Violet Evergarden

The fact that the quality of KyoAni's audiovisual work is top-notch, is common knowledge in the anime world, and not many people would argue with that. That they are adept at delivering human dramas and psychological anime, is also something we have already seen, especially in their early productions. Sometimes, however, instead of an imaginative work, they manage to produce mere kitsch, and Violet Evergarden is an example of that. After reading the synopsis, it is very easy to predict how the story of the emotionless girl will unfold, but until about the eighth episode, this rudimentary plot is kept within reasonable bounds. It does smack a little of pathos at times, but that is not a major flaw, and it is the audiovisual experience and the successful fictional world-building that make this a fairly enjoyable show. Sometime from the ninth episode onwards, however, the great Mr. Pathos arrives and begins to mercilessly run amok. Holy shit, why does it all have to be so pathetic and contrived?! Wherever there was room for an emotional scene, the creators stuffed it in, wherever there was room for full-on orchestral music, they dropped it in, and as soon as Violet mentioned, for the fiftieth time, that the emerald brooch reminded her of her beloved darling’s eyes, or began to sigh pathetically at the sight of it over and over again, I was tempted to shove the brooch deep into the orifice of her excretory system. If you enjoy kitsch and watch anime because you want to be moved, or if the audiovisual experience is above all else, I can boldly recommend Violet Evergarden – this is definitely the anime for you. I can still taste the pathos in my mouth, though. I give it a weaker 3 stars. (2021.01.24)

I had not reviewed this untill now, and something tells me that now is the time to fix that. Even after almost two years, I have no problem remembering the narrative of Violet Evergarden (at least the bare bones of the narrative), I remember most of the characters and my impressions of it at the time. So it makes sense that, unlike some of you, this anime series must have left a mark on me. I cannot easily forget the stunning animation and great soundtrack. As far as the emotional aspect is concerned, some of the narratives touched my heart and I was also intrigued by the show’s premise of delivering feelings in the form of letters, which in this day and age is probably rather neglected because of modern technology. However, (and, I am agreeing on this with Zíza), I also remember some of the narratives where the emotions seemed quite forced and came on too strong, and so it never really got to me and did not seem natural enough to consider giving this anime series the highest rating. I liked the main female protagonist Violet, and I liked her efforts to understand human feelings, especially the one the romantic poets thought was the most beautiful. I also liked her almost machine-like nature, which gradually became much softer. I was personally very satisfied, and it was a pleasant experience. 7.5/10. P.S. If you are a pragmatist rather than a romantic, then, of course, you are going to see some things from a completely different point of view, even though we can all at least agree that the animation is breathtaking, so if you want to see magnificent graphics/visuals… (2020.02.15)

Lovely, beautiful animation, very appropriately and nicely voiced, the ending always managed to add to the final feeling, but otherwise it's a dull story whether pushing the envelope lightly or heavily. There are many such stories in the world where we slowly learn to understand human emotions with the main hero/heroine, where families lose their loved ones, where all it takes is a little, a few apt words and people are immediately happier. This is one of them and it doesn’t offer anything new. It even has a very inconsistent level of quality. I wasn't really into it until about the fifth episode, then it picked up a bit, peaked around the 10th episode, only to end with a 13th slightly unfinished episode. Not a bad anime. It's relaxing and if you let it, it will move you. Logic doesn't belong in it, keep the rational closed, pathos wins here. (2019.04.06)