disney originally had the rights of distribution of "ocean waves" in united states. but they never released the film onto any home media platform. in 2016, gkids announced that they are going to release "ocean waves" in north american theaters starting on december 28 of that year and expanding during early 2017. in 2008, distribution company wild bunch announced that it had licensed the film to a number of european releasing companies, including optimum. it was released in the uk under the title "ocean waves" on january 25, 2010 shortly before the planned theatrical release of "ponyo", as part of the "studio ghibli collection". as with the film "only yesterday" (until 2016), it was released with subtitles only.