"Ocean Waves" is a clever name for a movie that showcases the tumultuous state of life people can have. Of course, it also works well as Kochi is a coastal city! I'll get right into it and talk about the main cast of 3. May contain mild spoilers!

Kochi is a small city, and obviously, when someone from Tokyo transfers, it's the talk of the town, literally. Boys and girls are both obsessed with her, more in a negative than a positive way. Boys notice her looks and proficiency in sports, girls notice how studious she is and how all the boys are looking only at her. It kind of made me think about an audio-essay I've listened to recently that spoke about a similar issue. Everyone is obsessed with everything superficial about her. Nobody really cares that she came to town only with her mother and sibling. Her dad is still in Tokyo, and as Morisaki's mother noted, relocating is tough, and the girl must be having a hard time adjusting. With all of the bits and pieces of information and what we learn as Muto has more interactions with Morisaki, she's clearly going through a lot. At the end, she is vilified by everyone and withdraws to focus on her studies, but even then, she is not left alone, as the girls from school blame her for caring only about herself. Nobody ever questions how she feels. To me, it seems that after facing the harsh reality of the situation with her dad, she just resolved herself to studying to appease her mother and get away from the constant hateful gazes of her fellow students. I pity her, but she chose herself, which was the correct thing to do. The moments when she lashed out at Morisaki gave away her feelings (from my point of view). And at the last time it happened, she realised that this guy might be clueless.

Matsuno was a bit of a creep. There, I said it. I think it's completely fine that he had a crush on Muto, and he did well by confessing, but the way he would talk about her to Morisaki was a bit off. The whole ordeal about the money lending and asking her first about the rumours that involved his friend, too. The eventual conflict between Morisaki and Matsuno was childish, but they are high schoolers, so it's understandable.

And finally Morisaki. I can't say much about him. He's quite literally just a guy. I think there is a perceptive side to him. However, when it came to Muto's feelings, it didn't apply much. Maybe because he is "such a loyal friend". From the beginning, it was established that Morisaki had respected Matsuno and regarded him as a close friend, so of course, he didn't want to steal the girl his friend liked from the moment she transferred. I'm not really sure if it would be even clear to him that he had liked Muto that whole time, maybe it's just the thoughts and feelings he involuntarily always suppressed, but it was no secret to Matsuno: "I was angry back then because I knew you were holding back for my sake". At the end, when they talk about the past, the water is finally still, and I feel like it represents that, after all the mess, things will always find a way to calm down.

I can't hate this movie, nor can I call it great. It's soft and has a nostalgic feeling to it, but it's nothing like "Whisper of the Heart", which is another Ghibli movie (that I still have to write about). I would compare both to two yoghurts. One is plain with 5.0% fat, and the other is from the same brand, but with cherries added. The one with cherries will be sweeter and more sour; there will be different textures and flavour profiles, especially if you don't mix it well. The plain one is good too, it's rich and also has its sourness, but it's different, it's plain after all.

Rewatching "Ocean Waves" for the second time made me see this movie differently. Since there is no internal dialogue or narration for anyone but Morisaki, it's hard to tell what exactly people around him are feeling, which is a wonderful thing for your own thoughts to run wild. Not every story ought to have a lot going on; sometimes, boring realism does its part too.