Garden of Words [DVD]

I bought this movie on the basis of comments I have seen about it on various anime forums, which all seemed favourable. Well, it is safe to say I was not disappointed!The first thing you notice is the stunning detail in the animation; it is super-lifelike, and looks gorgeous. At times it is hard to distinguish it from real 'live' footage, and things like the rain, and daily life scenes like the trains and the station, are breathtakingly realistic. In fact, only the characters themselves look like 'cartoons', and even they are beautifully drawn, with realistic shading, colouring and lighting effects; awesome - a visual feast!Coming to the story itself, the only down-side is that it is short, at about 45 minutes; I wish it had been full-length, say 90 minutes or more. It was touching, heartfelt, emotional, and made you feel for the characters. I loved every minute of it! The English dub is excellent, with many of the 'usual suspects', including Patrick Poole as male lead Takao, Maggie Flecknoe as Yukari Yukino, the female lead, plus Shelley Calene-Black, Brittney Karbowski, Hilary Haag, David Matranga, and Blake Shepard all putting in appearances. I won't summarise the story here, as the product description covers that; but it was totally excellent, and very moving.I strongly recommend this movie - it is a definite keeper!

The first time I saw this trailer I was eager to watch it. When the time came, I had no idea what I was going in to as I did not read the synopsis. I only knew it was going to be a short movie.From the first seconds of the movie the animation is top quality. Probably the best animation you have ever seen as in how much effort and time took to make a scene. The buildings, trees, look so realistic. I can understand if people don't really care much about the characters as you don't have much time to see them develop. But I was fine with the two main characters and even so I didn't care much about them but from when I met them I was eager to see how this film will involve with them. I can't say much because it will go to Spoiler territory. But if you have 46min to spare I highly recommend giving this a watch. Makoto Shinkai did a wonderful job on this movie. I have not seen all of his work but wouldnt mind now after seeing this and Children who chase lost voices.If you feel my written review didn't give much justice, please check out my video: ([...])

It may just be a mediocre translation for the tile but there isn't THAT much dialogue...,ahem...,to speak of.However....,the whole animation is based around rainy days and sitting in the park shelter and just enjoying the weather.It concerens two strangers taking time off from what they're supposed to be doing.'Irresponsible', I hear you say.Well.you'd be right.....,sort of.Stick around to hear their reasons.That's what the film is about.It's like eavesdropping.One thing I did notice was the repeated use of the same piece of animation,particularly the tree dipping into the water at the gardens.It's a short film too,and I wanted more,of course.That's a mean critisism really,I just wanted to see more of the fantastic scenes that we know Makoto can create.If that's why YOU are interested,then it doesn't disappoint.There are some brilliant sunsets,showers and medative moments.One of my favourites is near the end of the film,when the relationship we see on the DVD cover,comes to....,well....,fruition,I 'spose.It has a painfull twist in the tail/tale though,so be warned !The extras on the DVD explain more and are definitely worth watching.Is it one to add to your collection ? It sure is ! No doubt about it.

I'm new to anime. I watched Your Name and it blew my mind. This much shorter offering didn't have the same impact.An unexpected bond forms in a risque fashion between a school student and an older woman. I thought the premise was quite provocative and eyebrow raising. The ending felt flat, and I felt like this movie could have done with a longer run time.I'm deflated at the shallow nature of the plot and payoff, but impressed thoroughly with the visuals of the film. Four stars.

Good physical edition of the great anime.

Spellbound anime with incredible rain sequences, the mist of a hot drink, the rainbow coming through, the swaying trees, the detailed feel of realism, of the encounter of a blossoming young man who meets an older woman in the park on raining mornings when he skips school.Sketching feet and footwear, a shoemaker of the future and she is a mystery who drinks beer and eats chocolate to overcome her trauma, skipping work!A bond develops into love in the rainy season, but who is the woman? Highly recommended.

