Written By: Tomohiro Yamashita, Jukki Hanada, Mari Okada
Studio: Gonzo
Original TV Run: October 3, 2006 – March 13, 2007
Episodes: 22 (plus 1 OVA)
You remember those days in high school when you’d have a long night and a group of guys would be courteous enough to take you home, nicely put you to bed and leave you to wonder, “What in the world happened last night?” Then you wake up, try to drink something and almost throw up. Sounds like a hangover, right? But as you find out sooner than later, this is something much bigger than a bad hangover.
Elsewhere, police find a dead body in the woods. A teenage suicide is believed to have happened once again – the fifth one in the last month. It becomes the talk of “a private school” located in Roosevelt, New York where this latest death resonates through four girls from different societal groups. There’s Kate Ashley (one-sixth of the school’s hall monitoring group known as “Grace”), Claire Forrest (a habitual class skipper trying to live on her own), Rachel Benning (the ultra-popular beauty who so happens to party hard) and Rose Sheedy (that shy girl no one pays attention to). They only know of each other, not really forming any bound outside of one fellow classmate – Lise Meyer (the deceased girl found in the park).
The four aforementioned, living girls are questioned about the apparent suicide; specifically Kate because Ashley and Lise were last seen together exchanging diaries as all teenagers do when they seemingly know they’re about to die and can’t keep their promises. Kate, Claire, Rose and Rachel, though mourning, take note of something in the sky. Above each of them in different parts of the city are fluttering butterflies. Unable to ignore these insects’ paths, the schoolmates follow these butterflies to a bridge underpass until they all meet the mysterious Lula and JC.
In a stunning turn of events, Lula and JC inform the four girls that they have been chosen to fight people with illuminating eyes and the mannerisms of rabid dogs. These humans turned barbaric beasts not only have to fight, but also kill these appointed targets. Why would the four girls agree to murder seemingly innocent people? To avoid dying … again.
Characterization: The main characters in “Red Garden” are pretty simplistic and typecast when you initially analyze them. Kate is the honor student everyone looks at as the daughter every parent wants; Rachel is the attractive, outgoing party girl with a strong sense in fashion; Rose is a shy, sweet-natured crybaby; Claire is the hard-working outcast. They don’t sound that interesting, right? While they don’t have a certain flair to get you excited, throughout the series you witness them truly struggle trying to understand why they’ve been put in such a dire situation; what they’d lose if they stopped fighting; how the world would suffer if their selfishness got the better of them.
While Claire and Kate are pretty easy to sympathize with as we are given the idea Kate had the most resounding relationship with Lise during her final days and Claire is a girl who can’t catch a break no matter how hard she tries, Rose and Rachel are aggravating for the first few episodes. Rachel is above herself and Rose just cries too much. But thanks to the two less-than-appealing characters having there struggles at school, behind closed doors, and even on the battlefield being showcased, the viewer might start to realize they are just like that individual if he or she were in a position of knowledgably facing death every time you wake up. The writers must be commended for doing their best to make you support four girls you would’ve probably avoided during your days in high school.
Dialogue: While there are moments when the dialogue gets a little choppy and doesn’t seem natural, the verbal interactions between almost all of the characters sound and feel realistic. One key example that standouts out features an argument between Claire and her estranged father. Their shouts and defeated statements overlap each other with Claire, like someone in a heated argument, not hearing her father truly listening to her as she pours out her heart for the first time. Interestingly enough, the show’s voice actors were recorded before the animation (a la “western style”), giving the actors a certain freedom to explore their characters’ voices and deliver a more natureal sound (minus the “villainous” Herve’s emotional lines and the actor’s inability to overcome its campiness).
Character Designs: Since this show is based in America, unlike most anime, the character designs don’t feature the typical anime stereotypes of Americans while featuring some of those same stereotypes. Yes, they mostly have square heads, light colored eyes and full lips. But each character also has a distinct look thanks to multiple clothing changes throughout the series (they just don’t have a closet of the same outfit) and particular facial features to give each girl an ability to stand out in their group of fighters or high school friends. It’s incredibly refreshing to see some diversity in American character designs in an anime.
The Singing: Not long into the series, the four lead characters await their time to fight. As night slowly creeps in, so does despair into their hearts. So what do they do to voice their feelings? Sing, of course. But here’s the thing – they can’t sing! Not the original Japanese voice actors, not the English voice actors, no one on this cast can carry a tune. It’s made even worse when they suddenly become a band of worry and break out in terrible-sounding song. What should be a melancholic moments becomes hilarious, then frustrating when it becomes more than just an isolated scene.
Plot and Explanations: This series is built on the characterization of its four leads. For two-thirds of “Red Garden”, we are given a peek into their lives, what motivates them to fight, and how they handle the pressures of possibly not seeing tomorrow. While that’s all well and good, the plot leaves a lot to be desired. Though we get snippets of story’s advancement throughout, it isn’t until the last four or so episodes when it seems the writers shouted, “Oh no, we don’t have enough episodes to flesh out an ending arch!”
What should be major story points and revelations are thrown at you haphazardly with the belief that you’ll understand and accept what’s been going on this whole time without the main characters knowing. And that’s not even mentioning how Lise had formed such a strong relationship with four girls from four totally different walks of life; or why the butterflies as summoning tools and their significance thereof. For all their work to make strong, relatable characters, their attempts to create a different approach to the “teenage girls fighting monsters with their supernatural powers” genre falls incredibly short.
While the characterization is strong and an ability to make you eventually cheer for all of the main ladies in the story is fantastic, “Red Garden” is a disappointment thanks to a mixture of poor plotting, hit and miss animation due to budget issues, and a general feeling of “been there, seen that”. More than likely you’ll enjoy a viewing of the series if you’re into shows like “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” minus any racial diversity (seriously, there are no rich non-Caucasians in Roosevelt that go to private school?). “Red Garden” is a series that you won’t be upset about watching, but won’t feel the need to witness the mixture of melodrama and interesting, yet few fight scenes it tried to impart again. But if you’re into tons of action and don’t like to see teenage girls coming to grips with their own mortality, then “Red Garden” is definitely not for you.
