Violet Evergarden

The Great War finally came to an end after four long years of conflict; fractured in two, the continent of Telesis slowly began to flourish once again. Caught up in the bloodshed was Violet Evergarden, a young girl raised for the sole purpose of decimating enemy lines. Hospitalized and maimed in a bloody skirmish during the War's final leg, she was left with only words from the person she held dearest, but with no understanding of their meaning.

Recovering from her wounds, Violet starts a new life working at CH Postal Services after a falling out with her new intended guardian family. There, she witnesses by pure chance the work of an "Auto Memory Doll," amanuenses that transcribe people's thoughts and feelings into words on paper. Moved by the notion, Violet begins work as an Auto Memory Doll, a trade that will take her on an adventure, one that will reshape the lives of her clients and hopefully lead to self-discovery.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Evergarden, Violet Main

Ishikawa, Yui Japanese

Bougainvillea, Gilbert Supporting

Namikawa, Daisuke Japanese

Blue, Benedict Supporting

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Baudelaire, Cattleya Supporting

Endou, Aya Japanese

Hodgins, Claudia Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Marlborough, Luculia Supporting

Tadokoro, Azusa Japanese

Stephanotis, Leon Supporting

Uemura, Yuuto Japanese

Bougainvillea, Dietfried Supporting

Kiuchi, Hidenobu Japanese

Cannary, Iris Supporting

Tomatsu, Haruka Japanese

Abelfreyja Drossel, Charlotte Supporting

Nakajima, Megumi Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Nakamura, Shinichi Producer

Saitou, Shigeru Producer

Umeda, Kazusa Producer

Reviews

Jun 5, 2024

XOArama

Recommended

Finished rewatching one of my all-time favorites many years later. While I do think my opinion has changed in some ways, I still think it's an amazing series. There are some cons to the series I noticed more this time around, but I will not be taking the movies or anything brought up in them into consideration here.

For starters, I feel like the pacing and length of some of the episodes could have benefited greatly by being longer. Some of the episodes fit the story perfectly, such as episode 10, but others, such as the fan-favorite episode 7, felt a little too rushed for the ... amount of emotional payoff they're supposed to produce. Then there are other episodes where they fit in some personal background or main story stuff with Violet and then proceed to use the remaining time on an individual story, which is just not enough time. One of the better episodes is the OVA, which had an extended 30-minute runtime, and even that small bit of extra time positively impacts the story being told.

That's really my only main complaint. I didn't dislike any of the episodes, though some had somewhat strange stories; I think they all help Violet grow as a person. Then there is Violet Evergarden herself, who still remains one of my favorite anime characters ever. From her amazing design to her remarkable story progression, she's almost perfect. Watching her grow from a weapon of war to a real person is truly amazing, and the development is done perfectly in my opinion. Every job she takes on helps her learn about her emotions and come to understand the meaning of love, and the way it's portrayed is very real and vulnerable.

Lastly, the animation itself is downright beautiful, really setting the scene of the anime perfectly. KyotoAni did a great job. The soundtrack is on point and helps lift those emotional beats. Overall, I still love the anime. I'm a bit older now, so I can recognize more of the flaws, but it will still remain one of my favorites.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 13, 2024

yadnusbrekker

Mixed Feelings

I consumed this because I knew that it was one of the most acclaimed anime's of last decade. I know people who loved this show and in a break of finishing Gintama once and for all I said "Well, this is short, let's see".

I can't say that this doesn't have anything of value, because the story does have something to tell. The arc of a child soldier trying to grasp the nuances of human emotions is honestly well executed and it's the best thing this anime has to offer. Violet it's not only the sole character that gets development, she is the only one who's ... design stood out to me (she is also voiced by Mikasa's seiyuu, that woman just has some kind of artistry to interpret dry girls with problems of extreme devotion). The rest of the character's designs felt pretty generic to me, I feel it falls into the most default 2010s anime aesthetic concievable. Even though the animation is stunning, I feel it lacks some kind of dirtiness or experimentation for me to love it.

Despite watching anime and reading manga quite a lot, I'm no expert in consuming "light novels". Even though I love reading, it's not a literary subgenre that catches my attention, I've been told that it's writting leaves a lot to be desired. But I have consumed a total of three animes based in light novels. One is Slayers, with is just pure fantasy stuff, and despite it not being a very deep story, the comedy and the animation compensate the lack of depth. The other one I watched was Bunny Girl Senpai, which I mostly enjoyed, but I feel that it has the same problems this anime has. Not only the characters designs seem generic aside from the few characters that really do matter, the narrative structure it's pretty similar. The show exhibes the problems of this character, which you have to pay attention to because they are going to be very "deep" and "moving", and then presents another one, and this other one, and so on, and so on, and that's until we get a little deeper with this other subplot that involves the main characters. This anime made me conclude that this narrative structure, at least in dramas, doesn't work for me, since I get the impression that at the end of the day, the story can't delve into interesting stuff regarding the characters that are presented, and the flow just ends up being very monotonous. Specially when all the stories try to touch some kind of emotional fiber in you, I do get that this anime talks about war, but there is a point in which the tragedy of another person I JUST KNEW and that I'm not gonna see again in the show doesn't really move me emotionally.

Some stories are nicer than others, I specially liked Iris's one, not sure why exactly. I thought that the chapters regarding Violet's flashbacks were going to crush my heart, but I found them to be a little rushed??? I didn't get to feel the relationship between Violet and the mayor, a little more time with them would have been better (there is a scene thought that's very hard to watch).The last chapters, which go a little bit off the default narrative model of "Violet is going to help someone write a letter", do better the narrative flow, specially since Violet ends up healing all her troubles regarding the major and his brother, I must say that healing process was very satisfiying to watch. The ending is servicable but just that. No character here, aside from Violet, blew my brain or did something very memorable (at this point I've forgotten most of their names. I remember liking the one voiced by DIO's seiyuu but mostly bc I just like his voice lmao).

I doubt I'll watch the OVAs, since I had enough of "Violet helps someone write a letter" and I don't need more stories like that, I maybe will watch the movie which I understand it has Violet a little years after this anime's events, and I get the feeling it can be pretty good if they do something interesting with her character.

So pretty much, If you like dramas with no intense pacing and with some character growth, check this out, specially if you're looking to empathize with the main character. You'll probably see something of value in this if you watch it with that mindset.

Also, this is just nitpickiness but, this is not fantasy! the only "fantasy" element is that she has metal arms and that she is kind of a killing machine, but that's not enough to tag something as "fantasy"!!!! There is no type of magic creature nor strange magic system here, neither does the world have something strange that goes outside our convention, they use very normal weapons in the war!!

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Oct 23, 2023

mexicancat

Not Recommended

Funny

After ep.10 I complained about this title to my friend and he told me that Violet Evergarden was written by an 18yo girl. Idk if that's true but it certainly is evident that neither writing experience nor talent went into making this. The protag girl for some reason was intentionally made to be as dull as possible and in absence of any interesting supporting characters this makes the story utterly unenjoyable. What we have then is yet another KyoAni eye candy without substance (alright +1 star for visuals).

So for the recommendation part: I would argue that if you're a 10+ year old male ... and you have a higher emotional intelligence than that of a hamster, there is not going to be a single second in this that will impress you.

Cheers!

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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