I Can Hear the Sea

:"This article is about the TV Movie Ocean Waves. For information about waves in the ocean, see ocean surface waves."Infobox animanga/Header
name = I Can Hear the Sea


caption = Region 2 DVD cover.
ja_name = 海がきこえる
ja_name_trans = Umi ga Kikoeru
genre = Drama, Romance, School lifeInfobox animanga/Novel
title =
author = Saeko Himuro
illustrator = Katsuya Kondō
publisher = Tokuma Shoten
first = 1993
last =
volumes = 1Infobox animanga/Novel
title = I Can Hear the Sea II: Because There Is Love
author = Saeko Himuro
illustrator = Katsuya Kondō
publisher = Tokuma Shoten
first = 1995
last =
volumes = 1Infobox animanga/Anime
TV_movie = yes
title =
director = Tomomi Mochizuki
studio = Studio Ghibli
licensor = flagicon|United Kingdom Optimum Releasing
flagicon|Germany Telepool
flagicon|Spain Aurum
flagicon|France Ocean Films
flagicon|Norway flagicon|Sweden flagicon|Finland NonStop Entertainment
network = NTV
network_other =
first = 1993-05-05
runtime = 72 minutesInfobox animanga/Drama
title = I Can Hear the Sea: Because There Is Love 海がきこえる～アイがあるから～
director =
network = NTV
first = 1995-12-25
last =
slot =
episodes = 1

nihongo|"I Can Hear the Sea"|海がきこえる|Umi ga Kikoeru, also known as "Ocean Waves", is a TV anime movie made by Studio Ghibli. It was directed by Tomomi Mochizuki and was based on the novel of the same title by Saeko Himuro.

The story is set in the city of Kōchi, on the Japanese island of Shikoku. It concerns a love triangle that develops between two good friends and a new girl who transferred from Tokyo.

This film was an attempt by Studio Ghibli to allow their younger staff members to make a film reasonably cheaply. However, it ended up going both over budget and over schedule.

Plot

At Kichijōji Station in Tokyo, our protagonist, Taku Morisaki, sees a familiar woman on the platform opposite. Before he can get a better look, she disappears behind and onto a train. Later, a photo of her falls from a shelf as he exits his apartment before flying to Kōchi Prefecture. Picking up the picture, he looks at it for a moment before leaving. As the aeroplane takes off he begins his narration of the events that brought her into his life... The story is told in flashback from this point.

In Kōchi, two years previously, we find Taku working in a restaurant, where he receives a phone call from his friend Yutaka Matsuno asking to meet at their school. He finds Yutaka at a 2nd floor classroom window, looking out upon a girl engaged in conversation with a teacher. Unable to get a good view of her, Yutaka explains that she is an attractive transfer student from Tokyo, who he was asked to show around their school earlier. Taku's interest piqued, he tries again to view the girl, but finds she has turned her back to them.

Leaving together, the two discuss their upcoming high school trip to Hawaii, and the cancellation of the earlier junior high school trip due to the school's low test scores (An event that cemented their friendship, as seen in another flashback). Taku, needing money for the trip, took his job to offset the expense, at the cost of falling grades and his teachers' disapproval.

After retrieving his bicycle, Taku meets Yutaka and the new girl, Rikako Muto, at the school gates, where Yutaka makes an introduction. Rikako smiles before leaving, but thanks Yutaka for his help. Taku teases that Yutaka has already gone after her but he defends himself by explaining that she was asking for directions to a book-store. The two boys walk home with Taku making conversation, but Yutaka is distracted. He ponders if Rikako has had any trouble since she transferred and Taku, suspecting Yutaka's reason for phoning him, teases him about his infatuation.

During the second semester, Rikako proves to be gifted, both academically and at sports, but is arrogant and has few acquaintances. Taku believes this is a result of her unhappiness at having to leave her home and friends in Tokyo... a view reinforced during a dinner conversation with his mother, who has learned from the local gossip network that a divorce brought Rikako's mother and children to Kōchi. In a later telephone conversation with Yutaka, Taku also discovers that Rikako is living alone, away from the Muto family house.

