#garden of words

[thensson]

Thinking of you, even now

Darling, I Left the House, by Joseph Brodsky || Nickie Zimov || Faces in the Crowd, Valeria Luiselli || Garden of Words, Makoto Shinkai || Love, Alex Dimitrov || This is Not a Love Poem, Caitlyn Siehl

[namedvesta]

Rainer Maria Rilke, from Love Poems to God (𝟣𝟫𝟢𝟧)

[gardenofwordss]

Be careful who you trust. Salt and sugar look the same.

[minnie-themoocher]

shout out to women written by makoto shinkai:

gotta be one of my favorite genders

[reinerist]

Shinkai + Scenery

[rainreads]

waiting for the first rainfall of the year. waiting for summer.

[kirahosii]

Rainy day

On the rainy days I think of you and me

[dantexxorihara]

[dongsonglodang]

Rốt cuộc, đi cuối đất cùng trời, rồi cũng chỉ mong những tháng ngày được quay về, ngồi nơi khu vườn yên tĩnh của riêng mình, thảnh thơi uống một tách trà, ngắm nhìn trăng sáng, lặng nghe mưa rơi. Cứ thế mà qua hết bốn mùa xuân, hạ, thu đông.

[thensson]

I love you. I'm sorry it didn't work out.

Richard Siken, Crush | Dan Taulapapa McMullin, The Sky | Dionisio d. Martinez, A Dove is not a Bird | Makoto Shinkai, Garden of Words | @haleyincarnate | Ross Gay, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude | Caitlyn Siehl, This is Not a Love Poem | @-love-letters-i-never-sent | Leila Chatti, Night Lament in Hergla |

[namedvesta]

— Carl Phillips, from Cortège (𝟤𝟢𝟢𝟤).

[gardenofwordss]

When a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.

Alexander Den Heijer

[reinerist]

Shinkai + Scenery

[hellish-cruelty]

Ghibli rain

Movies in frame - My neighbour Totoro, Kiki's delivery service, Garden of words, Whisper of heart, The wind rises, From up the poppy hill, A silent voice,‌ When Marnie was there, Ponyo, Weathering with you

[nomilkinmyteaplease]

Garden of Words (2013)

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

Evangelion’s influence on Makoto Shinkai

It’s no secret that one of the most popular directors in Japanese animation, Makoto Shinkai, has won over the hearts of many. Some consider him a “new Miyazaki” yet he prefers not to be seen that way and his style and way of storytelling is different. Nor is Miyazaki the only influence on his work as Shinkai considers a huge inspiration to be Hideaki Anno and his groundbreaking series, Neon Genesis Evangelion with EoE being one of his favorites. A lot of his works delve into similar themes of loneliness, longing for connections and adolescence that NGE tackled. Note that I haven’t watched all his films so some of this is based off what others have mentioned or argued but here are some examples of similar themes, characters or references I’ve spotted.

1. The worms in Suzume dissipate in a similar fashion to the Rebuild angels. They turn into a mass of red bubbles after the doors are sealed before exploding. The difference is the angels leave damage when destroyed. Suzume, like Shinji and Asuka, is another character who has suffered trauma from their mother’s death as did Mitsuha in Your Name and Hina in WWY. Mitsuha and Hodaka also have issues with their fathers like Shinji and Asuka. Both 3.0+1.0 and Suzume were made in response to the earthquake of 2011 and reflect the trauma left on Japan from that.

2. I haven’t watched these yet but both The Place Promised in Our Early Days and 5 Centimeters Per Second are said to be create a similar feeling or reaction from the audience as NGE. The former is very psychological and while more uplifting, still examines the main character’s anxiety and depression. Like EVA, some find it confusing and a bit difficult to understand especially the ending similar to EoE.

3. Weathering with You feels very EVA inspired in its themes and characters. The main characters, Hodaka and Hina, do remind me a lot of Shinji and Rei. I’ll warn people that I am a Shinji/Rei shipper so DLDR. They’re often compared to Homura and Madoka but I see a lot Shinji/Rei parallels too. The “Grand Escape” moment is a lot like the ending of 2.22, albeit with Hodaka actually succeeding at saving Hina. The character of Natsumi is also a lot like Misato in both appearance and personality. It’s questioning of how the older generations put all the burden on the youth to make sacrifices to fix problems like climate change is comparable to NERV drafting teenagers and sending them into a warzone against the Angels.

4. Garden of Words is another I have yet to watch but the relationship between the main character and his teacher is often mischaracterized as grooming or pedophilia, a bit like how some view Misato and Shinji. It’s a story of two outcasts coming together and developing an emotional connection. A “love story” but not a romance as one commenter describes. Yukino never returns Takao’s feelings due to their age gap yet the two save each other from falling into depression and their relationship is beyond sexual attraction.

Feel free to add more references or ways you think NGE or the Rebuilds have influenced Shinkai’s films. Disagree with some of these if you want since I know Reishin is a controversial ship, especially with Kawoshin being popular on Tumblr but that’s what I picked up while watching WWY. Both Anno and Shinkai’s works speak a lot to me as someone who’s struggles with depression. Suzume hit hard for me as an adoptee and Your Name showed me anime could be far more than a cheesy cartoon. Seeing people call Shinkai an “eco fascist” is baffling as that’s not what these stories are about. Both are groundbreaking directors in anime and have inspired a lot people, including me.