When it started out as what felt like an extended episode of Violet Evergarden, I was curious where it was going to go, and also a little worried it was actually going to be just two new episodes smashed into one package. But thankfully, it wasn't. I was happy to see how the second half turned out to be something that built upon the story of the first half. I was definitely surprised by the big jump in time; time has always been played with in subtle ways in the show, fast-forwarding to see the fruits of Violet's labours, then going back to the present in the next episode. This was the most significant time skip, showing most of the familiar characters with new haircuts and some in new relationships, with Violet being the only exception. On one hand, I would really like to see more of what happened in the three year gap, but on the other hand, it serves the story well and opens up opportunities for potential future stories (or, at least one more). For what it's worth, I'm glad they did it, and I'm glad that we got to see a little more of some of the side characters because of it.

My biggest complaint with this is something I've had with most of the anime movies I've seen that are sequels to existing shows: it feels too much like the show. From recycling the show's music, to keeping the same quality of animation, to using the inserts they show at the end of each episode, this just feels like a longer episode of the show proper. The only difference is that they slap some letterboxed borders on it and call it a movie. I really wish I got a more cinematic experience from it. If anything, I wish they had kept the aspect ratio in a full 16:9, because it would have been easier to grab wallpapers from the movie that I wouldn't have to crop.

That being said, this movie is no slouch. While they do reuse music from the show, said music is moving and beautiful, and the new pieces created for this movie are fantastic. And it doesn't really matter if the quality of the animation stays the same; it's from Kyoto Animation, and their TV shows all have movie-level animation, so the visuals are stunning. My favourite part, besides being completely emotionally devastated by the end (the Violet Evergarden specialty), was how they expanded the worldbuilding. Ever since my recent rewatch of the series, I yearned to learn more of the fascinating world this story takes place in. And with this time skip, we get to see how the country is changing and rebuilding after the war. I'm so looking forward to more of this, and to see more of Violet's adventures in changing the lives of those around her as she herself learns from those very same people.

Also, Violet's outfit she wears to the ball is the coolest outfit ever.