The school year ends, heralding the Hawaii trip. Taku, suffering from an upset stomach and unable to join his friends, is heading through the hotel lobby where he is stopped by Rikako. She explains that she has lost her money and asks to borrow some of his, remembering that Taku had a part-time job and could afford to make such a loan. Knocking back his astonishment at her carelessness, she persuades him to lend her ¥60,000 instead of the equivalent amount in dollars. She promises to repay him, but warns that it may take a while and not to tell anyone about this arrangement. As she departs, Taku sees a stern Yutaka and feels compelled to explain her predicament. During a party later that night, Rikako searches out Taku and angrily tells him that Yutaka has also made her a loan, and once again insists that he not to tell anyone.

Back in Kōchi, the third school year begins with Rikako making a friend, Yumi Kohama. Rikako has not yet returned Taku's money and he wonders if she has forgotten it. Then, one day out of the blue, a distressed Yumi calls Taku, explaining that Rikako had tricked her into coming to the airport on the pretence of a concert trip, only to discover that their real destination is Tokyo, the plane tickets paid for with Taku's money. He races to the airport to rescue the situation and sends Yumi home, saying that he will accompany Rikako.

Upon arrival, it appears that Rikako has not given her father any notice of her intent, interrupting his planned trip with a new lady-friend. Her father thanks Taku for accompanying his daughter, repays the loan and arranges for a room at the Hyatt Regency hotel. Later that evening a dejected and upset Rikako turns up at the hotel. She explains that when her mother and father where fighting, she'd always sided with her father, but had now discovered he wasn't on her side. Comforting her, Taku offers up his bed for the night and attempts to sleep in the bath tub. The next morning, Rikako seems to be back to her normal self and kicks Taku out of the room so that she can change clothes to go and meet her aunt for lunch. Taku wanders around the city, and decides to apply to attend university there.

Returning to Kōchi, Rikako ignores Taku, but doesn't hide from others that they spent a night in a hotel room together. Taku discovers this from Yutaka, who had earlier confronted Rikako for confirmation of the rumour. He had also admitted his feeling for Rikako to her, and had been shortly rebuffed. Upon hearing this, Taku confronts Rikako in class for hurting the feelings of his best friend, calling her "The worst!". She responds by slapping him hard across the face, and he returns the favour in equal measure.

The autumn school cultural festival arrives and Rikako, who has been avoiding rehearsals for the mass dance, has become even more distant from the other girls in her class, many of whom openly dislike her. Things come to a head at the back of the school building after the festival where Rikako verbally rebukes a group of her critics. One girl who commented that Rikako was flirting with her boyfriend attempts to strike her, but is held back by her classmates who then walk off leaving Rikako alone. Taku, who has seen all from a corner, approaches Rikako and comments that he is impressed with the way she handled herself. "You're quite something else" he sums up, at which point she slaps him while shouting "Idiot! You're the worst!" before storming off. Yutaka confronts a somewhat stunned Taku, who tries to explain what has just happened. Yutaka punches him very hard and then walks away, leaving Taku to pick himself up from the trash. The two boys do not talk to each other for the remainder of the year.

In the present, Taku's plane lands and while looking for a taxi he is offered a lift home by Yutaka, who explains the reason he punched Taku a year ago was because he realized he'd held back his feelings for his friend's sake. At a later class reunion, the alumni of the school reminisce, and some even confess their crushes. Former student-body president, Akiko Shimizu, mentions that she had seen Rikako in Tokyo. This surprises Taku, who thought Rikako had gone to Kōchi University. He now realises that she was the woman he had seen at the train station. Walking home, Yumi tells Taku that she too had met Rikako in Tokyo, who told her she couldn't make it to the reunion. Repeating their conversation, Rikako said she wanted to meet a person she knew but wouldn't say who it was... stating only that he was the kind of person who slept in bath tubs.

