Forum

For the record, I do sort of agree with both sentiments. I just found the divergence in tone both amusing and confusing. ^^;; And I read these episode reviews because I don't have Netflix and I don't know whether this show is available on the Norwegian Netflix service... yet. (I asked a friend of mine to check, and if it's there, I'll give it a look this upcoming summer.)

But yes, letters can be nice. And yes, they really should've given her a hug or a listening ear too. Still.... ^^;;

I would argue that given the importance that letters have in the world of Violet Evergarden (the show) and the type of character Violet is, the decision to send her a letter was a better one than trying to hug her or listen to her. Violet has become adept at conveying the feelings and sentiments of others, but I get the impression she is still not particularly comfortable expressing her own, verbally. She doesn't strike me as particularly touchy-feely, either. I think viewers who express disapproval of how her friends reached out to her are expressing their own preferences as opposed to considering what Violet herself would find most pleasing.

Since I'm a very much non-fun, non-romantic kind of person, I spend a good chunk of every episode wondering about the cost of those letters. (Another good chunk is spent on ugly crying.)

How ... how does anyone pay for those? The dolls often travel to their destination, the soldier's camp was, what, a week away in one direction? Am I supposed to believe that Violet was paid for an entire 2 weeks work trip, only for producing 2 letters?

When she stayed with the princess, that was fine. They have money. Even the time spent in the library I could get. But they're also hired by regular people. And they travel! Those letters' worth would equal hundreds if not thousands in US-currency. I mean ...?

I'm pretty sure Violet isn't getting reimbursed for that trip to the soldier's camp. She wasn't supposed to be going in the first place, after all.

That's not the point. The soldier did order the service, knowing that Leidenschaftlich is one week worth of travel away.
It wasn't turned down on that basis, it was turned down because it's too dangerous to send anyone to a war zone. So while Violet may or may not not get payed for that particular trip, the problem was not the amount of time it would take, or the payment.

On the customers side, there was no reason to think anything went wrong with the booking anyway (he also had more pressing issues to worry about at that point).

There is also a difference between paying the company, and paying the specific worker. I don't think customers pay Violet herself, just as we don't pay the mechanic that repairs our cars, we pay the shop.

In episode 4, they sent 2 dolls to Iris' hometown. They stayed overnight, at least.
In episode 7, Violet stays multiple days with the writer.
In episode 10, she stays with that family for an entire week.
That's not going to be cheap, either.

Episode 12

I guess in the previous episode they saw that Violet can dodge bullets and so thought that it would be better to engage the hand-to-hand combat master in melee. I guess it worked?

Northlander wrote:

I don't know whether this show is available on the Norwegian Netflix service... yet.

It will release there on the 4th of April.

Also, you should definitely check it out. It's probably the best drama of the year.

Kim wrote:

Quote:

Diethard's character works a little better as an example of Violet's past coming back to haunt her. His anger toward Violet seems to come from a place of self-hatred and bitterness more than anything.

He seems to believe that viewing Violet as a human and not as a weapon is what lead to Gilbert's death. So it makes sense that he would ultimately blame himself since he brought Violet to his brother.

And while i agree that this wasn't exactly the strongest episode, the appearance of Diethard has given me new hope that we'll finally get a bit more of Violet's backstory (though i'm not holding my breath...)!

Ep 11 review wrote:

It would have added a layer of depth to the narrative's post-war theme if the “anti-peace” faction was opposed to the terms of peace rather than the concept of peace itself...

Ep 12 review wrote:

When they finally explain what motivates them to derail the signing of the peace treaty, their reasons are just what I expected; they dislike the idea of peace itself after being soldiers for so long.

During that scene I was thinking, "Well, this should answer that criticism that they're just peace-haters." But apparently Kim's preconceptions blinded her to what they actually said, namely that they didn't get the peace they'd been promised and were betrayed, abandoned and reviled instead of honored for their role in the war by the southern half of the country. I thought they had some legitimate gripes, but had just given up on the possibility of finding peaceful solutions and decided to destroy everything instead.

Quote:

He accuses Violet of being a “tool” multiple times in this episode; then when he saves her from the enemy soldiers, he blames her for not being the perfect soldier. Which way does he want it?

He wants her to be a useful tool. Her "naive" refusal to kill doesn't make her not a tool in his eyes, just an ineffective one. I don't see how that's at odds with his scorn of her efforts to be a human being.

Last edited by grooven on Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:21 pm; edited 1 time in total

So is episode 14 supposed to be something taking place between another episode or is it an OVA kinda of deal?

A really strong last episode. I enjoyed how they wrapped things up and the moment with Gilbert's mother was beautiful. The letter to Gilbert was a perfect touch too.

I didn't have the issues that the reviewer had, I found it connected pretty well. I can't say many animes have captured the feel atmosphere of war as well as this. The motivations from the opposing side became clear a bit later, which would have befitted from clearing that up earlier.The drama this series had was really compelling. I know a few episodes fell short to others, but the majority was amazing. I would say this is the strongest drama I've seen in a while. Not to mention the quality was fantastic.

