“What happened to her in the end?”: One Heartbreaking Violet Evergarden Episode Became the Foundation of Its Spin Off Movie
Seldom a movie adaptation of a light novel is as emotionally intense as Violet Evergarden: The Movie. The movie also carries a lot of emotional weight off-screen, as it was the first completed film by Kyoto Animation after the arson attack in 2019.
What started as a light novel turned into an anime series of the same name, a side story, Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll, and finally a movie titled Violet Evergarden: The Movie.
Similarly, the titular character has also been through a journey; a journey of adapting and maturing into her feelings. A sequel to the anime series, the film quickly recaps Violet’s tragic story and depicts a more confident and expressive Violet, which had also been introduced in Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll.
While Violet has settled into her role as a Doll, she still pines for Gilbert. The film explores the aftermath of the anime series and follows Violet as her feelings finally get a closure.
Violet Evergarden: The Movie Depicts Violet’s Future
In a special interview that commemorated the Violet Evergarden movie, the producer of the series, Hatta Shinichirou, talked about the reason that spurred the production of the film. The interviewer asked Shinichirou whether the production of Violet Evergarden: The Movie was decided from the time he started making the TV Series. The producer replied:
I was not expecting it when we began the series’ production, but the TV series portrayed the figure of Violet Evergarden living her life, and we believed that depicting the future from then on would be the conclusion point of this work, so taking the TV series into account, we decided to portray it in detail through a theatrical version.
Following this topic, the interviewer then stated that the movie adaptation commenced when the TV series’ broadcast ended, and Shinichirou admitted that the topic of a movie adaptation came up for a little bit when the TV series was being made. He recalled that in episode 10, there was a story where fifty letters ghostwritten by Violet were uninterruptedly delivered to a girl named Ann for fifty years. Then he added:
While making this episode, we staff members were talking amongst ourselves things such as, “How was Violet doing during the time those letters were being delivered?” and, “What happened to her in the end?”. They linked up in a natural manner with the concept of this movie, which depicts “her future”.
Indeed, the film follows our eponymous character’s future as she struggles with her newfound feelings and the return of Gilbert. The movie successfully transitions into the space that was left vacuous, with the narrative sliding into place like it belonged right there.
Violet Evergarden: The Movie Is Imbued With Bittersweet Sentimentality
Violet Evergarden is a story that revolves around the titular character who is a veteran of the war and was admired as a killing machine by both allies and enemies. However, she had to pay a dear cost in the form of losing both her hands and connection with her commanding officer, Major Gilbert.
A large part of the series focuses majorly on Violet herself and her emotional growth as she works as a ghostwriter who helps their clients express their feelings on paper.
This similar note of bittersweet sentimentality flows into the movie as well. Kyoto Animation has outdone itself with the film’s jaw-droppingly gorgeous animation and its attention to little details. The story begins right where the series ends, wherein the final few episodes decide to continue Violet’s plan to find the fate of her superior.
While the intense emotion and slow pace might not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially those unfamiliar with the series, the movie is done exceptionally well, and its aftertaste lingers for a long time.
You can watch Violet Evergarden: The Movie on Netflix.
