Red Garden

Red Garden (22 episodes, 2006-2007)
OVA: Dead Girls (45 minutes, 2007)

Red Garden seems to be a rather unknown series. It's a nice little hidden gem, though, and apparently managed to catch the attention of ADV Films for a localized DVD release (though it's now distributed by FUNimation), as well. Horror doesn't seem to be a very common anime theme, so it's nice to have this change of pace in Red Garden, and the series does a pretty great job of getting that feeling of terror from the main characters across to the viewer. (Though the horror aspect is somewhat limited to earlier episodes.) Even putting the horror genre aside, Red Garden is a pretty unique series, which I think deserves more attention than it gets. With that said, I hope my review/introduction thing here can get some of you interested.

Synopsis

The story of Red Garden follows four girls who find themselves suddenly unable to recall anything that occurred the day before. Unaware of the reason for this, the girls all go about their usual lives. Their school discovers some terrible news, however, reporting to the students that a fellow attendee of the school, Lise, was found dead that morning. Upon announcing this unfortunate discovery, the students are sent home early. Later that night, the four girls find themselves unexplainably drawn together, after following some butterflies that suddenly appear before them. A woman then appears, alongside a man, and tells the girls that they died. They died, and are now using "borrowed lives," as she puts it. The girls are then pitted against some beast-like man in an alleyway, where the woman and man disappear, leaving the girls to fight for their lives.

These fights continue, as ordered by the mysterious woman, who claims that the girls must fight these men if they wish to continue living. However, the girls do not blindly follow this woman, and find themselves surrounded by questions. Why can none of them remember what happened that night? Are they really dead? What are these people they are fighting, and why must they fight them? Who exactly are this woman and man? Will the girls ever be able to return to their regular lives? In order to obtain answers to these questions, however, the girls must continue fighting, and extract whatever information they can from this woman in the process.

Main Characters (click names for images)

• Kate Ashley: Kate is a mild-mannered young girl, who is a member of the elite school group known as Grace, tasked with keeping the school's students in check with their attendance, dress code, and other matters. Perhaps the most open toward others, Kate tends to play the role of leader among the group of four, looking out for them, and trying to do what's best for the group.


• Rachel Benning: Rachel is a bit of a fashion diva, or at least acts like one. She's always dressed in fancy, expensive clothes, and found hanging out with her friends at late-night parties. However, the news of the girls' deaths has the greatest impact on her, leaving her with the feeling that their current "lives" are pointless. Because of their complicated situation, Rachel's social life suffers immensely, giving her even more drama to worry about than her situation already does.


• Claire Forrest: Claire is the rebel of the group, often skipping school or arriving late without a proper excuse. However, her tough attitude is required to get by in her life. Unlike the other girls, Claire lives independently, working a job that barely covers her rent. Claire is the most physically fit among the girls, and the least hesitant to fight when needed, but under her tough exterior, she is still a high school girl who is capable of the emotional suffering that the four girls all go through.


• Rose Sheedy: Rose is a shy girl who lives alone with her younger brother and sister, taking care of them while their mother is in the hospital. Rose was accepted into the school on Roosevelt Island by winning a contest, and lives off of money sent by her father, who disappeared one day. Out of the group of four, Rose is the most caring, but the most sensitive and least willing to fight, usually cowering in a corner, crying, while the others fight for their lives. Rose acknowledges her weakness, however, and wishes strongly not to be a burden on the others, so she tries to do what she can to improve herself for this purpose.


• Lise Harriette Meyer: Lise was the only connection the other four girls shared before her death. Seemingly easy to get along with just about anyone, Lise was friends with all four of the girls, despite their differences. The night that the girls all died, the car that was bringing Lise home was attacked, and she was taken away by the assailants. The next day, her body is found by the police, and her funeral was held shortly later.

Other Notes

• Art: For many people, the art style may be rather unique. Actually, to some, the character art may even be a bit unappealing. I think it's just a matter of taste... I suppose it could be described as a more realistic style, while still maintaining that anime feel. (Witch Hunter Robin's character art may be a good comparison.) The artists make a nifty move for characters' hair, applying gradients for their hair color, which seems pretty unique. Even more interesting is the clothes that characters wear. The main cast can be seen wearing several detailed outfits, and even in scenes with crowds of people, you may notice that practically every person on screen is wearing a completely unique outfit, which is something that is very rare to see in animated works. (Check: crowd screenshot.)


• Environment & Culture: Red Garden has a (presumably) modern-day setting, taking place on Roosevelt Island and other areas of New York City. The creators really go out of their way to accurately portray many aspects of the city, which is a great touch. Even details as small as phone numbers listed on buildings factor into this. (I forget what episode, what building, et cetera, but there is actually a real, and accurate, phone number on the door of a restaurant in a particular scene.) Some of the characters even go to Coney Island and eat the famous Coney dogs at a Nathan's Famous hot dog stand/restaurant. Heck, there's even a random reference to Seinfeld's Soup Nazi, that comes up in a discussion between Kate and Rose.
  
  On the other hand, some inaccuracies in the series, as pointed out on Wikipedia, are: "There is no car/bus access between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan as shown in Red Garden. Nor are there any high schools, public or private, on the island. There is, however, subway access to the island and bus access from the Queens side, which are not shown." (Source)


• Music: First of all, don't be misled by the opening theme for the show, "Jolly Jolly," by JiLL-Decoy. It's not particularly fitting. At all.
  While I can't really comment on the soundtrack otherwise (it hasn't particularly grabbed my attention), another music note I have to point out as being extremely awkward is that in a few particular scenes throughout the series, some of the characters will randomly break into song. As far as I can tell, it's meant as a sort of device for setting the mood, but much of the time, it's just plain strange. Thankfully, these scenes aren't too common outside of the first few episodes.


• English Dub?: Unfortunately, I haven't seen Red Garden dubbed, so I can't really comment on the performance. However, from the little bit I heard in the English trailer, I wasn't impressed. The Japanese cast, on the other hand, generally does a great job, especially in the more emotional scenes. (This plays a major role in getting that feeling of terror across to the viewer in earlier episodes.)


• Dead Girls OVA: While I would like to cover this in the review simply because it's the sequel to the anime series, I'm choosing to omit it. I'm sure many other fans share the feeling of wishing to forget the OVA. While it's not terrible on its own, it abandons many of the things that made the original series great, and opts for some awkward futuristic setting, with the girls being almost completely different (mostly in bad ways), and the general plot is... kind of stupid, to be blunt. If you watch the entire anime series, but would like to see what happens after, then the OVA may or may not be worth looking into, but I'd personally suggest avoiding it. Main series: Good. OVA: Not so good.

Conclusion

Well, to be honest, I think my additional notes above sum up most of what I would've included in this conclusion footer. Aside from those notes, I'll just point out that I don't think it'll rank in the upper tier of anyone's favorite series, but I think it should still be a worthwhile watch, providing many unique features for the viewer to enjoy.