Heavy spoilers for the Violet Evergarden TV anime, with episode by episode commentary. However, there will be no mention of any movie content.
Violet Evergarden is perhaps one of the most beautiful anime to have ever been released, full stop. Most certainly at least a crown jewel in Kyoto Animation’s stellarly produced lineup of shows. All the show’s intricate details mesh perfectly with one another, whether it is the fully-realized Victorian-inspired culture with Evan Call’s beautiful orchestral soundtrack, the fluid animation with the wonderfully integrated 3DCG and textures, or the multi-faceted characters with their easily accessible stories that make viewers like me bawl their eyes out. (If you’ve watched Violet Evergarden, you know how true this is. For me, it’s episodes 3 and 10. Maybe you are different from me, but if you didn’t cry the first time you watched Episode 10 I would question if you have emotions altogether.)
So I preface everything I’m about to say with a disclaimer: I love Violet Evergarden. I love Kyoto Animation. Despite the specificity of what I’m choosing to discuss, this for me is more of a love letter to the show’s creators and how much care they put into the writing of this show. So I’m going to be biased. I don’t think any critical analysis of any piece of media isn’t biased. If you are already scoffing over my fanboying, then I suggest for you to not waste time reading the 15-page ramblings of a lovestruck idiot.
….
Okay. I do have an actual point to all of this, I promise.
When I first watched Violet Evergarden back when it aired, it was refreshing to see a show that strayed away from the tropes and plotlines of typical anime. As such, it captured my attention all the way through.
However, I know this wasn’t true of everyone who watched the show. I have always noticed that those who are disinterested in the show, or even fans themselves who nonetheless wanted more from Violet Evergarden, often take fault with one aspect of the show: the main character herself.
In a show defined by its visual and emotional exuberance, the main character appears to be the exact opposite. Stilted in her manner of speech, unable to “read the atmosphere”, speaking without inflection and staring without emoting, she lacks the flair and character quirks that the rest of the show’s cast has. Sure, her character design is downright stunning and her mechanical arms draw both the viewer’s and the in-show characters’ attention, but those are surface-level details. Her personality in contrast is robotic. Almost inhuman in her incomprehension of other people’s feelings.
That is the whole point of the show supposedly: to show a character who started out as a tool of warfare, who had no purpose in understanding emotion, growing into her own unique personality. There’s a lot of parallels to draw to real-life veterans suffering from PTSD having to reintegrate with post-war society, but this is a topic for someone more familiar than me to take on. For the purposes of this write-up, I will be focusing on Violet’s role as the main character, without considering her real-world implications.
It is that role, given to a character like Violet, that I believe many people find an issue with. Those who feel Violet is a “boring” character are not ignorant of the character growth she has throughout the series. The show never lets you forget that Violet is struggling to become more expressive and understanding of others. The show fundamentally is about Violet’s journey to gain this understanding of emotions. Nonetheless, such a belief often prevails.
An analogy we could use is that Violet starts off as a blank canvas, without much personality or charm. But each person she meets in the series teaches Violet a little about understanding others’ emotions. By contributing this knowledge via their own personal stories and experiences, Violet as a character grows more developed as each character adds a paint stroke to that canvas. Eventually, those strokes form a portrait of a full-realized and distinctive person.
However, when some of the most engrossing, tear-jerking stories in Violet Evergarden belong to characters that appear in only one episode, it’s no wonder that viewers question whether Violet deserves her role as the main character. In comparison to the dynamic progression of these secondary characters, Violet appears to be static. The fact that Violet Evergarden ends on an ending clearly meant for a continuation in the future leaves Violet’s character growth unfinished and only solidifies that impression. [Follow-up note: This was written before the Violet Evergarden Movie was released, but the point still holds true.] If she wasn’t the main character, I think many believe, there would be more screen time for the side stories that endeared us to the show in the first place.
However, I’d argue that belief couldn’t be more wrong. Because Violet is not a passive character. She is just as dynamic of a character as the rest, if not more so. Without her as the main character, without the demeanor she exudes and the way she interacts with others, none of the side stories that draw us to this show would ever have happened.
Moreover, the analogy I presented earlier couldn’t be more opposite to the truth. The secondary characters are not painting a portrait of Violet. Violet herself is the painter, painting an intricate portrait of every character she meets that otherwise would have been a footnote on the page had Violet not impacted their lives.
Violet isn’t the canvas for Violet Evergarden. She is the artist that makes the show we love what it is. Fully comprehending Violet’s agency in the show’s plot, I hope, will lead to a little more respect for the writing behind the character and solidify her importance as the main lead. And possibly, you’ll come to enjoy the character more when she appears on the screen. So, let’s dive into detail on how Violet and her personality impacts every episode she is in.
There will be spoilers for nearly every episode of Violet Evergarden from this point forward, as I’m going to systematically talk about them, one by one. Nonetheless, I believe that even if I copy-pasted the entire script to Violet Evergarden, it would not diminish the emotional impact upon later viewing, so if you haven’t watched it you can continue reading. But it’s your own consequences. At the same time, I urge you to watch this show whether or not you continue reading, not simply because it’s just a good show, but because Kyoto Animation deserves your full recognition of the casualties they have suffered and the standard they set for the whole anime industry.
With that, let’s dive right in.
[Edit: A year after originally finishing this, I came back to Violet Evergarden. I had new thoughts that wouldn’t necessarily fit well into the flow of this write-up. You can find them here. Consider this a post-commentary to my original thoughts written here.]
dya- -gesis 