By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
Home Video
Release Date:
August 4, 2020
GKIDS & Shout! Factory
Hinako (Rina Kawaei) is a charming young lady in Ride Your Wave. After moving to a small beach-side town to attend a local college, she thinks life will be easy. However, to go surfin’ every day and be carefree will not cut it in this modern age. The Beach Boys song may have been an influence in the design of this anime, because she meets a charming and soft-spoken firefighter, Minato (Ryota Katayose), to whom she falls in love with.
However, to date individuals in a hazardous line of work is not without caveats. Every time he’s out on the job, it’s possible he may not come home. In the most cliche ridden moment, he dies rescuing a jet skier in a dark and stormy night.
This anime is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Its colour palette is important to note, and the art style is very Impressionistic. It’s a cute Shōjo tale for much of the first act. To see her experience joy is sweet; to see her heartbreak is painful. But to see the spirit of her beau in random bodies of water, she soon questions why he’s not ready to move on.
Release Date:
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