Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Violet Evergarden
|
Goto page Previous Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Joshua Zarate
Posts: 2061 |
|
|||||
|
I’m pretty sure the anime original episodes were to be expected for this show since there are currently only two books of Evergarden out now and Kyoto Animation has been known to do original stuff to expand upon the original source material’s world and characters, like in Sound Euphonium. The difference, however, is that although both shows are made by Kyoani, they both have different directors that definitely don’t approach their shows the same way as the other. As what has been shown from Violet Evergarden so far, I think that it can be safe to say that Taichi Ishidate is fourth in line in terms of best (most talented) Kyoani directors (Tatsuya Ishihara, Yasuhiro Takemoto, Naoko Yamada, and then Ishidate). I’m not feeling disappointed from the show so far because it’s being right in line from what I expected from Ishidate and some others feeling disappointed sound more like simply not being happy that the show is doing something that’s not what they thought they wanted to do. Also, Iris is definitely a character people care about (I do), so those saying she is someone no one cares about is highly exaggerating. As of right now, the show is still entertaining and good for what it’s doing and just goes to show as to not always have your expectations as high as other people say they do. High expectations will always lead to disappointment, so it’s not surprising to see some people feeling that way.
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Lemonchest
Posts: 1771 |
|
|||||
|
I wonder if a part of it is also people hoping/expecting a more character driven drama since that's KyoAni's forte, whereas so far this sounds much more premise driven - which puts it in the company of Phantom World & Sento's Brilliant Boobs. But whereas those were more lighthearted affairs, this sounds like it takes itself much more seriously.
|
||||||
|
||||||
Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5424 Location: Iscandar |
|
|||||
I rank them: 1. Takemoto, 2. Ishihara, 3. Yamada and far behind 4. Ishidate.
I don't hate her, but aside from her character design and famous seiyuu, there is nothing interesting about her. She acts more like a typical anime middle school girl than a woman from the 1920's.
I normally don't have super high expectations for new anime shows, but I have almost blind faith that everything KyoAni touches will be of good quality. Still, even if VEG keeps under performing for the rest of its run, it would most likely still be a Good show at the worst, but my almost blind KyoAni faith convinced me that it should be a Very good to Excellent show. But like I said, there is plenty of episodes left for improvement. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Joshua Zarate
Posts: 2061 |
|
|||||
I don’t recall that this show is explicitly supposed to take place in the 1920s. I know that it’s not supposed to take place in/look like modern times, but it feels like it takes place before the ‘20s. Besides that, even if she doesn’t act her age, not everyone that is an adult will act the same way.
I personally never have blind faith towards anything, even if it’s from something I really enjoy, like Kyoto Animation. They made shows in the past that weren’t very good like Beyond the Boundary and Phantom World, so I guess that’s partly why my feelings towards this show are the way there are now. (Expectations were kept in check.) So far at this point in time, this show doesn’t look like it will make its way toward my top 3 anime by Kyoto Animation, and that’s perfectly fine because initially, this premise didn’t grab me as much as it did other people, but at the end of the day, it’s still enjoyable and I like it. The show is still not over, like you said, so let’s just sit back and see where it goes from here. |
||||||
|
||||||
Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
|
|||||
|
This show is hitting a sweet spot for me - I really like it a ton. I got choked up when Iris's parents read the letter. I guess I'm out of step with most of the people posting in this thread.
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
kinghumanity
Posts: 365 |
|
|||||
|
I agree with Kim. It's not like these anime original episodes are bad, but they aren't exceptional, and it's not like Kyoto Animation doesn't know how to seamlessly weave anime original characters and stories into adaptations. Where's the source material stories?
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11349 |
|
|||||
As long as she keeps doing that in front of new people, they're going to have to react to it. It would be weird if they suddenly stopped noticing just because we've seen it a few times. Granted they could take a little less time with it and not draw so much attention to it, like just have a wide shot of her removing her gloves as part of setting up, and a quick wide reaction shot of those seeing it for the first time (and the kids running up to her was good this time), instead of lingering close-ups of her hands and of each person's shocked face. I can see why Iris was upset at being rejected by ol' Eamonn. He was certainly easy on the eyes. For that matter, her mother has impeccable taste in potential suitors for her. If it weren't for the rice terraces, I'd think this village was in Norway. 
|
||||||
|
||||||
CatSword
 Posts: 1489 |
|
|||||
|
I get that Violet suffers from a lack of emotion/ability to relate with people and understand their feelings from spending her whole life in the war, but she's downright agitating at times to the point where I'm literally exclaiming "Really?!" at my screen.
