Violet Evergarden (2018): ANIME REVIEW

Do you have any idea of how long I have waited for this anime to come out. I have added it to my plan-to-watch list from the time when the first visuals came out. I was instantly hooked by its animation and little did I know that the story will get to me equally as much. Setting new standards in the cute girl universe KyoAni gave us a spectacular tale in the Winter 2018 season. In today's review section of World of Anime Girl: Violet Evergarden. Enjoy!

STUDIO: Kyoto Animation
GENRE: Slice of Life, Drama, Fantasy
EPISODES: 13
LINKS: MY ANIME LIST | PV TRAILER 

Plot and Story Line

If I were to explain Violet Evergarden in one sentence I would say that it is an emotional tale of a girl finding her purpose in life and peace withing her self. Still, one sentence is way to little to explain the depth of the story and actually demeaning considering the brilliance of this work.

Violet is firstly introduced to us lying in a hospital, heavily injured after her long battles in the Great War. For most of her life, Violet has only been a war-tool with one purpose only:

to kill the enemy. Now with the war coming to an end, the only remainder of her brutal past are her two mechanical hands. After a falling out with her new intended guardian family, Violet starts working at the CH Postal Service and soon enough decides to peruse a career as an "Auto Memory Doll"-amanuenses that transcribe people's thoughts and feelings into letters. By doing that, Violet interacts with many different people and so learns more about her emotions and what they actually mean. 

I find it very hard right now to turn my thoughts on Violet Evergarden into words considering how much there actually is to it. The main story, with Violet in the center is an emotional tale of a war-torn personality who is trying to finally find peace from the anger and guilt haunting her. Finding it hard to forgive herself for what she has done in the past, Violet starts a journey that would teach her to live with her past and find new meaning in life. 

It is Violet's emotions and character development that are in focus of this extremely moving story. What is driving the story? Three words. "I love you" were the last words of Major Gilbert to Violet in their final battle and now Violet is trying to find out what those words actually mean. I did cry. A lot. But you know what's interesting? I cried in every single episode of this anime. It wasn't always a sad scene, the whole anime was just extremely moving. The side stories in this anime contribute to that as well. While writing letters for others, Violet gets to know so many people and drastically influences their lives without any intention to do so. 

The story of Violet Evergarden is in short a very emotional tale about forgiving yourself and learning to live with your past. It is, as I'd like to call it, a character-centered story. The plot on the whole might not be that interesting, and truth is that the story of Violet's and Major Gilbert's past is much more interesting, but the anime is trying to picture Violet's character development and puts a focus solely on her, without much happening in the story. But truth is, it gets pretty exciting from time to time, especially in the war flash backs and in the end of the anime. 

Characters

One thing that I keep repeating in this section of my reviews is the development of the main character and how it affects the story of the whole anime. Violet undergoes a tremendous character development and it is because of it that we get such a brilliant, intriguing and moving story. In the beginning she is that destroyed person, that only knows to live by orders and nothing else yet in the end turns into a person who is able to influence the lives of so many other characters in the anime. In my opinion, it is her simple character and straightforwardness that makes people realize what is actually important in life. Violet's character was broken and torn apart by the horror of war. But episode by episode, Violet tries to put those peaces together and eventually finds peace.

When it comes to other characters in the story, the side characters, it is Major Gilbert who of course has in my opinion the biggest influence. He is is the only thing that Violet holds dear and the only person who doesn't think of Violet as a war-tool. His words are those that keep Violet alive, literary. He is definitely, next to Violet my favorite character, because he showed greatness by loving and taking care of Violet despite her past. 

Animation and Style

Up until now, the anime which I consider had the best animation that I have ever seen was ufotable's Fate/ Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, but that has definitely changed after watching Violet Evergarden. As mentioned in the intro, just by seeing the teaser trailer like one ore even two years ago, I completely fell in love with this anime. The animation is magical, the style is gorgeous, the backgrounds are breathtaking and the character design is typically KyoAni. It has a bright and colorful scenery with a lot details. While mentioning the character design,  I am certain that you've seen this meme on the left with Violet Evergarden aka. Full-Metal Saber. I just had to include it in the post. 

The animation was definitely the best thing about this anime and I will definitely watch it again some time just because of it. 

My favorite scene, which was also acknowledged in the whole community as breathtakingly beautiful,  was the lake scene of the seventh episode if I recall correctly. There were many other beautiful scenes that I remember like the clock tower scene, the scene at the astronomy library etc. In short, the whole animation was just amazing. 

Conclusion

An intriguing and extremely moving story that portrays the struggle of a person with a war-torn personality trying to find peace and new meaning to her life. An amazing character development that makes you realize that the past should not defy who we are today. A breathtaking animation that you have hardly ever seen before. That is all Violet Evergarden and so much more at the same time. I wasn't actually planning on writing this review because I knew how hard it would be to describe a masterpiece like this one. In short, I cannot express how great the story of the Auto Memory Doll Violet Evergarden is. You just have to experience it on your own. 

Your Anime Girl 💜