Review of Ride Your Wave

*Spoilers, just in case* This is quite possibly one of the cutest and funniest animated films I've seen from Masaaki Yuasa. Unfortunately, it didn't "punch" as well as others. If you watch the theatrical trailer before seeing the film you will be in for a surprise. Yes, the trailer spoils the crux of the film, but the trailer touches nothing about our main characters and how amazingly developed they are. If the story wasn't as comical as it was, I think I would have cried a lot more, but I also think this to be a fault of the animation style. Don't get me wrong, this film isabsolutely gorgeous. The art style complemented the bubbliness of the characters extremely well, heavy emphasis on how well the ocean waves are rendered in the art style. The cute style allowed for stunning facial reactions and body movements by all characters that further pushes the comedy of the story but, as aforementioned, takes from the impact of the emotions.

Tying in a song that the two main characters perceived as 'their song' through their unfortunately short relationship is an amazing choice. It pushes the story that much further and gives an additional emphasis on the theme of 'coping' that surrounds the party after one of the characters' passing about 30 minutes in. Then to show that the main female character is relying too much on the song and its link to her late boyfriend further drives home this sense of desperation. It wasn't until the very last scene where the song comes back again that I felt the story really hit the emotions it intended to an hour earlier.

I highly recommend this film for those who are looking for themes of coping after the end of a relationship; to those who think tears should be spared until the end of a film; most importantly, to those who need a good laugh in their own relationships.