Story: 10/10 A+
Animation/Art: 10/10 A+
Sound: 8/10 B-
Characters: 12/10 S+
Acting(dubbed): 7/10 B-
Enjoyment: 11/10 S-
Overall: 12/10 S+
Story:
Revolving around child war veteran Violet, she becomes an auto-memory doll that writes letters in order to understand the meaning of emotion and love. While to some of you, it may not appear to be a particularly captivating story, I’d recommend putting those doubts to the side. This is one of the most emotional stories in fiction I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. The amount of times that I was brought to tears in this show is incredible. Episode 3 and after was a constant tearfest. The story is sometimes presented in parts to hide some facts from you and it’s done very well, making the moments when they are revealed incredibly impactful. While the pacing is slow in the first two episodes, it is worth every single second to get to the third episode and further.
Animation/Art:
Easily some of the best animation in an anime series I’ve seen. Imagine the animation of Your Name in a series the whole way through. That is how good this is. Each scene is absolutely beautiful, worthy of being in an art show. This even extends to the fight scenes in the show, which are surprisingly well choreographed considering it’s not at all the main focus of the show.
Sound:
The music is good. Although I admit it does get pretty repetitive at times it becomes associated with certain emotions, thus triggering an even stronger emotional response from the viewer. It’s very well implemented and immerses you in the scene well. But unfortunately, I’m comparing it to the best soundtrack I’ve heard, Your Lie In April. Violet Evergarden while good isn’t nearly as good as that show.
Characters:
This show focuses a large part on side characters, and that is where it excels and exceeds every other show I’ve seen so I’ll be starting this section with them. This first started in episode 3, the first episode to make me cry in the series. It focused on the relationship between a brother and sister and as a brother myself, it felt almost too personal. The relationship was very well done. Episode 7 focused on a writer named Oscar Webster, and he is now one of my favorite characters in fiction. My personal favorite episode in the series, we get to see Oscar as a broken man who lost his daughter, the development of Oscar in this episode is absolutely incredible, turning him from an annoying drunk to a character that can bring you to absolute tears in 20 minutes. Episode 10 is my final example and is widely considered to be the best episode in the series. A portrayal of innocence from the view of a child and sacrifice and fear from the view of a parent. At the end of the episode, we get to see the young child age and finally understand the things her mother was trying to do for her, which her younger self had misinterpreted as her mother being uncaring.
Acting(dubbed):
I watched this with family so I had to put it on dub for them. I’m not planning a rewatch for Sub any time soon. The acting in the dub is fine. The VA for Violet is decent in most situations but excels in some moments, usually ones with heavy emotion. Other characters are about as good although most don’t get chances to shine like Violets' actress. One character I found particularly annoying in the acting department was Dietfried, the brother of the major. His VA just sounded so dead inside, I really could not get over it. Overall though not bad, although not the best dub I’ve heard.
Enjoyment:
My god. I have never cried this much in a show. The first 2 episodes I didn’t really like but episode 3 really kicked it into high gear for me. I cried during it, the first time I’ve cried watching a show in a while. After that, I cried in nearly every episode. Episodes 7 and 10 in particular made me do more than just silently cry, I was practically wailing during them. The emotion that this show conveys is unlike any other. While other shows can make me cry, no show comes close the the consistency of bringing tears to my eyes that this show does. The art was beautiful, every single scene looked like it was drawn with incredible attention to detail and with extreme care. The characters are some of the best I’ve ever seen and the side characters are easily the best out of all the anime I’ve currently watched. The relationships between characters are perfectly made, and each character's motivation is well explained and understandable. I can’t express enough how emotional and well-crafted the characters in this show are. Beware to you viewers, if you don’t like crying this is not the show for you.
Overall:
This is my favorite show now. For a while it was Mob Psycho 100, then it became Steins Gate, but this is something different. It doesn’t have the thrilling and incredibly well-animated action of Mob Psycho, or the unbelievable development of the main protagonist as Steins Gate does, but as an overall show, Violet Evergarden comes close to and often surpasses the other two in every category. This show is something special. This show is beautiful. This show is emotional. This show is a 12/10. Well done.
