“Violet Evergarden: The Movie” is a film about survival and healing, made by people who know much about both.
The film’s very existence is a small miracle. It was in production at Kyoto Animation when the studio was attacked by an arsonist on July 18, 2019. The film was delayed, but not canceled, as the studio and its staff dedicated themselves to its production. It was first rescheduled from January to April, only to be delayed again due to COVID-19 before finally being released last week.
The protagonist, Violet Evergarden (Yui Ishikawa), is a survivor herself. First introduced in the 2018 animated series of the same name, Violet was raised as an emotionless killing machine, deployed to brutal effect in a war between two fictional countries. After the war ends, Violet discovers her humanity by working as an Auto Memory Doll, a ghostwriter helping compose letters for various clients. Working with these clients helps Violet connect to the emotions denied her as a young soldier and to finally understand the dying words of her superior officer, Gilbert Bougainvillea (Daisuke Namikawa) in his last moments on the battlefield: “I love you.”