GKIDS and Shout! Factory are bringing Ride Your Wave and Weathering with You to digital and disc in August.
Premiering in 2019, Ride Your Wave was directed by Masaaki Yuasa (Devilman Crybaby, Night Is Short, Walk On Girl) and features the voice cast of Merit Leighton (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power), Joey Richter (A Very Potter Musical), Michael Johnston (Teen Wolf), and Sarah Williams (Kill la Kill).
The international award-winning film follows a young woman’s journey through love, heartbreak, grief, and recovery:
Hinako is a surf-loving college student who has just moved to a small seaside town. When a fire breaks out at her apartment building, she is rescued by Minato, a handsome firefighter, and the two soon fall in love. Just as they become inseparable, Minato loses his life in an accident at sea. Hinako is so distraught that she can no longer even look at the ocean, but one day she sings a song that reminds her of their time together, and Minato appears in the water. From then on, she can summon him in any watery surface as soon as she sings their song. But can the two really remain together forever?
Animation Magazine
Ride Your Wave will be available on August 4, 2020 on digital, Blu-ray, and DVD. Bonus features include an interview with producer Eunyoung Choi, animated storyboards, and an exclusive booklet with a statement and art by director Masaaki Yasa.
Weathering with You was another movie that debuted in 2019, directed by Makoto Shinkai (Your Name, The Garden of Words) with the soundtrack and score by the band RADWIMPS (Your Name).
Featuring the voices of Alison Brie (The LEGO Movie franchise), Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Riz Ahmed (Venom), the anime film mixes the supernatural with urban life and explores taking hold of one’s destiny:
The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if to suggest his future. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds work as a writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky…
Animation Magazine
The digital release for Weathering with You will also be available on August 4, 2020, with the Blu-ray and DVD following on August 15. Bonus features include a “Weather Front” featurette, a talk show with director Makoto Shinkai and Yumiko Udo, and an exploration of director Makoto Shinkai’s filmography.
Check out our Roto review of Weathering with You as well as an interview with RADWIMPS!