The beautiful anime series makes a decent splash on the big screen.
What They Say:
Violet Evergarden comes to a private women’s academy to tutor Isabella in the ways of being a lady. Heir to the York family, Isabella feels trapped in this new and uncomfortable world. She still grieves for the only person to ever bring her happiness — now lost to her. Violet’s lessons do give her a brief respite from the
melancholy but with the absence of joy, how long does it take to truly heal?
Content:
Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto-Memory Doll is a strange movie, to say the least. It isn’t quite a full-on sequel to the original series from the amazing and beloved Kyoto Animation, but neither is it a sort of prequel either. Instead, it feels a lot like the special side episode that’s already out rather than a film.
It quickly starts, showing titular character and letter-writer Violet going to an all-girls school to help a young lady Isabella adjust to being a noblewoman. From teaching her to dance to showing her how to look and act like a woman, it is a strange work position that feels a bit different from the standard jobs that Violet does in the main series.
Instead of going for the typical route of being hired to pen a letter for someone, the film mostly follows Violet as she is teaching Isabella how to do the waltz, fix her hair, and act in front of her fellow nobles. It is an intriguing premise that allows Violet to be less of a robotic character and seem more girly at times.
While it isn’t completely obvious where this movie takes place in the overall timeline, it is clear that some character development has already occurred for Violet. In this way, the film focuses less on her character and more on Isabella and the new main characters at the center of the plot.
Isabella herself is a decent character, struggling to act like a noble lady given her upbringing. While her backstory was intriguing enough to keep me interested, I’ll be honest that Isabella herself isn’t the most solid character. She is okay but she does feel a bit underdeveloped in the story given how most of the plot is organized.
In addition, Isabella has some odd and somewhat frustrating moments in the movie that make her hard to understand. On the other hand, one of the other new characters, Taylor, is a stand out that commands attention when she is on screen. Her parts of Eternity and the Auto-Memory Doll are the best and really keep everything going.
After all, the film starts out rather slow in typical Violet Evergarden fashion and takes a while to get going, even more so than the TV episodes given its runtime. It does, thankfully, take a welcome turn about midway through the film that was surprising and much needed but it does mean that the first half feels a bit boring at times.
While I won’t go too much into the second half to avoid spoilers, Eternity and Auto-Memory Doll does open up eventually into a more open and thoughtful movie; it just takes time to get there. In this way, it did make me wonder why it was made into a movie, though, and not just an episode or two of season one or, hopefully, a possible season two.
Much of the movie could have been condensed into half the time and it wouldn’t have felt rushed or too short. In addition, the animation itself is as beautiful as you would expect from Kyoto Animation but it doesn’t take any leaps to go beyond what was seen in the TV series.
That said, if you liked the atmosphere of the original Violet Evergarden series on Netflix, you will likely enjoy Eternity and the Auto-Memory Doll like I did. Unfortunately, given the quick nature of the start, the movie does expect you to have watched the series and understand who Violet is and her job.
In this way, it is recommended that viewers watch the original series first before seeing this film. That said, there were some tiny moments, especially towards the end, that had me wondering how they could affect the second movie and beyond.
In Summary:
Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto-Memory Doll is a movie that does work as a film but could have been a couple of episodes in the TV series and it wouldn’t have made much difference.
While the story does take a while to get going and doesn’t quite hit the highs of some of the TV series episodes, it does offer a different enough tale for Violet than we are used to. New character Taylor, in particular, is a fascinating and welcome addition who is easily the best part of the movie when she is on screen. This is one movie, though, that is best experienced for those who have already seen the original series beforehand.
Grade: B-
Animation Production: Kyoto Animation
Distributor: Funimation
Runtime: 93 minutes
Release Date: February 17, 2020
Tickets on sale here.
This review was completed with a provided review screener.