Violet Evergarden

I just wanted to leave a review because I almost finished watching this and I love it so much.

I haven't watched anime for a few years now but boy, does this title deliver. It's sweet, supremely poignant, and most importantly, real and sincere.

Basically most of the episodes consist of Violet going to someplace and writing a letter for someone. But the beautiful thing is, every story is real and unabashed. There's a lot of sadness and stuff that will make you cry but it's never manipulative or doesn't ever feel forced. It's authenthic and doesn't exist for any other purpose than to show that it does exist and that it can hurt or be beautiful, and most of the time both.

Anyway, I am totally enamored with this series. The animation is also beautiful and the characters are all distinct and do not strictly comply to anime stereotypes (too much). My only complaint is that the main protagonist is a 14 y/o girl who managed to wreck entire armies of soldiers and somehow was some unstoppable killing machine despite being built like a stick figure. But since this anime I guess that's something that can be reasonably forgiven.

My verdict: watch this series. It is truly incredible!

Violet Evergarden is all about self discovery and learning to adapt in a new way of life which is very strange to what you're used to.

STORY/PLOT The story revolves around Violet Evergarden, a young girl around the age of 14 who was orphaned at a young age and taken into the military to be trained and used as a weapon in the war. She basically became "militarised" in her personality and attitude and became very emotionless because of this. The only person she really knew and had feelings for (whether she knew this herself or not) was her major (Gilbert). The war is now over and she wakes in a hospital healed from the last battle, Violet Evergarden remembers the last thing Gilbert said to her but doesn't understand what it meant due to her personality and attitude of being in the military all her life and used as a weapon. She now has to find a new job while also finding out where Gilbert is and what he meant. So she becomes an auto memory doll. These write letters for clients that are unable to write themselves, so the dolls listen to what they want to say and write it down in a professional way for their client. Violet Evergarden starts learning about different types of emotions through this process like love and grief through listening to people's stories and seeing thier emotions of how they react when saying what they want written down in their letters. She ultimately starts getting closer to learning what her Majors last words was to her.

This anime is purely story and character based it's all about character building and the emotional journey of a young girl (and it really is emotional at times and gets the feels going) there's very very minimal action so don't go expecting massive fight scenes because it isn't about that. The animation and drawings are incredible while the soundtrack is also perfect for this story and is beautifully done to get your emotions going with this story. It left me wanting to watch more and more after each episode which is always a good sign of a well done anime. I can honestly say it's one of my favourite anime's.

Music 10/10 Visuals 10/10 Acting 10/10 Overall 10/10

I have seen a lot of anime in my time, with a log of almost 2,000 anime movies or series that I have reviewed (elsewhere than IMDb), and have given very, very few above a 10 star rating. I was very surprised after seeing the trailer for Violet Evergarden as this turned out to be so much more than I expected. Every episode pulls at your heartstrings as it revels the pains of daily life and the ever so important words that we need to say to the ones most important to us while we still have the chance, and sometimes, when that chance is no longer an option.

The animation visuals are truly amazing and do an excellent job of setting up both the intensity and/or gentleness of the moment, with a balanced mix between 2D and CG without ever making the mix obvious. I rate them a 10.

The background score also does an excellent job between music and sometimes pure silence to allow the viewer to either be pulled along by the emotions of the score, or to be hushed and feel the impact of statement or a visual expression. I rate it also a 10.

The overall story at times seems like it has been done before (which is hard to do these days when literally tens of thousands of anime titles have already been done), yet keeps it fresh with little twists that keep you tied to the main character. There are absolutely breathtaking moments with a sentence here or there literally yanks the emotions from your chest and helps you realize that even if this episode seems like something you've witnessed before, you haven't felt it quite like this. I rate it a 11.

The character development at times seems weak for some of the side characters, many of whom appear to be typical anime clichés. However, at other times some of the minor characters feel more developed that then what you might consider to be the main cast to highlight a significant emotional draw needed for that part of the story. As for the main character, the steps you see her development from what she was to what she can become, are slow, painful and sometimes a bit overemphasized. The character flashbacks, though, help you realize the internal struggle she has, and why her inability to let go is so strong while she deals with understanding the emotions of others. I rate it a 9.5.

If you are a fan of anime. This is a must see.

If you are not a fan of anime, but enjoy series with strong dramatic appeal and a solid, engaging story, this is a must see.

That said, be sure to have a box of tissues handy. You're going to need them.

First of all what catch my attention instantly was the art of the anime, which is a masterpiece by itself. It is a pleasure without end to see such a gorgeous animation and my eyes sure thanks a lot. Since the first episode I could see that this anime would be worth my time. The way the history is presented to us and the way it develops itself is magnificent, it helds a feeling of mystery and sadness all the time, and it doens't fail to make you wish for more. The characters are well contructed and well explored too. This masterpiece is definitly going to my favourite animes list.

After finishing it - 04/06/2018.

The way the history devoloped trough the episodes was amazing, the story is touching and perfect, the end was perfect, it leaves itself open to interpretations and is not cliche. I loved it in every way, 10 out of 10 without doubt, It is now one of my favourites animes of all time.

This is by far, in terms of an anime series especially, one of the most beautifully animated pieces i've ever seen. the colours, the animation, the rendering of landscapes, ugh, absolute eye candy. as for the plot, i'd say that two episodes in, i was getting quite frustrated by violet's barely-human nature, but i'm glad i stuck through! i'd definitely recommend this in general :))) but, i wish some characters were developed more, and that each person's story (violet's clients, i guess) wasn't just limited to each episode, because it did kind of feel like 'filler' in a way, or that they were meaningless (didn't have the most impact, at the end). i know that the show did establish a recurring theme of war but i think it wasn't enforced well enough to make all the episodes feel fully tied together? even violet's character could've been developed more during the first half. but that's just me nitpicking, this was still a beautiful anime if you stick through to the bitter end, super happy to have watched it :'>