April has arrived. Yes, yes, I know that it will end soon, but I’m so slow. What does it mean? This means that most of the titles for the 2021 winter season have come to an end, and it’s time to start watching them and writing reviews. At first glance, winter has traditionally turned out to be rich in high-quality new products (just as spring is rich in long-awaited sequels), and there is certainly something to see here. I decided to start getting acquainted with the winter season with the most sensational title, around which heated battles are still unfolding on forums to this day, and memes about which have filled all social networks. of the Kyoto Animation studio - the dramatic anime series Violet Evergarden . I’ll say right away that I’m not familiar with the original source, and therefore I will present my impressions solely as a result of watching the anime. I think it will be more objective this way.
Brief information
Violet Evergarden is an anime series released in winter 2021 by Kyoto Animation . The script is based on a light novel written by Kana Akatsuki , the series consists of thirteen episodes. The director was Taichi Ishidate , who in one way or another managed to have a hand in most of the studio’s projects, so he has plenty of experience. The first episode was shown back in 2021, which immediately attracted increased attention to Violet Evergarden . Let's figure out whether this is deserved, or whether we have witnessed another wave of hype.
The anime takes place in a world torn apart by a long, senseless war. Thousands of soldiers lay down on the battlefield and will never return to their loved ones. The main character of the title, a girl named Violet Evergarden , was also among the victims. During one of the last battles on the battlefield, both her arms were torn off, and the only dear person, Major Gilbert , died a heroic death, at the last moment confessing his feelings to Violet. However, Violet, who has never known love, did not understand the meaning of the spoken words, and in order to correct this annoying gap, equipped with a pair of mechanical arms, she is sent to serve as an Auto Memory Doll. Now Violet has to learn how to transfer people's feelings and experiences onto paper in the form of letters. Not an easy task for a girl who, before meeting the major, did not even know how to speak, and was exclusively engaged in killing enemy soldiers. However, Violet intends to fulfill the major’s last order - to live a full life, becoming free - in any way...
History of creation
The first volume of the novel in Japanese renobe. Written by Akatsuki Kana in the genre of seinen, drama. Under the title Violet Evergarden was published on December 25, 2015, published by Kyoto animation and the KA esumo bunko label, there are 4 volumes, the final part of the story is subtitled Violet Evergarden After Story..
Adaptation
An anime series, based on the first volume of the novel, was released on TV and broadcast from January 11 to April 5, 2018 ; Kyoto Animation studio also produced this anime adaptation. The director was Ishidate Taichi, was appointed as the screenwriter . The series consists of 13 episodes lasting 24 minutes, there is also an additional series and 2 full-length films. Dear friend, you and I will focus on the series and the characters from it, well, let's get to the main thing.
Plot
“I thought that I began to understand them a little, but people’s feelings are always very confused, not everyone can express their feelings in words, sometimes words are contradictory, and sometimes even completely false, and I don’t always manage to understand what’s what, for me that’s all difficult."
-Violet Evergarden
The war lasted for 4 long years, and now the victory came, which everyone so passionately desired and was waiting for peaceful days. of Telesis , divided into two identical halves, gradually tried to return the course of life to a stable pre-war state. A very young, innocent girl returned from this bloody, merciless hell on earth, she does not know the affection or care of her parents at all, she was raised as a tool, a weapon to destroy the enemy, she was taught so well that the girl forgot how to live without any order, he will executed clearly, quickly, without complaints. Her name was Violet Evergarden.
Characters
I'll be brief - I liked the protagonist. Recently, it has become fashionable to choose characters of a certain type as the main heroines of everyday anime - modest, reserved, but not broken and strong-willed girls who, before the events of the series, lived a hard, joyless life, but as a result of a happy coincidence, saw a ray of hope. This is the main character of the parallel title The Sorcerer's Bride , and the main character of Violet Evergarden . As for me, this type is a win-win. Yes, as a result of her modesty, Violet is not endowed with a bright character and natural charisma, which does not prevent her from remaining a pleasant, adequate and interesting heroine, whom you want to watch throughout the entire season. Moreover, as a result of communicating with other people whom she helps in one way or another, Violet develops and becomes even more versatile. Due to the fact that the image of the good martyr has not yet become very boring, Violet looks quite fresh and original. A modest and strong-willed girl is, in any case, better than another tsundere or busty schoolgirl. So I still consider Violet to be one of the positive features of Violet Evergarden .
