I haven't kept up with seasonal anime in years. Most things just kinda fly by without any care from me, at most eliciting a "oh, pretty cool." I think the last time I was excited about an anime before its release was Evangelion 3.0, and the hype train behind that was monumental. That's why I was really surprised when Violet Evergarden was announced. For the first time in years, I was excited for an anime. I looked at the trailers, the barrage of KyoAni's budget being thrown into all 5 of my senses. I was heavily following news of it's development and release. I read the Light Novel and was somewhat impressed, but I was also very worried. I thought that the show would never be able to achieve the monumentally high expectations that I was placing on it, so I toned myself down, cautious but very optimistic.
First of all, the show is beautiful. It's probably one of the best shows I've ever laid my eyes on, and all of the animators involved should be proud. The OST, individually, also has some good tracks that I've found myself listening to by themselves. However, I won't be denying that it wasn't somewhat out of place, as it really failed at enhancing the show. Most of the time it felt disconnected and just placed to attempt an emotional response. It wasn't bad, it most certainly had some emotion and effort behind it, but it never really felt like a part of the show. It's as if they just found the best composers and asked for their best pieces, instead of composing music that really connected with the show.
The blur is just too much at points, and can get very distracting.
As opposed to the light novel, which started in medias res, the show began with a few initial episodes to introduce the premise and characters. As the show aired, I was somewhat disappointed. The show was beautiful, and the art direction was really stellar (except for early abusing of bloom and depth of field shifting), but it felt empty. The characters felt bland. The world didn't feel real. The plot, while interesting, just felt like it was going way too slow, and the pacing felt really off. It's hard to tell how much time had passed in between each episode, which makes Violet's development feel really sudden and almost jarring. It always felt like there was a big disconnect between the viewer and Violet's character.
However, it still managed to keep me interested enough to continue watching, and I'm pretty happy I did. Once the show begins to pick up though (at around episode 4), it became significantly more enjoyable to me. The show became more of a "story of the week", starring Violet's adventures writing letters all across the continent. There is an overarching plot throughout the show, but it was weak and never really became an object of interest. However, each individual episode stands very strong on it's own. Violet Evergarden really excels at quickly developing characters that you may only see for one episode enough where you actually care about them, and their story. While there is never any major development, and most of these characters aren't fully fleshed out, they do a well enough job to make me excited to continue watching a new story every week.
aaaaaaaaaaa
The main flaw of Violet Evergarden is a lack of focus. There is a split between attempting to grow Violet's character from her experiences in the war, and attempting to make the world feel alive by showing how other minor characters are coping in this post-war environment. I would have liked them to focus more on the latter, but the show fails at investing the viewer in either, making both of these focuses feel half-assed and incomplete. Later in the show, it also makes a jarring change from the relatively calm environment of a post-war era into attempting to become an action show in the ending, which further divides the focus of the show even more. If you're expecting a full-fledged plot across the whole show, you'll be disappointed. It excels at being a series of short stories, with 1 or 2 recurring characters, instead of having an overarching plot with a solid cast, and making each of them memorable. I feel like the author just did not have enough confidence in being able to write a story of this magnitude, and instead attempted to create a well made show by trying to replicate what he saw previous successful dramas do.
It's not the masterpiece everyone exclaims it to be (and it's hype may be causing me to see it in a somewhat more negative light), but it has it's strengths. And when it plays to these strengths, Violet Evergarden creates amazing pieces that tell touching stories. It fails at creating an overarching plot across multiple episodes, but each individual episode was very well made, albeit with only vague themes that carry through the plot. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who even has a passing interest, or liked how the trailers looked. Just don't expect a masterpiece. This is a cautionary tale of the hype train, as coming into this show with expectations of this magnitude will certainly be a bad thing over coming with none at all.
Violet Evergarden – 6.5/10