 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | ADV FILMS | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 4:3 FULL SCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH DD 5.1 AND JAPANESE DD 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 100 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | TV MA | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 06/24/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 07/01//2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL |
An odd string of suicides surrounds a private institution on Roosevelt Island. On the night a classmate dies, Kate, Rachel, Rose and Claire wake with no memories of the evenings' events. The next night, the four girls are drawn together by mysterious red butterflies only they can see. Converging at Central Park, the girls are approached by a strange woman who tells them they are dead. Now, the four girls must work together to learn the secrets of their death - and the means to return to their previous life. In volume five, desperate times call for desperate measures. Everyone feels the urgency growing, as Kate has been told a terrifying secret by her sworn enemy. Now she must decide whether to keep it to herself, or confide in her friends, cutting the last thread of hope that keeps them all fighting for their lives – or at least what’s left of them. But death comes closer to them all, as curiosity builds in those who surround the girls – and evil enemies take violent measures to keep the truth from being revealed. Bloody, brutal, and beautiful despite it all, Red Garden is a thrill ride that will shock you at every turn and keep you intently interested in the fate of each of the show’s characters. The character designs have always been cool, along with the unique style and look that most people and objects have within each episode. The series is fairly mature in its content, and its depth of plot and attractive animation style round it out into a nice package that will appeal to many. In no way is this series only for males or females – it has a good “gender balance” of sorts that allows it to appeal to both on equal grounds, strengthening its entertainment value considerably. It’s been like this all the way through the series thus far – Red Garden is consistent, and therefore consistently good. The four girls are all very different and their characterizations, but it’s great to be able to have seen them change over the course of the series unfolding. As they learn more about their fate, and about each other, they learn more about themselves and become “better” people in a way. Any of them that didn’t quite have a concept of “suffering” or difficulty certainly have it now – they are stronger due to their experiences. The bond they share is a strange one formed out of their need to “survive,” or at least figure out if they indeed can be “reborn” as they once were. They’re very human – they really think things through, they’re often filled with doubt or worry, and they’re far from perfect in many ways. These girls aren’t “super heroes,” nor do they exude any unbelievable mental strength that allows them to throw themselves into the fray each time. They’re just regular, varied people thrown together with some very difficult decisions and tasks to try to overcome, and it’s thoroughly interesting to watch this all unfold. Whether it’s Kate being unable to share her new secret with some of the girls, or Rose learning she can be strong and fight if she just believes she can be an effective member of the team, these characters show they are very much like “real” people. A series with a realistic sense of itself to some point can be very involving to watch. An interesting little side fact about Red Garden and its production: A unique trait featured in the series is the fact it employs a technique often used by animated productions outside Japan, but rarely used in an anime series. The character’s dialogue is animated after the work of the voice cast, synchronizing the animation with the voice actor’s voices, much unlike what is traditionally done in Japan. The scenes where characters are singing (occurring in some of the earlier episodes) are when this feature is exploited best, but it actually really shines throughout the series and just seemed like something worth mentioning because it is quite unique. Red Garden is great for all sorts of reasons – it really tries to do things differently in a number of ways and in turn seems to come out on top by being a great anime!
EXTRAS:
Clean opening, clean closing, ADV previews and DVD credits.
IN SUMMARY:
Red Garden is a well-rounded anime series, no doubt about it. It has a lot to offer both visually, and with story and character content. It’s stylish, moving, and really quite involving – how much more can you ask from a mature piece of entertainment? |
