A faint clap of thunder,
Clouded skies,
Perhaps rain will come?
If so, will you stay here with me?"
Makoto Shinkai's latest film, "Garden of Words" (Kotonoha no Niwa), tells the story of a boy captivated by the mysteriousness of a woman he meets on a rainy morning, meeting again and again during the rainy days, where they both enjoy musing about the lazy flow of time the rain seems to bring with it. Through a few short encounters, starting off as strangers and gradually opening up to friend and companion, they soon start to wish every morning was greeted by rainfall.
Primarily told through the eyes of Takao, a high school student, viewers get a glimpse of his thoughts as he admires the simplistic beauty of the rainy days, his ambitions of becoming a shoemaker, and his captivation by the woman he meets by chance, who ended their first encounter with a poem from classical verse. Interestingly enough, both Takao's name and the woman's name, Yukino, are hardly every mentioned, and Takao at least, realizes this simple fact. They both happily chat and share meals, but Takao realizes he hardly knows anything about her, not even her name. This ambiguity and lack of concrete information plays an important part in both of their developments as characters and adds to the uncertainty of their budding friendship.
Characteristic of Shinkai's work, the film itself is incredibly beautiful and a visual wonder. Like falling cherry blossoms, or an infinitely reaching tower, all of Shinkai's films are notable for their exceeding beauty, photographic elements, and rich use of color. For example, "Garden of Words" is bathed in a deep, verdurous green, accented by the lightly blue rain and the faint traces of sunlight peeking out from the rainy clouds. It was very visually appealing and the animation quality was nothing short of astounding. It is as if you could jump into the garden yourself, and immerse yourself in its world of color.
The soundtrack of the film is a simple piano motif that varies with the mood, from frantic and quick meetings to more mellow moments. Indeed, if it isn't clear, one of my favorite scenes is still when Yukino recites her short poem to Takao, leaving him dazed. The piano motif accents the mellow, slightly sad poem, beginning the first of many encounters. The ending theme is, fittingly enough, "Rain" covered by Motohiro Hata. It was a nice listen, and while probably not as memorable as say, "One More Time, One More Chance" from "5 Centimeters per Second," it gave a fitting close to the story. The voices of the main characters are Miyu Irnio and Kana Hanazawa (HanaKana), two very proficient and talented voice actors, and gave a great and emotionally charged performance.
While elements like sound, animation and visual quality for this film are undoubtedly really high, the most conflicted I feel with rating this film higher is actually in the story in itself. While I watched it, I couldn't get a clear impression of whether this was a wonderful tale of unusual love and personal hopes and fears, or if this was about a guy who gets a little too involved with a stranger he knows nothing about. Some of the plot points regarding Yukino weren't as fleshed out as much as I would have liked, and both of their growing affections for each other is somewhat misplaced and unclear, I felt. The short duration of the film works against it, leaving some things not elaborated, but in the reverse it means we can watch a sweet love story unfold in a relatively short period of time.
I would be lying if I said that I wasn't greatly excited for seeing this film, given that I love Shinkai's work and close to everything he does. "5 Centimeters per Second" remains my favorite film by him, and I don't think that's ever going to change. For "Garden of Words," the trailers were amazing, the visual quality was undeniable, and the piano music was soothing to listen to. The first 5 minutes being released early on made me want even more. Which is why I was pleasantly surprised when I had the opportunity to see the full movie earlier than I expected. While it probably doesn't succeed as much as his other films, Shinkai's "Garden of Words" is a lovely addition to the tales of love grounded in reality and worlds of beauty that Shinkai creates and shares for everyone to immerse themselves in.
It's a story of unusual love and growing hopes and expectations, and being true to your own feelings. It's your choice whether or not you want to enter the Garden of Words for yourself and see what words of comfort and mystery it can offer you.
