I finally took another stab at Violet Evergarden this week, and boy was I glad I did. With a better understanding of what the show was actually trying to do, even its first episodes felt much stronger this time, and the later highlights were absolutely breathtaking. Ultimately, Evergarden turned out to be a brilliantly realized mixture of intimate character development and larger reflections on self-expression and identity, peppered with individual vignettes capable of staggering beauty and emotional acuity. The Kyoto Animation golden age continues apace.
Great review as always! God this show reduced me to a blubbering wreck. Some of those middle episodes were surgical in their ability to invoke deep empathy for Violet’s clients in their short runtimes. It’s my AOTY thus far, KyotoAni’s A-game is untouchable.
Yea, unfortunately there was some plot points near the end that I wish weren’t there, but overall it’s been a long time since I’ve seen melodramatic elements done so well in a show.
I’m glad you eventually came around to watching it.
P.S. what did you think of the last scene? Why did she smile?