Whenever one goes to an amusement park there are always some rides that he or she want to ride again and again because they can't get enough of it, Kotonoha no niwa presents you with a similar ride. From the director of "Hoshi no Koe" and critically acclaimed "Byousoku 5 Centimeter " comes another mesmerizing story about affection between two people who are in different phases of their life yet they stand as each other's pillar.
PLOT- Takao, who is training to become a shoemaker as his hobby, skipped school and is sketching shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him. Then, without arranging the times, the two start to see each other again and again, but only on rainy days. They deepen their relationship and open up to each other. But the end of the rainy season soon approaches because of which they saw each other less and less but during that time they found the importance of the other person in lifting them which create weird circumstances.
The fact that the animation department have gone to great lengths to animate the real modern Tokyo is remarkable in itself. There will be many moments when you will remain awestruck by the beauty of the shots. For the part of character designing the team has done a decent job, Takao's character came out perfectly as a matured yet dreamy kid and Yuki came out as a harmless good hearted but damaged adult. To make something on the theme of an age-gap relationship is quite an challenging task as it mostly comes out as immodest but Kotonoha takes the story in the most straight forward and innocent way possible. It covers the problems of two generations simultaneously by their interactions with each other.
Being only of 45 minutes many must think that the story must be not deep but Makoto Shinkai the director shows off his art by making a heartfelt story in this limited time and that too without any visible rushing. The BG music was a cherry on the top, it resonated with the beauty we saw on screen. Voice actors did a decent job in bringing out the characters emotions.
Every once in a while you come across some shows that leave a mark on you. These are the stories which "makes us think about how we think" and at the end makes us "what we are".
A beautiful tale which captures your heart and makes you believe in the sincerity of the interactions with other known and unknown people that we make.
A story that gives you a grandiose setting, spectacular characters and heartwarming moments that will imprison you for 45 minutes.
Verdict- A must watch. Highly Recommended.
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Art- 10/10
Music/BG -9/10
Characters-9/10
Story/Plot-9/10
Average-9.00/10
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||Overall-9/10||
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Any questions and criticisms are welcomed.
