Violet Evergarden

This movie is a pretty respectable and heart-warming ending to the story of Violet Evergarden. Of course, by expecting them to finally resolve the whole situation with the Major, I thought I would be crying buckets of tears and that the authors would leave me sobbing my heart out, and while I was moved, I am afraid I must report that I was far more affected by Yurith’s story than I was by the entire denouement of the main plotline. In other words, I found the subplot where Violet just does her job was more emotionally powerful than the grand finale. Maybe it is because Violet's story itself is ultimately pretty run-of-the-mill and, depending on where you are in the movie and its running time, unfolds exactly like any romantic movie, so the average audience would find the story’s development and plot twists predictable. This is probably not a bad thing for most people; after all, they are getting exactly what they signed up for, however, I was simply expecting something more than this. In the Violet Evergarden anime series, Violet convinced me that she could do emotional stuff really well, and even in this movie I thought some parts were quite moving (see the aforementioned Yurith). However, they just did not manage to pull it off in the actual finale. So, I, therefore, found myself getting distracted by the gorgeous visual aspects, the sea at night, and the moon at some pivotal moments rather than being deeply stirred. For example, at one point, I focused on how beautiful Violet's eyes were rather than the fact she was crying... There is also the possibility that the fault lies with me, and that right now, since I have not been feeling very well lately, I am not really in the mood for romantic movies, and that when I feel well again I am going to try and watch the movie again and maybe my opinion will change. However, right now, I can say that it is quite satisfying for just an ordinary, and in many ways predictable ending to a story, which is visually stunning and has a good soundtrack. Occasionally, I was thrilled by something that caught my eye (including the flashbacks to moments in the anime series and catching sight of many old familiar characters), and I especially appreciated the emphasis on the importance of letters and writing in general, because that one line along the lines of "If you cannot say something, how about trying to write it down. .." makes a lot of sense to me. Seven and a half out of ten. (05/06/2021)

Sadly, for me personally, a slightly unexpectedly inferior effort to the last film. It more or less confirmed the impressions I caught myself with last time and as outlined by Jeoffrey here: Violet is much more fun and moving when we experience the varied, happy or sad stories of the supporting characters through her work than watching her own story. There's no fault in the direction, but the script is far from certain, and the source material probably didn't allow for much free machinations or other strong editing. Even in the series, I was hoping with all my thoughts and wishes that a certain important character from Violet's past would not reappear on the scene, because as conveniently as he had served to build Violet's future, as cruel as it sounds, his return to her present time would not lead to any kind of joyous, happy welcome for me, even if it brought well-deserved closure for the character of Violet and the fulfillment of her lifelong quest. If the story is more than successful in anything, it's in its capable use of the theme of written communication to evoke emotions that the spoken word probably couldn't manage with a similar style and intent, and all of these side stories contain at minimum imaginable and suitable situations for portraying such an approach. This cannot be said of the main storyline between Violet and the Major, however, where the drives it in violently, and besides the insanely overwrought emotions (the talk through the door was just sensitive, but the finale was significantly overdone) with the overly relational behavior of perhaps all the characters involved had a rather negative impact on my reception. I can understand trying to make something more epic out of a fairly ordinary romance, but this is not the way to go. And this brings me back to the fact that I enjoyed the references to past stories much more. Overall, my favorite is that postal group of people, and Benedict in those crazy boots, for example :-D Likewise the poetic rendering of the world of Violet Evergarden, which Kyoto Animation never dares to knock; the scenery is dreamy, overwhelmingly soothing, and I always get a blissful inner feeling from watching these stories within the aesthetic. In equal measure, thanks again to Evan Call for the magical soundtrack. I can't say that the film is bad, but it doesn't pack an emotional punch where one would most want it to. And considering that's the main thing going on Violet's head, the outcome is relatively inconsistent. An unconvincing 4 stars (11/06/2021)