Ride Your Wave Review: A Beautifully Animated Adventure About Finding Your Place In Life

Release date: February 19, 2020
Running time: 94 minutes
Starring: Ryôta Katayose, Rina Kawaei, Honoka Matsumoto 

Ride Your Wave is a new animated film from Science Saru, the same studio that brought you The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl.  This film focuses Hinako (Kawaei), a talented surfer that loves the ocean and wants to study oceanography, and Minato (Katayose), a hard working fireman who happens to meet Hinako one night fighting a fire.  The two quickly begin dating and fall in love, sharing each other's passions for life and adventure.  However, a nighttime surfing adventure causes a massive change in both of their lives.  

The first thing that will catch your attention with Ride You Wave is its beautiful animation.  It is an odd style, with plenty of detail of detail in the surrounding world, but less detail in the characters and the ocean.  However, it is definitely a noticeable look and one that makes some of the character's more outlandish actions look normal.  And the animation style itself is very vibrant, with a use of bright, noticeable colors to convey the beauty of the beach.  It makes any of the darker scenes with muted colors instantly noticeable and really contributes to the overall mood of the film.  

The animation is not the only thing contributing to the style as the music of Ride Your Wave also is perfectly adapted to fit the film.  There is a wide variety of music: there is a signature song that plays through a lot of the film, joined with classical pieces, jazz, and some acapela that is perfectly placed to convey the wonder and love that these two have.  It really is a perfect combination and one that contributes to the overall story of the film.  And that story tells a sweet message of perseverance and finding your place in life despite what it throws at you.  Sure, the vehicle can at times be silly, but this is a film that will stick with you well after the credits roll.  

Ride Your Wave is a beautifully animated film, with a bright style, wonderfully-paired music, and a story that will catch your heart and take it for a ride.

Watch It

Update: For the digital release I watched the dubbed version of this movie.  GKids gathered a fantastic cast for a very good dub.  Stars include Joey Richter. as Minato, Merit Leighton. as Hinako, Sarah Anne Williams. as Yoko, and Michael Johnston, as Wasabi. The dub is overall very watchable, with a really good translation that keeps a lot of the references in the original.  The speech is mostly natural, though it can be forced at times as you would expect from a dub.  There are some things that just aren't as good in English, most notably the song that two of the characters sing just doesn't have the same effect, but overall you get a very watchable version of this beautiful film.  My preference would be to watch it in Japanese but if you prefer to watch in English, you won't be disappointed.

For additional information about the film and to rent / buy it, check it out at the links below.

This site contains affiliate links. //Commerce or this site may be compensated when you click through links on our site.