But there’s not much to say about the secondary characters. Most of the characters on screen last no more than one episode. They turned out to be diverse, and their stories differ from each other both semantically and emotionally. Here you have a writer who has lost his daughter and desire for life; and a dying mother wishing to give one last gift to her child; and a princess who, out of convenience, marries a man she has only met once. Different characters, different stories, but they change very quickly and you simply don’t have time to get used to anyone. Considering that Violet carries most of the load, the lack of developing secondary characters does not result in a significant drawback. There are characters, they are quite bright - this was enough in Violet Evergarden .
Plot
In fact, the similarities between Violet Evergarden and The Sorcerer's Bride clearly don't end with the similar protagonist. In addition, both titles adhere to a similar plot structure and directions of its development. The narrative in Violet Evergarden is broken up into a series of short, one- or two-part stories in which Violet meets new people who need her help. And by helping them, she also helps herself, learning to better understand her own feelings. Just like Chise in The Sorcerer's Bride.
Unfortunately, the similarity of the titles also hides one of the problems of Violet Evergarden - namely, a significant reliance on romance , which has no serious justification. The second part of the title is very much tied to Violet’s romantic feelings towards Major Gilbert, which she is trying to sort out. And, it seems to me, this is precisely one of the weak points of the series and its semantic component. In order to empathize with the heroine, it is necessary to experience similar feelings towards the major, or at least understand what caused them. Yes, through several flashbacks we are shown that the Major was a good man who was the first to treat Violet kindly. But, in my opinion, this is still not enough to arouse sympathy and interest in the viewer, and, therefore, it is not so easy to fully experience Violet’s experiences.
And all because in the first part of the series the viewer is not allowed to properly feel the strong connection that existed between Violet and the major. They don’t show how important he is to her, and what he did to deserve her love. After all, in essence, he acted as any adequate person , and not the scum who had previously surrounded her. The major is great, but somehow you don’t feel any admiration from this. After all, if a person throws garbage into the trash can, and not at his feet, then in an adequate society this should be taken for granted, and not an act praised with applause. Perhaps I did not give the closest parallel, but the message, I hope, is clear. Without a strong emotional connection to the Major, Violet's empathy in my case was incomplete.
Still, drama is a very, very complex matter . It is very difficult to touch the hearts of the widest possible audience, regardless of gender and age. And I think Violet Evergarden only partially achieves this task. So, personally, I did not feel the impact that they deserve from many of the stories being told. Even in the most successful ones - for example, about a girl, a mother and letters (episode 10) or about a writer and his daughter (episode 7), the dramatic component is presented in a straightforward manner . She lacks a bit of elegance, or something. Yes, these stories can touch less demanding viewers (I’m sure I myself would have cried ten years ago, releasing a tsunami of tears), but they still failed to leave a gap in my emotional armor. In order to truly impress the viewer, there is no need for excessive screaming and constant shedding of tears. A parallel can be drawn with the use of a battering ram: yes, it can be effective, but it is more correct and reliable to tear off the strongest doors using master keys.
Sometimes you don’t even need extra words: a few neat hints are enough, and the viewer is not stupid, he will figure it out somehow. The works of Makoto Shinkai are living proof of this. There is no need to put pressure on pity, much less abuse it. In short: there are too many tears in the second half of Violet Evergarden , which causes them to lose their power. After all, not everything in the genre comes down to a straightforward expression of emotion, and Kyoto Animation often has problems understanding this principle. Although, it would seem, after Koe no Katachi , which I would call a successful dramatic project, Taichi Ishidate should have understood such simple things. Yes, Kyoto Animation is heading in the right direction, but they still have a lot to learn if they want to reach the pinnacle of dramatic storytelling. I am sure that with better direction, the stories told in Violet Evergarden would have sparkled with a much stronger kaleidoscope of colors and emotions. In the meantime, they are more like an uncut diamond - valuable, bright, but in places too straightforward and not elegant. Even without reading the original, I am almost one hundred percent sure that the potential of the light novel in the anime was not fully realized.
However, this does not mean that Violet Evergarden is a bad drama anime. No, this is not true, and many critics who, for some unknown reason, throw mud at the title, have a habit of completely ignoring its merits. And there are a lot of them in it, and I’m not talking about the visual and musical components. So, firstly, I would like to note the consistent, natural structure of the narrative , consisting of many loosely connected stories. The only constant from episode to episode remains the presence of the main character, who also gradually develops; in all other respects, the stories differ in the ideas they contain and the emotions they evoke. Some turned out to be more successful, some less so, but I still enjoyed watching most of the stories. And it’s really great to have the opportunity to, at least for a short time, touch the lives of such different people, complete strangers to you. And if you don’t like this or that story, you won’t have to endure it for long anyway - it will soon be replaced by another that will manage to touch you.
