Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara (Ride Your Wave)

Entranced by surfing and the sea, Hinako Mukaimizu is a spirited girl who attends college in a coastal city with no consideration for her future career. Her life takes an unexpected turn when a fireworks mishap sets the apartment building she lives in ablaze, where she is saved by a talented firefighter named Minato Hinageshi. Upon meeting, the two quickly become acquainted with one another—Hinako is instantly enamored by Minato's reliable personality and passion for saving others, while Minato is intrigued by surfing and is eager to learn how. As Hinako begins to teach Minato about surfing, the pair eventually fall in love and begin a gentle and devoted relationship.

However, while surfing may seem fun and carefree, it can still be a dangerous and unpredictable activity. This is what Hinako learns when a surfing incident completely changes her life, leaving her forced to contemplate her undecided future. In search of her own calling, Hinako begins her journey of self-discovery, keeping Minato by her side as she gradually attempts to find her purpose and ride her own wave.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Adaptation:	Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara, Shousetsu Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara
Other:	Brand New Story

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Hinageshi, Minato

Main

Katayose, Ryouta
Japanese

Mukaimizu, Hinako

Main

Kawaei, Rina
Japanese

Kawamura, Wasabi

Supporting

Itou, Kentarou
Japanese

Hinageshi, Youko

Supporting

Matsumoto, Honoka
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Sugawara, Hana

Assistant Producer

Yuasa, Masaaki

Director, Executive Producer

Yamashiro, Fuuga

Episode Director

Yoshida, Reiko

Script

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Opening Theme

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Ending Theme

"Brand New Story" by GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE

Reviews

Jan 6, 2020

thefoolsorchids

Recommended

I normally don't write reviews and forgive me if my thought process is all over the place. This review will contain spoilers (kind of) as well as my own personal experience, so please bear with me. This is my first review.

When I first saw the trailer for this film, I thought it would be another romance anime, but it was more than that to me. I'll start with the six points and why I scored them as such. I hope you enjoy this review. And even if our opinions differ, I'm glad I was still able to share my experience with you all.

Story ...

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Mar 6, 2020

Dleaver7

Mixed Feelings

I watched this film in the theater purely because it's hard for Anime films to screen in theaters overseas and when one makes its usually a really good one. I came in, with no pre-exisiting notions, i hadn't even seen the trailer so i had no pre-conception of the film.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Story (3):
Firstly I thought the Film was Mediocre at best. The story was very linear and simple. Girl falls in love boy, boy dies trope. Although this is okay and can be interesting, the story didn't make it interesting and instead dragged out a semi-pointless story of Hinako dating water Minato.

Art (6):
The art was really ...

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Sep 24, 2022

rtil

Not Recommended

I picked up this film for no other reason than the fact that it was directed by Masaaki Yuasa. This is a very different type of story than he would typically adapt. It's a story about love, coming of age and learning to move on from loss. Colorful, vibrant and fairly easygoing, it does away with most of Yuasa's hallmarks of frantic and wild fever dreams.

Nothing wrong with that, however I don't think the movie is very successful at giving its lead much of anything to do besides being an absolutely hopeless blubbering mess who comes off as a dysfunctional klutz who needs her hand ... held by her knight in shining armor.

The film starts off showing Hinako - the female lead - as an elusive, glowing trophy. Two friends, Minato and Wasabi, admire her surfing in the distance. They don't know her name, and accept that her existence in their lives could be as fleeting. Yet fate has her cross paths with both of them, and in fact Minato ends up saving her from a fire, and the two of them start dating.

It's then that you learn that Hinako is basically only good at surfing and doesn't have her life together in any way. She can't take care of herself, her house is a mess, she can't cook, she doesn't have a job - in fact, it's never quite made clear what exactly she's doing with her life. Minato, on the other hand, does everything for her and is basically the perfect cookie-cutter boyfriend. She becomes quite reliant on him. The only thing he can't do is surf, which Hinako teaches him.

After a series of tragic events, Hinako spends the rest of the film acting like a lunatic when she learns she can sing a song to make an apparition appear in water whenever she needs its advice - which is basically all the time. The problem is, no one else can see this except her. So naturally, everyone around her finds her behavior strange. I can't tell if these portions of the film are supposed to be funny, or sad, or perhaps even both. It's a bizarre mix of emotions and it lacks any kind of magic or chemistry. The romantic chemistry only exists because of dependency issues, and Minato is such a flat and uninteresting character that it's hard to be anywhere near as infatuated with him much as Hinako is.

The supporting cast is .. there. The only voice of reason is the stone cold Youko, Minato's sister. Minato's friend Wasabi doesn't do much of note besides live in the shadow of his buddy. And there's really not much more to it.

As the title suggests, the film is supposed to be about Hinako learning how to "ride the wave" of her life. But constantly throughout the film she howls and begs for others help. It's only at the very tail end of the story that Hinako learns to grow, and only because of Minato's help. She never once accomplishes anything on her own accord.

It's an unsatisfying story because of this abrupt end to Hinako's arc. The ending is bittersweet, as one might imagine, but it lacks any emotional punch. Hinako is hard to care about because she doesn't grow or change much, and when she does it feels unearned. Minato is hard to care about because he's basically an ideal and not much of a character. I, personally, only really enjoyed Youko's brief time on screen, a minor character by all means.

Should you watch "Ride Your Wave"? I'm not sure who I would answer "yes" to. If you like the works of Masaaki Yuasa, you probably are looking in the wrong place. If you like romantic stories, the relationships aren't fleshed out enough here to give a satisfying romance. Everything that "Ride Your Wave" represents falls flat. Perhaps it could offer some catharsis for those going through loss, but I think there are many other stories out there that do it better. If you are looking for anime in that vein, I might recommend something like "The Wind Rises", "Shinsekai Yori" or "Katanagatari" instead.

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Poll: Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Leosmileyface - Dec 18, 2019	108 replies	by geekalea »» Jul 16, 2023 9:41 PM
Honestly it was beautiful Animezyon12 - Sep 14, 2021	14 replies	by Blank-c »» Sep 25, 2022 11:34 PM
Does this have any love triangle aur drama? adityasingh2705 - Jul 31, 2022	6 replies	by Worm_Death »» Aug 2, 2022 4:24 AM
Trending page? slutforhange - Aug 26, 2021	14 replies	by Sailor-Sleep »» Aug 31, 2021 2:55 PM
New Yuasa Film germane - Mar 25, 2019	13 replies	by thelastknight101 »» Jan 2, 2020 5:57 PM

Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara

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