Highly anticipated this winter on Netflix, the anime Violet Evergarden has made a lot of ink. Figuratively, as well as literally. A story adapted from a light novel that joined the many anime in the Netflix catalog. An anime that will make you take out the handkerchiefs more than once… But what is it really worth?
After Aggretsuko, we continue our review of the Japanese catalog of Netflix 2018. Adapted from a series of two eponymous light novels released in 2015 and 2016, the anime Violet Evergarden is revealed in a context of war and self-search.
This review is likely to contain spoilers that could harm your viewing of the anime. To be read at your own risk.
Violet Evergarden
Original title:ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン – Violet Evergarden
Genre : Drama – fantasy – slice of life
Type : Seinen
Period: January 11 to April 5, 2018
Platform: Netflix
Number of episodes : 14
Studio: Kyoto Animation (Clannad, A Silent Voice, Beyond the Boundary)
Realization: ISHIDATE Taichi
Scenario: YOSHIDA Reiko (Ramble School, Getbackers)
Musical composition: Evan Call (Big Order, Tokyo ESP)
Original light novel: Kana Akatsuki (script) & Akiko Takase (illustrations)
Synopsis
The end of the war has come. Violet Evergarden, a war orphan and former soldier who lost her arms, must find work and build a future for herself. Broken and bruised, Violet will become a doll of automatic memories and travel the entire country to write down people's feelings. Imperturbable and unable to untie some knots of her past, she will, through her clients, learn more about herself and gradually understand her feelings.
Learning about life and feelings
The war is over and the thread of life is slowly resuming its short. Used as a weapon during the war by the army of the Leidenschaftreich, Violet Evergarden only knows how to blindly obey orders, morally questionable or not. And during this war, she lost a lot: her parents, her superior and herself.Violet is 14 years old and her destiny is shattered. Without landmarks or orders to follow, she is abandoned in a world she does not know and does not really want her. But fate is facetious and has planned an arduous path to take for the former soldier with mechanical arms. A reconversion that promises to be difficult, even unthinkable, after the loss of a loved one and essential to his own life. Which path to choose when you only know how to blindly follow orders? When your world revolves around one man? When you have no awareness of your full existence?
Begins for Violet Evergarden and her viewer, an adventure of a new kind, without adrenaline, but full of travels and encounters. That of life and self-search. Accompanied by a former lieutenant who founded her company, Violet will discover a world very different from the one in which she lived until now. And to understand the meaning of her major's last words, Violet will become an automatic doll of memories. A doll trained to write letters, revealing her clients' feelings and what they fail to say to their loved ones. A reconversion that, she hopes, will help her better understand the very essence of feelings. Those of others, but especially his own. And those of her major, whose only memory she has left is that of a brooch that never leaves her, the color of her eyes.
A journey for the senses
Step by step, we follow the reconstruction of Violet and her discovery of the world around her, far from the dusty paths and made sticky by the blood shed during the war. As usual, the Japanese animation studio Kyoto Animation excels and gives a particularly pleasant visual depth to the anime. The dreamlike landscapes parade, the shimmering colors and the beauty of the detail amaze our mirettes. Urban or countryside, day or night, everything is made majestic to our eyes. The colors are juxtaposed to perfection and the characters are naturally anchored in the setting of another century. Everything is pleasing to the eyes and our mind can wander at its convenience. And as usual, the Kyoto Animation studio plays on the heartstrings regularly, forcing us several times to take out the tissues.
But an animation, as superb as it is, would not be as powerful without an exceptional soundtrack. Because this is really the strong point of this anime. Each music is adapted to the scene it dresses and gives more life to it. The violins, sometimes playful, sometimes weeping, lament and laugh as much as they can. The piano twirls with lightness or sadness its most beautiful notes. The music composed by the talented Evan Call (Big Order, Tokyo ESP) can not leave you insensitive and accentuates the beauty of the moment. A journey for the senses that takes us to Violet's side, for the good and the not so good.
At the crossroads of feelings
Through the 13 episodes of the anime, we follow the reconstruction of Violet and her evolution. Each meeting made throughout the series will bring her a little extra, a little essential discovery about herself. The discovery of a new feeling by writing a letter, his emotional management in the face of the requests of his customers… Feelings have an important place in anime, but they are sometimes too masked by the repetitive handkerchiefs that we have to take out. What about surprise, anger or joy? Violet remains most of the time unperturbed and we will wonder more than once if tears or smiles will dress her pretty face. Answer in the anime. However, it is interesting to follow Violet's journey and discover with her the meaning of certain feelings, such as that of love. Perhaps we will learn more in a potential sequel or a prequel, which would allow us to discover Violet's orphaned past and her sentimental and emotional misunderstanding.
The other characters surrounding him are only too secondary for some, almost useless for others. And that's a shame. They only seem to gravitate around Violet by bringing a little balance to her small world that continues to grow, without giving it more depth. We would have liked to learn more about each of them.
However, if his colleagues do not bring a plus essential to the story, there are some customers who really make it progress. Because finally, the story of Violet is marked by the writing of letters and the meeting with her customers of the moment. The same dating scenario is repeated with each episode, with welcome variations that punctuate said episode. We more or less hang on to certain customers and their requests, but all of them will touch you or make you think, in one way or another.
More emotions than answers
Eventually, the anime Violet Evergarden could have become a landmark anime in the genre. As good as it is for the senses, there are problems it conveys that remain unanswered. And which lack depth, remaining in the blur and approximate.
The scenario of the anime does not have sufficient bases to fully satisfy us. The war taking place in this world strongly resembles our two world wars. But information about its context is lacking. How did it start? What's the reason? How long has it lasted? Instead of a small contextual explanation, we are directly thrown into the bath of war and politics, via a rather peculiar technique… Because yes, you will only have bridles of the bloody history of the two countries every two or three episodes. Difficult in this case to pick up the pieces of the story. A largely debatable choice, which if it had been presented otherwise, would surely have allowed the viewer to understand a little better the workings and outcomes.
On the dating side, you will certainly notice situations that will raise questions, such as a marriage arranged for love or the end of life of a mother. Depending on your values and feelings on the issue, there will be no half measures. You'll either like or hate how the anime team has positioned itself to deal with its topics.
As you have been told, in Violet Ervergarden, you will take out the handkerchiefs more than once. Sometimes for good reasons or events that will affect you personally, perhaps reminding you of a situation you have experienced. Other times, the tearful side of the scene will be more forced and Kyoto Animation will pull a chord to make you sniff. But didn't they abuse the melodramatic too much and forget to give more meaning to the scene? We are waiting for your feelings on this issue!
The previous image is the end of the season, but makes it clear that the story is not over… We already know that an OAV will be broadcast in Japan on July 4, 2018. But as for the rest… We don't know anything about it yet and can only assume an animated film, a prequel or a spin-off. A sequel could also be considered, although for my taste, this season was enough. More information soon!
In short, Violet Evergarden is a beautiful anime that we enjoyed following on Netflix. Despite its scripted black spots, it is a beautiful journey at the crossroads of feelings that Kyoto Animation studio offers you to start. To know if the sequel envisaged, in addition to the next OAV, will erase some mistakes notes, despite an animation and an atmosphere of the most pleasant.
