History Anime / TheGardenOfWords

* FootFocus: Aside from Takao being an aspiring shoemaker, Yukari's (often fancy) shoes and feet get highlighted in several scenes as part of the theme of her metaphorically learning to walk again. In particular, the fact that Yukari never wears socks or stockings of any kind leaves her feet ''very'' exposed even when she's simply dangling her shoes from her toes. There is also a prominent scene at the apex of their meetings at the park where Takao takes Yukari's foot measurements as part of a promise to make her a pair of shoes, with shots of him holding her feet and sketching an outline as she stands on a park bench.
** [[WordOfGod Interviews]] have all but confirmed that this is a case of AuthorAppeal. Shinkai included these scenes fully intending for them to appeal to the fetish, and both he ''and'' Creator/KanaHanazawa (Yukari's own voice actress, herself having admitted on record to finding some women's feet quite beautiful) have expressed that if there are two things they hope viewers find a new appreciation for after seeing this film, they're rain and feet.

* AccompliceByInaction: Takao's friend Sato, considers the school administration to be just as bad as Aizawa for not doing anything to help Yukino.

* MysteriousWoman: Takao considers Yukari to be the personification of the adult world, mysterious and distant. Ironically, Yukari herself is ruminating on disillusionment with the adult world and her abandonment by her peers. The disconnect is displayed in the two foods she can still taste due to a temporary disorder; beer, an adult beverage, and chocolate, a comfort food usually associated with children.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_garden_of_words_8318.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''We have met, for each of us to walk forward.'']]

* HateSink: Unlike earlier films, Aizawa is the first character written by Shinkai to have no redeemable traits and entirely for audiences to loath as she spreads gossip to get most students to bully Yukari just because she was [[DisproportionateRetribution interacting with her boyfriend.]]

* HateSink: Aizawa is the first character written by Shinkai to have no redeemable traits for audiences to loath as she spread gossips for most students to bully Yukari just because she was [[DisappropriateRetribution interacting with her boyfriend.]]

A manga adaptation written by Shinkai with art by Midori Motohashi was released in 2013, with English release by Vertical in October 2014. A novelisation also by Shinkai was initially released serially in September 2013 to April 2014 in ''Da Vinci'' magazine and published as a whole in April 2014. Its English release was in August 2020.

A manga adaptation written by Shinkai with art by Midori Motohashi was released in 2013, with English release by Vertical in October 2014. A novelisation also by Shinkai was initially released serially in September 2013 to April 2014 in ''Da Vinci'' magazine and published as a whole in April 2014.

''The Garden of Words'' marks a return to the style Shinkai employed in ''Anime/FiveCentimetersPerSecond'', illustrating how factors such as age may contribute to separation and the loneliness that individuals may experience in their lives. The soundtrack is composed by Daisuke Kashiwa. In the English-speaking world, the film is licensed by Creator/SentaiFilmworks in the US and Canada, Creator/AnimeLimited in the UK and Ireland, and Creator/MadmanEntertainment in Australia and New Zealand.

A manga adaptation written by Shinkai with art by Midori Motohashi was released in 2013, with English release by Vertical in October 2014. A novelisation also by Shinkai was initially released serially in September 2013 to April 2014 in ''Da Vinci'' magazine and published as a whole in April 2014. English release by Yen Press is slated for 2020. [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2019-10-14/the-garden-of-words-film-gets-stage-play-in-london-in-2020/.152219 Whole Hog Theatre was originally adapting it into a stage play in London and Tokyo in July to August 2020;]] this has been thwarted by COVID-19, and what will happen to it next remains unknown.

* FootFocus: Aside from Takao being an aspiring shoemaker, Yukari's (often fancy) shoes and feet get highlighted in several scenes as part of the theme of her metaphorically learning to walk again. There is also a prominent scene at the apex of their meetings at the park where Takao takes Yukari's measurements as part of a promise to make her a pair of shoes, with shots of him holding her feet and sketching an outline as she stands on a park bench.

A manga adaptation written by Shinkai with art by Midori Motohashi was released in 2013, with English release by Vertical in October 2014. A novelisation also by Shinkai was initially released serially in September 2013 to April 2014 in ''Da Vinci'' magazine and published as a whole in April 2014. English release by Yen Press is slated for 2020. [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2019-10-14/the-garden-of-words-film-gets-stage-play-in-london-in-2020/.152219 Whole Hog Theatre is adapting it into a stage play in London and Tokyo in July to August 2020.]]

* MaybeEverAfter: The epilogue presents Takao and Yukari's fate ambiguously: despite being on good terms with one another, they are separated. [[spoiler:Even though Takao resolves to see her again after they've matured further, whether or not Takao will go about doing so, and its outcomes, are left to the viewer's imagination]]. The Light Novel adaption epilogue of the film has a 20 years old Takao meeting up with Yukari at the Shinjyuku Gyoen park where everything started.

* MaybeEverAfter: The epilogue presents Takao and Yukari's fate ambiguously: despite being on good terms with one another, they are separated. [[spoiler:Even though Takao resolves to see her again after they've matured further, whether or not Takao will go about doing so, and its outcomes, are left to the viewer's imagination]].

[[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2019-10-14/the-garden-of-words-film-gets-stage-play-in-london-in-2020/.152219 Whole Hog Theatre is adapting it into a stage play in London and Tokyo in July to August 2020.]]

* ProductPlacement: Fila and Ginza Diana, two apparel brands depicted in the anime, are real. Fila is a sportswear manufacturer and Ginza Diana is a shoe company that advises their customers not to wear their shoes in the rain.

* NicePeople: Takao, Yukari and Takao's brother's girlfriend are very kind-hearted people. Takao genuinely loves Yukari because of herself even when they are ten years apart, Yukari in spite of her alcoholism is gentle, introvert and mature and the girlfriend compliments Takao's hobby of shoemaking gracefully.

* TheAlcoholic: Yukari and Takao's mother are severe alcoholics which are damaging their lifestyle due to constant changes in their life. Yukari drinks beer and unusually chocolates to cope with her life being bullied at school by students and the mother also drinks beer as she tries to pursue romance and cope with hardship but nevertheless concernful of Takao and his older brother's wellbeing.