I don’t even need to mention that this text contains spoilers!! Violet Evergarden (ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン) is a much-needed anime for portraying the importance of human feelings.
The anime is a Japanese light novel written by Kana Akatsuki and illustrated by Akiko Takase. The anime was the first to win three categories (romance, scenario, and manga) at the fifth edition of the Kyoto Animation Awards in 2014.
This anime is from 2015 and has only one season that can be found on Netflix, divided into thirteen episodes. For the continuation of the story, a movie and an extra episode were produced, which are also available on Netflix. Let’s see more details about this exciting anime!
Table of Contents
The Story of Violet Evergarden
The anime Violet Evergarden (ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン) is based on the life of a young ex-soldier, but with the end of the war, she had to deal with life after the war. Having grown up in the army, she didn’t know how to do anything other than follow orders.
Throughout the story, she experiences flashbacks of her combat moments and everything she lived with Major Gilbert Bougainvillea (ギルベルト・ブーゲンビリア).
Violet was a gift from the brother of Major Gilbert to be used as a weapon, so she was not supposed to get attached to her. Having never received demonstrations of affection, she does not understand human feelings. But Gilbert treated her with care.
In the last war they fought, Violet lost her arms and had to use a prosthesis; Gilbert disappeared.
The body of Major Gilbert was not found, so he was declared missing, but his identification was found under the rubble. Violet only survived because Gilbert tried to save her by pushing her to protect her from the explosion.
While everyone believes in the death of the major, Violet refuses to accept the end of someone she admired. Violet did not speak, read, or write. She didn’t even know how to behave, but Gilbert taught her and gave her a name.
Before his last battle, Gilbert made his friend, who at the time was Lieutenant Claude Hodgins (クラウディア・ホッジンズ), promise that if something happened to him, he would take care of Violet.
When the war ended, Hodgins gave up living in the army and opened a postal company called CH Postal Company. Violet offered to work with him and ended up becoming an Auto Memory Doll.
The service of an Auto Memory Doll is basically being a scribe. That is, illiterate people or those who did not know how to put their feelings on paper would turn to these professionals for help in writing letters.
Violet decided to work with this to understand the meaning of “I love you,” as these were the last words Gilbert said to her. So this job would help her understand her past and find her purpose.
Violet Evergarden values the manifestation of feelings very much, which is why she does everything to ensure that the letters are written with sincere feelings and delivered on time.
At first, not understanding feelings, she found it difficult to write the letters; her experiences of mistakes and successes helped her become a great Auto Memory Doll and find the meaning of “I love you.”
Violet Evergarden: Special
In addition to the movie that continues the anime, a special episode was also released in 2018. The episode is thirty-four minutes long and shows another adventure of Violet as an Auto Memory Doll.
My disappointment was only because I imagined it would talk about Gilbert, since his body was never actually found.
In this episode, Violet was commissioned to write a love letter to a very demanding lyrical singer. She wants to write a letter intended for her great love who is in the army. But in fact, Violet discovers that she wants a love letter that serves as a song.
This ends up becoming one of Violet’s most difficult missions; she finds inspiration after a postman from the company she works for takes her to a depot where letters that never found their destination are kept.
Violet also spent time with the singer to better understand her feelings. The singer herself sent letters to her love in the army, but they always returned because there was no specific location.
Violet Evergarden Gaiden – Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll
The movie had a worldwide box office of $10.7 million. In the movie, Violet is not hired as an Auto Memory Doll, but as a etiquette teacher for three months for a young lady of royalty who lives in a girls’ boarding school.
Violet must help Isabella succeed as a debutante in order to secure a good marriage. Isabella feels lonely for having been separated from her little sister during the war.
The movie is divided into two parts; the first highlights Isabella, and the second is about her sister Taylor. Taylor runs away from the orphanage to find her sister and ends up at the CH Postal Company with the desire to be a postwoman.
To watch the movie, you don’t need to have seen the anime, but it’s good for getting to know the characters better. Although the movie’s name is Violet, the story of love between the sisters becomes the main focus.
Violet Evergarden: The Movie
The movie was released in Japanese theaters in September 2020 and has already reached the United States, Mexico, and Colombia. There is no date for it to arrive in Brazil.
In Mexico, it was one of the most-watched films during the pandemic. And it will finally be the movie that fills the gaps left in the series, such as the disappearance of the major! While we still don’t have the movie, check out the trailer for this beautiful anime.
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