In my previous review of Children Who Chase Lost Voices, I commented on how annoying it is when artists attempt to use spectacle to distract the audience from a poorly constructed narrative. As pretty as the presentation of that film was, it could not escape its sadly overly flawed script, well-intended though it was. However, let it never be said that director Makoto Shinkai doesn't learn from his experience. As evidenced by his follow-up feature, The Garden of Words. This is not only one of the most beautiful anime films I've ever seen, especially with all the water and rain effects, but it's also a much better script. Granted, it's still a little clunky and awkward at times, but at least it has a better sense of direction. Also, this time around, the spectacle of the animation on display is indeed the primary focus of the film. One YouTube personality, CellSpex, who reviews animated media of all kinds, once described it as "a great background for your Aquarium." Though I am confident that she meant that in the best way possible.
Set in Tokyo, the story follows a high school student named Takao, who has aspirations of becoming a shoe designer & maker. On rainy days, he cuts school for a bit to draw his designs in the park under his favorite pergola. One day, he stumbles upon a young woman there named Yukino drinking beer and eating chocolate. Breakfast of champions. Anyway, the two of them form a friendship. While they enjoy their small talk and sharing each other's dreams and thoughts on life, they never really open up to each other completely. Over time, however, events begin to unfold that reveal their own struggles to each other. Only time will tell what their relationship may evolve into.
Visually, the film is absolutely astonishing! The biggest highlight is the water effects, most notably the rain. Each and every single drop of water in this movie feels alive and tangible. To the point that it feels as though you could almost touch it. Not to mention the near-perfect melding of hand drawing and CGI effects. Very few times, I was able to distinguish what was CGI and what wasn't. It's a visual experience I have yet to see matched.
The narrative is where the film feels a bit...purple prose-ish. There is a story with characters, and they do feel like human beings with flaws. However, I can't help but feel as though they all lack texture. Most of the time, the narrative feels as though it is only there to transition to the next set-piece. Under any other circumstance, this would be an issue, but I find myself not as troubled with it here. Mainly because it is the kind of story that can be told in a little over forty minutes. Which, incidentally, is the runtime of the whole film. So even though the narrative doesn't feel essential, at least it doesn't overstay its welcome.
Also, I have to get this off my chest. I know that the main character has dreams of becoming a shoe designer, but I fail to understand how that justifies countless shots of people's feet. How many, you may ask? Enough to make one suspect that Quentin Tarantino was involved in the production somehow. Let's just say it would not surprise me if he had a copy of this film in his closet.
The Garden of Words is a film that deserves to be seen at least once. If only for it's incredible accomplishments in animation, as well as a sign of progress on the director's storytelling ability, for the most part. At the time of this writing, it is available on Netflix. If you need something pretty to look at for under an hour, give this one a shot. You will never be able to look at rain the same way ever again.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm, thank you all for reading.
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