Spoilers Ahead!

Violet Evergarden: The Movie is a film that I have waited seemingly an eternity for. After all the issues with Covid, and whatever else that caused it to take so long to be released on streaming, it finally arrived on Netflix for me to watch.

I'll address the elephant in the room immediately. I did not like Violet and Gilbert's ending. The very reveal that Gilbert was alive was something I didn't like. Violet Evergarden to me was the story of Violet finally finding herself, finding a purpose outside of war, and moving on from Gilbert. Much of the anime was spent pretty much telling this story. Seeing her blossom and finally move on was so amazing. Of course, this only lasted until Gilbert was revealed to be alive at the end of the anime.

Having made peace with the idea of Gilbert being alive, I welcomed this movie with open arms. I was completely open to them seeing each other again. That is, as long as they didn't end up together. The movie actually did this pretty well, up to a point. I thought everything was perfect until Gilbert decided to chase after Violet. They were already in a place where they could move on. They both knew that each other was alive and okay, and Violet was able to send her final letter to him.

Violet and Gilbert do not work together. As part of each other's past, sure. As part of each other's future, no way. As the anime and movie kept reminding us, Gilbert used Violet, a child, as a weapon of war. Suffice to say, this is an extremely unhealthy relationship. This doesn't mean that any feelings between them weren't real, but there's just no way that they can end up together after that. Not to mention the fact that Gilbert was basically a father figure to Violet. I thought this was a perfect chance to show two people who meant a lot to one another and who still have feelings for each other accept that they couldn't be together.

I don't know if I was wrong to think all this time that this was a story about moving on, but I can't help but feel extremely disappointed. Thankfully, this did not ruin the movie for me. Maybe it's due to the fact that I hadn't watched any entries to this franchise in a year (I think?). My feelings about Violet and Gilbert were not as strong as they once was. I also knew going into this movie that there was a possibility that they'd wind up together. That probably softened the blow for me. I was able to take the bad with the good, and damn it, there was a lot of good here.

I feared that this movie would only focus on Violet and Gilbert and remove the franchise's greatest strength: Violet writing letters for others. Thankfully, it was fully present in this movie. The terminally ill boy, Yuris, provided parallels to what Violet was experiencing at the time. I was hoping that Yuris and Lucas's final conversation on the phone would also be mirrored in Violet and Gilbert's. In that they wouldn't see each other again. Obviously, that was not the case. Still, it must have been the beautiful climax of that story that had saved the movie for me. I loved their final conversation on the phone.

Violet Evergarden has shown the importance writing letters, in which one can put their thoughts in order, especially ones that are impossible to convey in person. Of course, all forms of communication have their place in our lives. Sometimes we don't need to write a clear and cohesive letter to someone. Sometimes the words don't even matter. Sometimes just the act of talking to them. I think this is the genius of Yuris and Lucas's final conversation on the phone. Letters from beyond the grave are great and all, but they really needed to talk and get closure. It didn't even matter what they said to each other. To have Iris be the one to facilitate this is just the icing on the cake. Despite being such a minor character in this movie, she still managed to receive a satisfying end to her own arc.

Earlier in the movie the telephone was shown to be the thing that would put the dolls out of business, but it was able to give a dying boy a chance to speak to his best friend again. I think this is an example of one of this movie's recurring themes: progress. The movie also shows Gilbert building a mechanism to help the farmers transport their harvest faster. Both are examples of technological progress. Despite the emphasis on old school letter-writing, I felt that this movie showed the importance of accepting new technologies and moving forward into the future. I thought this was supposed to mirror Violet moving on too. I was wrong, of course.

I love the framing device of the girl from the future too. It showed just how much Violet helped so many people, and how great her influence was. After finding out about the letters her grandma received (the story from episode 10), and finding out more about Violet, Daisy also realizes how valuable writing letters is. Her deciding to write a letter herself was a perfect ending to the movie. It's also something I relate to, having recently started to write letters and having penpals. Online penpals, but still.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The story of Violet Evergarden is something that will stick with me for a long time. It's a story that has made me cry so many times, affirming that I do in fact have a heart. I guess I could just forget that Violet and Gilbert end up together. I'll just pretend that their story ended with Violet going back to Leiden, and Gilbert reading her final letter.