Violet Evergarden the Movie

This film is a sequel to the Gaiden film, and thus takes place several years after the main series. The focus here is on the relationship between Violet and her major, Gilbert Bougainvillea. Many seem to be upset that the end of Violet’s story goes back to focusing on Gilbert and call it a step back in her character arc. And I can see where they’re coming from as a core part of the main series was Violet growing to be an independent person that no longer simply followed orders but acted on her own desires and beliefs. Still, overall I’d have to say I liked that this is the direction that they took with things.

Violet being desperately obsessed with Gilbert at the start of the story wasn’t really all that romantic. It was simply a result of her being empty and having nothing else to care about, and thus directing her entire being towards the one person that she did have. However, over the course of the anime series she grew to be a complete person living a fulfilling life of her own. Thus, that she’s still so incredibly in love with Gilbert has a completely different significance as compared to her feeling at the beginning of the anime. It’s not like her character development got reversed or weakened in any way, but rather that her love exceeded even that. I found that really romantic, and really heavy. And thus the emotional beats hit really hard and the climax was incredibly impactful and memorable. I do feel the epilogue was a bit weak though and would prefer something that was more straightforward. And no, the short after credit scene was not enough. Still, overall I was satisfied with the ending.

I did think there were issues in the film in terms of focus. There’s elements of it jumping back and forth a bit between Violet’s story and a girl in the future looking into her story which I felt was somewhat pointless and contributed nothing in terms of plot or themes. There was also a side tangent involving Violet writing letters for a sick boy that had some plot significance and also played into the overarching themes, but I feel that the same effects could have been achieved easily while staying focused on Violet and Gilbert. The main anime was also pretty scattered and meandering in terms of focus at times, but it was much more bearable with short episodes. With a film that’s almost two and a half hours long it feels like much more of an issue.

The art and animation are still excellent as with the rest of the series. Though to be honest, I feel there wasn’t really anything in this one that felt new and interesting visually. There was a repeated visual motif of letters flying around in the wind which I feel was meant to have some deeper significance beyond the obvious, but I didn’t really get it. The soundtrack was great, and made good use of the ED from the original anime. The ED was the standard white text on black, and the song was solid enough.

A fantastic, though somewhat messy, ending to Violet’s story.

8/10

Violet Evergarden Gaiden: Eien to Jidou Shuki Ningyou (Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll)

This film is a sequel to the main anime series, and thus the main series should definitely be watched before watching this. It is essentially composed of two deeply connected standalone episodes, though they’re less interconnected than I expected considering that they’re two halves of the same film. The first act focuses on Isabella York, a girl that was living an impoverished life until it turned out she was actually the illegitimate child of some noble and was then thrust into a boarding school to mold her into someone worth marrying off. She hates her new life, however she accepts it because in exchange her new family also provides for her adopted younger sister. For some reason that I don’t think is ever really explained properly, Violet is assigned as her tutor and handmaiden. They become close friends, and in the process Isabella also decides to look at life more positively. It’s a pretty generic story, but it’s told pretty well with good chemistry between the two and it managed to hit some good emotional beats. Overall, I’d say it’s a bit above the average in terms of the side stories in Violet Evergarden.

The second act focuses on Isabella’s younger sister, Taylor, who wants to become a postman and comes to the postal company Violet works at in order to do so. She’s still a child and thus far too young to be working, but she gets to tag along with Benedict and Violet anyway. Ultimately, this leads into focusing on Taylor’s relationship with her older sister with a central theme of how even through major change, some things will always remain. Overall, I felt this wasn’t handled all that well and was a bit of a hodgepodge of things that didn’t really build up into anything all that cohesive. And as such, the emotional beats it was trying to hit with the climax and ending didn’t really work that well because the thematic foundation wasn’t properly laid. This half takes place after a time skip so all the characters in the reoccurring cast have somewhat modified designs and the city is also going through rapid technological advancement, which is pretty cool. Though these changes aren’t all that substantial. Characters themselves and their relationships haven’t really changed at all even if their designs have. And all the technological advances mentioned don’t really play much of a part in the story at all. Furthermore, while neither act really contributes to Violet’s character arc, the first at least helped flesh her out better. The second act didn’t really feel like it did much of anything with anyone. Overall, I’d say it’s below average in terms of Violet Evergarden side stories.

