sense of direction. A rushed ending. I'm not sure if this movie has any positive aspects. What I am sure of is that this movie barely scrapes over the hour mark and it almost feels like two.
The premise is not inherently terrible. Watching a friendship deteriorate due to a manipulative person is a classic plot that could've been handled well, but it doesn't even feel like the focus of this movie; it's just something that happens out of the blue toward the end of the second act. But the romance doesn't feel like the focus of this movie either. So what the hell is the focus of this movie anyway? Rikako being an asshole? Yeah, pretty much.
