In 2019, I read the news that director Masaaki Yuasa was producing a new anime film. The title is Ride Your Wave, or in Japanese, Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara (君と、波にのれたら). I really remember I wanted to watch the anime, but unfortunately there was no film distributor that brought it to Indonesia. At that time, people were hype with Tenki no Ko, so this film was simply forgotten.

I just watched this movie on New Year’s 2021 yesterday. Because on New Year’s Eve, I saw someone who recommended this film as one of the anime films with the best story, no drama, and good overall. I was reminded and interested again to watch it. Incidentally, I really wanted to find material to inspire my short story, so I watched the film. This is my Ride Your Wave movie review.

Synopsis

Hinako Mukaimizu is a 19 year old girl who is obsessed with the beach. He even moved from his hometown to a city on the coast to study there. Hinako is also good at surfing, and she often does it on the beach near where she lives.

One day, Hinako’s apartment caught fire. He was rescued by a firefighter named Minato Hinageshi who apparently was also interested in surfing. Hinako also taught Minato and eventually, they fell in love.

Unfortunately, their love story had to run aground when Minato died in a rescue attempt at sea. The incident clearly broke Hinako’s heart and she couldn’t go to the beach for a while. On the other hand, Minato is still loyal to his promise to always accompany Hinako until she can overcome everything alone. That’s when Minato can appear in the water when Hinako sings their favorite song.

Review

Two words: Sad. Very.

Actually, from the first time I watched the trailer for this one film, I already knew that this film would be sad. However, I never thought that the damage caused by this film was so extraordinary that it made me cry for two days. Really, I’m not lying. Very sad story.

In my opinion, the story in this film conveys the message from the director very well. If I’m not mistaken, at that time Yuasa-sensei wanted to make a film that tells about how to deal with a big problem in life. The story in this film itself focuses on how Hinako moves on from the death of her boyfriend, Minato, and learns to become more independent. The message from Yuasa-sensei was conveyed through Minato’s character who always believed in Hinako, that Hinako could definitely live a good life without Minato. In essence, this film is a great metaphor about facing problems that seem impossible to deal with because they really break the heart, but if we have the will and are willing to try, we can gradually face them.

One thing I like about this film is the storytelling technique. Instead of focusing directly on Hinako’s efforts to move on, the film features Hinako starting her life in a seaside town to become a student, Hinako and Minato’s early relationship, and their romance before showing Hinako’s early fall and how she picks herself up. and stand on her own two feet instead of relying on Minato who promised to always help Hinako forever, even when he died and Hinako continued to live. Therefore, this film left quite a deep impression on me and, especially since this problem is also one of the real and relatable problems in the life of every person in this world, it is a source that teaches me that every problem can be faced,

Oh yes, after watching this film, it’s no wonder that Minato Hinageshi is one of the audience’s favorite anime characters. Where else can you meet a character like him? A young man who works hard, patiently, and loyally… who wouldn’t want to have a girlfriend like that? Hehehehehe :p

Unfortunately, one weakness in this film is the exploration of the supporting characters that are less in-depth. Maybe because of the duration limit or deliberately not being explored because it’s not the main focus, one of the supporting characters in this film, Youko, doesn’t seem good enough in my opinion. Indeed, she was one of the people who awakened Hinako to become an independent woman and accepted the fact that Minato was no longer by her side (with her tsundere attitude), but it was as if the sub-plot where Youko said she liked Wasabi was impressed. of place and suddenly it was included in the film. I just want to know, why did Youko like Wasabi? Was it because they were childhood friends? Or is there an event that makes him like Wasabi? Less exploration,

Since this film is one of my favorite films, I want to share about my favorite part in this film, which is the part that makes me happy and makes me very sad. The fun part is in the sequence of romantic moments between Minato and Hinako. In that section, they also sing their favorite song which is the soundtrack of this film. The sequence also really shows the closeness of the two of them and makes me feel acutely single .

Meanwhile, for the saddest part, I feel the saddest part in this film for me is the last scene. At that time, Hinako took Youko and Wasabi who had been made to go to the building she had visited with Minato on Christmas last year. At that point, I started to smile because I saw Hinako’s growth as an independent and reliable girl. But all of those defenses collapsed in an instant when a message from Minato was read through the message reader in the tall building. It is discovered that Minato plans to take Hinako there again that Christmas, even saying that he hopes they can be together “this Christmas and beyond”. Hinako was crying and screaming, I also could only cry at that part. Looks like it was made on purpose to make the audience baper, huh…

The visuals in this film are really good, really showing the efforts of the Science Saru studio to display a qualified animation quality. The color palette used is also suitable. Apart from that, what I like most about this film is the soundtrack. The song in this film is titled Brand New Story and is performed by the boy group GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE. There’s also a version of this song sung by the voices of Hinako and Minato for use in the film (which appears in the sequences of Minato and Hinako’s romantic moments), and that version never fails to make me cry again and again. It’s really sad!

Overall, this film is quite good and worth watching for those of you who want to watch a film with a deep message or maybe just in the mood to watch a sad film. Either way, I dare say that this film is worth it for you to watch if you have spare time, because it is quite entertaining even though the main content is very sad.

Curious about the song that makes me sad? You can click on the video above. If you listen, this song is actually cheerful. The memories make me sad…