Violet Evergarden Director Had a Change of Heart After Thinking that “Original characters were unnecessary”
There are very few animes as poignant and touching as Violet Evergarden, a story that constantly unfolds and awakens some new feelings every time you watch it. There are many aspects of Violet Evergarden that can be explored, but in the end, it’s about the journey of the titular character connecting to her own emotions.
Violet Evergarden started as a light novel series, written by Kana Akatsuki. In 2018, Kyoto Animation, arguably one of the best animation studios, adapted the story into a 13-episode anime series. Apart from those 13 episodes, there’s also an extra episode that was released after the series ended, which fits in somewhere before the end of the series.
There’s also a film Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll that was released in 2019 and another movie Violet Evergarden: The Movie that was released in 2020.
Taichi Ishidate Didn’t Think Any Original Characters Were Necessary
In an interview originally published in Shin-Q Vol.2 2017, the director of Violet Evergarden, Taichi Ishidate talks about his personal approach to the project, its themes, and the particularities of the production. He also talked in detail about Violet Evergarden and what the story revolves around.
The interviewer then asked Ishidate about the two original anime characters, Erica and Eris, and how he thought about adding them after the initial stages of planning. To this, Ishidate replied:
Frankly, at the beginning, I didn’t think any original characters were necessary. I mentioned it earlier, but this is an omnibus style of series revolving Violet, so it’s already supplemented by characters she meets week-in and week-out.
Because of that, I thought original characters were unnecessary. However, when I spoke with series composer Reiko Yoshida-san, I came to realize that we wanted companions to appear in the place where Violet returns to.
The team thought that having people there close to the character and allowing her to contrast how she felt when she met all those outsiders, would be the best way to manifest her budding feelings. Ishidate laughed and added that otherwise, Violet would be too much of a wanderer.
He further added that Erica and Iris were simply friends, and observing Violet from close by, they were in a position that’s easy to sympathize with. However, to think of it on a more pragmatic level, there’s also the fact that Cattleya wouldn’t be working by herself in the writing division of CH Mail Services, where Violet was located.
Taichi Ishidate Said That Violet Evergarden Has An Ephemeral Feel
The interviewer stated that although the story is about Violet, it felt that simply categorizing it as a growth story would be a bit incorrect. Ishidate had a quite beautiful response to that, saying:
Violet herself has an ephemeral feel. She’s the protagonist, but while the story is based around her growth, her actual presence is quite sparse. You wonder if she’s really here or not. And because she’s that type of person, you can’t deliver a straightforward, orthodox tale; you have to include portions that show the various filters through which she perceives the world.
He continued to say that when a staff member said “it feels like we’re watching a Violet prism”, referring to how light passed through her and dispersed. But Ishidate said that she was not a mirror. Instead of Violet having an effect on the world around her, it’s through the people she met that she learned how to improve herself and began to change who she was.
Throughout the story, Violet was grappling with these emotions she failed to understand. But it was through meeting new people and being guided by them that she learned to recognize the intricate emotions weaved within her.
