The Garden of Words

A delicate short feature from rising anime filmmaker Makoto Shinkai, this romantic drama—no sci-fi, no paranormal stuff—blends intricately rendered and vibrant animation with photorealistic CGI backgrounds of genuine Japanese locations. Fifteen-year-old Takao is a mature-for-his-age schoolboy from a broken home who is saving his part-time restaurant earnings in order to pursue his passion for designing handcrafted shoes. Takao finds that during summer rains a chic-looking adult woman idles under a particular pavilion in the park, eating chocolate and drinking beer. The pair strike up a friendship, and perhaps something deeper, although the lady's troubled background and emotional reserve (not to mention the age gap) seem to be insurmountable obstacles. Viewers might be reminded here of the lovesick melancholies of live-action filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai, although the truncated storyline will have them yearning for more. Available on DVD or Blu-ray in dual-language editions, rated TV-14, extras include audio commentaries, and an extensive “making-of” featurette with interviews of Shinkai and the two lead Japanese voice actors. Recommended. (C. Cassady)