Violet Evergarden is one of those Netflix series so awaited for the year 2017, and that fell in love with more than one with an extremely detailed and charming drawing at the same time, and that ended up being broadcast at the beginning of 2018. They are mainly light novels, written by Kana Akatsuki, and had its animated version on Netflix, with a recent movie also available on the platform.
From the first images they showed of this anime, it drew a lot of attention for its beautiful drawing and the detail of those excellently animated trailers. It is a story that captivated many even before it was told, it was basically the most precious anime of the year, aesthetically speaking, although despite this, even with all the hype that it had, for most people it was not what it was expected.
The anime places us in a country that has just emerged from a bloody war, an unstable time where negotiations for peace treaties coexist with poverty, sadness over the loss of loved ones and hope for those who could still return.
In the midst of this political, economic and cultural turbulence, the profession of Auto Memory Dolls has flourished: women trained to write letters of all kinds, to transform the feelings of their clients into texts that reach the hearts of their recipients. Thus, they travel wherever someone requires them, carrying the power of words in their hands.
The story centers on Violet Evergarden, a young woman who since childhood was used as a weapon of war, and who did not know any love until she came to the hands of Major Gilbert Bouganvillea, the only one who knew how to treat her as a person. After losing contact with him after the war, she decides to become an Auto Memory Doll in order to understand the meaning of the last words the Major said to her.
This is how she begins a journey of improvement and discovery, in which she must fight to understand the feelings of those around her, and her own.
That is the true synopsis of Violet Evergarden: an anime that revolves around the meaning of love, around the power of words. That presents a beautiful, sensitive and mature story.
Violet Evergarden is a series that has a structure of self-concluding chapters, and that is not as usual as you would think, but that works if it is used in the right way. Each of these chapters tells the experiences of the people the protagonist knows, where the meaning of love, the pain of loss and the need for hope are fundamental themes in the development of the character. Thus, Violet will understand how complex this feeling is until reaching the descent of the story, in an extremely emotional series, with a good message in many of the characters that are presented to us. The characters of Violet Evergarden are complex and very varied among themselves, the same protagonist is an example, and that in my opinion is one of the best constructions of a female character that I have seen in an anime. We will see Violet learn, get confused, suffer, feel guilt, forgive, cry, laugh, in an evolution of a person as natural as it is profound.
I also find the work of the occasional characters incredible, and the secondary characters that only appear in one chapter, as they are the ones that give all the strength to the story and the development of the protagonist.
And yes, Violet Evergarden is also about humanity, what it is that makes us persons. And that is why, I think she will manage to penetrate the screen until she reaches your heart, because many of the characters, beyond some surreal detail, present quite realistic stories.
We are quite clear that developing a character takes a long time, and we are talking here about a slow and leisurely development anime. And precisely for most of the people this was what displeased, that the anime was slow and boring.
I think that it is due more than anything to the trailers, because they showed you scenes so well animated that they left you with your mouth open. And the fact that the chapters are self-contained did not help to present this anime to the general public.
What people consider a mistake, I consider a virtue. There wasn't a single second of Violet Evergarden that bored me. His narrative, his characters, his dialogues, everything seems to me to be very well done. Especially her dialogues, which are authentic and powerful whenever they want.
But already talking about a topic that I imagine there will be no complaints, and that is the visual section. Violet Evergarden was called the most precious anime of the year for a reason, and anyone who sees the images will know immediately why it was called that. But beyond its drawing, I accept that the trailers were somewhat inflated, but still we are facing one of the best animated and precious works that have been seen in a long, long time. In this series everything flows, every little detail on the screen is bursting with life, color and movement, it is impossible not to be delighted with the spectacular visual section it has.
The design of the characters is another of his strengths, it is great. I like that they don't have such exaggerated designs, and with the steampunk style and setting it is more than perfect.
Many of the scenes in this anime are so incredibly beautiful that they will literally take your breath away. And the few that there are of action are not far behind either. Kyoto Animation showed off, and once again they demonstrate the power of Japanese animation.
The soundtrack, composed by Evan Call is also up to par, it goes perfectly with the sensitivity and emotionality of the series, it goes in harmony with the environment and the situations that happen. In this part there are simply no complaints, you just have to listen to such masterful songs as "Believe In" or the "Violet Evergarden Theme", which combines music with the sounds of a typewriter.
I can say, without a doubt, that Violet Evergarden is and will continue to be one of the best Netflix original anime, and beyond that, one of the best of recent years. Not only because of its story that, like any other you may like more or less, but because of the good quality it has in many of its aspects: a mature, dramatic and emotional plot at the same time, some dialogues full of emotion, truth and poetry, a very successful narrative in my opinion, some very human characters, impeccable visuals and a soundtrack that thrills just hearing it.
This series was made with all the love and detail that Japan knows how to impregnate its great works. It is not for everyone, if what you expect is action and a frenetic pace, I do not recommend it. However, if you like stories with good character development, dramatic power, calm pacing, and the ability to reach your heart, you must check out this great series.