Secondly, I will note the many interesting ideas and symbolism embedded in the foundation of Violet Evergarden. There are also motifs about the fleeting nature of life and its injustice. About the fact that all people are different, but everyone wants happiness. That you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. And the symbolism of the letters written by the dolls turned out to be especially successful. The title perfectly shows that letters are fragments of the soul and emotions that its creators put into it. In times when there were no modern technologies, receiving a letter was an important event, because it allowed at least a little communication with a dear person, overcoming not only distance, but even time. What can we say about their importance in wartime. In Violet Evergarden, one important phrase appears several times: “Every letter deserves to be delivered . And we are talking here not only about the exchange of information, but about the exchange of feelings. As for me, this phrase best characterizes Violet Evergarden.
Violet Evergarden. Production Process Details
If you read the previous post about Episode 6, you may remember my lengthy discussion about how the Kyoto Animation staff seemed to have changed their usual approach to production, and therefore an unusually limited circle of specialists was working on this project. This time, for the first time, production was moved from Kyoto to Osaka, where the studio's division called Animation Do is located. I was hoping that this would have a drastic effect on the lineup, but nothing of the sort happened. Chiyoko Ueno
and
Yuki Tsunoda
from Kyoto
again
lead the animation team.
They controlled this process in five out of seven episodes. Including even this one, made in another city. Their colleague, lead animator Miku Kadowaki
, is most likely preparing a film adaptation of Tsurune, so it wouldn't be surprising if she doesn't have enough time to do it all. But besides this, the names of several local animators are missing from the credits, and in general the contribution of Animation Do employees to the work on Violet Evergarden is much more modest than to any other studio series. Usually the guys from Osaka take on 3-4 episodes in each project, sometimes receiving instructions from Kyoto directors. This time we obviously won’t see anything like that. As before, all this leads us to the conclusion that KyoAni's producers have decided to segment production and divide employees into teams dedicated to specific projects. Many people at Do have likely already started drawing the third season of Free!
I talked at length about the people who were not involved in the creation of episode seven. In the end, it’s worth saying a few words about the animators who actually worked
.
Tatsuya Sato
gives the story its emotional climax, but traces of his style can also be seen in the protagonist's earlier outburst.
This time Sato is more reserved and academic than usual. But no matter how he limits himself, Sato inimitably conveys turbulent human emotions. It is worth noting the exemplary work of the animators involved in clean-up and drawing. You can also rejoice in the television debut of Momoka Yoshizaki
as lead animator.
But the most interesting thing is the presence in the credits of Keita Nagahara
, who left the studio some time ago. As a freelancer, he worked this season on the third episode of Darling in the Franxx, the opening credits and third episode of Koi wa Ameagari no You ni, and the first five episodes of Slow Start. Now we can say with confidence that when he started working on all these series and their early episodes, the seventh series of Violet Evergarden was already finished. Once again, we can only admire the production schedule of this project.
Panache
Kyoto Animation has never had any problems with the visual component of its creations, and Violet Evergarden, fortunately, was no exception to the rule. One glance at the screenshots is enough to understand that the art in the title is at the highest level, which is rarely seen in TV series. Delightful close-ups with plenty of advantageous angles; original character design with luxurious detailing of every little detail such as hair or reflections in the pupils, with the unmistakably recognizable style of the studio; pleasant color scheme , thanks to which the picture looks fresh and bright; a small amount of static – it exists, but within reasonable limits; and finally, time lapses , showing the passage of time. I would also like to note the harmonious contrast between the characters and the world around them. When all of the above comes together, the result is a work of wondrous beauty, many of the screenshots of which are not ashamed to hang in a frame as a monument to artistic progress. This is exactly the image I expect to see in 2021, and I am very pleased that cutting-edge studios do not stand still and are constantly developing in the right direction.
Anime corner
The anime “Violet Evergarden” made a splash, but I was still in no hurry to “unpack” it, and now I’m happily watching the 13 episodes that flew by and waiting for the second season. I think it’s immediately obvious that I really loved this anime. But now you’ll find out why:
Year: 2018
Genre: drama, fantasy, everyday life, steampunk
Plot: young Violet Evergarden spent a long time as an assistant to Colonel Gilbert in the army, and when she saw him for the last time, the man ordered her to lead life as a full-fledged person and not as a killing machine, adding that he loved her. But Violet’s emotions are alien, and the girl gets a job that is fashionable in an illiterate world - the position of an auto-recording doll, a girl who composes personal letters - in order to understand what the words “I love you” mean.
