With the tragic arson at Kyoto Animation Studios, I thought it appropriate to review one of its anime series commissioned for Netflix, Violet Evergarden. It is a post-wartime drama in a mythical, European-type land, but has surprising intervals of action, grace, and profundity in what could have been a melodramatic genre exercise. I came to love its characters and the nimble balance between violence and pastoral imagery.
Violet is an orphan and disabled veteran who was a warrior prodigy during the war. She is struggling to find her purpose and is placed as an "Auto Memories Doll." Thinking she might gain a greater understanding of human emotions and what it means to love, Violet throws herself into letter writing work under the tutelage of former officer and Auto Memories owner Colonel Hodgins and understanding veteran Auto Memories Dolls--understanding because Violet acts like a human robot. Dictation and typing speed are a strength, but when it comes to taking the emotional temperature of her correspondence clients, Violet still has a steely cold military mindset.
During the fourteen episode season, her growth can be excruciatingly slow at times, but we the viewers have flashbacks to the gory business of war and fleeting tender moments with her mentor Major Gilbert. Gilbert may be the only person who saw Violet as more than a killing machine, despite the fact that he also trained her. His brother Dietfried offers reparations to Violet's victims and follows her, cynical of her chances of being anything but who he thinks is a deformed killer.
While the series follows some tropes of anime, such as some of the buxom ladies of Auto Memories, the story takes its time to unfold and the results are like watching a visual tone poem. Some of the greatest animation ever on television punctuate a moving journey. The grass waves in the wind, Violet's dresses flow in sun and shadow, and the war scenes are appropriately grisly in contrast to all the visual beauty of the postwar world. Vocal work and dubbing are superb.
Violet Evergarden is a moving reflection on living and the need to cherish friends and family. Early origin sequences are worth the long game payoff in later episodes. And be warned that Episode 10, "Loved Ones Will Always Watch Over You," will send even the most jaded for the tissue box with its universal reflections on love and death. It's an overall masterwork of the genre and one of the best adult anime series to ever reach America. Stay strong, Kyoto, and we hope to see a triumphant promised second season from the ashes of tragedy.
Violet Evergarden is a moving reflection on living and the need to cherish friends and family. Early origin sequences are worth the long game payoff in later episodes. And be warned that Episode 10, "Loved Ones Will Always Watch Over You," will send even the most jaded for the tissue box with its universal reflections on love and death. It's an overall masterwork of the genre and one of the best adult anime series to ever reach America. Stay strong, Kyoto, and we hope to see a triumphant promised second season from the ashes of tragedy.
Rating: **** of **** (for full season). Recommended for viewers 12 and older (TV-14 material). Currently on Netflix and video.
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