Garden Of Words - Shinkai returns to the urban environment.. very nicely!

You Tube Trailer (Japanese with English subs)

Well, where to begin..  After the oh so traditional, painfully long wait for this anime to arrive on the UK shores, and a back-to-back viewing twice through, I can say that for me it sits very proudly amongst Shinkai Makoto-san’s body of work.  Whether he tackles a story via themes of sci-fi (“Voices of a Distant Star” and “The Place Promised In Our Early Days”), the fantastic (“The Children Who Chase Lost Voices”) or something more reserved and urban (“She And Her Cat” and “5 Centimetres Per Second”), he manages to weave the heartbreak and denouement which pervade so much of Japanese culture in such a painfully exacting way, that every feature leaves an indelible trace of itself upon the viewer, long after it’s finished.  His latest work, “Garden Of Words” fits nicely into the urban setting after the previous, more exotic “Children Who Chase Lost Voices”, and is I think it is no exception in quality, suffused with every bit of the bittersweet character of courage with which he is so synonymous.

All his features are renowned for his trademark visual style, as distinguishable as a Studio Ghibli production, which is why I suspect he earned himself the accolade of embodying the next Miyazaki, even if the title does a disservice to the core of both artists.  Whether it’s the colour palette he may choose, or the way in which he manages to fuse sound, vision and semantics with impeccable timing (the rocket launch in the second story arc of “5 Centimetres Per Second” still twists the emotion of a scene as powerfully as any I can recall, anime or live action), I think even those who aren’t necessarily big fans cannot deny he has a certain flair.  With “Garden Of Words” I think the artwork establishes a new level of quality, even for Shinkai.

The story itself concerns the relationship between teenage wannabe artisan Takao Akizuki and the beautiful, ponderous Yukari Yukino, and it’s a testament to Shinkai-san’s ability to tell a story in a succinct manner that it manages to feel complete with a running time of only 45 mins or so.  I should say that when I provide opinions or critiques of anything I prefer to omit any great detail unless it serves explanation, since such foreknowledge can dilute a viewing experience (and I would only be duplicating Wikipedia anyway) so as with any such piece I produce I prefer to stick to the causes of justification and furthering recommendation.  Since I managed to avoid any details myself prior to viewing I can wholeheartedly recommend this as the best way to view it, so set a little time aside and enjoy!  As an aside, I’m still on target for Evangelion 3.33 as I type this, and I’ve been avoiding any details for about two years!  What I will say is that if you have enjoyed any of his works to date, this shouldn’t disappoint – though as with the “Ironman” movies, just ensure you keep watching to the very end.

I watched this on DVD, and it looks and sounds glorious throughout (I suspect the Blu-ray cannot fail either).  It comes with audio presented in English 5.1 and Japanese 5.1 with subs, and commentary tracks similarly in English and Japanese with subs – excellent!  As for extras, we have interviews with Shinkai and the principal voice cast members, storyboards, production stills, the Japanese trailer and a short video filmography of his previous works.  I was mildly disappointed (after finding out about its existence) that they didn’t include the short story "Someone's Gaze" (aka "Dareka no Manazashi") which was apparently screened with the feature in theatres.  Though I haven't seen the short in question and so cannot comment on its quality, its inclusion would've nicely rounded off a good set of extras, especially since they included the short "She And Her Cat" in such a fashion on the release of "Voices Of A Distant Star".  For those who may be wondering whether it may have appeared on the Blu-ray as part of a cynical marketing ploy, I'm afraid it hasn't - sorry.

Story: 7/10
Video: 9/10
Audio: 9/10

Overall: 8/10 - A solid piece of Shinkai entertainment to add to the archive, and well worth three quarter of an hour of any self-respecting otaku's time!  :o)