Shows Over Coffee : Violet Evergarden

Today I will talk a little bit about a series my friend, Jessie, recommended I watch on Netflix. It’s called Violet Evergarden and it consumed me until I watched everything available.

My friend had messaged me telling me how wonderful a series was and how I needed to watch it ASAP. I am always on the lookout for something new to watch, and if a friend wholeheartedly recommends it, I HAVE to watch it. And I was not disappointed.

The summary that “The war is over, and Violet Evergarden needs a job. Scarred and emotionless, she takes a job as a letter writer to understand herself and her past. ” does not do this series justice.

This is just a quick ramble about how much I love this series and I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible but I will be spoiling things you learn in episode one to make this post more understandable for those who have yet to watch the series.

When we meet Violet in episode one, she is recovering in a hospital from injuries that have blown her arms off and been replaced with metal arms. She writes a letter to her Major, a man that she is devoted to, insisting that she is ready to return to combat in the war. Instead, Colonel Hodgins, an old friend of the Major, comes to inform her that the war has ended and that the Major has asked him to look after her. He tries to help her acclimate to the civilian world, a world that she was never a part of.

We watch as he tries to have her live with Mrs Evergarden, a lady who lost her son to the war and a distant relative of Major Gilbert. Violet refuses and Hodgins takes her into the city with him to his company, CH Postal Company. The company not only delivers mail but has Auto Memory Dolls for people to employ, they are a type of amanuensis.

Originally memory dolls were created by a Doctor to help his blind wife, a writer, be able to carry on her writings. Now they are employed by people to help them write letters. They help those who are illiterate or have a difficult time putting their feelings into words write letters employ them to make sure the perfect letter is crafted.

As Violet watches one of the Dolls work with a man to write a letter, she decides that she wants to be one. She believes it will help her to decipher the last thing that her Major told her that last time he saw her, when she got injured in the war.

The series takes you along for the ride as Violet, a cold, emotionless orphan turned war tool, navigates the world of complicated human relationships. From siblings, lovers, unrequited, paternal, and others in between, Violet learns more about what people can and do mean to each other.

I enjoyed the series because it doesn’t just focus on romantic love. One of the first relationships that Violet gets a glimpse of is a brother and sister complicated relationship while she goes to school for Auto Memory Doll training. Luculia is training to become a Auto Memory Doll to help support her and her brother who is crippled from the war and now a drunkard.

Through the episode you learn more about the siblings and why they’re in the situation that they find themselves in. Violet learns how to interpret what people mean in the words they say, the hidden context of what the person asking to have a letter written may be trying to say without being able to say it.

The series also focuses on how much letters mean to people. As someone who penpals and loves sending postcards, this resonated with me. Letters and postcards are so personal and the fact that someone spent the time to write and send something means so much even before reading the contents of the letter itself.

One thing that I don’t like is that their ages aren’t outright said, if they were and I missed it I’m sorry, but when I looked it up, Violet is said to be 14 years old and Gilbert 29, which unsettles me. On the show Violet has the appearance of an older age, so I hadn’t thought much of it at the time I was watching it. Granted, it is never out right stated that their relationship or love is romantical, but it also isn’t clarified if its something else either. It leaves me a uncomfortable watching the flash backs where we are shown the progression of their relationship.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching all the things available Violet Evergarden, there is the series, and extra episode deemed a special and a movie. I enjoyed watching her grow in her understanding of relationships and of herself and her own place in the world as a person and not a war tool.

The show is also beautifully animated! From landscapes, to building, to flowers, it’s so pleasing to watch.

Have you seen this series? What did you think of it? Anything you recommend I watch on Netflix?

#netflixovercoffee #tvshows #television #netflix #hobbiesovercoffee #hobbiesovercoffee #tvovercoffee #netflixovercoffe #violetevergarden