Ride Your Wave

19-year-old Hinako Mukaimizu moves to an oceanside town to attend college and indulge in her hobby, surfing, without much thought to her future. When her new apartment catches on fire from fireworks, she is rescued by Minato Hinageshi, a 21-year-old firefighter with a strong sense of justice. Hinako is drawn to his capable personality, and they bond when he begins learning how to surf. As the two spend time together, they fall in love. However, after Hinako tells Minato that waves are the best to surf in during the winter storm, he goes surfing during the storm and drowns while rescuing a jetskiier.

Hinako is distraught by his death and moves to an apartment away from the beach. One day, she finds out that he appears in water whenever she sings "Brand New Story", a song the two of them often sang together. While the others are unable to see him, Hinako and Minato spend time with each other again, even in public. However, Minato is reminded of his own mortality after realizing he cannot physically touch Hinako and when his co-worker, Wasabi, confesses to her. He tells Hinako that she must learn to move on with her life, but Hinako refuses to accept this. However, she realizes she is too reliant on him after she stops him from ascending to heaven.

When Hinako goes to pay her respects at Minato's house, his sister Yōko tells her what inspired Minato to become a hardworking firefighter. Hinako discovers she was the person who saved Minato from drowning when they were younger, and when she unlocks his phone, she reads his drafted text message telling her to "ride her own wave". She enrolls in a lifeguard training course, hoping to eventually stop being dependent on Minato. Meanwhile, Yōko confesses to Wasabi, reminding him that he had inspired her to return to school when she was bullied.

At her part-time job, Yōko overhears the same group that set off the previous fireworks planning to do so at an abandoned building housing a large Christmas tree. Hinako accompanies her as they tail the group to collect evidence. The fireworks cause building and tree to catch on fire, and Hinako and an injured Yōko are stuck at the top. Hinako calls upon Minato, who sends a wave of water up the building, extinguishing the fire. Hinako puts Yōko on a backboard and rides it like a surfboard down the wave. After exchanging final farewells with Yōko, Wasabi and Hinako, Minato's spirit ascends to heaven.

The next Christmas, Hinako, Yōko and Wasabi, the latter two now dating, visit the Chiba Port Tower to celebrate Hinako receiving her lifeguard certification. After when Yōko and Wasabi leave, Hinako sings to a fountain, but Minato does not appear and she sighs in sadness; then, the tower reads a message he had written for her the previous year and Hinako falls down into the fountains and cries. Afterwards, Hinako resumes her lifeguard duties and confidently continues surfing at the beach again.

The film was announced at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2018, where Yuasa stated that he would direct.[5] He described the film as a "simple romantic comedy" that will have "a lot of exciting scenes", including some depicting the contrast between water and fire.[5] Yuasa compared life to "riding a wave", using it as the basis for the story.[5] The film was produced by Science Saru.[6] Reiko Yoshida served as the scriptwriter and Michiru Oshima served as a music composer.[6] Rina Kawaei and Generations from Exile Tribe member Ryota Katayose joined the cast on leading roles in January 2019, with the film being Katayose's first voice acting role.[2] Honoka Matsumoto and Kentaro Ito joined the cast on supporting roles in February 2019.[4]

The film's theme song is "Brand New Story" by Generations from Exile Tribe.[7] A music video animated by Science Saru, featuring the members and new original scenes from the film, released on June 21, 2019.[8] To promote the film, a two-chapter manga adaptation by Machi Kiachi was serialized in Deluxe BetsuComi, which contains an original story about Hinako and Minato's first meeting.[9]

On July 2, 2019, GKIDS announced they had licensed the film in North America and was released in 2020.[10]

Ride Your Wave was released in Japan nationwide on June 21, 2019.[6] The film premiered in the United Kingdom at Scotland Loves Anime on October 11, 2019,[11] ahead of a home-video release via distributor Anime Limited on November 23, 2020.[12] In China, the film was released theatrically by distributor JL Film Entertainment;[13] the release was originally scheduled for August 7, 2019, but was delayed until December 7, 2019.[14] The film was released theatrically in North America by GKIDS, first as a one-day special screening on February 19 in cooperation with Fathom Events, and subsequently via traditional release on February 21, 2020.[15] The film was later released by GKIDS and Shout! Factory on Blu-ray and DVD on August 4, 2020,[3] with a streaming release on HBO Max following on January 12, 2021.[16]

The film was released in 299 theaters across Japan on June 21, 2019 and debuted at #9 on opening week with ¥80 million .[17] On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 93% approval rating based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10.[18] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 63 out of 100 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[19]

Matt Schley from The Japan Times gave the film four out of five stars, complimenting the "charming cast of characters," while mentioning the film seemed too "normal" for a work by Yuasa.[20] Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Charles Solomon called the film Yuasa's "best anime yet", citing its believable characters and polished animation style.[21] Peter Debruge from Variety noted that the film's use of a hit single as its theme song helped broaden its appeal to a more mainstream audience, but also criticized it for pushing its romance themes too strong.[22]

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Ride Your Wave (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Ride Your Wave on IMDb