YMMV / Ocean Waves

• Adaptation Displacement: The Ghibli film is far more well-known than the novel that it is based on.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: As shown in this video, the film's subtext can seem to point to Taku never having feelings for Rikako in the first place, and that the film is about Taku coming to terms with his feelings for Yutaka. His relationship with Rikako is framed in the context of what Yutaka means to him and it is about Taku gradually forming the reality of Rikako being a flawed human being rather than a threat of ending his relationship with his best friend.
• Base-Breaking Character: Rikako. Some utterly deplore her, finding her to be an unlikable, unsympathetic and manipulative jerk. Others, however, have defended Rikako, arguing that her actions make her feel like a real and flawed human being and make sense given the circumstances of her rough life and backstory, on top of pointing out that the film does call her out on her behavior at least once.
• Broken Base: For the people who have actually seen it, Ocean Waves is a mixed bag. Is it a well-crafted, realistic, gentle love story in a high school setting? Does its short length (72 minutes, a full 15 minutes shorter than My Neighbor Totoro) keep it from fully developing its characters and setting? Is it an as-advertised flop with little to make it stand out from the Ghibli norm?
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Most fans would have preferred to see Taku get together with his best friend Yutaka over Rikako as he does in the film, finding their relationship to be far more interesting and a lot healthier compared to Taku and Rikako's relationship. Most fics based on the film on Archive of Our Own tend to pair Taku with Yutaka as opposed to Rikako.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Despite the film being relatively obscure even in Japan, the film is Adored by the Network in Taiwanese TV networks, even by Ghibli standards. Studio Ghibli films already get a lot of airtime and exposure in Taiwan, but Ocean Waves is one of the ones more frequently aired in the country.
• Ho Yay: Taku and Yutaka have an incredibly close friendship across the film and many moments between them can easily be interpreted as romantic subtext (particularly the scene with them at the docks), to where some consider them to be a better developed and healthier couple than the film’s Official Couple of Taku and Ritsuko.
• Retroactive Recognition: Director Tomomi Mochizuki would become much more infamous later on for directing the much-maligned anime adaptation of Pupa.
• So Okay, It's Average: This sums up the general consciousness towards the film. While the film has been praised for its realistic setting and peaceful atmosphere, it is largely regarded to be a okay but boring film that has little to make it stand out from Ghibli's other fare, all while suffering from an underdeveloped cast and an equally underdeveloped romance.
• Strangled by the Red String: Throughout the movie, Rikako does absolutely nothing good to Taku: She lies to him to borrow money, drags him on a flight to Tokyo, gets drunk in his room forcing him to spend the night in a bathtub, poses him as her boyfriend without his consent, lets the gossip about their trip spread around, and rejects his best friend Yutaka in a very rude way ("I hate boys speaking the Kouchi dialect"). The last times they talk to each other end with slaps to the face. Yutaka's comment that Taku "has been in love with her all along" comes off like an Ass Pull because the two barely share any moment that can be considered romantic. When Taku is looking up at the castle and wishing that Rikako was there with him, we get a montage of some of her main lines from the movie. About half of them are her being rude to him, most of the others are about her own issues, with only one or two that could possibly be seen as affectionate.

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