Main Thoughts:
Vampire in the Garden is an easy watch due to how many episodes there are. Yet the lack of episodes is the very thing that hinders it story wise and character wise.
Story:
The story of Vampire in the Garden is predictable in hindsight but is still something someone can find enjoyable. It follows the characters Fine and Momo who have two completely different backgrounds. Fine from the vampire side of things and Momo from the human side. Through the backgrounds they come from may clash they find something in eachother. We then follow the two in an "us against the world" type scenario. This allows for wholesome scenes that can pull at your heart strings, as well as emotional scenes that have you rooting for the main character.
Vampire in the Garden has a fleshed out story for the characters and the world they live in. This fleshed out story falls due to the lack of development, which can be pinned on the 5 episodes. Each part and scene in this series seems important to the story, which helps move it along without the audience feeling like they're watching paint dry. The lack of development is tied in with the characters since due to the characters lack of development scenes are less impactful. The audience isn't provided much context behind both Fine and Momo's kind. It's easy for scenes that you know are meant to make someone feel emotional fall short since the audience isn't given enough context to care. For example, the person watching is more likely to care if they're given something to care about, like a reason to care. Without a reason to care every single scene tied in with that character then lacks development. Multiple scenes are only emotional because of both Fine and Momo. If there's a scene with a supporting character then it immeaditely lacks impact because the audience isn't provided with enough context to understand.
Animation:
The animation truly saves this anime. Despite the anime being emotional with a setting similar to a wasteland, the colors easily complement that very atmosphere. Despite the very thing seeming rather dull, it actually helps complement the story and still manages to be visually appealing. They do this through the ocean and nature itself with how it may clash with the surrounding buildings.
The animation on the characters, especially the vampires, are extremely smooth. Especially if you pay attention to the vampires appendages and how they react and move. The action scenes are very fluid and natural, though at some points I would like to see more of the scene rather than a transition. This is more apparent in the last episode, episode 5. Nonetheless, I can still appreciate the appeal.
Sound:
The background music following the scene allows the audience to easily get invested. This is due to how well it suits that very scene. The sound affects are natural and not awkward, which allows the anime to play smoothly without the audience taking note of something so minimal whilst they watch. Each of the voice actors, speaking japanese wise, were extremely suited for the character they played. Emotions seemed natural and genuine with none of the characters falling flat. Even those who may seem or are deceitful perfectly suit the tone. With an anime that's meant to be emotional, you can genuinely hear the emotion in the character's voice. Whether it's anger or sadness, the character is brought to life through their emotions. In specific, I'd like to point out the voice of Fine, Yuu Kobayashi. Throughout the anime her voice was extremely pleasent. Despite the character being soft spoken, during emotional and impactful scenes is truly where the voice acting shines. You can hear Fine's anger, regret, sadness, and satisfaction throughout the entire anime and Yuu Kobayashi did extremely well on this.
Regarding the music aspect of this with how the characters may sing or play music it is pleasent. It's not harsh on the ears and it's extremely relaxing. I can only wish the music aspect did appear a lot more than it did especially with how tied in it is to both Fine and Momo's character.
Characters:
The only characters who are well developed are evidently Fine and Momo. With how well developed they are their relationship and connection with eachother is evidently beautiful. You can see how well they bounce off eachother and how much they care for eachother. Though it may be important to point out this development is mainly done through montages of some sort. Yet, there are some key and impactful scenes, especially in the beginning, that allows the audience to care for both Fine and Momo.
The anime only falls short with the secondary/supporting characters. With even in some cases with it being unclear the relationship they may have with Fine or Momo. In specific, there is the relationship Momo has with her mother. It's extremely under developed which makes all scenes with the mother less impactful. The audience doesn't get to see why the mother cares (?) for Momo, or why Momo may act the way she does to her mother. This lack of development makes the character's actions not make much sense and borderline melodramatic in hindsight. The one supporting character I did end up understanding to some degree by the end was Momo's uncle. In turn the character Allegro is provided with some context on why he cares for Fine, but their interactions and relationship is so under developed there's not much context provided on why he acts the way he does. At some point it may even seem unclear and questionable what he's trying to achieve, until the end, which is where his character starts having some actual depth. The lack of development on all ends of the spectrum for the supporting characters make so many scenes dull emotion wise for the audience and extremely less impactful.
Overall:
Though the anime slightly falls character and story wise, it does have good animation and the music is pleasant. If you want something that won't take much time to watch (a little over two hours) and will provide scenes of both wholesomeness and angst then I recommend it. If you're looking for something to be dedicated over and will make you feel for all of the characters then I don't personally recommend it.
