‘Ocean Waves’, A Little-known Studio Ghibli Gem

From Princess Mononoke to Spirited Away, Studio Ghibli, founded in 1985, has won over animation film fans across the world. The only television film produced by Ghibli in 1993 and the only contribution from director Tomomi Mochizuki, Ocean Waves has long remained one of the lesser-known films by the studio.

Born in 1961 on the island of Hokkaido, Tomomi Mochizuki realised his first film, Hikari No Densetsu (Legend of Light), in 1986. Having trained at Waseda University Animation Association, he also collaborated with studios Nippon Animation, Sunrise, and Pierrot.

Love triangles and small budgets

Adapted from the novel by Saeko Himuro, published between 1990 and 1992 in the magazine Animage, Ocean Waves is a 72-minute television film that explores themes of love and friendship, centring around a love triangle. What is most striking about the film is the simplicity that characterises the film. It was created with a much smaller budget than other films produced by Studio Ghibli and thus has fewer frills.

Ocean Waves is about the arrival of a new pupil at a high school on the island of Shikoku. Having moved from Tokyo, Rikako is brilliant, arrogant, and beautiful. Her arrival disturbs a friendship between two boys, setting the scene for a lesson in learning the ropes of relationships throughout adolescence.

The film is characterised as a ‘teenage drama’, according to Zoe Crombi in Little White Lies, who adds: ‘Ocean Waves is better suited to streaming than any other Ghibli film. As a TV movie, it’s designed to be enjoyed at home.’

After a success restricted to a Japanese audience following its release, Studio Ghibli is now targeting an international audience, as we can see with its placing with the American streaming giant. The brand is firmly associated with the cultural history of Japan and in 2001 the producers opened the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka in the suburbs of Tokyo, dedicated to its work.

Ocean Waves (1993), a television film by Tomomi Mochizuki, is produced by Studio Ghibli.