Given the amount of knowledge shown in this review, it is hard to say anything else extra. For anyone who has ever heard of ‘Spirited Away’ or the equally as known anime, ‘Howls Moving Castle’, this is another animated movie from Studio Ghibli.
I have to agree with a comment from the review, the literal translation from the Japanese title, ‘Umi ga Kikoeru’ to ‘I Can Hear the Sea’ is more appealing to me. I always wonder why western publishers feel the need to alter things like this to appeal their market when the title of the movie probably won’t have a huge effect on its popularity…
Here is an interest excerpt from the review:
The 1993 Ocean Waves (Umi ga Kikoeru) was the first Ghibli film not directed by either Miyazaki or Isao and the studio’s first produced for television. Based on the novel by Himuro Saeko, the film was make almost exclusively by the studio’s younger staff members under the direction of the then 34-year-old Mochizuki Tomomi, their aim being to produce the film “quickly, cheaply and with quality,” which apparently didn’t stop it from going over budget and missing it’s planned completion date. Like Only Yesterday, the storyline itself is deceptively straightforward, a gentle coming of age story told from the perspective of high school graduate Taku, who is returning to his home town of Kōchi in Shikoku for a class reunion.
For the full article, and other recent DVD release reviews, visit the DVD Outsider website.
