Kotonoha no Niwa - Review

During the rainy season, a boy named Takao -- who is training to become a shoemaker -- skips school to sketches shoes, in a Japanese-style garden. He meets an older women in said garden, who he barely even talks to. The fact that it is the season for rain, he skips school every morning. While he's their he meets an older women, Yukino, who also comes to the same spot, on a regular basis. These frequent meetings make them open up to each other, but soon enough, the end of the rainy season draws near, and so do those regular meetings.

Story

Before I actually watched Kotonoha no Niwa, the description of the film gave me flashbacks of Hotarubi no Mori e. Which, for what its worth, is a good thing in my book, but I didn't want to see a re-skinned version of the same thing. Kotonoha no Niwa isn't really that, but it has the same feeling, based on how the couples meet, without the supernatural elements.

Kotonoha no Niwa felt a lot like it was more focused on the individuals throughout the film, rather than the actual romantic part of the relationship, they slowly build together. Because it is one of those "forbidden" or taboo loves -- that tend to pop up a lot in Japanese entertainment -- the people involved were fleshed out well, and outside relationships were more complex than just Takao and Yukari falling in love and everything is perfect.

With the obstacles in the way of their relationship, Kotonoha no Niwa felt more of a drama rather than romance. With the focus being on the characters, it did make the idea of love and falling for someone, not as simply as some romances tend to do. Rather than love being the thing that fixes everything, it is up to people -- in these relationships -- to overcome and find their own solutions to these complex problems.

Art

From the very beginning, you could tell that Kotonoha no Niwa was a gorgeous film. And because this is from the creators of 5 Centimeters Per Second, there is even more evidence of the high production and animation quality.

The only complain I have about the art would be the over emphasis of highlights on several object, including the skin of people. It made things look far too shiny, like they were made of metal. However, some of that can be chalked up to the fact that they were in the rain for a good chunk of the movie.

Characters

• Akizuki Takao (voice: Irino Miyu)
• Yukino Yukari (voice: Hanazawa Kana)

Since the story of Kotonoha no Niwa is heavily focused on both characters, I'll try to avoid details, otherwise it would spoil too much of the movie.

Aspiring to become a shoemaker, Akizuki Takao is a high school student that loves rainy mornings. Because of this fact, he skips school on the mornings it rains, to sketch out shoe designs in his notepad.

I feel like Takao was the stronger of the two characters, who conveyed the correct ways a typical boy his age would act. With his over simplified way he views how adults should act, to the reactionary ways he tries to solve Yukari's problems. Even if Takao is a bit of a caricature of what a high schooler is, he was a goal oriented person that complement Yukari very well.

An older women that remains fairly mysterious for most of the film. Yukino Yukari was very child-like in the way she would deal with some of her problems. Even without watching the whole movie, you can see she was avoiding or running away from something, which becomes obvious later on.

With that layer of mystery coated on Yukari, I think the film could of done a better job explaining some aspects of her more clearly. I'm not completely sure if I'm interpreting Yukari correctly on some parts, but overall I get that despite her age, she isn't really that mature. And that is an interesting dynamic built between Yukari and Takao, where it is almost like Takao was the more mature one; however, Yukari still was level-headed enough to follow through with her decisions, in order for her to move on.

Overall

Looking at my bad list, it feels a bit nit picky, but they were things that need to be pointed out. However, they can be discarded by some as too small to really notice -- beside the lack of focus on romance, if this is what you were looking for going in.

As a whole, Kotonoha no Niwa was a film that had a good story, with an excellent art style. I would consider it to be more of a drama, rather than a romance, and that is all good in my book. With the drama comes an intricate view of romance, that isn't just "love solves everything", that a lot of romances seem to take. I really enjoyed what the film had to offer, and hope more people get to see this one.