First off, this review both applies to The Violet Evergarden Movie (as I consider it akin to a final 2-3 ep worth of content) as well as the show. Secondly, this is the first review I've actually written out, but I decided I had to highlight what everyone seems to just ignore. If I come off as far too unprofessional or hard to follow, feel free to stop reading and ignore the opinions I've shared. So, attempting to keep fairly concise I'll start off with:
The first thing everyone points out (and rightfully so) is the animation, because it's nothing short of drop dead gorgeous. Kyoto Animation really outdid themselves here and it's safe to say it's some of their best work. Not to mention the phenomenal OST, perfectly setting up the emotionally impactful scenes of which the show is known for.
The characters feel real, their struggles both relatable and heart-wrenching. I've found myself very fond of these characters despite the limited screen time, everyone has their purpose in regards to pushing Violet's story forward and recounting their own. Every single sob story is worth hearing, though compelling, starts raising some questions I'll get into in a bit.
As for Violet, she remains (in my opinion) the most tragic character in this show right up until the end. Her journey to figure out what love is, and the emotions she feels is really heartwarming. Not much else I can say that hasn't been said before.
All of this combined with the superb world building creates a believable, emotional masterpiece. Worth every tear shed, if it ended here, I could ignore some of it's glaring issues. However, the movie forced me to reflect on the anime abroad and well, no one else seems to have spoken what I would consider some pretty reasonable gripes.
First thing I noticed whilst watching the anime, the General's near complete silence in the scenes shown right up till his confession. Although it's shown later that he did in fact speak to Violet often, it was never as a peer, just him being friendly. This would make sense though as his both guilty conscious from accepting her as a gift from his brother as well as actually utilizing her as the weapon people said she was. His failure to get her out of the military was a subtle one, but I'll give the man credit there. During the first half of the anime we slowly learn about the relationship he developed with Violet, we learn about his teacher/father role. The fact he gave her the name Violet, and did genuinely want the best for her and so on. All very believably out of guilt. And yet, despite this fact, he still developed feelings for this girl young enough to be his daughter.
Now, by the end of the show, she's matured into a proper young woman, so it's widely considered to be fine by the end. Which, although that's true, I can't help but feel mixed about a man, who basically did a middling job in raising and taking care of a girl, could fall in love with said girl and that everyone's okay with that...
Even the General himself knew it was wrong, the plot of the movie revolved around him staying away because he felt as much, and for that I have great respect for him.
Switching back to Violet, I can't help but wonder, for being a child soldier, war would leave some fairly deep trauma that would affect how they had grown up. As much is made clear by her agonizing over the people she killed during the time she served. The consensus would be that she fell for the General during her time in the war, and learnt about the way she felt later down the line. This is where I'd argue the way she felt was more akin to Stockholm Syndrome compared to actual romantic feelings. Falling for the first guy to treat her like a human, whilst sweet, doesn't sit right when he's her commanding officer in a position of power. It's heavily implied that if she wasn't in the army she would be killed, so when the options literally leave her trapped, it figures something like that could happen. I dislike that I'm the only guy questioning the moral implications of a child and a grown man (who should know better) falling in love during their time in the military. On one hand, it's not exactly something the child was in control over and admittedly the General's hands were pretty tied as well. But I don't think just because that it couldn't be helped, that it should be glossed over.
Considering the issues I have could be fixed by lowering the General's age and rank, and having Violet appointed under him by his older brother. The entire plot starts to feel very close to something out of a not so great kind of book that woman are particularly found of, for the sake of emotional convenience. Not to mention, whenever you want to start questioning this, the show hits you with side character stories to get the waterworks going just enough to carry it into Violet and Gilbert's relationship. To be clear, I don't dislike these characters, I think they're great, I just find the romance to be less then desirable.
Gilbert taking on a rather father-like role whilst being unable to get her out of the military, while Violet experiences the trauma of war with nowhere else to go. She starts thinking the General is the only "desirable" place to be, what the show inevitably calls love could vary easily have been a father daughter relationship (especially given the age gap)
Speaking of the age gap, I do know another character about Violet's age married into an older nobleman, and that marrying younger is fine when/where the anime is based off of. Though I could give you that, the Stockholm Syndrome still holds true despite this.
So where does that leave us? A 15 year old and a 26 year old (26 at minimum as far as I'm aware) fall in love during an incredibly traumatic time and then the show is widely praised for it's heartfelt romance? A fairly standard story of a woman falling in love with an albeit kind captor? With an emotionally inept spin on the girl? An age gap would've been fine, had he not raised her. Stockholm Syndrome would've been fine, had it been that kind of anime. And still, I'm meant to enjoy the undeniably unhealthy romantic relationship facilitated throughout the show? Just because they are meant to be together? Because he cared first? I simply cannot bring myself to be invested in such a flawed romance.
# Closing Thoughts
And thus ends what you could barely consider a review. I just felt I should quickly restate that this is just how I feel and if you took away something different from myself, that's fine, I'm definitely in the minority here. I just felt as though I needed to get this off of my chest more then anything. I did really enjoy the show (the movie not so much) and felt it was very much worth the hype. And I genuinely do think the issues I have could be considered minor, granted with it put into perspective it doesn't seem like it. But with what I made mention of in terms of changing the age and rank around on the General I feel as though the entire show could've functioned near identical and been perfectly fine. But I guess that's just me.
Thanks for reading
~El Psy Kongroo
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