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This Week in Anime
Is Vampire in the Garden Worth Watching?

by Monique Thomas & Jean-Karlo Lemus,

Netflix's new five-episode anime series from Studio Wit takes the typical "vampire-human" war angle and crafts a love story. It's not reinventing the wheel, but it's a very, very good looking one.

This series is streaming on Netflix

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.
Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead.


@Lossthief @mouse_inhouse @NickyEnchilada @vestenet

Nicky
Hey, Jean-Karlo, hear that? It's the tune of an antique music box. And it's telling us it's once again time to talk about vampires. The same old song. Nostalgic, isn't it?
Jean-Karlo
And it comes with fair accompaniment! This beautiful little song is an original series brought to us by Wit Studio in collaboration with Netflix. Wonderfully clocking in at five never-before-seen episodes, this week we're talking about Vampire in the Garden.
I hate a lot of vampire fiction, plain and simple. But in all honesty: we've had a fairly good track record for vampire anime in This Week in Anime! Noblesse was boring, and VLADLove was a mess (albeit an interesting one), but Mars Red was legitimately interesting and beautiful. And speaking honestly: Vampire in the Garden was honestly a lot of fun. Studio Wit did good with this; they're better known for the currently-running Spy×Family and last year's Vivy -Fluorite Eye's Song-, and their level of quality remains consistent.
Wit Studio is actually a branch studio of the bigger Production I.G intended to work on more niche productions. Having made a name for themselves with their blockbuster adaption of Attack on Titan (Seasons 1 and 2), they've since gone on to make very some interesting projects, whether adaptations from a source or originals. While not every series is guaranteed to stick the landing, Great Pretender and Ranking of Kings stand out as some of the most stylistically diverse anime that broke my heart with their huge narrative fumbles, I can't ever call the studio unambitious. So when Netflix announced this baby, I wanted to check it out. They also recently released the movie Bubble for Netflix, which we covered.

The premise of two girls forming a bond with each other in the midst of a grizzly vampire-human conflict is an arrow targeting my aesthetic and narrative weak points like a skilled sharpshooter.
So, the story goes that in a post-industrial world, vampires suddenly appeared. Being that vampirism spreads by biting, much of the population was lost to the plague. Humanity set up little enclaves to defend against them—and also, for some reason, banned music and culture because apparently music was seen as a thing that was inherently of vampires. Hey, dictators have said dumber things!
On one hand, I wouldn't call the war between the humans and vampires very deep in this one. While, the reasoning behind the conflict is simple, the actual way Vampire in the Garden presents its setting is extremely rich. The entire series has been directed, storyboarded, composed, and scripted by Ryotaro Makihara. His most notable work was the The Empire of Corpses anime film. The novel of the same name is a shitty sci-fi bundle of war-crimes apologism, but Makihara's film work remained beautifully atmospheric. As a follow-up Vampire in the Garden is an original work and I was immediately captivated by its tone.
I'm old enough to where I don't think it's entirely impossible for military groups to say "We've got an enemy, so put on your asbestos suit and start cranking the levers in the factory or we'll lose the war effort!" And even if I didn't, hey, sometimes you don't need an entire four-hour prequel series to find out why a young girl is working in a factory with a number stitched onto her jacket.

Speaking of, our protagonist is Momo, and she's working in a factory with a number stitched onto her jacket. She's also a soldier, but not a very good one: she chokes at the opportunity to shoot vampires point-blank. She also found a music box she hopes to fix, and is friends with another girl in the army/military state named Mirena.

Momo, a trainee and a teenager, isn't satisfied with the restrictive lives humans have created within their city of light. Her one solace is the company of her best friend, Mirena. Momo also happens to be the commander's only daughter. After showing sympathy to a vampire child at the danger of her own life, she's immediately sent into mom's office for a proper scolding. It's clear her mom has high expectations for her. She gets promoted from factory work to a proper boring job as a desk admin and is pulled away from her only friend.
Meanwhile, far away from the human city we see a castle of vampires celebrating at a ball. Lady Fine (that's "Fee-nay", not "Fine"—just like the princess from Back Arrow, come to think of it) is dancing with her current paramour. She's next in line to be queen but instead philanders with other women, typical of a "prince"-looking vampire. Lady Oscar would be proud.