This piece by Makoto Shinkai is stunning to watch, what is now his trademark style of gorgeous visuals and detail, mixed with a wonderful story he is on his way to being the next big name is Japanese animation. The only way I can describe this film even though it is only 45 minutes long is like moving artwork. You can take any frame from this film and use it as a stand alone piece of artwork, it is stunning to watch. Do not think about whether to buy this or not, just add it to your basket!!

The visuals will blow your mind. Never before, rain and water were so beautifully animated! Also trees touching the water surface and the changing of seasons are shown like never before! Half way through I switched from English to Japanese voices, and it was so much better.Make sure you watch the final epilogue that comes after the song/credits, because it gives (some) closure to the story.

Uno de los mejores trabajos de animación que he visto. Su atención al detalle es alucinante.

I bought this a while ago; and it wound up shelved until just tonight. My reaction upon watching it was "Why didn't I watch this sooner?" This short film is simply the most visually stunning and emotional that I have ever seen! Even my wife, the antithesis of the anime fan, was speechless. The visual impact is without equal - many of the landscape scenes are so lovingly created that it's an easy matter to mistake them for actual cinematography; the music is simple and unintrusive; yet impactful. The story isn't very complex, many of the questions raised have no resolution; and yet this doesn't detract from the overall emotion of the main story. While the storyline follows through the expected small climaxes, towards the final decisive moment, as can be expected, those last few scenes so grabbed my heart that I think I forgot to breathe, and must admit that I could feel the tears beginning to rise. My only slight complaint was that a few of the lines were so softly spoken that I had to rewind the disc and turn up the volume. Consequences of getting older rather than any fault with production. Do yourself a favour - add this film to your collection! A masterwork!

Image et graphismes sublimes : la plupart du film se passe à Tokyo au Jardin de Shinjuku Gyoen et le dessin de l’équipe de Makoto Shinkai, en plus d’être d’une beauté rare de nos jours, est fidèle aux vrais paysages du parc japonais.C’est l’histoire d’amour entre deux êtres que tout sépare : lui est jeune, elle, de 12 ans son aînée ; lui est élève, elle, prof ; lui vient de rentrer au lycée, elle est en voie de le quitter, lui n’a jamais aimé, elle n’est jamais arrivé à trouver son bonheur…. et qui se rencontrent tous les matins de pluie au jardin de Sinjuku. D’abord poliment indifférente, puis timide, leur relation finit par se nouer, apportant à chacun son lot d’interrogations, d’attentes, de maladresses, de bonheur et de peines. C’est l’histoire de deux êtres qui apprennent ou réapprennent à vivre et à voler de leurs propres ailes mais qui, comme pas mal d’histoires d’amour, ne finit pas forcément par « Ils se marièrent et vécurent heureux ».C’est un film à voir et à revoir : d’abord parce que la beauté des images est sans pareil : on plonge dans une nature peinte avec une subtilité et une justesse des formes, des couleurs et des mouvements que je n’ai pas vu jusqu’ici. Ensuite parce c’est une plaidoirie pour une chose qu’on a tendance à oublier de plus en plus : la fragilité de l’âme et le besoin de la protéger. Finalement parce que le film réussit le mélange parfait de poésie, délicatesse, réalisme, joies, souffrances et espoir tant par sa manière de raconter que (surtout) de peindre le conte de Yukino et d’Akizuki.Oui, c’est court, oui, il n’y a pas de happy-end, ni grand-chose comme action (dans le sens commun du terme), mais à le regarder, on dirait le vol d’un papillon : même beauté et même grâce.A regarder sans modération.

