65
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 85TheWrapCarlos AguilarTheWrapCarlos AguilarFancifully heartfelt, Ride Your Wave doesn’t constitute his top effort, but it’s inviting enough to persuade audiences unfamiliar with him to dip their feet and then fully dive into the profundity of his imagination, where wonder awaits.
- 85PolygonTasha RobinsonPolygonTasha RobinsonIt’s rare to see an anime story that solely focuses on adults navigating the issues of maturity, personal development, and a stymied future. It’s even rarer to see anime that simultaneously tackles those ideas, and wraps them in such an extravagant visual fantasia.
- 85SlashfilmRafael MotamayorSlashfilmRafael MotamayorRide Your Wave may be predictable, but it quickly becomes a charming and heartfelt story about loss and clinging to life, one with realistic and likeable characters that may even teach you something about yourself.
- 80Los Angeles TimesCharles SolomonLos Angeles TimesCharles SolomonThe filmmakers give Hinako weaknesses and doubts as well as strengths and talents. She’s a more complex, fully realized character than many heroines in recent American features.
- 78Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAustin ChronicleRichard WhittakerYuasa entrances the eye, but he also know how to make your heart soar with this deft, delicate, and highly entertaining story of loss, of coming to terms with grief, of moving on without ever forgetting.
- 75RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsRogerEbert.comSimon AbramsRide Your Wave moves without a great sense of urgency, but only because Hinako’s emotional turmoil isn’t a great conflict or a tragedy. It is, however, as real as the private heartaches that we self-consciously wear on our sleeves.
- 70IGNIGNRide Your Wave is the sweetest and most conventional story Yuasa has ever directed. Even with its formulaic story occupied by characters who would have benefited with more development and personality, there’s still plenty to enjoy in this light-hearted romance.
- 70The New York TimesGlenn KennyThe New York TimesGlenn KennyThe director, Masaaki Yuasa, is adept at stories and visuals where water is a major character.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweThe Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweThe filmmakers’ reliance on romantic situations throughout the midsection may have some older teens and adults rolling their eyes, but the final scenes over-deliver with a literal flood of action that enables Hinako to definitively prove herself and discover her true calling.
- 30VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeSooner or later, Hinako is going to have to learn to face the world on her own, which is where the tension finally arises before this dopey film reaches its sappy conclusion — by showing its heroine, so effortless on water, “learning to ride life’s waves, too.”