I wanna give this sequence credit because it looks so fun. Fine knows how to treat a lady, using her vampiric powers to sprout wings and whisk off her partner into the air before playfully tossing them into the crowd. I think that's why I like the vampires in this: they know how to party!

The vampire world and the world of the "warms" as the vampires calls 'em, couldn't be more different. The vampires are dripping in decadence and culture while the humans freeze their asses under the protection of military-rule. Though, the vampire world isn't quite as rosy as its wallpaper, Fine acts carefree as a means of escaping her royal duty and her own feelings, and their biggest edge in the war is a drug that transforms them into monsters at the cost of their very lives. Nobody can escape loss.
One night, the vampires stage a raid upon Momo's city. This is where the plot kicks off: while the vampires try to break into the city (with the help of some saboteurs who hope to become vampires themselves), Momo's mother finds her music box, leading to Momo running away from home.
Fine and Momo have a fateful encounter while Momo sings to herself for salvation. Fine is touched by Momo's spirit and it seems like they might be able to make a connection until they are confronted by human soldiers, Momo's best friend among them. The warm soldiers are then swoop-attacked by vampires, and Merina perishes despite Fine's best efforts to protect her. Not wanting to return to her mom, and having nowhere else to go, Momo and Fine run off together.

I really love Tetsuya Nishio's character designs for this series. He's best known for adapting all the designs for Naruto and Boruto, but he's also serving as chief animation director here. He also did the designs for the "The Ninth Jedi" segment of Star Wars: Visions. You can tell because he gives characters these very big, vacant, and wide eyes and the way he'd rather use lighting to emphasize the nose, leaving mostly just the nostrils.
Fine of course tries being hospitable to Momo, but Momo's got a lifetime of anti-vampire indoctrination. And let's be honest, even if Fine wasn't in the middle of a weird fast where she isn't drinking blood for unknown reasons, she would still be weird. Like, you don't just relax around handsome women who take you away and decide to feed you.
It's also a bit fairytale-esque to be taken to a supernatural royal's castle. Fine's princely qualities don't stop at her regal dress. She enacts a lot of similar tropes as a masculine character of her status would. Her outward carefree confidence hides her more broody and self-destructive nature. She eventually does end up appealing to Momo through her deeper sensitivity and caters to Momo after she experiences a mental freak-out. Afterwards, Momo opens her ears to the music she has to share that's sung by a human singer.

She often spends time in the sunlight catering to her garden even though it makes her weak. These moments betray the romantic heart hidden underneath whatever Fine has going on. She feels like both a cool enigmatic love interest meant to draw Momo in and protect her as well as a big sister who can respect and nurture her.
Unfortunately, it's not meant to last—on two fronts. Momo's mother tasks Momo's uncle (the cowboy-samurai up there) to bring Momo home. Meanwhile, Fine's family tasks Fine's brother Allegro (and his cute dog) to bring Fine back so that she may assume her rightful position as Queen and "sacrifice her flesh for the sake of vampires" (which means producing heirs). And, uh, things aren't pretty when both groups happen upon Fine's manor.
Both parties feel like their acting in the young women's best interest. Allegro wants Fine to return to "the way she was before," and fears Momo will trigger a traumatic-repeat for his sister. Uncle Kubo simply wants to protect Momo from manipulation even if her mother is overbearing. Though, neither of them truly understand the nature of the ladies relationship and only see it as a threat. Eventually they manage to escape in a getaway car with no turning back. Also, it was pretty funny seeing Momo having no idea who her own uncle was because she hadn't seen him since she was a literal baby in diapers.
The girls go off on a road trip, convinced that somewhere in the world there's a paradise where vampires and humans can live together in peace. It's a cute bit, but it ends all too soon when they come upon a city divided into human and vampire populations.