Though seeing there is more in store for this series from the latest announcement, this won't be the end so I look forward to continuing the story. I feel a bit of romance would make me love it even more.

Considering that there will still be more to come, it will be interesting to see how it will follow up the TV series. Overall, I enjoyed my time with this series. It wasn’t the best of the season, but it was definitely far from being the worst. It had its problems, but the positives outweighed the negatives and I like it. It won’t be in my top 5 personal favorites from Kyoto Animation, but that’s perfectly fine and I don’t regret it. I just wonder how this show would have turned out under a different director. Taichi Ishidate would likely be considered above average in any nearly any other studio, but by Kyoto Animation standards, he’s just not that good. It’s not a perfect comparison, but I personally say that he’s the Ringo Starr of Kyoto Animation.

In the end this is a Good show. The visuals were top notch throughout. I was disappointed by the writing, but I should not have assumed that an adaption from a recipient of the "prestigious" KyoAni Awards Grand Prize was automatically going to be a great anime.

Joshua Zarate wrote:

I just wonder how this show would have turned out under a different director. Taichi Ishidate would likely be considered above average in any nearly any other studio, but by Kyoto Animation standards, he’s just not that good.

I agree that Ishidate is the least good KyoAni director, but I cannot blame him for the low lights in VEG; he actually did a good job with the script he was given. The show was not well written, but I don't think a better director could have elevated the material much more than Ishidate did.

I 100% agree with the criticism of Taichi Ishidate here. I am constantly drawn to comparing VEG with Beyond the Boundary, and I found the similarities of the weaknesses of both shows striking. Both series suffered in the realm of script quality and the transition from episode to episode. Several times in the both series, I am left scratching my heads at the behaviour of characters and the plot progression. VEG was still a good show, but I definitely know it could have been much better.

I have to wonder if the source material is to blame here - or rather, the source of the source material. Both VEG and Beyond the Boundary came from Kyoto Animation's own catalogue, as was Phantom World, which was also a flop.

Out of the recent critically acclaimed series from KyoAni (Hyouka, Amagi Brilliant Park, Hibike! Euphonium, Dragon Maid), none were from KyoAni's own catalogue.

It was quite a beautiful ending. Not a particularly surprising one (except for that mysterious last shot), but a fitting and natural one for Violet's arc and this world as a whole. With lots of Violet crying, smiling, and being open about her emotions, which is always beautiful to see.

So what to say in the end? The series took a bit of time to pick up steam and actually hit me emotionally, but when it did, it did. It probably won't go down in history as a groundbreaking series as far as storytelling goes, but visually I don't think anyone will dispute that it was a gem of vibrant colors and subtle character animation. A good experience, all in all. That said, it looks like Hyouka will remain Kyoani's only masterpiece still

Quote:

Violet's heroic efforts to defend the people on the train—including sacrificing both of her mechanical arms—would have had more impact if her arms didn't return in the next scene with no comment.

Except that they didn't. When she was standing with Benedict talking about the war being over, she had no hands beneath the jacket sleeves hanging limply from her shoulders. By the next scene, there's obviously been time to have that taken care of, and it would be odd if they hadn't. Did you want a scene of her getting fitted for new ones, like Winry torturing Edward in Fullmetal Alchemist? oO

Quote:

That scene where [Benedict] performs acrobatics in high heels was honestly more impressive than any of Violet's super-soldier feats.

Finally, you said something I can agree with! Very Happy

So...did they really drop all those personal letters out over the crowd like that? Unless they were invitations to the air show or something, I really didn't know what to make of that scene, other than, this is a really bad idea. For similar reasons, I also hated that they read the draft of Claudia's letter. To me, letters like that are one of the few things I hold sacred, and not something to yank somebody's chain with as a joke. It seems especially egregious for a Doll to do that, as they're supposed to understand what letters mean to people.

Overall, this series was somewhat disappointing, since I had higher hopes for it. It's hard to pinpoint how it kept me at arm's length, but it was much harder to engage with than it should have been.

Forum - View topic
EP. REVIEW: Violet Evergarden

At 25:00 in Akasaka BL Drama Cast Discuss Kiss Scene, Personal Hobbies at Live Event

This Week in Anime - Are This Season's Isekai Anime Any Good?

Tatsuki Fujimoto's 'Look Back' Anime Film Unveils Trailer, Theme Song, More Staff

Voice Actor Dave Underwood Dies at 57

The Spring 2024 Anime Preview Guide

Fans Say Farewell to Yokohama's Life-Size Moving Gundam

This Week in Anime - What Do You Do When Your Fav Anime Isn't Simulcast?

Ragna Crimson Manga Volume 11 Review

Gundam SEED FREEDOM's Rie Tanaka, Sōichiro Hoshi Share Memories at Los Angeles Premiere

Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Violet Evergarden

Forum

Forum - View topic
EP. REVIEW: Violet Evergarden