Red Garden (レッド ガーデン Reddo Gāden) is a Japanese animated television program produced by Gonzo studios and broadcast in Japan on TV Asahi since October 3, 2006. The plot revolves around four girls who become involved in a series of supernatural murders happening throughout the vicinity of a fictional depiction of New York City. It combines elements from typical American movie productions like horror, drama, mystery and musicals. An OVA sequel called Dead Girls was released in Japan, on August 8, 2007.
There are many references that would only be familiar to viewers of American movies and TV shows. One example is in episode 4, when Kate and Rose talk about a soup kitchen owner, saying "If you don't follow his rules, he won't sell you soup for a year.", a reference to the Soup Nazi episode of the American sitcom Seinfeld. Another example is how in episode 5 you can see a banner for the play Wicked, but it is titled Witches.
A manga of the same title began serialization in the seinen manga magazine Comic Birz on August 30, 2006. The first tankōbon was released on February 24, 2007.
Red Garden employs a technique often used by animated productions outside Japan, but rarely used in Japanese animation. The characters' dialogue is animated after the work of the voice cast, synchronizing the animation with the voice actors' voices. The synchronization is particularly evident in scenes where characters are singing (occurring in some of the earlier episodes).
Red Garden was licensed for release in English by ADV Films and the first DVD was released on September 18, 2007. ADV Films' Anime Network began airing the anime on September 13, 2007 on their Subscription On Demand platform. On March 6, 2008 the anime began airing on their Free On Demand platform. FUNimation now has licensing rights to Red Garden.