Kotonoha no Niwa
Jun. 6th, 2013 01:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pacificpikachuI watched Kotonoha no Niwa today! First off, utterly and completely beautiful, of course. A feast for the eyes. I'll probably watch it plenty more times just for that. It's completely worth watching for just that.
As for the story? Ehhh, I've always been lukewarm about Shinkai's writing skills.
What Makoto Shinkai excels at is two things, I think: 1) beauty, of course, and 2) his works are very evocative. They elicit feelings, especially of nostalgia and longing, by their sheer beauty and usually pretty piano BGM, and lovely dialogue. 5cm actually made me quite gloomy when I watched it originally. That said, I do wish at times that he would change his tune. Always the unrequited love, the distance, and it gets old. This mixes it up just a little, but still falls neatly into his little box. I sometimes wish he'd work with someone else who would write for him. It's not that I think his writing is bad, it's just so-so. I find the characters forgettable each time, and their bonds never particularly convince me. I never walk away from his movies with much of a profound or enlightened feeling, as I often do from series/movies that are much less visually stunning. They make me feel things, but aside from the evocative feelings I described earlier, I can't say I glean much meaning or find deep emotional truth in them. I'm glad this wasn't as long as some of his works, because his longest movies seemed to drag on and on, but at the same time I wish a little more was explored as far as the characters went.
I also tend to find his character designs rather flat. They're definitely getting better, and these are the best I've seen from him so far in my opinion, but it would also be nice to see something more different from him.
Anyway, I will watch everything Makoto Shinkai releases, because it's worth it for the sheer and utter beauty. I mean, goddamn. He has the market on pretty shiny scenery conquered. But, I do wish he could be a little more adventurous in his storytelling. I like all of his movies, but they often leave me longing for him to do something more outside the box. Maybe someday. Until then, I'll keep watching them, sighing wistfully, and staring open-mouthed at how pretty everything is.
As for the story? Ehhh, I've always been lukewarm about Shinkai's writing skills.
What Makoto Shinkai excels at is two things, I think: 1) beauty, of course, and 2) his works are very evocative. They elicit feelings, especially of nostalgia and longing, by their sheer beauty and usually pretty piano BGM, and lovely dialogue. 5cm actually made me quite gloomy when I watched it originally. That said, I do wish at times that he would change his tune. Always the unrequited love, the distance, and it gets old. This mixes it up just a little, but still falls neatly into his little box. I sometimes wish he'd work with someone else who would write for him. It's not that I think his writing is bad, it's just so-so. I find the characters forgettable each time, and their bonds never particularly convince me. I never walk away from his movies with much of a profound or enlightened feeling, as I often do from series/movies that are much less visually stunning. They make me feel things, but aside from the evocative feelings I described earlier, I can't say I glean much meaning or find deep emotional truth in them. I'm glad this wasn't as long as some of his works, because his longest movies seemed to drag on and on, but at the same time I wish a little more was explored as far as the characters went.
I also tend to find his character designs rather flat. They're definitely getting better, and these are the best I've seen from him so far in my opinion, but it would also be nice to see something more different from him.
Anyway, I will watch everything Makoto Shinkai releases, because it's worth it for the sheer and utter beauty. I mean, goddamn. He has the market on pretty shiny scenery conquered. But, I do wish he could be a little more adventurous in his storytelling. I like all of his movies, but they often leave me longing for him to do something more outside the box. Maybe someday. Until then, I'll keep watching them, sighing wistfully, and staring open-mouthed at how pretty everything is.
