Kotonoha no Niwa
The Garden of Words

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This is my first time reviewing a series with a full 10/10 in every aspect.

Story: The story is the same as the movie it is based on. Extra moments were added to develop Takao and Yukino's relationship more, and the ending as well was not in the movie - it gave an overall, hopeful and positive feeling.

Art: The art was very pleasing to the eyes. I love seeing the blushes on our protagonists' faces, and their gentle gestures. The tone the movie displayed was very apparent in this manga adaption. I love the way the postures were drawn, and the drips of water on the ... leaves were beautiful as well.

Character: The characters and their worries were significantly what made this series so memorable. I love that although Takao and Yukino clearly have their differences, they have their own worries that they need to overcome. It's so wonderful that the two helped each other move forward in life. It really does show you that people can have struggles at any age, adults included.

Enjoyment: This manga was very enjoyable. It felt nice to relive the series by flipping the pages and seeing what has both stayed the same and what has been added from the movie. It was very nice to see Motohashi's care and effort placed in this manga version.

Overall: It was a very pleasant experience to read The Garden of Words. The theme and poetry of the series gave me a fulfilling feeling, as well as reflective.

It contains spoilers.

Ah, love... What would it be of our lifes without love? It moves the world, it makes us feel things, it makes us happy or destroy our heart... A strong feeling, motivation of hundred of people every day to fullfil their routine. You can love a person, an animal, the music you listen, anime and manga... I hope you agree in it, because Kotonoha no Niwa brings us some cups of sweet sweet love.

This manga is an adaptation of the well known movie made by Makoto Shinkai (the best he's made in my opinion) in 2013. In it, it tells the exact same ... story as the movie, but with some little differences, details that make Takao and Yukari more human.

For those who may not know about it (if you are here, I suppose you saw the movie and want more), Kotonoha no Niwa —or The Garden of Words— tells the story of Yukari Yukino, a 27yo woman, and Takao Akizuki, a 15yo student. Takao has decided that the rainy days, he'll not assist to the high school, because he would be drawing shoes in a park. His dream is to be a shoemaker. One day he encounters a mysterious woman drinking beer and eating chocolate in the same spot he always visit to be alone. The woman, out of nowhere, tells Takao a 'Tanka', a japanese poem. From that day, Takao and Yukari meet each other every day thar rains.

The story is pretty simple, but it's beautifully related as an impossible romance. One of Shinkai's main themes in his movies is the distance between two individuals and how they know each other. In Kotonoha no Niwa, we see how they begin to love each other. This tries so hard to tell us that it doesn't matter who you are, because if you support me, I'll support you.

Kotonoha no Niwa is, somehow, a bittersweet romance, impossible to complete by now. Different ages, different positions, but the same strong feeling of human need.

The ending is really satisfying. The movie showed us how Takao tried to convice Yukari (and himself) that he was only a tool, that he mattered none to her. In the other hand, in the manga, we are blessed with a mature but childish monologue that comes to say the exact same thing but different. Takao wants to know why if she had been treating him like his equal, now, in that exact moment (when he confesses to her), she starts acting like an 'adult'.

The art is incredibily good. It has some accurate details in the backgrounds and the faces are so well drawn, maybe better than the movie itself. The dialogues were sometimes messy, difficult to follow —because it uses a bubble system that misleaded me.

The character creation is the same that in the movie but with some improvements. We are delighted with some Yukari moments that build her personality. I could, in every moment, believe what I was reading. They treated each other like strangers, but like if they had known for all life. The intimate moments in the garden are perfect, and even if the magic scene when Takao draws Yukari's foot is the same as the movie, it felt even more intimate.

I love Kotonoha no Niwa, I can't deny it. It pierced my chest like an arrow, and I really hope that this manga adaptation is not the last thing we see about that impossible couple. If you liked the movie, I strongly suggest you to read this, because is the same but has more things to offer.

As a manga, "Kotonoha no Niwa" is a completely harmless and even inferior work to the cinematic wrapper presented by Makoto Shinkai in the original anime. In attempting to adapt a 46 min animation that has consistency in its visuals, themes, and pacing, the manga fails to efficiently establish the dramatic aspects that the story demands, mainly due to Midori Motohashi's artistic insufficiency in conveying the essence of the material to the reader.

To a certain extent, the manga manages to maintain a slow narrative rhythm that prioritizes the subtlety of the relationship developed between Yukari and Takao, with a very intimate approach through frames and ... visual organizations that invade and make public the characters' intimacy. Because the premise is founded on sensitive and casual encounters, this slowness elevates the importance of these sporadic events by prolonging the development of the facts, as well as favoring the feelings of contemplation and isolation that are part of the work.

In general, with a slow pace and closed frames on the characters and/or details of the environment, the manga also does not innovate regarding the themes presented in the original animation: human processes such as maturing, overcoming/accepting socially imposed conditions and perspectives for the future are well outlined and verbalized along the dramatic arcs of the main characters. If, on one hand, there is subtlety in showing the relationship between Yukari and Takao, on the other, the work is very objective in showing the reader its themes and respective considerations. In fact, the absence of other characters produces a sterility of subjects, even if it is adequate to the premise.

However, it becomes valid to comment that, due to the isolation tone that comes from the primordial concept of the manga (two people interacting in a park, isolated from the world), all the social and personal problems developed are part of a particular human clipping that does not dialogue with Japan's socioeconomic scenarios. For example, how do Takao's aspirations conflict with the economic-financial and professional career perspective of Japanese young adults? How do material conditions of existence delimit Takao's possibilities of choice and Yukari's chances of change/adaptation? Even if it is not a demerit of the work not to raise human issues that go through the innermost of each character, the lack of these questions hinders a more significant enrichment of the manga.

In truth, this lukewarm narrative approach that favors the intimacy of the characters could work insofar as this is a short, objective, and sincere work with its topics, sufficient to adapt Makoto's animation. However, the main problem with Midori Motohashi's art becomes evident: mediocre character design and drawing techniques that detract from the reader's experience. In this sense, it's not a matter of whether an art style is "ugly" or "attractive," but whether the structuring of the visuals succeeds in ordering the ideas and feelings that the narrative intends to convey to the reader. For example, it is a fundamental part of the premise that the characters have a considerable age difference - yet Yukari's design does not convey the maturity that the character should exude, a condition that affects part of the proposition. Another great example is the lack of detail in the production of the scenarios, especially regarding the lighting of the scenes and one of the central elements of the work: the rain. Again, efficient art is not that which prioritizes realism in the strokes and scene compositions - but in this manga, the absence of considerable finesse and visual richness obstructs a narrative experience that seeks intimacy and contemplation of events. For comparison purposes, the manga "Koi wa Ameagari no You ni" shares narrative and thematic structures with "The Garden of Words" but manages to establish a good mood by depicting the natural elements of each scene (especially the rain) and presenting the characters' intimacy.

Overall, the manga adaptation of "Kotonoha no Niwa" is, at best, mediocre. Even with a reasonable plot that engages the reader, the work is weakened due to an uninspired visual identity and the gradual loss of its subtlety in dramatic development. Since it is a short manga, it may be worth a quick and casual read, without major expectations regarding the content to be contemplated.