Synopsis: Minato, a young firefighter and Hinako, a young student with a love for surfing are young, happy and madly in love, there's nothing, but a bright future ahead... or so they believed. After Minato dies at sea, a grieving Hinako starts seeing him in the water anytime she sings a specific song. What's with that?
How does it look? Surprisingly conventional for a Yuasa film (there is noderanged animation, the characters and settings are always on model except when characters appear on the water or are seen through it). However, it doesn't detract from the visual experience. The film is luscious, warm and bright with more shades of blue, yellow and orange than one can imagine.
What about it? I... fucking... love this movie. While it's grounded (very grounded) for Masaaki Yuasa, it's still full of energy, charm and magic. However, those elements don't appear until the second half of the film; the first instead builds from the ground up a fantastic romance that may well could've been it's own movie. Their chemistry is so good and their love so palpable it makes the second half all the more heartbreaking.
The second half begins right with Minato tragically drowning while doing what he did best: trying to help people, leaving Hinako devastated. She barely gets out, moves out to an apartment away from the beach (she can't even watch it) and quits surfing altogether. And one day, while humming "Brand New Story", their song, she starts seeing Minato in the water: first in a glass of water, in a bottle, everywhere and shortly after begins to talk to the guy's reflection and even fills a giant inflatable dolphin with water, taking him everywhere (almost as if this where some twisted version of Ghost) and while nobody else sees him, she does, it's all that matters to her. And right up near the (admittedly outrageous finale) we don't know if Hinako is just seeing things, and to be quite frank, it doesn't really matter, magic or not, Hinako is not OK, which isn't lost to her wet lover, who will stay there until Minato learns who she is now, what's her reality and what does she want out of life.
Final thoughts: Ultimately, Ride Your Wave, behind the sunny facade, is a film about overcoming grief and growing up, even on the most adverse conditions. It is funny, bittersweet and ultimately optimistic and already my favorite Yuasa film. Watch it, damn it!
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