Note: I watched this film when it premiered in the cinema, therefore I am unable to provide exact quotes. However, what I’d like to discuss are the key points that really touched my heart.
In the anime, Violet Evergarden has grown from a human weapon to a writer who is able to convey the heart of her clients. However, even as the years had passed, she had never forgotten Gilbert and continues to hope for his return.
Therefore, although Violet has grown, she has never truly forgotten, nor is it right to assume that she had moved on. This film, moreover highlights Violet’s struggle with losing a loved one from war. However, we don’t see a resolution of accepting loss. Instead, we saw the fruits of her hope when Gilbert was revealed to be alive.
It is important to note that the film and the novel had done this reunion differently. I cannot measure which one is better. However, I did find this film’s new and original take quite satisfying and beautiful.
Yurith is a young sick boy who commissioned Violet to write letters for his family; so that once he passes, she can deliver the letters to those he left behind. This kind of plot is quite common in Violet Evergarden, but it never failed to tug at my heart strings. The emotions in Yurith’s voice and his earnest love for his family was so real, that it hurts.
What really made me cry was the scene when he made a call to his best friend and apologised for pushing him away. Yurith’s voice cracked as if it took everything for him to even speak, but the love conveyed through that telephone call, speaking of friendships which surpasses once’s lifetime was so sincere and comforting.
Next was when his family read his letters soon after he passes away. Watching the pained cries of his mother and the silent tears that his father can no longer hold as they read his letter;
A simple yet warm statement, so kind and full of love.
Yurith pushed his parents and younger brother away when he was sick. But secretly, he longed to be doted for. To be loved and to be cared for by his parents. But because of his condition, it was easier for him to push everyone away to make it easier to accept his fate. To pass on the love that was meant for him to his younger brother was so kind and so reassuring. It allows his parents to (somewhat) let go of him and focus their affections on their youngest. That although Yurith is gone, his love lives on, and his parents’ love for him can be manifested through his younger brother.
The central plot revolves around Gilbert surviving the war after losing an eye and an arm. Gilbert lived in a far off island which gained independence after the war, working as a teacher. It was a peaceful life and none of his friends and family knew that he had survived. This is because Gilbert had ran away from his life due to the guilt and grief he felt by making Violet a weapon of war (which resulted her to lose her limbs).
In the novel, this was completely different. Many of Gilbert’s friends and family knew he was alive. I cannot accurately explain this myself, but I’d like to provide you with the criticism of u/lovingcrimson from [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/VioletEvergarden/comments/iwh3ty/violet_evergarden_the_movie_summary_this/ ) which explained the ideas conveyed in the novel of who Gilbert is supposed to be. (I don’t believe they have seen this film yet prior to this statement. Their opinions seem to be based on the rough (and incomplete) summary provided by someone who had watched it).
The deal with novel!Gilbert is that he looks around at everything he has, everything that had been burdening him and killing him on the inside all his life, and decides to make use of it for Violet’s sake. He continues being family head and working in the army, amassing money and connections in order to have every means possible to protect Violet should anything happen to her. And as it turns out, he does end up having to use those means, more than once, but he will keep this up for as long as he needs to, because he lives for her now. That’s what makes him worth all the blood, sweat, tears, mental sanity and even body parts that she gave away for his sake: he pays it back. Every cent.
'This path KyoAni took also introduces plot holes. Without Gilberts protection, she had no one in the military ensuring that she wasn't reclaimed by them and used again as a weapon. As well, the honorable, worthy man for Violet was turned into a pathetic, hermit of a man deserving nothing more than the fate of dying alone in the place he fled to. KyoAni could've pulled this movie into a mega twist where Bert is both revealed as alive and that he had been behind the scenes all along, and then using the remainder of the movie to allow Violet and Bert to reconcile and come together culminating in the confession scene in the third novel chapter 6. It could've left it at that.
