“The Violet Evergarden” is an anime by Kyoto Animation Studios that unpacks the life of Violet, a fourteen-year-old veteran who is dealing with the aftermath of war on her continent Telesis. Kyoto Animation carries us through the first two episodes with breathtaking scenes of Violet’s hometown and a soundtrack that will fasten your seat belt and take you on a rollercoaster of emotions. “The Violet Evergarden” is a promising piece that shows us its extraordinary potential in the first two episodes.

This anime centers around Violet, who was raised to serve as a weapon to the army. She was given to Lieutenant Gilbert Bougainvillea by his brother Dietfried Bougainvillea who told him, "She is a weapon with no heart, treat her as such do not catch feelings." Gilbert completely ignored that and fell in love anyway. After the war, Violet is left without a purpose, both of her arms, and the love of her life, Gilbert. She ends up in the care of former Lieutenant Claudia Hodgins and struggles to adjust to a normal life after growing up in the military her whole life. 

Although I only watched two episodes of the series, I could already grasp the plot and the challenges Violet faces. The first two episodes do a good job showing how Violet struggles with unlearning behaviors she was taught as an army child. It's interesting how even though Violet doesn't show her emotions through her facial expressions, I could still tell how she is feeling. This is a product of great writing and animation.  Although Hodgins hasn't told Violet that Lieutenant Gilbert has passed, it makes me excited but terrified of her reaction to this news. Violet sees herself only as a tool, but her actions show that she is much more than that and is capable of becoming more. Kyoto did a good job showing Violet's depth without having to literally explain it. It was also beautiful, with the show lighting up my laptop screen with delicate spring colors. The studio utilized the power of colors to the max and combined it with perfect animation to make every make movement pop. 

Something that could have been done better was explaining to the viewer who characters are. Some scenes confused me because random characters would appear in scenes and talk like you should know them, but you don't because the character hadn’t been introduced.

That said, Violet Evergarden is rightfully an award-winning anime series. This series is only available on Netflix since it's one of its original series. It has a slow, but solid, start and I would advise patience while watching it. 

Shocked doesn’t begin to describe what I felt while watching the first episode of “The Promised Neverland.” Better than any thriller movie I’ve ever seen, this anime series gave me chills the second it started playing. The first episode of “The Promised Neverland” features a group of 38 kids who live in an orphanage with their “mom.” At first glance, nothing looks out of the ordinary, but in the back of my mind, there’s this feeling that made my skin crawl.

The anime is about an orphanage of children who aren’t allowed to go beyond the gate and high walls surrounding their home. One night, Emma, a joyful and bright 11-year-old, follows after her younger sister, Conny, who got adopted and left her favorite toy bunny behind. On her way to return the bunny to Conny, with her best friend, Norman, they witness a horrifying scene. Gray and lifeless, they see their little sister’s dead body sprawled in the back of a truck, impaled with a rose. As they hide, they witness terrifying demon creatures holding back their urge to get a taste of her body. The “food” is not for demon creatures, but for their higher-ups. Collecting nutrients, the long-fingered demons expose the reality of the orphanage: a farm that raises and harvests children for their “delicious” flavor. Stunned with fear, the children realize they must come up with a plan to escape their deaths before they turn 12, the perfect age for harvest. 

Right off the bat, the anime starts with an ominous scene featuring the three main characters, Emma, Norman and Ray, peering into the other side of the gate that connects to the outside. This scene, although chilling, gives an inside look of what’s to come, referencing how they aren’t allowed to go outside, and showing the dangers that lie beyond the gate. Not only that, but they never shake off the feeling of suspense, even when there are kids playing tag, laughing and having fun. 

Although the first episode shows innocent scenes, the anime does an amazing job with foreshadowing. For example, they show Conny’s name on a calendar, find the gate while playing tag, and one of the children notices that they don’t receive letters from the adopted children. The anime leaves you in the dark, alongside the children, experiencing and realizing everything along the way. 

Just like the foreshadowing, the narration and animation of suspenseful scenes leaves me amazed. The director shows one second clips during certain parts, in order to give the overall scene more depth. An example of this would be when the kids gather near the gate during a game of tag, hoping for a future outside of the house. One of the other children, Gilda, realizes that they haven’t heard back from the kids who have been “adopted.” The directors use one-second scenes, highlighting the phrases “you know what?” and “letters?”. With these small cuts, the scene feels innocent, but gives a sense of fear.

Along with directing, the anime has an amazing soundtrack and sound effects, giving the episode a more profound feel. The use of dripping, shallow water and creeping footsteps gives you a suspenseful, horror movie feel. What I love most about their usage of music is when a hopeful song plays, and then, suddenly, there’s this screeching violin sound after Isabella, the children’s “mom”, finds Conny’s bunny misplaced. Her eyes wide, wearing a creepy murderous look gave me a thrilling chill. 

Overall, this anime was unsettling. In one episode, this show really went from 0 to 100 and was surprising without being random. Right to the point, but not rushed, the first episode gave an inside look of what’s to come in the season. It leaves me at the edge of my seat. Who is on their side? What lies beyond the walls? What does the impaled flower mean? Intense, suspense, foreshadowing and tone, all five stars from me.

