Red Garden, Volume 1 - Anime District

"enticing"

"a moody thriller wrapped in a mystery"

Red Garden volume 1 made its way to my review pile recently. I'd heard the name before but was drawing a blank as to what it was about. Instead of looking it up or reading the back of the box, I went ahead and started watching it fresh, which is really my preferred way of jumping into shows anyway. What I then experienced is a pleasant but disturbing surprise from the world of anime that will leave me wondering until volume 2 comes out months from now.

The first thing that struck me about Red Garden is the visual style. It's grainy! GONZO as always likes to play around with digital effects and CG graphics. In Red Garden's case they chose to put the entire anime through a film grain filter (aside from the opening and closing). While this effect might normally be used to add a distinguished look or make an attempt at having the show look like it was made on film, what it's used for here is to make it gloomy. It feels like I'm not watching a DVD, but a film reel I found in an abandoned mansion.

What you'll also immediately notice is that Red Garden is set in the US, New York City to be precise. This choice is somewhat of a double-edged sword. Because the show features several high school girls as the leads, it's great to not see yet another cookie cutter Japanese high school. It's also nice to see New York, which for the most part looks pretty accurate from the panoramic shots to the streets they walk on. But it also means that we get the Japanese perception of how US high schools and people are, which is a bit odd to say the least. Many of the outfits are a strange combination of 80's styles and colors with modern clothes, not unlike those you might find in the youth of Tokyo. All the high schoolers wear these wild and bright clothes except those in the disciplinary student group called Grace, who wear a somewhat frilly black and white uniform. Overall though, the pros outweigh the cons. It's nice to see anime in a new setting, and one that for many Americans should feel familiar.

The show opens with the newest suicide in a string of teen suicides. The teens are found in strange places after killing themselves, and things don't add up. They appear to be suicides, but it can't be right that so many girls who have no signs of depression are ending their lives.

Four girls were friends with the latest dead girl, but not friends with each other. But each one of them is drawn by red butterflies to the same location. Upon arriving there, a strange mannish lady tells them they are dead. She goes on to point to a man nearby and says they have to kill him. The man turns to reveal his charcoal skin and glowing eyes and attacks like an animal. The girls are forced to fight for their lives.

They don't remember the night before then. It may have been when they died, if in fact they are dead. Each of them also has strange visions and blackouts. But following their meeting with the lady, they now share a bond that will keep them together. And it's also affecting their school life. They can't get to school on time and are acting strange. Friends are angry with them and they're angry with each other.

The idea that people die and are brought back to fight creatures of some kind is not a new one. The most recent show to do a similar concept is Gantz, where people are whisked away by a black ball, given guns and suits, and told to kill aliens. Red Garden has a similar overall concept, but the execution is so different that comparisons are difficult.

That said, an easy comparison with Gantz is that of pace. Red Garden is slow, one of the slower shows I've seen. After the four episodes included in volume one, I still feel like I'm watching a 10 minute introduction to the show that is about to commence. This show is definitely not for everyone. There's a lot of quiet moodiness. The conversations are sometimes dry, though not without purpose. Oddly enough, there's one section of the show that was actually musical with several of the characters singing a lament in their own separate locations. Hopefully, there won't be any more musical sections as it felt rather out of place.

But despite the slowness, something is enticing about Red Garden. It doesn't force you into its story and give you no information about what's going on. It's the polar opposite of a show like Evangelion which starts off with an angel attack. Instead, Red Garden sets you up with a rather quick battle and a strong premise and gradually gives you small nuggets of information about what really happened to the girls. It's a moody thriller wrapped in a mystery, and I can't wait to find out what's really going on.

Posted on Monday, September 17, 2007 (Archive on Wednesday, October 17, 2007)