Fine hasn't had blood in who-knows-how-long, and attacks Momo. She regains control, but sends off Momo. So Momo decides to break into the human encampment and steal blood for Fine. And things get worse.
The road trip montage and playing piano together really sold me on their bond. I can't resist a gay piano scene.

It's the dancing that does it for me. Fine seems most herself when she's got someone she can dance with, it's really cute.
Fine also has flashbacks to a previous human lover, who so happens to look just like Momo. Having once had the same dream of escaping to a paradise where they can exist together, it's clear it didn't end well. Momo tries to feed Fine her own blood but Fine refuses and pushes her away.


And being a walking piece of meat full of blood is very bad when you're in Bloodsuckerville, let me tell ya. While the aristocratic vampire ball showed a lot of vampires ritzing it up, most average vampires still struggle to find their next meal. They can only tolerate the humans around them thanks to an agreement to exchange blood for cash. It's a similar struggle for resources that Momo's mother expressed earlier.
Hence Momo's current predicament. When she tries to make off with some blood for Fine, she not only winds up in the sights of human soldiers, but Allegro finds her too. And things get even worse when the vampires in town realize that there's a human in their midst—they're almost as hungry as Fine.
Even though Momo is an average human, younger and less cool than Fine, I appreciate that she never backs down and acts immediately when she needs to. She kicks just enough butt to get the blood and then free herself from Allegro's clutches before Fine can burn down with the rest of the hotel that had been raided by other vampires.
And she won't back down even when Allegro is stabbing her in the neck! Momo's got iron in her.
Also, here is my MANDATORY vampire pretty-boy appreciation tribute for Allegro, you knew it had to be here somewhere. I know what I'm about.
He has a dog. It's a nice dog. It's a really well-animated dog, too. A good dog. Anyway, Momo and Fine's road trip takes a turn for the worse. Where their car trip was all smiles and fun, here they're suffering and doing what they can to stave off the cold. They only just make it to a remote town on a frozen lake.

I'm sure this isn't going to turn out badly for them at all.
What are you talking about? Everything is fine. These people are nice, they have electricity! They have food and blood. Vampires and humans live together in harmony. It's everything Momo has ever dreamed of from the art and the music. Elisha, their town guide, is even closer to her age and wants to be her friend. It's just like a picture out of a storybook!
There's even this nice bit where Elisha recreates the popular painting that's everywhere in this series, making us think this is the fabled paradise Fine and Momo are looking for. Also, it's an amazing shot. Studio Wit is flexing hard with this series.
AKA, it's too perfect and I got extremely weird cult vibes the whole time.
It's just... y'know, there's always something...
Fine has her suspicions too, but she feels like she's only getting in the way of Momo's happiness and her yearning for freedom. As she sees more of Aria in Momo, she fears that she'll only end up hurting her. Then, Allegro comes to pick her up before she can succumb to her body's weak condition again.
Wouldn't you know it, though: just as Fine tries to make her escape, Uncle Kubo gets there and attacks the village! Amidst the carnage, we get some hints concerning Kubo's history with vampires. But Momo mostly takes the opportunity to escape and try to find the truth to the village—and it's the usual "vampires get pumped full of blood and are used to somehow generate electricity for the village" yarn. Because apparently electricity is the only thing keeping civilization between vampires and humans functioning.
Supposedly being self-sustaining kept them from fighting but it seems more like they overcame any existing prejudice as long as only a few people got sacrificed in the name of their cult.

Elisha turns out to be pretty scary. She's ruthless. Getting chased around in the blood-filled sub makes for a good horror setting. And the music by Yoshihiro Ike is always pretty on-point. I loved the apocalyptic church chants in this scene, and the orchestra really give a kick.

