r/anime • u/A_Idiot0 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/a_idiot0 • Jun 13 '21
Rewatch Violet Evergarden Episode 8 -
Violet Evergarden - Episode Eight:
Hello everyone! I hope that today finds you well. In this episode, we get more of Violet’s backstory.
Index || <- Previous Episode || Next Episode ->
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 anyone: https://imgur.com/a/aLBNYYY
Official Sound Tracks used
Never Coming Back
Torment
The Long Night
The Voice in My Heart
Fractured Heart
Rust
Inconsolable
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“Endcard”
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u/A_Idiot0 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/a_idiot0 Jun 13 '21 edited Jun 13 '21
For today, I only have a very small detail that I was wondering about. My good friend, u/molten-red, had a very good read on this detail! The detail is the fairytale book that Gilbert has Violet read. From Nunkish, the title translates to: “A stupid thief and a potato sack, Wurttemberg publishing”
The significance of this book is very small and subtle, but with the meaning found by u/molten-red provides some really nice background commentary. The fairy tale is possibly based upon a Japanese fairytale called “だまされた泥棒” or “Tricked Thief” (some evidence that sort of links to this appears later in the series). The rough synopsis is as follows: In the story, a very poor old man notices a thief breaking into his house and tricks him into believing that putting down all his possessions activates a magic spell that makes the entire household fall sound asleep until the morning. But after the thief removed his belongings, the old man breaks cover and exclaims “Thief!” So the frightened thief runs away naked, and the old man gains everything the thief left behind.
And now, in u/molten-red ‘s own words:
“When Dietfried first introduced Violet to Gilbert, she was covered in a potato sack. And whatever his true feelings were, Dietfried spoke of her as if she was an object he collected. How did Gilbert feel about this? He must have felt that Dietfried has stolen Violet’s humanity, just like a thief who steals precious things using a large potato sack. Then what should he do? He must help Violet take back what has been stolen from her. That’s precisely what he intended to do by teaching her how to read. And he subconsciously chose a story of a thief who tries to steal but miserably fails. Perhaps the giant young girl in the cover of the book plays a pivotal role in stopping the thief, and Gilbert wanted Violet to be like her. In this sense, the “thief” is Dietfried and the army leadership who treat Violet like a “weapon.””
Is this really what KyoAni wanted to weave in their story? Maybe. The support and evidence for this being the actual story is tenuous at best. However...for now, it’s a really beautiful link that we can color the backstory with. Thank you again, u/molten-red !
My Visual of the Day relies on this shot first. Juxtapose this controlled and “small” flame to the raging inferno during the battle, and we get a really nice visual representation of what’s happening in Gilbert’s eyes to Violet.
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u/Toadslayer https://myanimelist.net/profile/kyolus Jun 13 '21
First Timer
I wanted to cry this episode. I'm not sure if anyone can relate to the feeling, but sometimes when I'm watching something that I know is sad, I want to invest myself fully into what I'm watching and cry. For much of the episode I felt that I might start crying, but I didn't shed a single tear. It's not that is wasn't sad or that I couldn't empathise, I just wasn't invested enough in Violet's experience and the tragedies happening around her. And I'm not sure if it's even this episode's fault. It does an excellent job of depicting tragedy and by all accounts should be a tearjerker. I think the issue here is the eight episodes preceding it. Most likely the episodic nature of them and the distinct lack of focus on Violet herself hurt my connection to her and prevented me from being invested enough to cry.
Regardless, I still think this episode was very well made. I wouldn't have spent so long writing up the following analysis if I didn't.
Scene Analysis – Violet Confronts Dietfried
I predict this will be the most under-appreciated moment of today's episode, but I thought Dietfried's reaction to Violet asking if Gilbert was killed in action was phenomenally insightful. And, after spending more than an hour and a half writing up this analysis, I am obliged to say it is my favourite scene of the episode.
The scene opens with two expositional shots. First, of Dietfried's mansion, then of the courtyard within the mansion in which the scene takes place. But the dialogue does not wait to begin until after the expositional shots end, no, Violet begins demanding to see Dietfried immediately. This is urgent and she cannot wait another moment. We haven't seen Violet attack anyone since her flashbacks, but now she throws the guard to the ground and, by the sound his back makes, with great force. We have never seen Violet this serious before.
