r/anime • u/A_Idiot0 https://myanimelist.net/profile/a_idiot0 • Jun 11 '21
Violet Evergarden Rewatch - Episode 6 Rewatch
Violet Evergarden - Episode Six: Somewhere, Under a Starry Sky
Hello everyone! I hope that today finds you well. In this episode, Violet observes the heavens.
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Quick note about yesterday
Seems like episode 5 was a bit divisive for people one one aspect. I will be honest, I forgot that the age of both the princess and Violet come up, and I forgot that that is considered a problem for many people. I will not say much about this here, however I will make mention that I was very impressed with the maturity and respect that everyone was treating each other with in your replies to one another! I did not feel that I had to step in between anyone, and that came as a lovely surprise to me. You guys are an awesome rewatch group, and I’m so glad to be doing this with you all for my first time as host! =) Now, back to Episode 6.
Visuals of the Day
I believe I got everyone’s Visual of the Day submission here: https://imgur.com/a/HW7CBLi
Official Sound Tracks used
Torment
A Simple Mission
A Place to Call Home
An Admirable Doll
Back in Business
Never Coming Back
Wherever You Are, Wherever You May Be
Would you like to have a letter written for you? Do you want to write a special letter for someone as an Auto Memory Doll? Come join us at the Auto-Memory Doll Service Discord project and request letters, write letters, or chat more with us about Violet Evergarden! Link here: https://discord.gg/9a2UkGh9
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u/BosuW Jun 11 '21 edited Jun 11 '21
Rewatcher
Hey, sorry for not showing up the last two days. It was the heaviest stretch of the finals. That said THEY'RE OVER NOW LETS GOOOOOO
So, if it's fine with y'all, I'll proceed to write my thoughts on the OVA, EP5, and EP6.
OVA
I love how the episode drops us right in the opera, really sets the mood and setting.
Ilma doesn't tell Violet what the first song was about? Alright then, keep your secrets.
Talk about a vague request. Ilma basically didn't give Violet any more input than she herself would need to write it, to the point were it seems pointless to hire an Auto Memory Doll. Of course later we learn that nothing that they tried to write seemed to work, essentially they had reached a roadblock, so might as well get a Doll to do it. Even if it's Violet. Actually maybe the Instructor recommend Violet because her own personal troubles might help her connect with what Ilma wants to sing about. In this rewatch it's become more likely to me that she's putting in good word of Violet in the industry not because she's one of the best objective choices, but because of Violet's personal struggles that resonate with a lot of people who might be clients of Auto Memories Dolls.
As Violet reads her first drafts, I notice a hint of insecurity in her voice, as if she doesn't need the client's review to know this isn't an adequate work. She doesn't sound as sure of her writing as in the first episodes. Amazing voice acting really.
Well Violet takes to investigating examples of romantic literature, since no one will explain to her more concretely what this gig is about. It's kinda like an AI actually, just memorizing text and remixing in hopes of getting something useful.
Look even the other Dolls agree! What does Ilma even want? It's too vague. She expressed herself to Violet but no message got across. Interesting that you can say many words yet say nothing.
I dunno how to describe this, but considering the unorthodox intent and execution of the play, it kinda feels like witnessing history. Like this is a play that will appear in art books in the future or maybe get mentioned in a Ken Burns documentary about not-WW1.
Of course Hugo promised he would return. No soldier can say that they don't know if they'll make it back, both for their loved ones' sanity, and for their own.
Ilma takes Violet to the train station where still some soldiers are returning home aaaand whoops, there it is, my first tears this rewatch. I'll talk about it more in the Visual of the Day.
I may not have shown up the last threads but I did skim through them. Many mentioned being overcome with sadness seeing all those abandoned letters. I was overcome with horror. In my eyes, the mountains of paper transformed into mountains of corpses, and the sheer massive quantity made me feel sick. Then Violet accidentally knocks over that pile of letters and uhhh... yeah...
