Haruka Fujita’s One Interpretive Change in Violet Evergarden Completely Turned the Meaning of the Most Impactful Scene Around
Violet Evergarden is multifaceted in its narrative, and it is justified to say that it is one of the most beautiful works from Kyoto Animation. The moving tale of Violet Evergarden centers on the titular character, who was raised as a weapon of war and finds it difficult to comprehend her own feelings.
Much of the success of the anime is rooted in the characters of the series, who help Violet mature into her own feelings. One of them is Claudia Hodgins, a former lieutenant-colonel of the army who quit the military after the war ended and established the CH Postal Company, where he serves as its president.
Haruka Fujita, the series director, talked about her involvement in the Violet Evergarden project and how the minute changes in Hodin’s expressions came about.
Haruka Fujita Talked About Changing The Expression On Claudia Hodgins’s Face
In an interview with ATMA & Funomena, Haruka Fujita talked in detail about getting involved with a project like Violet Evergarden. The interviewer asked Fujita whether she looked at the series differently, or had any different ideas from that of Taichi Ishidate, the director, and she replied that the director looked at Violet from the perspective of a parent. He wanted to raise and nurture Violet, who was, at the start, like a blank slate.
However, Fujita was more drawn towards the characters that changed through their meeting with Violet. She then continued:
As for ideas that came from me, when correcting the storyboards for the last scene of episode 9, I changed the expression on Hodgins’ face. He was originally smiling, but I changed it so that he would be crying.
She stated that the reason that Hodgins stayed quiet about how Gilbert had not returned wasn’t because he felt awkward talking about it, but rather, he stayed quiet for the sake of Violet. Fujita put herself into Hodgins’ shoes and thought that after hearing Violet ask ‘Am I allowed to carry on living?’, he surely wouldn’t be able to keep himself from crying.
Haruka Fujita On Why She Decided To Show Bridget’s Injured Finger
The interviewer mentioned that other than her work overall as series director, Haruka Fujita also directed and story-boarded episode 2. When she was asked why she decided to show Bridget’s injured finger, she said:
At first glance, Bridget seems aloof and haughty. However, through this single shot of her hand, you get a glimpse into her everyday life. I wanted to show that in some way or another, she, too, was living earnestly despite the challenges she faced in her own life.
Fujita further added that episode 2 was about Violet learning that people don’t always say what they truly feel. She continued to say that showing there’s a face that Bridget presents to the world whilst she hides something else inside was an easy-to-understand way of expressing this.
Fujita also said that Erica was the main character for episode 2, and she quite liked Erica’s slightly cynical personality. She mentioned the scene where Erica hears from Violet why she wants to become an Auto Memories Doll, and she replies by saying ‘That’s it?’ Fujita seemed to enjoy that part quite a lot, even commenting on Minori Chihara’s brilliant acting as Erica Brown.
