Search - Red Garden, Vol. 1: Live to Kill on DVD

Not A Very Healthy Garden But It Has Potential

Keith A. Jones | Philadelphia PA | 07/03/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes while I'm watching this series I start to think about how much I want to know exactly what is going on. Don't get me wrong cause this is a decent little series but it has some annoying habits. Red Garden revolves around 4 teenage girls who interact most at their private school located in New York. Of course, all four of these girls are in way different social groups and all have very different attitudes and lives. Kate, Rachel, Rose, and Claire are nowhere near friends but one truly dark night they're forced to come together and fight.

What they have to fight looks to be a zombie but how can 4 high school students defeat a zombie with no weapons? This is when the story hits its mystery and main plot. A man and woman who don't immediately tell their names confront the girls. The two keep roaming around in the shadows and show up every once in a while to annoy them. Now these two don't give too much info in this volume but you can tell that they know more than they let off. The girls don't truly know why but it seems that they are the new peacemakers whenever these zombie like creatures come out.

Whenever they see orange butterflies, that means it's time to fight but there are never prepared. So now the plan is to figure out just exactly what is going on, why these girls were picked to do it, and who will be able to survive. I liked Red garden's first volume but it is a sure 3.5 star first volume. First of all, the animation is great but it's just great surroundings not good character animation.

The characters are not very appealing a all, some of them are poorly colored and have poor facial designs. I guess what I'm saying is that the character designs are bad and need work. A few of the characters even look too much a like. All the other animation was great despite the characters. Some of the voice actors can have really annoying voices when the suspense scenes come. As for the story, I am still waiting for a cool weapon to be introduced and I'm hoping that one will. The girls constantly have to fight these zombies almost barehanded and it makes for bad action scenes. I also think that the pacing is off a touch. I do like Red garden enough to stick with it, just cause I'm curious if they will surprise me. The opening theme song is very cool too. 3.5 is a decent rating but I hope that the second volume will step it up a bit."

Surprisingly good!

Linda S. | 02/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My husband and I rented this from netflix and yes, at the opening credits we both groaned at the bad song translation. However, we persevered through the first episode, which hinted at more. So we continued to watch, and each episode was better than the last, giving more of the story - which is quite complex and involved! Before we knew it, the afternoon was gone and we had watched the entire first dvd! We both agreed to move the second and third dvd's in this series to the top of our queue, and to look into purchasing this series.
We are both middle-aged professionals with good imaginations and open minds, who love both fiction and non-fiction, as well as good scifi. If you give this series a chance and pay close attention you will be well rewarded with a smart, serious story underneath the silly songs and cosmetic fluff that graces most anime nowadays. Highly recommended!

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Shelf Worthy

All Access Gift Card | 01/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This series I thought was great and I believe it takes someone over 12 to understand it and handle the fighting. It mysterious has a new sense of animation thats not been seen before often and is quit refreshing. The theme songs are bubbly then heavy because of the soft and yet violent themes to the story. At times the random singing is odd and the show can get angsty but its truly not that bad. The four main girls have a complex realationship but is understandable. If you want to own something mysterious with dark undertones with a interesting anime style then buy or preview the first episode on ADVs websites to see if you will really like it or not. But it is a great series to own and deserves to be on anyones shelf."