Garden of Words

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

Pretty bad sappy story, at least the animation is nice

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.

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.

Lazy ending brings it down 5 points or so.

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.

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.

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.

Lovely impossible love story, almost entirely taking place on rainy days, between a teenager obsessed in pursuing career as shoe designer and a woman older than him -- a teacher at his school, he will find out later -- about to quit her job, kinda addicted to chocolate and beer. Miss Shinkai's use of fantasy to lift characters from their lonely lives in oppressive urban places, but this is cute either way. Didn't quite like the abrupt finale, despite that strong burst of emotion near the end.

This director knows how to create a space away from the crowds. I couldn’t relate to the characters this time around but it is easy to appreciate the serenity of the atmosphere.

Takao Akizuki: "A faint clap of thunder. Even if rain comes or not. I will stay here. Together with you."

The beautiful animation is what carries the film and also basically the only thing that stays with you afterwards. I would have liked it alot better if it was just the moving pictures with ambience and music.

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.

Pretty. Yet pretty boring.

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

This 45 minute work of animation achievement captured more subtle beauty and nuance than 90% of live feature length films

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.

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.

A lovely short story about two people who help each other through a trying time in their lives.

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.

okay

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.

This is a beautiful and elegant story nothing more nothing less.

8/8

Great visuals and character developments... Just watch it.

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.

Wow -- the animation style is spectacular.

Aweful ending

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.

Eye-candy my ass!!! It's like two sexy japanese girls lick your eyeballs for 45 min. Hell Yeah!!!

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.

I lost my toleration for such mushy stories long time ago. amazing visuals tough.

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?

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.

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.

I feel like I've never connected with one of Shinkai's movies as much as I thought I would until this one

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.

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.