Ghibli at GFC 2025: Ocean Waves (1993)
- Mon, May 5
- Tue, May 6
- Wed, May 7
- Thu, May 8
Director: Tomomi Mochizuki Run Time: 72 min. Rating: PG-13 Release Year: 1993
Starring: Kae Araki, Nobuo Tobita, Toshihiko Seki, Youko Sakamoto, Yuri Amano
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese with English subtitles | Matinee screenings presented in English
A Film Center tradition, embark on a magical journey into the enchanting world of Studio Ghibli with Ghibli at GFC 2025 this spring.
About the film:
Rarely seen outside of Japan, Ocean Waves (1993) is a subtle, poignant and wonderfully detailed story of adolescence and teenage isolation. 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 vacillates 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 (1993) was the first Studio Ghibli film directed by someone other than studio founders Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, as director Tomomi Mochizuki led a talented staff of younger employees in an adaptation of Saeko Himuro’s best-selling novel. Full of shots bathed in a palette of pleasingly soft pastel colors and rich in the unexpected visual details typical of Studio Ghibli’s most revered works, Ocean Waves (1993) is an accomplished teenage drama and a true discovery.
About the filmmaker:
Tomomi Mochizuki is a Japanese storyboard artist, screenwriter, and director. He has collaborated with leading animation studios such as Studio Ghibli on the film Ocean Waves (1993) as well as Nippon Animation, Pierrot, and Sunrise. Since the early 1980s, he has directed episodes of many anime series, including Zettai Shonen (2005), Princess Nine (1998), Ranma ½ (1989), Kimagure Orange Road (1985), and the acclaimed World Masterpiece Theater series Porufi no Nagai Tabi (2008). Mochizuki first became interested in animation while attending Waseda University in Tokyo, and joined the Waseda University Animation Association.
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