Netflix’s anime output has evolved impressively since the days of Knights of Sidonia. Often incorporating big-name studios even in their original net animation (ONA) productions, one prominent collaborator has been Wit Studio, with an earlier gem being Vampire in the Garden. While initially blasted for its five-episode run, Vampire in the Garden has since garnered a quiet following.
Its issues largely lie with a limited series runtime, feeling rushed without fleshing out its world, yet it’s surprisingly engaging in a full binge. The anime’s spin on vampires and humans and their perceived incompatibility is often nothing new, yet its execution is superb. From its gorgeous visuals to its striking character designs, Vampire in the Garden remains a strong Netflix original.
Netflix’s Vampire in the Garden Deserves Reappraisal as a Limited Series
Despite initial rough reception, general opinions show Vampire in the Garden getting a stronger reception than on its May 16, 2022 debut. After all, a 7.15 score on MyAnimelist is nothing terrible, and it speaks to the layered appeals the series has. While it doesn’t give much of its tight five-episode budget toward worldbuilding, it’s remains impressive on multiple fronts.
As the vampires attack humanity’s outpost and Tower of Light threatening them, Momo is driven into the middle of the conflict alongside Fine, forced to flee when Momo’s own mother prioritizes vampire extermination over her own daughter’s safety. The rest of the story depicts their desperate journey to a place where vampires and humans, aka “Warms”, can coexist.
Wishing for more worldbuilding is wasted when that effort could be spent suspending disbelief to enjoy the gorgeous story ahead. While it’s not boasting as tight a narrative as other limited anime series like Takopi’s Original Sin, Vampire in the Garden is still a powerfully emotive experience full of achingly tragic moments, evocative music, and some killer visuals.
Wit Studio Gives an Impressive Audiovisual Showcase with This 2022 ONA
Visually speaking, Vampire in the Garden is among Wit Studio’s best and most cinematic of an already impressive library including Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga. Telling the story of a human girl, Momo, and the fleeing vampire queen she befriends, Fine, the series portrays humanity and vampire-kind’s plight as one born of their perceived incompatibility.
The anime features strikingly beautiful scenery shots, rendering Gothic aesthetics of the vampires, littered with high culture and vibrant colors, juxtaposed against a human society devoid of such pleasures, clad in plain colors and bearing dieselpunk machinery resembling something out of Elemental Gimmick Gear. Vampires are seen as existential threats, but they also bear the only remnants of culture.
But perhaps most striking, especially for Naruto, Ghost in the Shell, and Patlabor fans, is the clear work of renowned character designer Tetsuya Nishio. Every character feels unique, not overcomplicated in design, bearing rounded features and expressive, melancholic faces. It fits perfectly for this series, and part of a Netflix trend of pyrrhic victories (at best) for its anime protagonists.
To overlook these qualities is to do oneself a disservice if they’re looking for yet another excellent Wit Studio Netflix original. Instead of wanting Vampire in the Garden to be longer, it’s best to treat it as a film broken down into five parts, appreciated for its idiosyncrasies and jaw-dropping strengths, rather than its perceived lack of longevity.
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January 16, 2007
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Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph