Despite Australia playing host to the world premiere of Makoto Shinkai’s latest masterpiece The Garden of Words during the Gold Coast Film Festival 2013, a month before it was even screened in Japan, the country has had to wait a significantly long time to finally be able to purchase the official home video release at retail – with subsequent Reel Anime 2013 screenings taking place after the film was dubbed into English and released in North America. However after all this waiting, Madman Entertainment have finally been able release the film on DVD and Blu-ray this month, allowing all anime fans the opportunities to appreciate the simple-yet-pleasant storyline and luscious environment designs that one would expect from the works of Makoto Shinkai.
Coming it at just 46 minutes in length, The Garden of Words is one of Makoto Shinkai’s shorter theatrical releases (In comparison to Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below which came in at 116 minutes) however still packed in an emotional punch and plenty of “scenery porn” which he as a director has been known for.
Storyline
The Garden of Words follows a young student by the name of Takao, whom has a particular interest in designing shoes, and on rainy days likes to skip the first period of school and spend these mornings in a Japanese-style garden in the city. One day he comes across another mysterious older woman, Yukino, who begins to join him on these rainy mornings. As the rainy season continues, they begin to meet up with each other day after day, building their relationship with each other. But as soon as the rainy season ends their lives begin to go back to normal… where they uncover that they are not necessarily so far apart. Compared to Makoto Shinkai’s other recent work Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below they are stark in contrast – with Lost Voices involving a complex journey throughout Agartha to revive people the main characters lost – while The Garden of Words is a simple but immersive love story between a boy and an older woman.
One of my initial concerns with this film was its length, which comes in at only 46 minutes total. This is considerably shorter than the hour to hour-and-a-half long masterpieces Makoto Shinkai usually presents, and I am of two minds about this decision. What was presented ended up being enjoyable, and the short length allowed the focus to be retained on Takao and Yukino exclusively without too much evident rushing of the plot. On the other hand, sub-characters that are introduced for a scene or two and then disappear for the rest of the story contribute little to anything. It isn’t a big issue but I would be interested to see more into these characters, even if it were just a few minutes more each.
While there were a few references to Japanese culture and other aspects that may not be as well known to the international audience, the film isn’t too dialogue heavy and uses emotions / symbolism /scenery as much as the conversations to convey meaning and expression. The film also flows well, and switches between the viewpoints of the main characters harmoniously.
The Garden of Words may not be the best Makoto Shinkai anime film storyline-wise and does have a few spaced out issues, but it still makes for an interesting watch – even if you are not into the romance genre of anime.
Design
When you watch any of Makoto Shinkai’s work in the last decade at least (Even his minori visual novel opening sequences), you go into it expecting beautiful environments bordering on “scenery porn”, and The Garden of Words is by no means an exception. As I feel with Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below, I am left saddened that I will most probably not have the opportunity to view this film on the big screen again, as it allowed every centimetre of the scenery to be carefully examined and appreciated. The environment designs were once again up to par with his other work, and near the end of the film there is a very impressively animated scene in the Japanese-style garden – but overall you should expect plenty of scenes with just scenery and honestly they would most probably be worthwhile being in the cinema for alone. This is one film you could definitely justify forking out the extra $5 for the blu-ray edition.
Character designs may be simpler and less impressive than the environment designs, and featured a similar concept to the designs used in 5 Centimetres Per Second. However I think while simpler, they harmonize with the scenery very well and don’t look out of place.
Music / Voice Acting
The music featured in the film consisted of more softer and reserved tracks which complemented the theme of the film well, and also provided a handful of lyrical tracks which when used were also pleasurable to listen to.
North American anime publisher Sentai Filmworks commissioned a brand new English dub for this film, which includes the relatively new Patrick Poole as Takao Akizuki and the more experienced Maggie Flecknoe as Yukari Yukino. Both voice cast members despite their differences in anime voice acting experience manage to complement their characters emotions and personalities well. The remainder of the voice cast whom often only get a few lines each stars mostly Sentai Filmworks regulars such as Shelley Calene-Black, Brittney Karbowski and David Matranga.
The Japanese dub on the other hand, which many who have already seen the film would already be familiar with, is also of a high quality. Miyu Irino (Whom has played roles such as Jinta in Anohana and Makoto in Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl) whom voices Takao and Kana Hanazawa (Kanade in Angel Beats, Black Rock Shooter in Black Rock Shooter and Ruri in Oreimo) both suit their roles very well, and show their experience in portraying the emotion and underlying personalities well.
Extra Content
While I often have to commend Sentai Filmworks with licensing so many anime acquisitions, several of which trickle down to the Australian market through all major anime publishers in the region, the one issue I find with them is that they are often not as generous as others when it comes to extra content. While not as extensive as Studio Ghibli film releases, The Garden of Words features a nice collection of extra on-disc content including:
- Over 50 minutes of interviews with team members of the film, all localized into English.
- The entire film with storyboards overlayed over the scenes. I loved the idea, but with Japanese dialogue only it was disappointing they didn’t provide the opportunity to show subtitles for the dialogue during this.
- Five minutes of production stills depicting the English localization process.
- Japanese Trailer
- A nine minute feature showcasing the major film works of Makoto Shinkai.
In addition, I was glad that there was no hint of renaming the title for the PAL market present on the disc. With Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below (The original English localized title) which was eventually renamed Children Who Chase Lost Voices for the North American market, it was further renamed The Journey to Agartha for Europe which was eventually present in the Australian releases despite cover artwork and official announcements indicating otherwise. The title “The Garden of Words” has been retained from start to finish as the official localized name of Kotonoha no Niwa.
Final Words on The Garden of Words
Having followed The Garden of Words since its world premiere at the Gold Coast Film Festival last year, it is a little saddening to see that after finishing this post, it will most likely be the last I write on it. This film may not be up there with Makoto Shinkai’s all-time greats, but it is still a pleasant watch from start to finish, with an enjoyable storyline and visuals that once again showcase Shinkai’s strongest talent…. depicting environments even more beautifully than real life itself. Heck, if there were any director out there who could produce an enjoyable film without a storyline and nothing but an hour of animated scenery, he would quite possibly be the only person on that list.