Poor Iris...though I guess her mom was really to blame, as Violet asked her about asking the guy who rejected her - Iris clearly being distressed by it - and she was just like "Yeah, sure!" 
|
||||||
|
||||||
Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
|
|||||
|
Though it is an adaptation, the setting looks Edwardian/George V of the time during WW1, or The Great War as it was known before WW2. 20th Century fashion didn't really start to change to a more modern/less 19th Century look until after the war in the 1920's simply because many clothing factories were too busy making uniforms for the military until then. Also it's not unusal for palm trees to be growing in any European country along the Med, They can even grow here in Blighty. Our winters are not that cold like Canada, or Siberia thanks to the Atlantic Gulf Stream. This anime reminds me of a chocolate Easter egg. Very pretty packaging, but a very thin shell of substance inside. An Edwardian style what-does-it-mean-to-be-human story.
Also reminds me of Maillardet's Automaton the "Draughtsman-Writer". or "The Writer Automaton" creation by Pierre Jaquet-Droz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY_wfKVjuJM 
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
青白
Posts: 184 |
|
|||||
|
Man episode 5! A complete 180 from episode 3 and 4. Really loved the final scene between the maid and the princess.
|
||||||
|
||||||
Cam0
 Posts: 4888 |
|
|||||
|
To be honest while episode 5 finally advanced the story a bit, I found it a bit boring. Particularly I found the back and forth letters between the prince and the princess to be cringy and tiresome. The whole setup was pretty basic and boring in my opinion. So for me this was possibly the weakest episode so far. What happened at the end was interesting so hopefully the next episode will be better.
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Joshua Zarate
Posts: 2061 |
|
|||||
|
Violet is 14? I think I now know why the Major is nowhere to be found; he’s in jail.
Jokes aside, Episode 5 was definitely one of the show’s best episodes no matter what anyone has to say about it. The letters back and forth were definitely charming and romantic in a way I found did a good job showing us exactly who these characters were. I had a feeling Naoko Yamada worked on this episode as soon as I noticed the camera shots focusing on the characters’ feet moving. That’s her bread and butter. That ending of Ep 5 was certainly interesting to see, so I’ll be looking forward to finding out what comes of it next week. |
||||||
|
||||||
Merida
 Posts: 1945 |
|
|||||
|
I'm also in the this was one of the best epiosdes, yet-camp! The "real" letters were very funny and sweet, especially in contrast to the flowery ones written by the dolls. All the side characters and their relationships were very engaging. I didn't mind the age gap too much since it wasn't uncommon for political marriages in the past. Also they both wanted the marriage, i might have felt differently if one of them would have been forced into it. But i agree with the review that the couple seemed to be supposed to mirror Violet and the major who had very different circumstances...well, we'll see.
I'm very curious about the next episode, Violet's past had to catch up with her sooner or later and i'm definitely ready to find out more! |
||||||
|
||||||
|
meiam
Posts: 3442 |
|
|||||
|
Never been really fond of the show (really I'm just watching for the visual) but I agree that this was the strongest episode yet. Still require huge amount of suspension of disbelief (violet being 14, the two country being within half a day of travel from each others but the prince/princess somehow never meeting in the last 4 year, Violet is now somehow ultra competent) and getting over some weird/creepy stuff (10 year gap between 30 and 40 year old, no big deal, 10 year gap between 10 and 20 year old... yeah no). And it takes another sledgehammer to the broken piece that the writers seems to think is a plot(so if Violet is now an expert Doll but still doesn't understand Love, doesn't that means her entire quest is a failure?).
But the writing was much improved, the character interesting, and it didn't repeat the same scenes again. Kudos show! |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Ragdollomega
Posts: 72 |
|
|||||
|
I thought that letter exchange sequence was just awful. Felt more like a competition on who could self deprecate better. I just hope next episode brings something interesting since the story is finally moving.
|
||||||
|
||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group