The Garden of Words (2013)
The Garden of Words (2013)
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Currently The Garden of Words is available for streaming online, rent, buy or watch for free on: HiDive
Streaming in:🇺🇸 United States
Cast & Crew.
Miyu Irino
Takao Akizuki (voice)
Kana Hanazawa
Yukari Yukino (voice)
Fumi Hirano
Takao's Mother (voice)
Takeshi Maeda
Takao's Brother (voice)
Yuka Terasaki
Takao's Brother's Girlfriend (voice)
Takanori Hoshino
Teacher Itou (voice)
Suguru Inoue
Matsumoto (voice)
Megumi Han
Satou (voice)
Mikako Komatsu
Aizawa (voice)
Yuki Hayashi
Moriyama (voice)
Wataru Sekine
Young Takao (voice)
Risa Mizuno
News Announcer (voice)
Hiroshi Shimozaki
(voice)
Kuniko Ishijima
(voice)
John Ledford
Producer
Taishi Murata
(voice)
Azusa Tadokoro
(voice)
Makoto Shinkai
Storyboard Artist / Director / Writer / Original Film Writer / Background Designer / Director of Photography / Color Des...
Yoshitoshi Shinomiya
Background Designer
Kosuke Hayashi
Background Designer
Nguyen Hoa
Background Designer
Marie Kitai
Background Designer
Leonardo Ken Usami
Background Designer
Kenichi Tsuchiya
Animation Director / Key Animation / Character Designer
Daisuke Kashiwa
Original Music Composer
Naoto Hosoda
Key Animation
Maiko Ikeda
Background Designer
Makoto Ooga
Second Unit First Assistant Director
Dinh Sang
Background Designer
Takayo Nishimura
Key Animation
Sanae Yamamoto
Key Animation
Kaoru Takino
Background Designer
Tasuku Watanabe
Background Designer
Mariko Kohara
Background Designer
Hiroshi Takiguchi
Background Designer / Art Direction
Mai Ichioka
Background Designer
Akiko Majima
Background Designer
Masanobu Nomura
Background Designer
Toru Minatani
Background Designer
Chitose Asakura
Background Designer
Kaori Hayashi
Key Animation
Kaori Izumiya
Background Designer
Yuho Tomozawa
Background Designer
Junko Nagasawa
Background Designer
Shigeru Morimoto
Background Designer
Daiki Hachimaki
Sound Recordist
Takumi Tanji
Background Designer
Seigo Kitazawa
Key Animation
Yuji Watanabe
Key Animation
Miki Kato
Background Designer
Chie Maruyama
Key Animation
Kazuyoshi Takeuchi
Key Animation
Hiromi Yoshikawa
Background Designer
Misato Kishino
Key Animation
Sayuri Honda
Background Designer
Michie Suzuki
Background Designer
Media.
Details.
Release DateMay 31, 2013
Original Name言の葉の庭
StatusReleased
Running Time46m
Content RatingPG-13
Genres
Last updated:
This Movie Is About.
Wiki.
The Garden of Words (Japanese: 言の葉の庭, Hepburn: Kotonoha no Niwa) is a 2013 Japanese anime drama film written, directed and edited by Makoto Shinkai, animated by CoMix Wave Films and distributed by Toho. It stars Miyu Irino and Kana Hanazawa, and features music by Daisuke Kashiwa instead of Tenmon, who had composed the music for many of Shinkai's previous films. The theme song, "Rain", was originally written and performed by Senri Oe in 1988, but was remade for the film and was sung by Motohiro Hata. The film was made into a manga, with illustrations by Midori Motohashi, and later novelized by Shinkai, both in the same year as the film.
The film focuses on Takao Akizuki, an aspiring 15-year-old shoemaker, and Yukari Yukino, a mysterious 27-year-old woman he keeps meeting at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden on rainy mornings. While Takao is skipping his morning class to design shoes, Yukari is avoiding work due to personal problems in her professional life. Yukari tells Takao nothing about herself, including her name, while Takao opens up to her, sharing his passion for shoes by offering to make a pair for her. When Takao learns Yukari's identity, emotions come to a head as both learn that they have been teaching each other "how to walk". Shinkai wrote the story as a tale of "lonely sadness", based on the meaning of the traditional Japanese word for "love", and uses shoes as a metaphor for life. The story's motifs include rain, Man'yōshū poetry, and the Japanese garden. The age difference between the two main characters and their character traits demonstrate how awkwardly and disjointedly people mature, where even adults sometimes feel no more mature than teenagers, according to Shinkai.
The Garden of Words premiered at the Gold Coast Film Festival in Australia on April 28, 2013 and had its general release on May 31, 2013 in Japan. For the Japanese premiere, the film was screened with an animated short called Dareka no Manazashi (だれかのまなざし, lit. 'Someone's Gaze'), also directed by Shinkai. The Garden of Words had an unusual release schedule since it was released digitally on iTunes the same day as the Japanese theatrical premiere, and its DVD and Blu-ray were released while the film was still in theaters, on June 21. The film has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America, Anime Limited in the UK, and Madman Entertainment in Australia. The film performed well in theaters for an extended period of time and was hosted at many local and international film events. It ranked highly on iTunes Store during 2013 and was selected as the Year's Best Animation in iTunes' Best of 2013. It won the 2013 Kobe Theatrical Film Award and awards at the Fantasia International Film Festival and the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film. Online reviews were generally favorable with universal praise of the art, though opinions were mixed regarding the story's length, plot and emotional climax.