THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

"You don't need me anymore, so let's not meet" - when I heard that, my heart dropped like hers must've did.

Story: 10/10
I liked the direction. The movie started from the perspective of the great granddaughter of one of Violet's clients, who became entranced after reading the letters much treasured throughout the years. We're shown the cruel reality of dolls being put out of business by advancements in technology, namely the telephone. However, this did not deter our temporary protagonist from travelling to the post office where it all took place, which has been turned into a museum.

The film jumped to Violet's perspective at this point, after a brief recap. She had just delivered a song of praise for the seas, in a ceremony so formal I was worried she might be indoctrinated back into the army.

Then just as suddenly, we're shown a flash of the life of a man on an unknown island. It looks post apocalyptic, I wasn't sure it was in the present. The hair and eyes of the male character looked familiar; where have I seen him before? You might already be able to guess his identity based on the trailer, but lots of questions arose. Why didn't he attempt to come back if he was alive? Did he lose his memory? Well, you'll have to watch to find out.

Character: 9/10
Yulice's (not sure the English spelling) story was also bittersweet, and I liked how Violet's professionalism and weight she put together in their promise helped her make up her mind on giving up on the Major. The regret she shown was very admirable to say the least, as she realised the impossibility to fulfill his final request during the storm. I was afraid that Violet will never get to know that he was actually happy for her, but thankfully Iris relayed that to her later on.

Overall: 9.3/10
I can't express my feelings in words now. All in all, the whole framing was so great, everyone was crying throughout the movie. My only qualm is how much Gilbert was romanticized in the anime series, but he is actually a shallow piece of sh** (pardon my language) in the movie. Luckily his brother and our dear Hodgins managed to bring him to his senses, else it might've been a sad ending. For that, the only category I won't be rating 10 is Character.

Afterthoughts
I am glad that it was a wholesome happy ending, and I don't think there will be a second season given how perfectly the story ended. There were 2 different light novels that I received as a bonus present during the screening that illustrates the life of Violet after the ending of the movie that concludes whatever questions you may have. Let's hope they'll be distributed in overseas screenings as well.