Studio Ghibli is arguably the greatest anime studio of all time and has proven this fact more times than we can count. Both Spirited Away and The Boy And The Heron won Best Animated Picture for their respective years, but not every movie has received the same notoriety as Ghibli’s heaviest hitters. In a surprising new announcement, Ghibli has confirmed that one of its lesser-known properties isn’t just making a return but the movie will make its cinematic debut at theaters. Considering what we’ve seen from Ghibli in the past, you might be surprised at what this hidden gem focuses on and how it is coming to theaters.
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Ocean Waves was released in 1993, with its story based on a series of novels that ran in the early 90s. Unlike My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke, Ocean Waves takes a break from the supernatural and instead, focuses on a far more mundane story that documents the coming-of-age journey of two best friends. The film initially arrived as a straight-to-television film, making for a big departure from what we’ve come to know from Ghibli these days. Luckily, Ocean Waves will be getting its first theatrical release this summer as Japan is planning a cinematic run beginning on July 4th. While North America hasn’t been confirmed to be doing the same, we do have good news for those who want to experience this movie for the first time.
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Ocean Waves In The States
If you want to watch Ocean Waves right now, we have good news for you. MAX currently houses the lesser-known Ghibli property as a part of its roster, letting Western audiences who are subscribers to the streaming service the opportunity to watch the movie whenever they want. Since the movie’s runtime is only seventy minutes long, it’s not the biggest time commitment to experience a film that shows a side of Studio Ghibli that is rarely seen.
Should you want a better look into Ghibli’s straight-to-tv movie, here’s how the platform describes the film, “From the legendary Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, comes a poignant and wonderfully nuances story of adolescence and growing up. Taku and his best friend Yutaka are headed back to school for what looks like another uneventful year. But they soon find their friendship tested by the arrival of Rikako, a beautiful new transfer student from Tokyo whose attitude shifts wildly from flirty and flippant to melancholic. When Taku joins Rikako on a trip to Tokyo, the school erupts with rumors, and the three friends are forced to come to terms with their changing relationships. Ocean Waves is a beautifully animated adapatation of Saeko Himuro’s best-selling novel, and a true discovery.”
Ghibli’s Future
As of the writing of this article, Studio Ghibli has yet to confirm what is the next project for its animated roster. While The Boy And The Heron was initially set to be the final film from legendary director Hayao Miyazaki, the creator stated that working on the Academy Award winner re-ignited his creativity. Working with Ghibli on more future projects, Miyazaki isn’t letting the fact that he is in his eighties from stopping his career.
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