Violet Evergarden Episode 1
The extreme nature of Violet's emotional trauma makes her a difficult character to sympathize with across the show's early episodes, but that's probably intentional. Instead, Violet's nature shines a light on those around her. Her determination to continue being a Doll in spite of her unsuitability inspires her similarly afflicted coworker, while her blunt and direct manner of expression allows her to break through to another friend's deeply self-hating brother. In the illustration of these conflicts, Violet Evergarden demonstrates a firm certainty that in spite of the individual quirks that separate us, there are commonalities to our experience that often make understanding the joy and pain of others the best way to come to grips with our own feelings. And as Violet's journey continues, this process begins for her as well. Through cataloging the trials and triumphs of a thousand scattered customers, Violet comes to embrace their sorrows and find her own road home.
Violet Evergarden Episode 1
After those introductory episodes, Violet Evergarden shifts to an episodic structure based around Violet traveling to write letters for various new customers. The issue of Violet's relatability fades quickly; it's clear by the third and fourth episodes that Violet is just incapable of expressing her emotions rather than truly lacking them, and by the fifth episode, she's internalized the language of emotion well enough to be extremely good at her job, despite still being stiff in her self-expression. Violet quickly becomes the show's most compelling asset, as her compassion, vibrancy, and ultimate desire to live start waging war with her guilt, self-hatred, and other scars of war. As episode after episode swings for the emotional fences with their new focus characters, Violet's own development comes one small victory at a time, from a half-smile to an unexpected tear.
Along with the energy and polish of its character acting, Violet Evergarden is also alive with clever details of visual storytelling, from its constant visual mirroring and flower motifs to tricks as subtle as the tempo of the river matching Violet's emotional shifts. The soundtrack is equally distinctive, offering a rich stable of orchestral arrangements ranging from nervous flute melodies to crashing horns, giving every episode its own tonal identity. The series presents a unique combination of melodramatic storytelling and incredibly refined cinematic visuals that combines bombast and nuance into an arresting package.
This is an emotional pilot preparing you for a character arc. Violet, completely in denial to her post-war condition, is adamant that she needs to serve. There is something tellingly saddening watching her as she keeps on requesting communication from Major, the man she served in the war. One of the first aspects I recognised in the first episode is that visually, this is one of the best Animes I have seen in this form. It is vibrant, colourful and has a wonderful shine to it. There are certain scenes that show the transparency and fluidity of drinks, whilst sunlight beams through it. Visually, it is impossible for it to not strike the audience.
The fact remains is that it is clear in this episode that Major is actually dead. Violet is very much unaware of this and I wonder as she embarks on her Auto Memory Doll training, how her acquaintance Colonel Hodgins is going to break it to her.
The last episode in my catch-up gets rid of the formalities of the pilot. Violet clearly has a friend in Luculia and both embark to Auto Memory Dolls school. This is the least eventful episode so far, however, it has the most major character progression.
Despite each episode being 30 minutes each, it has a wonderful effect from a storytelling perspective. Violet is a closed book ready for her pages to be turned. You can tell early on that with each episode she will make some mistakes but also offer sweet moments where her character develops.
At first, Violet reminds you of a child, away from the treachery of the world but as the episode progresses it gives you an insight of how she has been brought up as a child soldier. She has no sense of how the world functions when we see her attempting to take her clothes off in front of Benedict. In fact, she only thinks about doing her duties and being loyal to Major Gilbert as we see her writing a report to him with her bandaged fingers.
Personally, I was annoyed at how dumb they have made the character look with no social intelligence but as the episode reaches its climax, we see her taking her first steps in the world when she requests to become an Auto Memoir Doll. This is probably the first time Violet has thought for herself as is clear from the finishing epilogue of Hodgins and I breathe a sigh of relief. To see character development in the very first episode says a lot about the quality of the plot and sets a good pace for the series.
By all accounts, the first anime episode is far stronger than the adapted scenes in the book. But it also shows both the weaknesses of the anime and the book. The book lacks a cohesive narrative structure to thread these emotional arcs together, which is why it has no impact unlike the anime. The anime on the other hand has a tall order: it needs to deliver beyond the first episode.
A good Hollywood war romance film involves the drama of blood and the hope of love. What makes these films tolerable is their feature-length format; it is only 90 minutes long. Evergarden has to deal with at least ten more episodes with this tone. People may feel the excesses of the tone in the future and it would not be surprising for people to criticize its saccharine tone already. But I look forward to the staff overcoming these challenges because they seem excited about the project and showcasing it to the whole world.
What sticks out most about the episode is its animation, which has a richness that's rare even in feature films, let alone TV. Not only do the characters simply move a lot, but there's a remarkable amount of highly detailed secondary animation, especially of hair and fabric, as well as intricate animated shadows and highlights. Usually an animation character designer would produce much more simplified designs, but Violet Evergarden's characters look almost like they came right off of a promo illustration.
They premiered the first episode of the , as well as guest speakers: the director, voice actor, and singer of the OP. (And a bonus live concert from the singer herself for those who stayed after the credits!) The event was fantastic!
I think this anime is going to set the bar pretty high for animation and art standards. Really, the level of effort and work that must have gone into creating the animated time-lapses and some of the really complicated and NOT 3D rendered (as far as I could tell) scenes in this first episode really blew everyone away.
It seemed like they could have gone the route of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and threw us right into a taste of the action in the first episode, instead it seems as if the narrative will take us back and forth through time as we uncover the mystery of the main character and her deep, dark past.
Even though the original series only has 13 episodes, Violet Evergarden has collected enough praise to merit a special and two movies. As with most anime that get special releases, it could cause some pacing issues if you watch it out of order. This article will let you know the best Violet Evergarden watch order to help you get started on the show.
However, if you want to stick true to the release order, simply watch the first 13 episodes before moving on to the special and movies. After the series, the order of specials and movies stays the same as with the chronological order.
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