Riding Through the Five Stages of Grief

 

Loss.  It’s something that is dealt with in many different ways, depending on who suffers the loss and what sort of loss was suffered.  Recovery is something that takes different amounts of time depending on who suffered the loss and what sort of loss was suffered.  When it comes to relationships, there are a great variety of them: by showing intimacy and professing one’s love in various ways.  Of course, having both things happen is a tried-and-true storyline structure, and one that often takes place over an extended length of time, perhaps an entire anime series, over several books, or over several movies.  Otherwise one would instead get a rushed plotline and a complete roller-coaster of emotions where true feelings towards events properly sink in.  However, that is exactly the structure which “Ride Your Wave” has chosen, and with no knowledge of that going in, I joined my friends for the one-night only showing at the movie theatres.

 

The first impressions from “Ride Your Wave” were formed by the bubbly Hinako Mukamizu, who meets and falls in love with Minato Hinageshi after the former’s apartment catches on fire.  The outgoing and optimistic Mukamizu and idealistic Hinageshi soon begin dating and develop a very cute and deep relationship, partially centered around Mukamizu’s love for surfing.  Now, it is in this part of the movie where the first impressions come in.  First of all, the relationship between these two characters is perfectly done.  Love at first sight may seem cheesy, but here it strikes the perfect balance between sweetness and seriousness, with genuine chemistry.  It’s humorous and serves as an excellent platform to build the rest of the film on, especially with the number of Easter eggs it drops.  The first part of the films displays very fluidic drawings and animation, with very light lines and graceful motions and excellent transitions.  However, while there is detail work apparent in the designs to the characters’ trinkets, clothing, and background, the overall effect feels sketchbook-like.  There is some shading and texturing going on here, but the effects are not very gradual, which combined with very bright lighting and sunny color palate (especially blues) making the film feel a bit cartoonish and don’t impart too much of a sense of realism into the film.  It doesn’t feel cheap or defective by any means, but doesn’t work as well later on when portraying feelings of sadness, after Hinageshi goes out surfing in a winter storm and drowns after attempting to rescue someone.

 

Now, the same approach to feelings is used for the next part of the movie, where Mukamizu’s sadness is very much felt through her actions but does not overwhelm the show.  However, her initial sadness over Hinageshi’s death soon gives way to elation when she begins seeing the late Hinageshi’s image in different bodies of water while singing a particular catchy song.  Some of these forms are quite entertaining, especially when Hinageshi shows up in a water bottle or rises up from a river next to a bridge, or even in the form of a giant orca.  This one supernatural element is implemented very well, with just the right amount of reality to capture the intended effects of humor and comfort but not intruding too much into the show’s emphasis on realistic portrayals of events.  Animation here is sprightly and fluid, with most of the budget going towards the movement of water, with very few action scenes in the movie.  Now, detailwork is not going to reach levels seen in “Weathering with You,” but the emphasis here is on playfulness…  that is until Mukamizu realizes that being with her late lover forever is something which is not possible at all.

 

The transitions of Mukamizu’s journey through the stages of grief were all done very smoothly, with very fluid-like transitions even though each event was sharp and sudden and the order of the stages was different.  There is well-defined drama but the impact is tempered- like getting punched with a boxing glove instead of with brass knuckles.  While story development follows a very tried-and-true path, Mukamizu’s personality makes the central theme of “accepting one’s death and how to move on from it” come across a bit light-hearted but also more approachable to viewers.  It is tempered somewhat with dashes of dialogue from Hinageshi’s down-to-earth and somewhat bitter sister Yoko, but what is more realistic is when the movie portrays Mukamizu’s setback from attempting to continue Hinageshi’s ideal of helping out those who need it.  Putting in a setback brings an even greater sense of realism into the entire movie to connect to the viewers more, but what is also encouraging is how Mukamizu attempts to continue pushing onward despite said setback.

 

Also encouraging is “Ride Your Wave’s” steady pacing, with a minimum number of characters to ensure each is given a sufficient amount of attention to their development, and very conclusive ending.  The movie comes full circle and wraps itself up nicely, and by the end there was plenty to talk about and discuss.  At least temporarily, as while the film has depth, there’s only so much to discuss, which is just perfectly fine.  This is not a film to be extrapolated out to a Ph.D. thesis paper.  For the film to be able to incorporate the amount of content it did, not feel like a slog, and have it feel genuine is an accomplishment in and of itself, and that is what makes “Ride Your Wave” so appealing.  Sure, the drawings are a bit simplistic, but don’t stress out over it, and just sit back, relax, and enjoy this feel-good trailer for the movie: