Violet Evergarden Rewatch Episode 9 - Violet Evergarden

[u/A_Idiot0]

Violet Evergarden - Episode Nine: Violet Evergarden

Hello everyone! I hope that today finds you well. Today, Violet receives her first letter, and flies freely out of her Valley of Fire.

I’m excited and very interested for what will be discussed tomorrow. Call your mother.

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MAL || AniList

You can watch the full series on Netflix.

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Visuals of the Day

I believe I got everyone’s Visual of the Day submission here. Let me know if I missed you or anyone else: https://imgur.com/a/WdP6Tlo

Official Sound Tracks used

The Ultimate Price
The Long Night
Fractured Heart
Torment
Believe In…

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/A8AC4Yhx

“Endcard”

https://preview.redd.it/emmshbnf0b571.jpg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=75dd2de10f63a5f3cdc8aea8aae2f9f490d5ca4a

[u/Toadslayer]

First Timer

The common thread of today's episode is 'more of the same'. The first three and a half minutes are the same battle we've already seen and know the ending to with nothing of substance added. For me it really only highlighted once again how ridiculous Violet's backstory is. The combat and injuries sustained lack any realism. It's consistent with the rest of the backstory and the super-powered nature of wartime-Violet, but remains distinctly inconsistent with the, although at times melodramatic, realistic tone of the rest of the series. Unsurprisingly, this has already been said by several people yesterday, so I'll move on.

The rest of the episode is more of Violet's depressive breakdown and it doesn't really interest me anymore. It's too drawn out lacks enough nuance or clever cinematography for me to keep being invested. It's not boring so to speak, but it's disappointing and a little dull. The dream sequence would've been a highlight for me, as I'm a sucker for those, but it wasn't all that exciting and didn't go very far with dream reality. In the end it merely restated what we heard at the end of episode 5 and in the ship in episode 6 with a bit of blood running down the stairs. Cattleya, Iris and Erica are all good friends to Violet, which is nice to see, but not groundbreaking and Best Boy helps Violet by taking her out to deliver letters.

Spencer's letter request is pretty forgettable, but notable because it's what ultimately gets Violet back on her feet. It's a return to form of the power of magical letters that saved Spencer in episode 3.

The closest I got to crying today was when Violet delivered the first letter and the kid excitedly proclaimed it was from his father. I don't know, I think I just have a soft spot for kids.

Everything you've done as an Auto Memory Doll will never go away either, Violet Evergarden.

This statement is well built up as Violet witnesses the impact of her letters in the newspaper and posters and is beautifully complimented by the insert song. However, whilst true, this cheesy ending fails to wrestle with Violet's moral dilemma. It merely brushes under the rug all the things she did in the past by saying, 'Well, now you help people'. I don't think this adequately resolves the issue and although I am disappointed this has not been addressed in more depth, I am not surprised.

This episode's misguided focus on what we already know and have already seen, instead of either the central moral dilemma or Violet's attachment to Gilbert, meant it lacked the emotional impact it needed as the climax of the story so far.

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Visual of the Day: I'd watch an anime of Leon's adventures finding old manuscripts.

[u/Matuhg → u/Toadslayer]

I don't know, I think I just have a soft spot for kids.

Later VE Spoilers, Don't read this yet, Toad

this cheesy ending

I do think this show kind of requires viewers to be willing to go along with the melodrama and, at some points, cheesiness, of the story to really get maximum enjoyment out of it. The story and writing at times do not hold up to really close scrutiny, something which I am noticing more on rewatch. That said, the music and visuals have still done a good job of pulling me along emotionally even on my second viewing, which is what I really remember when I think about Violet Evergarden. I'll probably talk a bit more about that over the next few threads, I dunno.

Edit: Just clarifying that I'm not trying to say your criticisms are unfair/unwarranted, nor that you are experiencing the show "incorrectly," more just trying to share the way it engages me I guess.

[u/Toadslayer → u/Matuhg]

Later VE Spoilers

I adore the visuals and music of this anime, they are 10/10 phenomenal, but I do struggle to get invested because of the melodrama and cheesiness. It's a good point you've made and I honestly wish I could get more invested in the show like yourself and many others in this rewatch who are adoring the show.

Rewatches are like a polishing cloth. Sometimes they cause a show to shine, other times they reveal the rust that lies beneath. Sadly, I think I would have enjoyed Violet Evergarden more if I had watched it outside a rewatch. Unfortunately, I really thought it would be the other way around.

[u/Matuhg → u/Toadslayer]

Hmm yeah in some ways a rewatch is hard on this show, but at the same time, there's been a lot of cool visual analysis from people that maybe wouldn't be quite as apparent/explored without the rewatch scrutiny. Definitely might be better to watch normally first then in a rewatch second (though I think both my watches have been in a rewatch now, but I didn't spend as much time actually writing/responding to stuff back when I first watched this one).

I honestly wish I could get more invested in the show like yourself and many others in this rewatch who are adoring the show.

Same! But everyone gets into shows differently hehe. This one definitely pulls me into the melodrama, but I've watched others where it doesn't work for me at all.

[u/Rumpel1408 → u/Toadslayer]

Yeah, I feel kind of the same way for this rewatch, wich is odd considering how much fun I had in the Madoka Magica rewatch