We also learned that Momo's mom might not be the most concerned about getting her back. As revealed by her uncle, she's really interested in securing her own position in power, going as far as threatening him if he betrays her.

As much as she may care about Momo, she cares more about hanging onto what little privilege she holds being a commander in a military dictatorship. So it goes.

Fine manages to save Momo from the sub and escapes to a ruined city—but Kubo and the other soldiers corner them there. It's time for a last stand, and it won't be pretty when the dust settles.

We finally get insight into what happened to Kubo: once upon a time, he had actually married a vampire and tried living in peace. But her bloodthirst eventually got the better of her and he was forced to take her out. The story mirrors what had happened to Fine: she had met a woman named Aria with whom she had also set out to find a paradise—it too ended in tragedy, with Aria dying after protecting her from some soldiers.

It really nicely mirrors why Kubo is sympathetic to Momo and wants to protect her in a way that feels different than her rule-stricken mom. Meanwhile, Fine had taken the monster-transforming drug to let Momo escape. Momo is then pinned down by a mecha, but Allegro has a change of heart and uses the last of his strength to free her.

We haven't really talked about the monster aspect. But as a general monster-appreciator, I just think they are neat. Like how Marge Simpsons thinks potatoes are neat.

It's a really nice design. I like how the eyes turn into horns. Also, something about the monster's facial structure still resembles the original person. It's a good design. But there's a downside to the drug: it's basically a last-ditch effort for the vampire because it'll turn you into a monster until you die.

Oh yeah, and there's this gut-wrenching bit with Allegro and his dog.

It's okay, he's just sleeping.

I didn't see them as "horns," more like big floppy rabbit ears? And Allegro's dog was wagging his tail! So he might actually be okay?

I also thought the moment where they left Kubo after he tried to bait Fine into killing him was pretty thoughtful. He's so convinced that love isn't real because of his past failure that he can't imagine better for Momo. So when both of them just leave him alone but alive, he's just totally empty.

It's a beautiful shot, amazingly framed and everything. This and the recreation of the painting alone are sure to make me keep an eye on Studio Wit in the future.

Unfortunately, there isn't more that can be done for Fine. Her body literally starts melting from the drug, so it's all Momo can do to find a cute patch of Moon Azaleas where Fine can breathe her last.

Fine finally lets go of her baggage and hands it over to Momo to carry. She lugs Fine's corpse to a place where she can rest easy, a paradise of their own making. Away from the comfort of established authority and into the unknown where she can carve her own future and sing, freely.

This series goes through A LOT in only five episodes. It's pretty packed for better for worse. Some parts might feel too short while others too loaded, but I liked the change of pace. The focus on a single original concept like this with a shorter runtime reminds me a lot of OVA era stuff. There's no reason content made for the online era should have to stick to old full season structures.
Most vampire fiction is so laborious and beleaguered, it's nice to see this be as pretty as it is while also being so breezy—and yet, it never feels insubstantial or flippant. And! Best of all, it does the thing that they screwed up with Metropolis where there's a happy ending after the credits: Momo does succeed at making her paradise, years after the fact. Thank goodness Vampire in the Garden avoided Metropolis' fate of having this scene removed in the localization. As the saying goes, both for Momo and for anime with sad endings: it does get better!
Vampire in the Garden isn't amazing for me; as a vampire story it doesn't have much allegorical to say and as a queer love story it doesn't break any conventions because it ends in tragedy. But it feels like it set out to tell a story, does so swiftly and entertaining enough, and didn't waste my time. The action and the music are good and it gets just enough out of each character to make them feel a little complex. I've talked a lot about how anime sorely lacks original stories because they're much riskier compared to adaptations. They don't have a built-in audience and trying to tell your own story is always going to be hit-and-miss. This one lands a punch or two, but I'll keep waiting for more originals that really knock me out.

Dear Vampire in the Garden,

'Til next time, all.

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