Watch
HiDive
Garden of Words

Garden of Words

2013
Romance, Animation
46m
Takao, who is training to become a shoemaker, skipped school and is sketching shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him. Then, without arranging the times, the two start to see each other again and again, but only on rainy days. They deepen their relationship and open up to each other. But the end of the rainy season soon approaches... (film-book.com)
Your probable score
?

Garden of Words

2013
Romance, Animation
46m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 53.39% from 598 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(598)
Compact view
Compact view
Rated 15 Jun 2014
72
41st
The last six minutes are a baffling continuation of another Japanese dramatic tradition: my people (I'm half Japanese) have an embarrassing flair for melodrama in television and cinema. Japan's is such a reserved society that perhaps it needs exaggerated, comical catharsis in its popular media just to keep itself functioning normally. Whatever the reason, the resolution is just kind of awful.
Rated 08 Jun 2013
69
55th
I have some fundamental problems with Makoto Shinkai's writing. He comes up with films that have a decent premise, yet fails to raise them above being maudlin. Sure, they are very sweet romances, but he just glosses over any true interaction between the characters and relies far too heavily on voiceover to tell us how the characters feel rather than showing us, removing any true emotion. Regardless, as expected, this film is beyond gorgeous and the animation is absolutely stellar.
Rated 12 May 2015
43
40th
Pretty bad sappy story, at least the animation is nice
Rated 04 Mar 2020
70
53rd
Japanese animation does rain and garden better than any other media, so this is absolutely heavenly to look at. The comforting sounds of rain on leaves and the lavish visuals are diminished in melancholic and peaceful appeal, however, by the uncomfortable teacher-child relationship that forms the human center of the film. While it never goes entirely too far, it certainly treads uncomfortably close. Watch it on mute with a rain-ambience track, or pretend they're peers, and it'll be a delight
Rated 04 Sep 2017
78
57th
A very beautiful looking film as always from Shinkai, but I couldn't buy into the characters one bit. The smooth-faced drawings don't convey the nuances of age difference in a 15-27 relationship like live action would, and neither does the dialogue or voice acting. In another context, the pair could be mistaken for 21 and 23 and you've got a totally conventional, shallow, will-they-won't-they romance. Artistically it scores 10/10 but the story is a 6 at best, and too short for any heft.
Rated 22 Mar 2014
33
17th
Essentially this is water and light effects porn - by some point I thought I'd flip if they show yet another shot of raindrops hitting a glistening, reflective puddle - but a very feeble, phoned-in love story was concocted just to kinda prop things up.
Rated 13 May 2018
78
68th
The animation here was stunning. I'm happy to just sit and watch slow-moving anime as long as there is the barest story to tie it together. Said story was sappy and servicable, and I got to watch raindrops and tree branches touching the pond and cityscapes and all that stuff and be happy-melancholy.
Rated 27 Sep 2020
63
30th
Lazy ending brings it down 5 points or so.
Rated 26 Sep 2017
17
86th
8/8
Rated 20 Sep 2020
38
21st
Two Shinkai films in a row that have made me go "Yuck" at the end. This and Weathering With You both low-key hate society in a misanthropic way and fetishize unhealthy relationship dynamics (this part isn't even necessarily about the age difference). It seems like Your Name was his one time lightning in a bottle moment, barring the possibility of him making a big artistic leap in the future.
Rated 21 Aug 2022
84
92nd
A story of unrequited destiny, tje present cant match the future and the story is very moving along with a piano soundtrack. I wish it was longer but honestly any longer would have been to extended even though we want to see what destiny will hold for them
Rated 29 Mar 2016
81
67th
Wow -- the animation style is spectacular.
Rated 13 May 2015
8
71st
The romance deserves commendation for the appropriate level of subtlety utilized (even if it does veer into the territory of simply being underwritten), but the real star of this feature is the gorgeously animated and presented venues; nature (especially the rain) becomes a character in itself.
Rated 15 Sep 2013
63
67th
I have been following Shinkai's work from the time he made The Voices of a Distant Star. He has his own style, but his movies are always similar. This one is a romance story between young boy and older teacher (only in Japan, right?). Melodrama is very heavy (as expected), but it never bothered me much in animes, actually that's the only medium it works for me. Animation is gorgeous (as expected). I hope Shinkai makes something different soon.