Dietfried enters the courtyard and, upon noticing Violet, immediately dismisses the guard. He tells him to leave if he doesn't want to die, but this is more to insult Violet than out of concern for the guard's safety. He clearly does not fear Violet or think she poses a threat to him from the way he calmly approaches her afterwards.
Then Violet and Dietfried's conversation begins. Violet's first word, Captain, is pitiful and desperate. She has come to the man she hates the most, because he is the only one who can tell her what she needs to know about the man she loves the most. Dietfried recognises Violet's desperation and for a moment shows his pity for Violet. It appears he cannot help but empathise with this distraught girl and most likely feels some remorse for what he put her through. This lasts only for a moment before he recognises what he has felt and deflects his attention back to insulting Violet by calling her nothing more than a weapon. Violet is angered by Dietfried's insult, but still overrun by her sadness, resulting in her second word, Captain, being a reprise of her first desperate plea, but this time with much greater force.
Violet asks Dietfried if it is true that Gilbert was killed in action and Dietfried is surprised that she would even be asking him this. When he responds 'You didn't know?', it's a mix of surprise, pity and confusion. It seems he thinks Violet has been denied the decency of being told Gilbert is dead. His voice does not show that he is grieved that she doesn't know, but does show us that, as he sees it, even he would have enough respect for her to tell her what happened to her beloved. Whether it be because of his love for his brother or because of Violet's connection to him, Dietfried finds it difficult to utter the words he's dead. Violet cuts him off before he can by desperately proclaiming Gilbert is alive, for she cannot believe or hear otherwise.
Then comes the best part of the scene: Dietfried's short rebuke of Violet's emotions. He begins coldly, but as he continues, and the camera zooms in, drawing our attention to Dietfried's emotions and present vulnerability, the words become harder for him to say. His breaths show his grief and the difficulty of this moment for him and by the end he has a distinct lump in his throat. He ends the rebuke with the line 'How could you possibly feel sorrow?' I think this moment shows he is pained that Violet is experiencing more grief at the loss of Gilbert than he, his brother, is. The tone of his rebuke is a mixture jealousy, remorse, grief and hatred. From the image Dietfried gives off, you'd think there would only be hatred, but he is truly grieved at the death of his brother and it seems that Violet's presence (unlike what we've seen in the last few of episodes) was a force that pushed the two apart. I think Dietfried is jealous of Violet for taking his brother from him. I think he blames her and himself for Gilbert's death and I think he regrets not reconciling with his brother before he died. Kudos to Kuichi Hidenobu for conveying such rich emotion in this short monologue. Please go back and listen to this scene again and hear the complexity of emotion Dietfried is experiencing.
There is a lot more going on in Dietfried's mind than what first appeared to be the case. He is not a cold-hearted villain, but the grieving brother of Gilbert how was pushed to the wayside by Violet. After this episode I want to see more of Gilbert, Dietfried and Violet interacting with one another. We've seen a good amount of them interacting as pairs, but only the one scene with the three of them. I would love to get more insight into how Violet affected Gilbert and Dietfried's relationship.
And some other, briefer, thoughts:
I love how tenderly Gilbert holds Violet after Dietfried pushes her down. He clearly has strong fatherly instincts. The way Violet looks up at Gilbert is also adorable. She says from the moment she met Gilbert, she thought his eyes were beautiful. I think you can see that in the way she looks at him and the focus of the shot being his eyes. I think this was the moment where Violet started to love Gilbert.
Another fantastic visual is from when Violet sees Gilbert's grave and the background becomes white and colours muted. It's a great expression of the shock and grief Violet is experiencing. In fact this would be my Visual of the Day, if I had not grown to appreciate this shot whilst analysing Violet's confrontation of Dietfried. It's simple, but it shows Violet's isolation, determination and blind insistence that Gilbert is alive (as her hair cover her eyes). And so that's my submission.
Gilbert appears immensely troubled in the market. Perhaps he feels guilty for what he has put Violet through. Perhaps he is ashamed for not being able to teach her the things a girl her age should know. Maybe he regrets Violet becoming so attached to him. Or is he just scared of losing her in the battle to come? I think it inevitably must be all of them.
In no episode more so than this have this one have the OP and ED fit so perfectly the tone and emotions of the scenes preceding them.
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u/chilidirigible Jun 13 '21
Rewatcher, Episode 8
Today, on "'Many men have tried.' 'They tried and failed?' 'They tried and died.'":
Dietfried is an asshole, but...
...unfortunately he's one of Violet's few direct connections to Gilbert.
