“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.