Short film by the director of A Silent Voice
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| Garden of Remembrance anime trailer (doc. Science Saru/Garden of Remembrance) |
On November 18, 2023, Science Saru announced their latest work titled Garden of Remembrance. Directed by Naoko Yamada, the 18-minute short film is scheduled for release in 2024. Here are the Garden of Remembrance anime movie facts!
1. The story is told from three different perspectives
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| Garden of Remembrance anime trailer (doc. Science Saru/Garden of Remembrance) |
Garden of Remembrance has three unnamed teenage characters. The movie is then told from each of the three characters’ perspectives. The first character is a teenage boy who is no longer in the world and has lost his girlfriend. The second character is the boyfriend. Finally, the third character is another teenage girl.
The male character is only referred to as “I”, while the girlfriend and the other female character are referred to as “you” and “childhood friend” respectively. Science Saru has not officially released the synopsis of Garden of Remembrance. They only divulged the film’s storyline as a flower that symbolizes separation.
2. Naoko Yamada and Science Saru’s latest project
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| portrait of Naoko Yamada and Eunyoung Choi (twitter.com/lovesanimation) |
Naoko Yamada is known as a veteran figure of Kyoto Animation. How could she not? Joining KyoAni in 2004, Yamada carved her name in KyoAni’s history by producing a series of iconic works, both as an animator and director, such as Clannad, Haruhi Suzumiya, A Silent Voice, K-On!, and Tamako Market.
However, in 2021, Yamada decided to part ways with the studio that had made his name. He then joined Science Saru. Science Saru itself is a studio founded in 2013 by fellow director Masaaki Yuasa and producer Eunyoung Choi.
Yamada’s debut project with Science Saru was the series The Heike Story which was released in 2021. After that, he began working on Garden of Remembrance. The woman born in 1984 also directed an anime movie titled Kimi no Iro. Uniquely, Kimi no Iro and Garden of Remembrance will both be released in 2024.
3. Produced by a star-studded team
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| Lovely Summer Chan portrait (rollingstonejapan.com) |
Yamada was initially offered the project by Choi. Interested in the project, he immediately accepted the offer. Yamada then trusted mangaka Etsuko Mizusawa to design the characters. They collaborated to create cute and realistic character concepts typical of Mizusawa’s manga, such as Hello, this is Terumi and Hana no Zubora-Meshi.
On the other hand, Yamada worked with musician Lovely Summer Chan on not only the music, but the movie at large. They brainstormed together and determined some keywords to build the concept of the movie. They then created a poem from the brainstorm as the basis for the movie and music.
Therefore, Garden of Remembrance itself is labeled as Summer’s extended music video. Meanwhile, Yamada entrusted the role of animation director to Moaang. Moaang himself is a talented animator who has been on the rise lately and has contributed to Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and Jujutsu Kaisen.
4. Will air to the public in 2024
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| Garden of Remembrance anime trailer (doc. Science Saru/Garden of Remembrance) |
Garden of Remembrance was officially announced in June 2022 at the 2022 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. During the event, Garden of Remembrance was announced to still be in production. Accompanied by Choi virtually, Yamada attended in person and shared key art and more info about the film, including the 2023 release schedule.
On November 18, Garden of Remembrance was unfortunately announced to be delayed to 2024. Science Saru also still hasn’t explained whether this film will air in theaters or just on streaming platforms. Hopefully in Indonesia it will also air, huh!
5. Screened first in various festivals
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| Garden of Remembrance anime trailer (doc. Science Saru/Garden of Remembrance) |
Garden of Remembrance premiered at Scotland Loves Animation 2022 on October 28, 2022. The film was featured again in the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2023 on June 13 and 15. On September 28 and 29, Garden of Remembrance appeared in Encounters Film Festival 2023.
The 18-minute film was also showcased in Sitges Film Festival 2023 on October 8. After that, Garden of Remembrance was shown at the 2023 Bucheon International Animation Film Festival on October 20, 21, 22, and 24. In fact, the film won the Special Distinction Prize and Audience Prize from the event.
Considering Yamada and Science Saru are known as one of the best anime directors and anime studios respectively in this decade, their collaborative projects should always be anticipated, and Garden of Remembrance is no exception. You’re looking forward to this movie too, right?