Later in Tokyo, Taku once again sees Rikako across the station platforms, but this time runs through the underpass to find her. The train pulls away and he looks disappointed in having missed her again, but he suddenly notices someone in the corner of his sight. Seeing her again, he realises that he had always been in love with her.

Characters

;nihongo|Taku Morisaki|森崎拓|Morisaki Taku:anime voices|Nobuo Tobita|:Main protagonist.

;nihongo|Yutaka Matsuno|松野豊|Matsuno Yataka:anime voices|Toshihiko Seki|:Taku's friend and rival for Rikako's affections.

;Rikako Muto :anime voices|Yoko Sakamoto| (Her only credited film appearance [imdb name|1296967|Yoko Sakamoto] ):Taku and Yutaka's love interest.

upporting characters

;nihongo|Yumi Kohama|小浜裕実|Kohama Yumi:anime voices|Kae Araki|:Rikako's closest friend in Kōchi.

;Akiko Shimizu :anime voices|Yuri Amano|:Female student-body president.

;nihongo|Okada|岡田|:anime voices|Jun'ichi Kanemaru|:Rikako's ex-boyfriend. After visiting her aunt in Tokyo, Rikako heads to a restaurant near the hotel to meet with Okada. Over the course of the meal she discovers that he is not the type of person she once thought he was. He has also started dating Rikako's best friend. She telephones Taku to ask him to rescue her from the situation.

;nihongo|Tadashi Yamao|山尾直|Yamao Tadashi:anime voices|Hikaru Midorikawa|:Taku's large friend, who has a crush on Yumi. He confesses this love to everyone at the class reunion prior to Yumi's arrival, before collapsing into unconsciousness due to excess alcohol consumption.

;Taku's Mother:anime voices|Ai Satō|

;Rikako's Father:anime voices|Kinryū Arimoto|

;Principal:anime voices|Takeshi Watabe| (He also acted as a Kōchi dialect instructor for cast)

Production

Production was controlled by Studio Ghibli, but much of the animation was produced with the assistance of J.C.Staff, Madhouse Studios, and Oh! Production, who had worked with Ghibli on past projects. [cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1094|title=Ocean Waves (special)|coauthors=Multiple authors|publisher=Anime News Network|language=English|accessdate=2008-08-21]

This film was the first Ghibli anime directed by someone other than Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata. Tomomi Mochizuki, who was 34 years old at the time, was brought in to direct. The film was an attempt to make anime solely by the young staff members, mostly in their 20s and 30s. Their motto was to produce "quickly, cheaply and with quality", but ultimately it went over budget and over schedule.Fact|date=September 2008

Reception

As of 10 October 2008, the website MyAnimeList gave the film a weighted score of 7.35 out of 10 from the 613 reviews given by its users. [cite web|url=http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=743|title=Ocean Waves: Review|coauthors=Various|publisher=MyAnimeList|language=English|accessdate=2008-10-10]

The website Animé Café gave the film 4/5 stars, noting this to be "A graceful and mature offering from Ghibli's younger generation". [cite web|url=http://www.abcb.com/umi/index.htm|title=Umi Ga Kikoeru: café rating (english subtitled)|last=Wu|first=Jonathan|date=2001-01-24|publisher=Animé Café|language=English|accessdate=2008-10-10]

Distribution

Distribution company Wild Bunch has recently licensed the film to a number of European releasing companies, including Optimum. [cite web|url=http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=story&id=1061&articleid=VR1117981111&cs=1|title=Wild Bunch blazes sales trail|last=Hopewell|first=John|date=February 19 2008|publisher=Variety|language=English|accessdate=2008-06-17] It will be released in the UK as part of the Studio Ghibli Collection. However, it is unknown whether the film will be released subbed or dubbed.

ee also

*List of animated feature films

External links

*en icon [http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/umi/ Detailed information on Nausicaa.net]
*en icon imdb title|0108432|Umi ga kikoeru (1993) (TV)
*ja icon [http://homepage3.nifty.com/akinori_naka/ Photo tour of Kōchi and Tokyo locations used in the film]

References