Violet Evergarden: The Movie

An animated film set in an imagined country after a war. Violet writes letters. Her trade name is auto memory doll; people tell her what they want to say and she puts it into writing. She is very good at it, because for a long time she could not name her own feelings and that is exactly what she now works on. The narrative starts in the present. A girl reads letters found in her grandmother's chest and wonders who wrote them. From there it turns back. There are two lines. The first is a seriously ill child: Yuris is in hospital and wants to leave letters for his family, especially his younger brother. The second is Violet's own matter. News arrives about the person she lost in the war and has been looking for ever since. The last section goes to an island where a meeting takes place. Throughout, the spread of the telephone stands in the background; the end of letter writing as a trade is approaching. It was drawn in the studio's style of fine detail: there are long shots of light, water, paper and cloth. Taichi Ishidate directed. The film was finished and released after the great fire at the studio, and for that reason it carries a separate meaning in Japan. A strong production for anyone who likes Japanese animation and emotional narrative. For a viewer who does not know the series, the film assumes you know the character's past and its emotional dose is high.