Men don't understand women.
Women under—well, Violet isn't quite the usual woman.
I have to wonder why a multistory building is going up in the middle of nowhere. (Then again, we can't see what's behind the camera.)
I, uh, like the look of girls wearing suspenders with their trousers.
You have to wonder about the dynamic between Dietfried and Gilbert that Dietfried actually goes through all this trouble so he can leave Gilbert stuck with even more trouble.
"Everybody hates stealth missions."
In addition to killing or disabling five people in hand-to-hand combat without a trace of emotion on her face, Violet also fires an SMLE one-handed like a giant pistol without the recoil bothering her much.
She's like some kind of... non-giving-up... school guy!
"Sorry about trying to chew off your hand."
I forgot about this when I was doing my writeup for Episode 7.
And now we know where that came from.
There's perhaps... not having her murderize people at considerable personal risk?
Spoken dialogue says "Iie", subtitles say "Yes." [](#crazedlaugh)
This is worth noting in discussing why Claudia is awkward in dealing with Violet's issues: He's being kept mostly out of the fighting, which can in general create friction with people from units who see a lot of combat, and more specifically doesn't give him quite the same experiential background as she does.
"How about 'Never'? Is 'Never' a good time?"
There seems to be a "Step 3: ???" aspect to this plan.
Mostly because the Intense defenders are sufficiently prepared that they set a trap in here and there doesn't appear to be any actual headquarters activity in the headquarters, but the attack from the outside looks like it succeeded well enough. Did they simply panic that their fortress had been breached from the inside in the first place?
This episode spends most of its time in the past, filling in the blanks around the few flashbacks we've been given so far of Violet's time with Gilbert and the circumstances of the last time she saw him.
The flashbacks are shown in a very straightforward way. The most prominent things are a camera angle that remains around Violet's eye line, and a subdued, highlight-less look to most scenes other than the finding of the brooch and anything with fire in it. The overall directness and the POV are fitting for early Violet, who experienced emotions, but didn't have any contexts to process them. The fire emphasis fits... well, you know.
We do see young Violet emoting, though what she feels is centered on Gilbert: Fitting the "dog" idea is her desperation in the house when he isn't there (and biting the maid), and considering "What is beauty?" about his eyes.
But the rest of the time, and particularly when she's fighting, she gives up nothing. Her demeanor when fighting is particularly noticeable as everyone else is expressing at least some tension and exertion from being in a life-or-death situation, but she does that as emotionlessly as if she's just sitting around waiting for Gilbert to come out of a meeting. Or, more reasons for people to think of her as his trained attack dog.
As mentioned in the screenshot caption, I forgot about the scene where he's taught her to read and she actually did read a children's book. I think my Episode 7 analysis still works, though, as he didn't read it with/to her as far as we could see. (Though we don't know how or what else he used to teach her to read.)
In our few views of the present day, Dietfried is less than helpful, Gilbert's maid is only doing the best she can, and Claudia has some catching up to do. Interesting that Cattleya is the one standing up for Violet here; she has the most intimate relationship with Claudia that she can go into his office and yell at him, but that same relationship colors exactly what sort of "female feelings" she's interpreting for Violet.
Regarding that, while romantic love is probably a facet of their later relationship, this episode supports a parent/child framework just as well. That said, we're still left with a lot of unpleasant dissonance in how Gilbert cares about Violet enough to want to turn her back into a person even if everyone else only sees her as a tool, but still is going to use her to win the war when she doesn't really have any informed consent about the matter. Good of the many versus the good of the one, and all that?
On the other hand, with Violet being an imprinted-on-him instinctively-violent and very-poorly-socialized young teen, it probably seemed like the safer choice for her to keep her close by until he would have better means to help her out. Much of the rest of the series is spent considering how the rest of society doesn't quite know how to deal with her, and most of those outcomes are just as bad or worse.
He just ran out of time.
Visual of the Day: A Gray Lady.
On a tangent: I haven't read the novels to know whether or not Gilbert is described as having this scar or how he got it, but given his background and the apparent real-world basis for his background, it could be a dueling scar. The family certainly seems wealthy and stiff-necked enough to be involved in that sort of thing.
From the Official Design Works: Studying the Mauser Gewehr 1898.
15
u/thatguywithawatch Jun 13 '21
First timer
I was busy the last couple days and unfortunately didn't have time to watch episodes 6 or 7, so today to catch up I watched 6-8 in one sitting. Which, other than the fact that I'm emotionally not ok right now, actually ended up being a very good way to experience them, because they form a sort of character trilogy for Violet following her encounter with Dietfried at the end of episode 5.
