The Garden of Words – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

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Overview

A love story in which timing just wasn’t right.

Review (with Spoilers)

Sometimes I feel as if I really don’t get enough animated movies, that aren’t American based, on this website. For while I have nothing against the Disney or Dreamworks movies, there is something about the animated films from Asia which speak to the adult in me. Something most American animated films don’t do since the majority are either aimed at kids or those who want comedy. There is rarely anything outside of those two options. Leading to why I watched The Garden of Words and us talking about whether you should watch it.

Characters & Story

Akizuki is a 15-year-old young man who seems to just daydream in class as he thinks about the shows he’ll create. Meanwhile, Ms. Yuuki is a woman who seems overwhelmed with her students’ hatred to the point that she sometimes, especially on rainy days, just comes in late. Leading to the two of them meeting for Akizuki also likes playing hookey a bit when it rains outside. But with an age difference and different mentalities, the question becomes: Will love see them through?

Praise

I have truly never seen animation as beautiful as what is presented in this film. For truly that was the main draw because I would see .gifs on Tumblr and one day I actually saw the name of this movie attached.

Criticism

Animation aside, though, I must admit I had a hard time getting into this movie. Mostly because it took a good 10 minutes, into a 45-minute film, to figure what is this about. Much less, with the age difference, there is this creepy factor which makes uncomfortable with the idea of these two falling in love. For while she is a youthful 27, that is still a 12-year gap. So it makes it where, as cute as they seem, and how the ending can make you tear up, at the same time you are creeped out that this grown woman has any interest in this young man 12 years her junior.

Overall: TV Viewing

I like this film, but the story complicates things. For if he fell in love with her, but she approached it in a: “If I was younger or you older” type of way, I would have probably marked this as Worth Seeing. However, the weirdness of her life, and her falling for him, just makes this film uncomfortable to watch to the point I have to claim this as TV Viewing. For not only is the story uncomfortable but also not that well-crafted. For with it only being 45 minutes, it seems a lot of meat which should have been in the film was cut. If you decide to see this film, you’ll get what I mean.