Ride Your Wave

Hinako Mukaizumi, a nineteen-year-old who loves surfing, has moved to a coastal town to start university, though she remains unsure about what she wants from her future. A fire in her apartment building brings her into contact with Minato Hinageshi, a young firefighter close to her in age who is devoted to helping others. The two grow close while spending time together in and on the water, and Hinako finds herself drawn to him.

The film is an animated romance directed by Masaaki Yuasa, released in 2019 and running 95 minutes. It followed his 2017 features Lu Over the Wall and Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, and preceded Inu-Oh in 2022. Reiko Yoshida wrote the screenplay, and the voice cast is led by Rina Kawaei as Hinako and Ryota Katayose as Minato, with Honoka Matsumoto, Kentaro Ito, Mami Horikoshi and You Taichi in supporting roles. It was produced by Science SARU with TOHO and Fuji Television Network among the backers.

The film's ratings divide along audience lines: on TMDB it holds a 7.6 rating from a few hundred votes, while on IMDb it sits at 6.8 from a larger pool of around five thousand. A critics' rating of 7.8 from roughly thirty reviews places it above both audience figures.