Rated 21 Aug 2015
5
18th
I lost my toleration for such mushy stories long time ago. amazing visuals tough.
Rated 01 Dec 2020
81
77th
This 45 minute work of animation achievement captured more subtle beauty and nuance than 90% of live feature length films
Rated 15 Oct 2016
89
98th
Great visuals and character developments... Just watch it.
Rated 10 Jun 2013
70
56th
The animation is stunning and the story is sweet, but after the grand successes of 5CM Per Second and The Children Who Chase Lost Voices, this felt like a small step back. I'm still not complaining, Makoto Shinkai is one of the greatest anime filmmakers so any new work of his is a treat.
Rated 27 Oct 2013
90
85th
I feel like I've never connected with one of Shinkai's movies as much as I thought I would until this one
Rated 10 Jan 2016
98
77th
I vowed to myself that in 2016 i'd begin to watch Anime. Anime seems to be one of the most vast and beautiful filmic treasures around, akin to Spanish horror or Swedish existentialist drama. This was the first anime feature i have ever seen, and immediately became one of my favourite films. It's THE BEST animation i've ever seen, and some of the smartest dialogue i have ever heard. The characters are fascinating and it holds a lot of emotional weight. Not just a great animation, a great film.
Rated 25 Feb 2016
45
39th
Aweful ending
Rated 05 Oct 2016
90
93rd
Animation to die for, story somewhat shaky is my best shot at a summary. Unlike some I liked the conclusion, both characters will change with time and any ultimate ending is possible.
Rated 12 Nov 2020
41
10th
I mean, up until that cringeworthy climax it's OK, I guess. Not exactly good, but OK. Voiceover instead of behavior...not exactly good, but OK. Having twists and reveals not come to anything...not exactly good, but OK. Having a relationship develop by way of characters projecting shit instead of interacting...not exactly good, but OK. Watching Shinkai's movies is a little roulette-like. It's either featherbrained, but great, or it's just plain dumb.
Rated 17 Dec 2017
75
85th
This is a beautiful and elegant story nothing more nothing less.
Rated 03 Sep 2015
75
63rd
Despite its extreme brevity (or perhaps partially because of it), this is a surprisingly sweet, moving, and utterly beautiful art piece. I really kind of loved it. I even enjoyed the pop song at the end, which I usually don't in these types of things.
Rated 03 Mar 2020
75
49th
A lovely short story about two people who help each other through a trying time in their lives.
Rated 19 Sep 2014
25
1st
Beautiful animation, but everything else was uninteresting and dull. Some even went on to describe the movie as "beautiful garbage", and honestly I could only nod to that.
Rated 14 Aug 2015
71
71st
Kind of a cute romance, but for a short film it was still pretty slow. Especially a long scene of measuring her feet, like what? I understand why it was in there, but did we need it?
Rated 11 Oct 2015
80
81st
Eye-candy my ass!!! It's like two sexy japanese girls lick your eyeballs for 45 min. Hell Yeah!!!
Rated 08 Mar 2018
60
62nd
Rewatch. Makoto Shinkai's animation is among the best. The short story is nice if a bit dramatic. Take away the beautiful artwork and you're left with tropey anime characters: earnest male character who doesn't understand and juvenile perfectly attractive female with insignificant flaw who breathlessly whispers her dialogue. I thought it was cool he was into making shoes. I still don't understand how she kept her teacher job. Fav scenes: I love the rainfall and the food prep animation.
Rated 23 Nov 2019
80
55th
Probably the best animation I've ever seen. The reflections, the shots of the city and trains, and the music really make this a wonderful experience. The storyline is a bit odd with what feels like an inappropriate student/teacher relationship but the sentiment is positive. Both the English and Japanese dub are top-notch. I can put this movie on anytime to relax. The mixing of the rain sounds is impeccably well done. On an Atmos setup it feels enveloping.
Rated 15 Jul 2023
6
29th
Pretty. Yet pretty boring.
Rated 08 Oct 2018
50
51st
okay
Rated 20 Jan 2024
64
26th
Beautiful enough (and brief enough) to be appreciated as a series of striking images than as a well-plotted narrative - there's little inherent interest (or even passion) in the growing relationship between the leads, and thank goodness for that when the odd and unconvincing plot twist kicks in; without spoiling things, just switch the genders of the characters and imagine how unsettling it would be! Shinkai would prove much better navigating these sorts of minefields in his later works.

Cast & Info

Collections

(10)
Compact view
Showing 1 - 10 of 10 results

Similar Titles

Loading ...

Statistics

Loading ...