(Re)learn to walk: The melodramatic narrative strategy in Garden of Words

Abstract

This article analyzes the development of the character Yukari Yukino in the anime Garden of Words (2013), to present how audiovisual productions that are not part of the melodrama genre use its narrative strategies in the dramatic construction of the works. Therefore, bibliographical research about melodrama was accomplished, and film analysis of excerpts from the animation to identify this resource in the conception of the protagonist’s story. As a result, the analysis indicated how a Western concept (melodrama) can be used in a Japanese animation, contributing to the sentimental charge of the narrative, and facilitating its access, considering that it is spread around the world in different media, such as cinema and streaming platforms.

Keywords
Melodrama; Melodramatic imagination; Anime; Japanese animation; Makoto Shinkai