Ride Your Wave
GKIDS | Release Date: February 19, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
1
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
85
SlashfilmRafael MotamayorJan 13, 2023
Ride 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. Read full review
85
PolygonTasha RobinsonAug 18, 2020
It’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. Read full review
85
TheWrapCarlos AguilarFeb 20, 2020
Fancifully 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. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesCharles SolomonFeb 20, 2020
The 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. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerFeb 12, 2020
Yuasa 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. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsFeb 19, 2020
Ride 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. Read full review
70
The New York TimesGlenn KennyFeb 20, 2020
The director, Masaaki Yuasa, is adept at stories and visuals where water is a major character. Read full review
70
IGNChristopher L. InoaFeb 19, 2020
Ride 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. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweDec 5, 2019
The 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. Read full review
30
VarietyPeter DebrugeNov 5, 2019
Sooner 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.” Read full review
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