Nein, keine schwache Story! Sie ist schlicht, beschränkt sich auf das Wesentliche - aber sie ist voller Kraft, gleichermaßen feinfühlig und tiefblickend zugleich. Zusammen mit den phantastischen Bildern ein durch und durch poetisches Gesamtkunstwerk. Qualität vor Quantität. Erwachsen!„Garden of Words“ lässt keinen weiteren Handlungsstrang zu – der wäre fehl am Platz. (Anm.: Mehr Menge an Film fürs Geld ist garnicht wirklich notwendig!)Wir nehmen etwa eine dreiviertel Stunde teil an den Gedanken und einer entstehenden Sehnsucht der beiden ungleichen Protagonisten. Was sie bewegt, und wie der jeweils Eine immer mehr Teil im Leben des Anderen wird. Während die Motivation vom Oberschüler Takao gleich von Anfang an bekannt wird, erschließt sich das ergangene Schicksal von Fräulein Yukari sowohl Takao als auch uns erst im Laufe der Geschichte.In gleichem Atemzug beobachten wir dabei im Wasser hängende Äste, Lichtspiele in den Blättern, oder aus den Regenrinnen verblasenden Starkregen. Glitzerndes Sonnenlicht, frühabendliche lange Schatten und Regen wechseln sich ab. Das hektisches Stadt- und Bahnsteigleben wirkt so realistisch und plastisch, der Einsatz und die Perspektiven allerdings lassen es surrealistisch wirken. Die wunderschöne Darstellung des traumhaften „Shinjuku Gyoen“-Park in Tokio erinnert trotz anderem Zeichenstil an die Lichteffekte der Impressionisten. In selbigen Garten möchte man als Zuseher auch unentwegt entfliehen. Die dezente Filmmusik setzt in den richtigen Momenten aus, um den Naturgeräuschen ihre Stimmung zu lassen.Von den im Film vorkommenden Real-Plätzen finden man im Internet viele Photo vs. Szenenbild-Vergleiche, die einen mit offenem Mund stehen lassen, denn man muss schon genauer hinschauen, um Photo vom gemalten Szenenbild zu unterscheiden.An der Übersetzung und den ansonsten glaubwürdigen Synchronstimmen mag es vielleicht liegen, dass mir persönlich die Schlussszene nicht so gut gefällt, wie der Rest des Gesamtkunstwerks, tut dem Ganzen aber keinen Abbruch. Yukaris japanische Synchronstimme, Kana Hanazawa, wird wohl auch nicht ohne weiteres zu kopieren sein. Wunderschöner, kraftvoller Film.

I must say, while I expected something great out of Makoto Shinkai, I did not expect what was given to me in the form of The Garden of Words.Guilty Count #1: VISUALSTo this date, I have never, NEVER, seen an animated film with such flawlessness in the visuals. Reflections in windows or off the water were spectacular. There are some very beautiful scenes that definitely contribute positively to the story. I dare anyone to count the number of definable, individual leaves present on a single video still of the garden.Guilty Count #2: STORY/PACINGShinkai has found his niche in storytelling. He does a wonderful job with his focus on human emotions and relationship interactions. In my opinion, this is the FIRST time he has gotten the perfect pacing on a story. He has made many worthy attempts in the past, but this one takes the cake. Also, after the credits, he leaves you with enough to keep you from hanging endlessly off a cliff. I was very worried that would be the case, but I was pleasantly surprised with the end.Guilty Count #3: VOICE ACTINGI cannot believe the quality of the English voice acting in The Garden of Words. It is outstanding beyond my wildest imaginations. The raw emotion can be felt in some scenes; it is shocking, dramatic, and immediately gets your attention. Never have I ever seen such great quality in voice acting before.OVERALLI like all of Shinkais' works, so I may be biased. When it comes down to it though, this would have to be my absolute favorite by him. I cannot wait to see another feature length from him. The only downside is that The Garden of Words is 45 minutes. I think it is perfect for the pacing, but I cannot blame others for wanting more out of the story. For $9, I would definitely recommend purchasing it before it goes up. It is a worthy buy for Shinkai lovers.If you have never seen a Shinkai film before, I would recommend starting with The Place Promised In Our Early Days. If you start with The Garden of Words, I feel that it would set the bar far too high.