Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Netflix anime series Vampire in the Garden tells the age old story of the futility of war, especially wars where both sides are not as different as they think they might be.
It is a world where humanity has isolated themselves due to a Great War with vampires. Locked away in a city devoid of music, dancing or any artistic forms due to the fact vampires have excellent hearing, and a single tower providing light to keep the vampires away, a young woman named Momo is part of the military that hunts the creatures down.
On one of those hunts Momo comes across a child vampire huddled in fear. The child offers Momo her music box as a sign of peace but is quickly killed, and the vampires decide to attack the humans directly, putting an end to the war. Vampire Queen Fine (pronounced Feen-ay), whose zest for life was taken away when her human lover was killed, reluctantly joins them. She crosses paths with Momo and the two end up on the run together, in search of a place where vampires and humans peacefully co-exist.
The animation style here reminded me of Hellsing, another vampire-themed tale, but the story itself was heartbreaking and with war as its backdrop, it will probably have people also making comparisons to Attack on Titan. The relationship between Fine and Momo is Shakespearian (think Romeo and Juliet) but the deeper themes of prejudice and fear dividing people is the one that resonates the most. The world of Vampire in the Garden looks very European, specifically Russian, and I couldn’t help but wonder with the present war between Ukraine and Russia, if this was intentional or not.
With beautiful and engaging voice work by the cast, especially that of prolific voice actress Larissa Gallagher as Fine, and a haunting score that draws on your every emotion, Vampire in the Garden takes on the topic of prejudice and war in a way that never feels lazy or simple. There are no clear cut villains, no side is totally innocent and yet in all that ugliness all it takes is a few people (and vampires) to have the courage to stand up and fight for a better world.
It’s streaming on Netflix now so if you’re an anime fan, Vampire in the Garden is definitely worth a look.
Sommer’s Score: 7 out of 10
Have you checked out Vampire in the Garden? What did you think of it? And you can check out more great Netflix anime and anime-inspired content below:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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