Ink Idle

What do you do with a life when you have not done anything of your own accord? What do you do with a life when you do not know any other human being other than the one to whom you report to? In such a case, can you find your own bearing in a world that constantly puts you into situations where you must decide for yourself?

To be able to decide for yourself, you must first understand your own feelings and be able to differentiate instinct from a thought. You must be able to decide what you want to do given a situation. In other words, one must be able to form reason out of the manifestation of primal instinct. Even then, you are somebody. Even if you are a person with no identity , there are those one among you who are clear about their own identities. The people of the former kind are known as tools. It naturally follows that tools are only to be used. In times of war, this is followed with some amount of cruel volition due to the nature of the circumstances.

This is the basic premise with which Violet Evergarden tries to tell its story. It tries to answer whether a human being whose only identity to herself in this world was that of a tool is able to live a life out of her own free volition as a product of her own decisions.

Posing this question as the underlying theme of the anime, it opens with a scene that depicts Violet take a decision. Quite the conundrum, isn’t it? She remarks, “This is exactly the color of your eyes.” The color of a human being’s eyes often goes amiss in the real world if one descends from a community where everyone has more or less the same shade of the iris. However, both in literature as well as anime, it is a quite romanticized aspect of the human body.

So, on the onset, it is made clear to us that although Violet seems to be apathetic towards her feelings that she cannot express in words but can only feel, she can express the same through analogies that point to personal details. The problem lies in the fact that in regard to feeling anything from or towards a person, there was only one person in her life: Major Gilbert Bougainvillea, who is presumed to be dead by everyone at the present time-frame of the anime.

The anime takes place in the fictional town of Leidenschaftlich. The political landscape is tense as the North and South have been engaged in a prolonged state of war. At the time when the narrative considers as the present, the war has ended and a peace treaty is under discussion. After the opening scene, which is soon revealed to be a flashback, we are introduced to two of the main characters in the anime: Violet Evergarden and Claudia Hodgins. It must be mentioned that Violet is the lead character in this anime while all other characters appear as the supporting cast. Major Gilbert Bougainvillea can be considered as the most important supporting characters in the anime, but that is debatable considering that all his screen time is limited to flashbacks since he is considered MIA/KIA after the war, which left Violet with a set of prosthetic arms and an existential predicament.

Violet’s story can be divided into three parts. In the first part, she is faced with a question that she answers for herself with the help of Hodgins—can she find something to do that does not involve the battlefield? It is not so straightforward as it is made to be by resolving it in just the first two episodes. The complexity arises from the underlying question that does not resolve itself until the final episode of the anime: can Violet survive without needing orders from another human being or can Violet live a free life and not as a tool?

The second part is her journey towards understanding human feelings. Most importantly, her quest is to understand what love means. She would often stare clueless at an angry customer berating her for the apathy on display, perturbed solely by the fact that another person is agitated and disappointed. She would reply politely, sometimes, even desperately that she does not understand the reasons behind their criticism. Eventually, through her solution to the first problem, she finds the answers that she seeks.

The third and final part is a subliminal problem that persists even though she is aware of the corporeal truth: is Major Gilbert alive? The anime poses this question at every moment of emotional upheaval during its narrative, finally resolving this conflict in the final episode.

Another important aspect of the anime rests in the naming of the characters after flowers and colors. Violet, Iris Cannary, and Gilbert Bougainvillea are the three characters depicting this trend, out of which two are explained explicitly while one is left to the imagination of the viewers and critics. While Iris’ story is unraveled in a single episode that involves a journey to her home village, Violet’s christening by Major Gilbert percolates through the anime as part of the problem that resolves her identity crisis. The Bougainvillea family, meanwhile provides no contexts or references to the story behind their family name. Of the big families that have their influence on Leiden, the Bougainvillea family is indicated as one of those that have left an indelible mark on the city.

It is vital to note that Violet Evergarden is based on a Japanese light novel with the same name written by Kana Akatsuki. The anime series comprising 13 episodes is an adaptation by Kyoto Animation and directed by Taichi Ishidate. This review considers the anime as standalone and does not include criticism regarding any inconsistencies with the original novel.

Overall, the production and quality of animation is exemplary. Along with the soundtrack, the anime succeeds in leaving a long-lasting impression. It stutters in the rather corny emotional upheavals even though they work really well with the narrative; in hindsight, they seem overplayed at certain stages. The scenes work well while unraveling the emotional transitions within the characters but sometimes they seem too soon and it stops feeling organic. However, given the short length of the anime, this can be overlooked. The vibrant color palette works well with the motif of symbolism with colors and characters.

Some of the stories will leave the viewer gasping for breath in between the tears. Yes, the exaggeration in the previous statement is exactly the feeling of some of the scenes in the anime. The sudden transition from Violet’s inability to write letters as an Auto Memory Doll to her fame across Leiden is extremely noticeable and is explained in the OVA released after the series finale.

One area of complaint would be the lack of focus on some of the recurring supporting characters, namely Benedict Blue and Erica Brown. The first impression is that of curiosity towards their back-stories that are often hinted in some episodes but those are never revealed during the course of the series. This could have been worked upon. Even the expected emotional reactions of Violet to some characters’ decisions is left understated and it seems as if she is too focused on her relationship with Major Gilbert. These are in conflict with the feelings that she experiences and is exposed to during her tasks as an Auto Memory Doll.

Violet Evergarden cannot be included in a must-watch list of anime, but is a solid experience should you choose to pick it up. The positives include a wonderfully engaging soundtrack, breathtaking animation, taste in apparel styling, and good short storytelling. The costumes for the characters are often elaborate and there is significant attention to detail with respect to lighting and sharpness. Even the typewriter used by Violet is an animated model of the original 1926 Underwood Bank 4 Portable Typewriter. The soundtrack of the typewriter is exceptionally crisp and pleasing to the ears.

The symbolisms are well represented albeit sometimes too explicit but this might help in endearing itself to casual watchers, which is not a bad aspect. The voice acting works seamlessly with the narrative. The stories mimic the pain of a war-torn country with significant empathy and is a perpetual motif in the narrative. It may feel corny at times but it is advisable to accept that as part of the narrative and move on. Violet Evergarden is available on Netflix for viewing but those without a subscription can find it on most anime streaming sites.