It would've been beautiful to have seen the movie centering around Bert's past/path before they reunited, showing Bert working hard at keeping Violet safe from the shadows while trying to reconcile his own feelings and guilt. Unburdened by having her at his side, he's able to grow from a frontlines soldier into a masterful tactician, both militarily and in the civilian world. Climbing ranks, building connections, obtaining wealth, not for himself but for her. Watching from the shadows - knowing his direct presence would hurt her growth - but ever keeping an invisible shield over her from forces inconceivable to someone only used to seeing the immediate physical surroundings as a battlefield. Unlike Bert, who was raised in a prestigious family with military heritage, Violet is/was unaware of the political, socioeconomic and strategic dangers. That was part of the beauty of their relationship, the canon reason he disappeared, and would've pulled it all together.'
With that being said, although I do agree that the novel had honoured Gilbert’s character with much more depth, I do not think that the film had made an utter mockery of him. In the film, Gilbert ran way due to his grief and guilt.
His hope for her was to allow her to grow as a normal child. To see the world and appreciate the beauty of life. But because he needed her in battle, he lives in resentment for sacrificing her youth for his benefit (or well, the benefit of the country). As a result, he wanted to socially die. To be perceived as dead believing that it was better for everyone. Although this plotline has constricted his ‘true and original’ character, it was still very real and raw. This does not indicate that Gilbert did not love Violet or that he was a terrible man. Rather, it conveys Gilbert as a man who struggles from the trauma he has experienced from war. The regret of surviving while watching people around him die in both factions of the war; it is very human to run away from this. That is why I cannot hate how KyoAni changed Gilbert’s character. It did not undermine who he is, nor is it a reflection that he is selfish.
Rather, Gilbert is a result of the guilt and burdens born from war.
However, although Gilbert attempted to run away from the life he left behind. He was never forgotten. Violet, unwaveringly believed that he was alive. Hodgins, although many years had passed, remembers Gilbert’s handwriting and sought to trace him down. Dietfried, his brother, was unable to let go of his memory. Going so far as to lie to Violet about Gilbert’s hat (claiming that it was his) so that Violet wouldn’t take it as her own memorabilia. Although Gilbert tried to run away from his grief, he was so deeply loved.
Regardless of the choices he made in war. Regardless of his cowardice and guilt, they all loved him and this finally reaches him when Violet wrote her last letter to him.
Violet loves Gilbert. She chose to become a Doll and grew to become a person who aims to understand the feelings of others because of the love that Gilbert had given her. Violet wanted to understand Gilbert’s love, which had lead her to become who she is today. Therefore, although the film did not take the same route as the book, the effect that Gilbert had on her was still, very much, just the same. That because of him, she desired to become more than just a human weapon. Because of him, she wanted to know ‘love’.
When Gilbert read this last part of the letter and the song, Michishirube / みちしるべ by 茅原実里 came on, I cried. It was so fitting. All the emotions I was keeping inside came rolling out and I was filled with the bittersweet tenderness of love. Gilbert’s voice was never just an order for Violet. It was her guide and protector. It shaped her to become who she is now.
‘I love you.’ ‘Aishiteru’. 愛してる. To love someone so deeply, immeasurably, sincerely. When Gilbert finally expresses the desires of his heart, Violet was unable to express herself, ‘I…Major…’. She repeatedly utters this as she cries, her fist clenched as she tried to will herself to speak, completely overwhelmed by Gilbert’s declaration. Moreover, Gilbert acknowledges that it may be selfish of him to still want her by his side. That after using her and running away, deep in his heart, he wanted her desperately.
I thought this scene was so beautiful. It was so sweet and heartfelt. And most importantly, it was so wonderfully raw. What makes Violet Evergarden so charming is its ability to express honest emotions. I told myself I wasn’t going to cry in this film. But how can I not when the emotions punches right through your soul?
I really enjoyed this film even if it took a different approach from the novel. The scenes were beautiful, the music fits in so well, and the conveyance of emotion was well done. I am satisfied.