The art and animation are excellent as one would expect. The new character designs were pretty nice, though I don’t think I’ll ever be a fan of Benedict’s fashion sense. The advancing city also felt much more alive. The soundtrack was pretty similar to the main series so pretty solid, but I don’t think any new tracks really stood out. The ED is the standard white text roll on a black background, but the song was pretty good.

A decent enough side story type sequel film.

7/10

Violet Evergarden

“I love you.” Words so simple that one may think that they should be easy for anyone to understand. But at the same time words with so much depth that they are impossible to explain to one that does not. And for Violet, coming to understand these words becomes her life’s purpose. The only life she had lived was as a weapon. However, the war was over, and she had lost contact with Major Gilbert Bougainvillea, her commanding officer and the only person she had ever formed a connection with. And the words he left her with were “I love you.” Her desire to understand these words lead her to become an Auto Memory Doll, a typist that doesn’t just transcribe the words spoken by a client, but one that understands their true meaning and conveys their emotions in the form of a letter. As one that doesn’t really understand the concept of emotions, not her own nor anyone else’s, this is quite difficult for her. However, her journey ultimately do bring her to the answers she seeks.

Violet Evergarden is entirely the story of Violet’s character arc. There’s world building centered around a war between two nations, the details of which are described to some extent. However, these details really do not matter. All that truly matters is that the setting of the anime is right in the aftermath of a war, with all that entails. Violet is someone that was heavily involved in the war without ever really understanding what her involvement really meant. It was the only life she knew and she simply lived it. As she seeks to understand the meaning of love, she unlocks an entirely new world of emotions and experiences. And while that certainly has it’s positives, it also causes her to realize just what kind of life she had lived and what burdens she would have to carry evermore if she wished to continue living.

It’s an incredibly powerful arc that uses weaker emotional beats to slowly builds up to an amazing climax with stronger ones in episode 9. The actual finale, episodes 12-13, of the anime are pretty good too and a solid enough end to the season, though nowhere near the peak in episode 9. Episode 14, the OVA actually takes place after episode 4 chronologically. And I think this is one of the cases where it absolutely should be watched in chronological order. There’s a very clear gap in Violet’s character arc in between episode 4 and 5 that felt pretty jarring, and the OVA fills in that gap perfectly.

The weak part of the writing is everything that doesn’t involve Violet’s character arc. The anime is mostly episodic in that each episode involves her dealing with a new client, each with their own story. Most all of these stories tie into Violet’s character arc as well, however that’s usually more of a subtle thing with the client’s own feelings and arc being at the forefront. These side stories are a mixed bag. Some of them are pretty good, some are pretty bad, and the majority are just okay. The biggest issue I think is that there aren’t really any characters that are written anywhere near as well as Violet. A lot of the one off characters are written well enough for the viewer to be invested in to a degree, and thus those whose stories are centered around lighter emotional beats work well. However, there isn’t enough investment built for the heavier emotional beats to really land as well as they need to. This is an even bigger issue with the reoccurring side characters, because even with much more screen time it really doesn’t feel like it did much with any of them. I think I had more emotional investment in Violet’s brooch than everyone in the cast other than Violet.

The production values are what really elevate this anime. It’s KyoAni at their best I would say. Amazing art and animation with fantastic backgrounds and really good use of lighting. There were also a lot of great character designs and the setting overall was used incredibly well. The soundtrack was also pretty great and used well. The OP and ED were also pretty solid.

An anime with amazing production values and a really strong character arc for the protagonist, but a really weak supporting cast.

8/10