Coming in to an anime franchise in its closing acts has become a regular issue in America, as stories that have built a world through books, TV shows, and movies get a theatrical release for the big resolution. So it is with Violet Evergarden: The Movie, but within its established narrative there are emotional truths that will be familiar to everyone.
Kana Akatsuki’s original light novel is really about expressions of grief, loss, and forgiveness – of others and of self – and how we untangle that web. Set in the kind of fantasy-tinged and romanticized early 20th-century Europe that is de rigueur in a lot of anime, the eponymous Violet (Ishikawa) is an orphan, found in the wastes of a war that decimated the continent. Yet she is as wounded as those she helps: a veteran with cybernetic arms and no memories, she has found some sense of healing in her new career as an Auto Memory Doll, a mix of stenographer and ghost writer with the rare skill of being able to type. Each episode of the earlier volumes of the anime, and 2019’s Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll, places her with a different person who needs healing through their words, and that’s touched on in a subtly-formatted montage that provides both a refresher for fans and an on-ramp for new viewers.
Not that there will be many of the latter, but Kyoto Animation undoubtedly does a favor for anyone jumping in at this late stage, while primarily providing closure for the loyal fans. More than ever, this is about Violet finally being able to express her own emotional inner life – something that has always been suppressed while she brings her own form of quiet healing to those for whom she types. In this case, it’s a young boy with a terminal disease, while she also comes to more of an understanding with Dietfried Bougainvillea (Kiuchi), the embittered brother of Gilbert (Namikawa), the warrior who saved Violet from life as child soldier and paid the ultimate price. Both stories are told as a flashback from the viewpoint of Daisy (Morohoshi), a grieving granddaughter who uncovers the story of Violet, the legendary AMD who disappeared (even if it does little to dispel some of the awkward questions about the age difference between Violet and Gilbert, and their complicated bond).
For newcomers, Violet Evergarden‘s quiet sensitivity and gorgeous, detailed animation will gloss over any puzzlement about the plethora of returning supporting characters, and nods to old plots. Yet for those deeply invested in Violet’s story, it gives her the quiet, touching, cathartic resolution that she deserves.
This article appears in April 2 • 2021.
