Violet Evergarden und das Band der Freundschaft

I haven't seen any of the Violet Evergarden series so I watched this movie with no context. The story was still easy enough for me to pick up though. It starts off with the titular Violet Evergarden taking on a student Ms. York at an etiquette student as they open up to each other. We learn more about their characters and their backstories but for a while the plot doesn't really go in any particular direction. It is not clear who is the protagonist - we can't see who is propelling the action because there isn't really any progress anyway. Around halfway, we finally see a focus on Taylor Bartlett who aims to become a delivery person, bring joy to others and find her long-lost sister again - a plot thread that took far too long to set up. By far the defining feature of this film is the visual animation quality. Everything pops out with well defined colours and details like the light in the sky, the reflections in the water, the architecture of the town and even the mechanical arms of Violet Evergarden.

Plot

Violet Evergarden, a former soldier returned from war, comes to teach at a women's academy and changes a young girl's life.

I don't really have much to add to the review but I do feel like the movie had two stories taking place at once and cramps them into one single movie. But other then that complement you might enjoy it if you liked the series.

This is probably the most beautifully animated anime I have ever seen, every single frame from this anime is so astonishing and gorgeous and background music is so good I guess even filler episode from violet Evergarden doesn't disappoint fans

I love the show and episode 10 is one of my favourite episodes of TV of all time, but sadly, this movie didn't work for me at all.

I rewatched the show's finale in preperation and had tears in my eyes there, but this movie just didn't do amything for me emotionally.

It's not that the story wasn't sad (in a good way), it's just the execution of it.

The show got me crying repeatedly within 20 minutes, and in 1.5 hours this didn't manage that.

My heartfelt condolences to the friends and families of the victims of the Kyoto Animation arson attack.

Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll is a continuation of the 2018 anime series Violet Evergarden. Its titular character is a former soldier who lost both of her hands in the war but is now nevertheless pursuing a career as an auto memory doll, a ghost writer slash typist slash secretary for hire.

The good things of the series carry to this movie as well. First of all, it's crazily good-looking. The animation is at times so beautiful that it honestly becomes a bit distracting. I found myself missing lines because I was admiring the details. Likewise here. And it's actually quite rare that a movie version of an anime doesn't look better, but here I'd say they're about even. That's definitely more of a compliment towards the anime than it is a flaw on the movie's part.

Furthermore, the story also fits nicely with what we've seen in the anime. This could have been a two-parter in the series itself. It's sweet, heartfelt, at times really sad and filled with melancholy, but in the end optimistic and looking hopefully towards the future. Everything that made the anime so great.

That being said, it can feel a bit padded. You'd have hoped that if they were going to make a movie, they would have chosen a storyline that would have better served its length. Still, that's pretty much the only disappointing thing about this film.

If you liked the anime series, then this is definitely worth a watch. As a standalone film... I think it actually might be a bit hard to follow. Not recommended.