The Garden of Words

I think that I've found a hidden gem in the world of animated movies. The Garden of Words was released in May last year but I never heard about until now. It's a real piece of art and I'd be so happy if even one person watched it after my review.
It revolves Takao, a 15 year old boy who wants to make shoes when he grows up. One day he decides to skip school and sit in a Japanese Garden to do some sketching. There he meets a mysterious young woman, Yukino and the two sit under the shelter together until the rain ceases.

Yukino leaves Takao with the first verse of a Tanka (Japanese poem) and from then on the two meet in the Japanese garden every rainy morning. Slowly Takao finds himself charmed by Yukino's quirky ways and begins to open up to her about his hopes and ambitions. However as Rainy season comes to an end and Yukino finds herself waiting in the Garden on her own. Soon after the two meet again in a different location and Takao finally finds out who the woman really is and why she spends her mornings in a garden instead of at work.
It's a really short movie, only 45 minutes long! But I loved every minute of it! The plot might sound boring but in reality it's incredibly engaging, despite it not really having any action! It's really cute and motivational but still simple and quaint. I don't even know how the writers came up with such an exciting plot that is still so relatable! There's a slight bit of following your dreams and not giving up but they haven't made it into a cliche. You can tell the two are in love and yet it's not a sappy romance. It's unlike anything I've ever seen! And the ending! Gosh, even if you think it's boring in the middle you have to watch the ending! It had me bawling! It was well timed, the build-up was excellent and the scripting was perfect! We also saw life returning to normal after the climax, making this the most real anime I've ever watched! No transforming girls, no aliens, not even a fairy tale like romance. Just life in it's most beautiful state.
Obviously a plot like this wouldn't work without completely convincing characters and both of these characters do perfectly at being human. They show weaknesses and strengths, desires and insecurities. 100% human. Takao's dream to be a shoemaker can be changed into any goal into life to make it relevant to the viewer; he puts so much work into it but there's always some one there to say it's not good enough and that hurts him deep inside, I think that this is true for any one who dreams of achieving something big so it really struck a chord with me. Although Yukino's character is mostly surrounded in mystery she is still relatable aswell. Her search for a way to escape her worries and her struggles to face reality are unavoidable in life so every one should be able to understand what she's going through! I feel like if I go on you may become bored by how normal they are, but don't misunderstand! Normal does not equal boring! The are both lovely people and if I they were real people I'd be sure to befriend them.
Now I want to tell you about the soundtrack. It was composed by Daisuke Kashiwa and, according to Anime News Network, this is his first time working on an anime. Gosh. If he writes more stuff like this he will soon be as famous as Yuki Kajiura (worked on Black Butler, .Hack and Puella Magi Magica Madoka to name a few). It's very simplistic to fit the style of the film but it's so powerful and emotional. I know a lot of people say they never really hear the incidental music in a film but I really hope you can Kashiwa's beautiful melodies.They mostly feature piano and violin and they always fir perfectly with the story! I might actually purchase the soundtrack because it is that good!
The best, I admit, I saved for the last. What really turns this amazing movie into a masterpiece is the animation and art! Every single frame is a piece of art, it's way beyond anything I've ever seen before and it's set a new standard with which I will be comparing all future anime with. Lets start with the drawing of people. Notice I said 'people' and not 'characters', that's because the art style is so true to life. They retain the anime look but with proportions more accurate than anything I've seen before. There are also several shots were the animation makes you forget that they aren't real people. A flawless close-up of Takao's hand when he's drawing, a detailed look at Yukino's definitely human foot and (my personal favourite) when Yukino fell down the stairs. It looked so real I flinched! Then there's the backgrounds which look impossibly detailed! Apparently they actually used photos from the Shinjuku Gyoen park to base the drawings on, but even the scenes outside of the parks are drawn with care and precision. It's amazing! Also, there's so much detail and depth! Flakes of chalk lightly fly from the chalk board as the teacher write; each rain drop follows it's path and splashes when it lands; the light from the phone gently glows when the time flashes up and Takao's sketches show his carefully drawn pencil lines as thought they really were drawn with pencil. Every scene was so breathtaking I had to pause for a moment in order to pick my jaw up from the floor! I have commented of the animation and detail in some of my previous reviews but none even come close to The Garden of Words!
Ultimately, there's not a single flaw in this movie. I can't even complain about the length of it because if it was any longer it would be too drawn out! The plot really tugs on the heart strings; the characters are friendly and believable and the music is so beautiful! If all that doesn't convince you then at least enjoy the art! In the end, it's a flawless piece of art and like I said at the start, if I even manage to convince one of you to watch this then I will know I've done something good!

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