ICMYI: Kotonoha no niwa (2013)
- Graziella Sigaya
- Aug 12, 2021
- 3 min read
In case you missed it, Kotonoha no niwa (言の葉の庭) or Garden of Words is a 2013 Japanese anime film written, directed and edited by Makoto Shinkai. Basta gani tatak Shinkai, expected gid nga feast for the eyes ang visuals with low angle shots, rain, sky, trains, and lots of feet frames. Forty-six minutes lang ang run-time ka film nga dya pay bastante sa imagery and metaphors. Raku dun ako nalantawan nga mga Shinkai films, mas lawig kag mas popular, but somehow I always go back to the Garden of Words. Bisan kapira mo suliton lantaw, may mabuol kaw angud nga new insights kag iban nga symbolisms (other than shoes) you might have missed the first four times mo nga ginlantaw.
This is a story of 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. Pareho gali sanda nagligoy sa anda mga school/work. According kay Wiki, Shinkai wrote the story as a tale of "lonely sadness", based on the meaning of the traditional Japanese word for "love" (孤悲), and uses shoes as a metaphor for life. The story's motifs include rain, Man'yōshū poetry, and the Japanese garden. Ahh, look at all the lonely people...
Ang akon personal favorite sa film is the tanka scenes. The first tanka comes with the frame where Ms.Yukino and lightning thunder is laid out in the same frame. Amo man dya ang first meeting nanda nga duha.
なるかみの, すこしとよみて,
A faint clap of thunder,
さしくもり,
Clouded skies,
あめもふらぬか,
Perhaps rain will come.
きみをとどめむ?
If so, will you stay here with me?The second tanka is when there is no rain, which is an obvious answer for the first tanka.
なるかみの, すこしとよみて,
A faint clap of thunder,
ふらずとも,
Even if rain comes or not,
わはとどまらむ,
I will stay here,
いもしとどめば。
Together with you.
- Man'yōshū vol. 11, verse 2514 - 2513
Two common themes among Shinkai's films are subtle romances and lingering emotions. Kun paralantaw ikaw ka mga sinulatan na, makahambal kaw gid nga Shinkai is really into "distances", physical man and/or otherwise. In the film, the distance is between the characters and their worlds. Takao is a high-school student and his world is far away from that of Ms.Yukino as she is a teacher and her world is of adults. The (disgustingly beautiful!) rain brought them together. The garden is an escape for them and also a means of connection.
Kaze of Beneath The Tangles best describe the film's theme, "Lonely sadness is a state of solitude that deprives people of the most basic need for companionship. To call Garden of Words a simple romance story is to undermine the entire theme, cast away the significance of the message, and belittle the pain of those it is meant to depict."
"I was practicing how to walk, too. I believe that now. One day, when I can walk much further on my own, I will go see her." - Takao Akizuki
Shinkai said that this is the first time he is making a “love” story — in the traditional Japanese meaning of the word. At one time, “love” was written as “lonely sadness” (孤悲). Moreover, according to him, the modern concept of “love” (恋) was imported from the West. While Kotonoha no Niwa is set in the modern era, it will be about koi in the original meaning — of longing for someone in solitude. In an interview, he said he created the film with the hope of cheering up people who feel lonely or incomplete in their social relations. However, he made a point that "this movie doesn't treat loneliness as something that must be fixed."
Te, viva laon!
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