On the second floor of a small brick building tucked away on a side street right around the corner from Dudley Square, is Y.O.U. Boston: a nonprofit organization that helps youth ages 16-24 who are court-involved or gang-affiliated by providing them with a space to invest in their futures. The people they serve are either reentering their community after being incarcerated or seeking a safe space away from violence and poverty. On their website, they showcase their mission to “empower and motivate young people to gain the educational, employment, and career advancement necessary to be successful in the workforce, in the community, and in their lives.” 

Though their office seems typical, simplistic and plain with its gray cubicles and a couple of computer labs, it contains people who truly care and are actually excited to meet you. 

One of these wonderful people is Carlos Barbosa. He is a case manager who grew up in Dorchester and attended Boston Public Schools. With his caring and thoughtful demeanor, he expresses so much love for his work and helping youth. His cubicle was gray and small but showcased his pride in his job through photos of him and youth he works with. Even though his cubicle looked small, his desk was filled with papers that were in a chaotic but organized placement, which he seemed to know like the back of his hand because he could find everything he was looking for with ease. Growing up in the city, Barbosa knows his way around the neighborhoods of Boston, so don’t be surprised if you randomly see him going down one of your neighborhood's streets. He likes to be active in the community and check up on those he cares for. 

“I grew up in Dorchester, so I grew up on Adam Street,” he said. “I lived there my whole life and recently just moved to Milton. But I'm moving back to Dorchester again...I kind of do miss being in the city” 

His journey to Y.O.U. Boston was atypical because he wasn’t necessarily looking for this type of job. It was nothing like he had done before, as he had only previously worked at City Sports in downtown Boston and small construction jobs on the side.

“With the construction background…I applied to Y.O.U.,” he said. “They were looking for a supervisor for that time in the project that they had was right there in Marine Industrial Park and it was like a demolition project so they were looking for someone to take down the fence and things like that.”

Barbosa explained that his day-to-day “depends on the caseload.” Sometimes he is only at the office trying to find youth resources and reaching out to them, and other days he is in the community with youth advocating for them. 

When I asked him if he had any challenges when working for Y.O.U. Boston, he said, “I wouldn't say a challenge really, I think it's just kind of figuring out each youth and how to best help them.” He went on to explain that even though this wasn’t the job he thought he would be doing when he was young, he truly loves helping youth work towards their futures. He expressed that he wants to create strong relationships with the youth he works with and get them to trust him with their feelings and future goals, all the while believing that he will do whatever he can to help them as long as they put in the same effort and time.

“I remember one time when with a youth, he was applying to Job Corps…and the only one that they had was in Vermont,” he said. “So I grabbed one of the vans [and] we took a trip out there just me and him…No, I didn't feel like I was going out my way, you know, going to Vermont that I was just doing my job with them.”                            

When we ended our interview, it seemed like a weight had been lifted off of his chest. He was 100% authentic when answering my questions. He told me before we started that he had been preparing all morning and even gathered examples of case files before I could ask how they organize files. He was thorough in his explanations and made sure I understood.

Unlike on weekdays, Robert Lewis Jr. was wearing casual clothes. He was coaching baseball boys by cheering them on, telling them to look at the ball and even after the three outs, he hugged the boys, patted their heads and told them to keep working hard because more innings were coming up. 

Lewis Jr. was born in 1960. He is one of six kids and grew up in public housing and public schools. While his mother had to raise him as a single mother, he still feels like he had everything because she raised her children with love and affection and taught them how to be responsible.

“My whole life from youth to now is hopefully about being responsible, accountable, appreciating life and the people around me,” Lewis Jr. said.

When he was a 16-year-old, racial tensions were high, and his house was firebombed. Lewis Jr. and his whole family were evicted from their home and left with nothing. He then decided that he wanted to do something positive and something right in his life. His passion for young folks came through sports. He has found that sports are a great way of teaching you life skills, values, and many other things. 

Lewis Jr. founded THE BASE as a youth-development organization that works with students through sports. Right now it offers baseball, softball, and basketball, but the organization hopes to add other sports as it continues to grow nationally and internationally as well.

I was most interested to ask him about how he named the organization THE BASE. He told me that the name represents the base that you can stand on, as an individual, and the base of your roots. 

“What I wanted to do is to use sports to shift the trajectory for young black and Latino folks and we were coming up and trying to figure out a name,” he explained. “We started thinking about a foundation, we needed something that's the base, the base of where you stand, the base of your roots, and all of a sudden, it became The BASE.” 

Lewis Jr.’s goal was to show black and Latino youth how to be creative and resilient in this world. “People think that we are living in a risky community,” he said. “We are not, you give us an opportunity and all we have to do is succeed and be as great as we can.” 

After reflecting on my time with Lewis Jr., I can honestly say that his love for sports, and for young folks to succeed and take advantage of new opportunities is clear. The way that he expresses his emotions when he talks with people around him is so natural and respectful, and the way he treats young people, as family, as part of him, is incredible. “It’s been 41 years coaching, I started when I was 18-years-old and I never left,” he said. “It was one of the greatest choices.”

Now he coaches one baseball team, the Astros, but back in the day, he was coaching more than one. For him, coaching is not a hard thing because he’s doing what he loves to do.