Anaglyph’s Anime Appraisals

After the first two episodes I wasn’t really sure about Red Garden but episode three has convinced me it’s going to be a good, worthwhile series. So far things seem much less episodic than is usual for anime. Much as I love the medium, a lot of shows have the feeling of being thrown together in a fairly haphazard way; often there’s a complete change of tone and direction halfway through a series, or episodes are strung together with little thought towards creating a satisfying whole; so it’s nice to find a show that seems to have been carefully plotted before the actual animation work was begun. Whether this will hold true as the series progresses remains to be seen, but for now the show maintains a deliberate pace; questions are raised, some are answered while others are left hanging, and new mysteries are introduced.

So what questions did episode three answer? For one thing, the mystery of what happened to our girls on That Fateful Night^TM is revealed, or some of it at least. Also, I can now drop the rather uncharitable appellation Ugly Woman and switch to Lula, which is good because I’ve started to get used to the look of the characters and they no longer appear quite so grotesque. On the subject of names, there seems to be some confusion about a couple of them. Lisa is now being subbed as Lise and while checking this out on Wikipedia I noticed the article referring to Rula rather than Lula. I’ll just go with the names as they’re subbed for now.

Rachel expresses her admiration of Lula.

Synopsis

Prior to Lise’s funeral, her father and Kate have a quiet conversation about her during which it’s revealed that she and Kate kept a shared diary. Lise’s parents would like it as a memento but Kate doesn’t have it. Meeting the other girls at the funeral she tells them she can’t remember what happened to the diary and wonders whether it has something to do with That Fateful Night^TM. Rachel, clinging to denial, is scornful. At this point, to the shock of the girls, Lula and lackey turn up.

Lula claims they’re undertakers but as the girls don’t seem too keen on accepting that explanation she takes them aside before they create a scene. She gives them a red bulb and tells them to plant it, that it will reveal the truth of what happened to them, as they won’t take her word for it. When, after a lot of bickering, they can’t come to a decision over whether to plant the bulb or not, Lula tells them to come with her. Yup, she’s going to give them one of her patented hard lessons.

From a high vantage point our girls look down on four other girls who Lula describes as their brethren. Lula explains that these girls have lost the will to fight - to live - and this point is quickly demonstrated when a man with glowing eyes similar to the one our girls fought appears and dispatches them in short order before scampering off into the night. A distraught Rachel wants to know what they did to deserve this. Lula’s answer is that they did nothing; that that’s just the way things are; if they want to stay alive they have to fight.

You can tell he’s evil because his eyes glow.

The next day the girls decide to plant the bulb. When nothing happens immediately they try to continue with their normal daily routine. That evening they meet in a cafe, still waiting for something to happen, and at last something does. From the bulb blooms a red flower and once again the mystical butterflies appear. This seems like a spell that releases their memories of what happened That Fateful Night^TM.

Red flower; Red Garden: coincidence? Not likely.

As the girls’ memories return we see Lise giving Kate the shared diary and telling her she’s written about her new boyfriend. After Lise goes missing the girls use the diary to track down the mystery man, who happens to live in a large mansion. (You don’t get any points if you realised that the mystery man in Lise’s life was not good news when this was originally brought up in the first episode.) On their way to the front entrance they see a strange pool with a circled pentagram painted on the bottom. Once inside, Creepy Man from the first episode appears and tells them that Lise is in a nearby room. Unfortunately they find that she’s also lying in a bathtub dead. On instructions from an older man that Creepy Man refers to as Uncle, the girls are mercilessly killed.

In case you were wondering, this series is not a fluffy comedy.

Understandably the girls are somewhat shaken by these memories, and when Lula turns up at the cafe to explain that they are lucky that she and her associates retrieved them and gave them back their lives, all they can do is mutter in shock “We really did die”.

Thoughts

One thing I’m pleased about is that Michael Palin’s song-stopping services were not required for this episode. Ultimately it’s not a huge deal, but the fewer songs the better.

Another thing I’m pleased about is that I’m becoming used to the character designs. I’ll even go so far as to say that Lula looks good in that her design seems well suited to her tough personality. Speaking of Lula, I liked the hint of sorrow over the girls’ plight she expressed by closing her eyes when they were sitting in shock at the memories of their deaths. No points for guessing that she’s going to be the hard mentor who has to be tough on her charges to keep them alive but who, behind the facade, actually feels compassion for them. Currently she strikes me as the most interesting character.

The night cityscape continues to look gorgeous. I have to admit that I don’t generally have an incredibly discerning eye when it comes to the quality, or lack thereof, of animation for a series, but to my eyes a lot of Red Garden looks really good, particularly during night shots.

The orchestral score is used very effectively to help create pathos during the scenes of violence and death. The scoring of violent scenes with poignant music to emphasise the tragedy is a bit of a cliché these days, but it can still have a powerful effect, and here it contributes to the overall sombre feeling of the series.

While the show has a bleak feel it does sometimes display some humour (dark humour to be sure). Lula and lackey turning up at Lise’s funeral as undertakers was great. Whether the front for their organisation really is a funeral home or whether it was just a way of getting to the girls I don’t know, but it was a grimly amusing moment. Or maybe it’s just my twisted sense of humour.

While some of the questions from earlier were answered, much is still yet to be explained. What the two factions represent and why they are fighting is still to be addressed. Obviously the pentagram in the mansion pool suggests that Creepy Man’s faction are into black magic. Are the guys with glowing eyes actually werewolves? Lula’s faction seem to have their own ability to use magic, what with the mysterious flower and the butterflies, not to mention having the ability to resurrect the dead. The precise nature of the girls’ dilemma - to fight or to die - is still obscure. It seems to be fairly strongly implied that some kind of “magical contract” has been entered into; one that gives them life but forces them to fight to keep that life; however, the possibility that their refusal to fight for Lula’s faction would result in them being disposed of by mundane human hands can’t be ruled out, perhaps to preserve secrecy. Also I wonder if the use of the word “brethren” was intended to carry the religious connotations that it can have or whether the translation didn’t intend to imply anything by it. So, lots of mystery still to be unveiled.

I’m really starting to enjoy this series. It has a great atmosphere, heavy on tragedy and mystery. Good stuff.