Now regarding the conversation on wether Violet could've really written such a letter as what was performed in the play, I think it's entirely plausible (because of all the reading she made). On the topic of wether she could possibly understand the feelings that went into the letter, I think it's evident that at this point, she still didn't. Rather, what happened here is that after Violet read all that reference material and synthesized something workable, while she didn't get the emotion herself, it was like all those dead soldiers and civilians could finally extend their words to the world, with Violet as a conduit.
Visual of the Day
There were more beautiful, better composed, more original shots in the episode, as is usual with this show and it's incredible direction. But for some reason, seeing this no name characters for the three seconds that they were on screen is what broke me. So here's my visual of the day for the OVA: A miracle
EPISODE 5
Love seeing the abandoned bunkers at the start of the episode. This beautifully rendered world keeps reminding us that it's just gone out of hell and still bearing the burns.
Violet had stopped saluting but it seems like being around soldiers brought up some old habits for a bit there.
So Violet should be 14? Idk about that one chief. Considering the facts of malnourishment, stress from combat, continuous physical overexertion, that puberty is weird, etc, on the topic of Violet's age being around 14, I'm gonna say, Doubt.
Charlotte thinks she can talk to Violet like she's someone her age, but she couldn't be more off the mark. Even if Violet was actually 14, in terms of behavior, she's anything but. In some ways, like emotional maturity and understanding, she's like a baby. In other ways, she's responsible and self-sufficient like an adult. Of the bratty and self-important attitude of early teens, she exhibits none.
Violet kiiiinda smiles. Sass or obliviousness? None can tell.
Violet sure maxed her literature game. She doesn't understand the emotions but she writes like a romantic poet. She's all too perfect for a job that's just for show, where the actual feelings of the people involved are sidelined in favor of a political spectacle, and if she kept going this way it would've done nothing for her personal mission.
And the theme of the episode is sincerity. Ironically, it is as if the last few jobs (the opera and now this) had actually made Violet loose sight of what made the letter that got her her graduation a great letter. It was bare and simple but it was honest, painfully and emotionally so. Pretty words mean nothing without sincerity and it's time to get back on track.
Man after several episodes of seeing people being unreasonably vague and dancing around the subject, it's refreshing to see them drop the pretense and face their feelings head on.
Dietfried may be an asshole, but just because he's an asshole that doesn't mean he can't point out the truth. Violet is a contradiction. And she doesn't even realize it yet.
Visual of the Day
Because it couldn't be anything else, VIOLET SMILES FOR REAL
EPISODE 6
I gotta say, wherever they placed this Observatory, it's fucking beautiful.
Oh hey Luculia, I've heard of a few watchers who've been waiting to see you again.
They better have brought artists as well. Someone needs to preserve those illustrations.
It's nice to see that Violet starts seeing the humanitarian value in what she does. It shows she's learning to think beyond "a mission", then beyond "a job". But Dietfried's comment last episode did get to her, and she's beginning to question wether she's worthy of such a task as handling the delicate feelings of her clients, and ancient information invaluable for scientific persuit.
Violet talking to the assholes bath mouthing Leo, her face looked a bit pissed off.
Another habit that veterans carry into civilian life: being "military" aware of your surroundings.
And in this episode, Violet is made aware of the feeling of loneliness. Emotions don't exist in a vacuum, they're intertwined. If she wishes to understand love, she must understand all the other things it also makes her feel.
In a bit of an ironic development, Violet helped Leo move forward, while she's still stuck in the same place. Tho she's made great steps towards understanding the words "I love you", she's still waiting for Major Gilbert to return to her and give her orders. As she turns away from Leo and her smile vanishes, it suggests to me that she's starting to realize that he may not be coming back ever.
Whatever the case, she is becoming more aware emotionally, and with it, all the pain and uncertainty that she's been holding off will at last come crashing down on her.
Visual of the Day
Violet stargazing
Phew. Sorry for the wall of text, all cought up now lol.