ANIME: 言の葉の庭 (The Garden of Words)

This is also known as Kotonoha no Niwa , which is the romanisation of the Japanese.

Image from official website
Where he tries to make shoes for her. Click for larger image. Isn't the art so pretty?

At a glance: drama, romance, contemporary; movie (46 minutes)


Summary from the English website:

When Takao, a young high school student who dreams of becoming a shoe designer, decides to skip school one day in favor of sketching in a rainy garden, he has no idea how much his life will change when he encounters Yukino. Older, but perhaps not as much wiser, she seems adrift in the world. Despite the difference in their ages, they strike up an unusual relationship that unexpectedly continues and evolves, without planning, with random meetings that always occur in the same garden on each rainy day. But the rainy season is coming to a close, and there are so many things still left unsaid and undone between them. Will there be time left for Takao to put his feelings into actions and words? Between the raindrops, between the calms in the storm, what will blossom in THE GARDEN OF WORDS?

Luna comments

The first thing that strikes me about this film is how incredibly well-presented it is, especially in the artwork and the soundtrack. As you can see above, the artwork is ineffably beautiful. It's realistic, but also has a certain element of fantasy in it, even though the story is firmly rooted in the real world. There's an insane amount of detail (unfortunately I didn't watch this in very high resolution) but also softness in the pictures. The central setting for this film is the garden (the Shinjuku Gyoen), but the way the artists have drawn it makes it almost like a magical, otherworldly place. The rainy scenes are drawn especially well.

There's a subdued & bittersweet tone to the movie. The pace of the story is rather slow, which I actually didn't mind in this one - for one, it suits the story, & for two, it gave me time to absorb the imagery & the music.

The plot is centred around the Akizuki Takao, the 15-year-old serial truant (only on rainy days) & Yukino, the 27-year-old woman who keeps skipping work. Both of them are lonely in their own lives, & come to enjoy each other's company. There's something really...nice, for lack of a better word, in the simple interactions that they share. He's very mature for his age; she feels a bit lost & childish for hers. I like how I didn't even feel the massive age gap between them, & I also liked how they didn't even know very much about each other all the way through. I guess that this film, for me, seems to strip away all the things unnecessary to a fulfilling relationship (not just in the romantic sense) with other people.

My favourite parts

• Anything that takes place in the garden
• The final scene before the song & credits

Closing 
I would recommend this show purely for its artwork; fortunately, it has the rest of the goods to match =]