GKIDS is offering a chance for animation fans to take in a rare treat in theaters with a limited run of Studio Ghibli’s Ocean Waves — never released in the US. An all new 4K restoration of the 1993 TV movie will play starting December 28 at IFC Center in New York, and for one night only at the Egyptian Theatre in LA. A home video release will follow in Spring 2017.
A full list of participating theaters nationwide is available here.
Directed by Tomomi Mochizuki (Ranma ½, Maison Ikkoku) and written by Kaori Nakamura, Ocean Waves is an animated adaptation of Saeko Himuro’s novel of the same name. Produced for Nippon TV, it was the first Studio Ghibli film directed by someone other than founders Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, with Mochizuki leading a team of younger employees to create a TV movie with a level of artistry and rich detail comparable to a cinematic feature.
Synopsis:
Rarely seen outside of Japan, Ocean Waves is a subtle, poignant and wonderfully detailed story of adolescence and teenage isolation. Taku and his best friend Yutaka are headed back to school for what looks like another uneventful year. But they soon find their friendship tested by the arrival of Rikako, a beautiful new transfer student from Tokyo whose attitude vacillates wildly from flirty and flippant to melancholic. When Taku joins Rikako on a trip to Tokyo, the school erupts with rumors, and the three friends are forced to come to terms with their changing relationships.
