Visuals- This anime is done by Kyoto, this is very much done in their typical art style. Which in my opinion is beautiful. Very visually pleasing, vibrant colors, flowing Visuals that will keep you enthralled trying to catch every detail. It's simply downright gorgeous. The visuals are certainly a main focal point of this anime even incorporated directly into the story. We have focal words constantly thrown at us. Beautiful, pretty, doll. The visuals are part of the experience this author wanted us to focus on. One particular scene that stood out the most to me was right in the beginning when Violet chooses her gift from the major, the focus on how his eyes resemble the pendant leading to her learning what the word 'beautiful' is. The gorgeous visuals really captured this simple beautiful but ordinary moment.
Sound- The sound on this anime is almost as good as the visuals, they simply aimed to please our senses. Wonderful voice actors, perfectly timed audio effects, and good music that helps set the emotional tone of each scene. The audio is complementary not overwhelming and not too subtle. It is noticeable but never pulls your attention too much.
Story- The story of the anime has me torn, while it is captivating it kept
me watching and wanting to see more, it has it's holes. As the story progresses we are frustrated and angry at violet, unable to relate to her. I don't believe she was meant to be a relatable character. Our other supporting characters don't know how to react to her, they don't understand which is natural. She is lied to, pitied, envied, hated, and scorned. She is annoying and unnatural which is perfectly in line with how she should act given her background. We are brought along on her journey to learning more about herself and her inner struggles. I liked this, we saw flash backs to understand part of her inner struggle that she was dealing with in this part of the journey, just enough to glean information, but not too much as to give it all away. In my opinion we are just simply meant to observe and be present through this self discovery. However that said I have my complaints, the story of Gilbert's brother and his hatred for Violet was poorly done. We get a glimpse as usual for why he hates her, but no context. We simply aren't given enough to empathize with this relationship.
I was also disappointed as we neared the end of the anime and I realized they weren't going to treat this simply as a journey to self growth and learning to self love as it was set up to be with the discussion of letting go, letting Gilbert live on in her heart, learning what love is finally and accepting her scars and burns. While I can't go on about this thought, I think my point is made. I cried, laughed, and felt along with these characters. I didn't get too invested in any single character because that wasn't the point. We live, we encounter, we grow, and move on. I especially loved the '50 letters' episode. A perfect showcase of how much impact the small moments and the fleeting meetings in life can have.
Characters- Frustrating. There are many small encounters and I believe the characters we meet are fleshed out just well enough to pass. However the characters that this story is "built on" feel incomplete and wrong. Gilbert's brother, seems out of place and his execution doesn't fully explain his feelings and ambitions. Why exactly does he hate violet, why did she do what she in the past? Gilbert himself, is there more to this love? I'm confused on the timeline, how could such a deep bond of love be formed from what is seemingly just a few weeks of interactions between him and violet? If we are meant to focus on Violet why does the anime try to half-heartedly flesh out these connections?
Overall- I enjoyed this anime, was emotionally strung along, and didn't get too invested along the way. However we are left with plot holes and some shaky thrown in backstory to progress the events in ways that just don't seem so genuine. I wish this anime would've stayed more focused on one goal rather than trying to capture far too much in too short of time. Despite the down falls the story kept me captivated enough to keep coming back, becoming invested in Violet and her journey was worth it enough for me. think it is a worthy watch, especially for the visual ride alone, and while I cannot say I relate I did end up feeling connected to our main protagonist, wishing for her personal growth. I just wish the anime would've focused more on this aspect.