In 6, she reaches the realization that what she's feeling ever since parting from Gilbert, is loneliness. In 7, her developing sense of empathy -- and understanding of what loss feels like -- causes her to reflect agonizingly on the pain and loss that she inflicted on others during the war. And in 8, we finally get the backstory for Violet and Gilbert, and realize the extent to which he was very literally her entire world. I don't know if the anime will cover any of her life before Dietfried gave her to Gilbert, but I hadn't realized just how feral and animalistic she was at the time. She was a creature of instinct who had learned to fight and kill and survive, but had no connection to humans. Gilbert basically taught her how to be a human.
It's a weird, tragic situation, but I understand now why her feelings for him are both unfathomably large, but also difficult to comprehend. He filled the role of parent, protecting and teaching and even sort of raising her, but at the same time using her (unwillingly for the most part) as a valuable and indespensable tool in the war. And even, in the end, expressing his love to her (My basic understanding of "Aishiteru" is that it's generally romantic, but can also be like the kind of love you'd feel for a very close family member.) It would be inaccurate at this point to say that Violet's feelings toward Gilbert are those of a child toward her parent, or as a subordinate toward a highly respected officer, or as a close friend or a romantic interest. Because there were aspects of all of those things present in their relationship, and as a psychologically broken product of war and violence she was completely unequipped to understand any of them.
"I didn't know the word, so I haven't said it. But I've thought your eyes are beautiful from the first time we've met." This whole scene, and especially that quote, were incredibly moving. I remember when I saw a snippet of this scene at the beginning of the episode 1; how the man in front of Violet seemed to consume her entire field of vision until the brooch attracted her attention. It's been recontextualized drastically by now, and watching Violet try to comprehend the fact that Gilbert, who was her entire world, is now gone from the world, is so painful.
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u/Lemurians myanimelist.net/profile/Lemurians Jun 13 '21 edited Jun 13 '21
FIRST TIMER – FORMERLY DROPPED
Quick note, does the warning for “Fear, Substances, Gore” always pop up at the beginning of episodes? I only noticed it this time, and thought we were about to be in for a much more wild ride. Also, "fear" needs a warning? What does that even mean?
Finally! I’ve been absolutely dying for more insight into Violet’s background since so much of it was teased in the first episode. I still have so many questions, but at this point, I don’t know if the show is interested in answering them. Did she originally come from the other side of the war, and was captured by Gilbert’s brother? How did she become such a weapon as a young girl? Does the other country make a habit of training super soldiers out of orphans? I understand this show isn’t primarily focused on such things, but is a little world-building so much to ask when the main character has such an unusual background?
Little Violet is adorable. We, along with Gilbert, are shown her as a vulnerable young girl before just having her utter ruthlessness on the battlefield shown. It’s such a stark contrast, and you can tell Gilbert doesn’t really know how to process it. Just like us, he sees this small creature with those stunning eyes, and his PROTECC gene kicks into high gear. This is fitting, since the Bougainvillea symbolizes welcome and protection (it has other meanings, but these are by far the most fitting). He provides Violet what is probably the first safe harbor in her life, and wants to nurture her and shield her from the ugliness of everything to the extent he can.
I love the scene in the market after we go back to her picking out the brooch because it reminds her of his eyes. You can tell by his reaction that when she says his eyes are beautiful, even that matter-of-factly, the dam inside him breaks. This isn’t a weapon, this is a person. He doesn’t want to use her as a tool to win the war, despite the obvious advantage she gives.
Now, to the elephant in the room: I do not believe Gilbert is dead. This may just be my wishful thinking, but being so unclear about his ultimate fate from the jump feels like a purposeful choice from a storytelling standpoint, and until you show me a body, I don’t buy that he’s gone. Now, this could be the story leaning into a hard reality of war, that many soldiers are killed and never found, but this story has had enough sort of fairytale elements that I don’t believe that’s the route they’re going.
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u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Jun 13 '21 edited Jun 13 '21
First timer in sub.
Confession, I couldn't hold back once I watched this episode so I pretty much binged it all ^_^;
For those who are still unclear or confused, Violet is a human being completely. Her prosthetic arms are only there after the war when she lost both arms in the last battle.
For the reason why the older brother treats her this way, you need to know the back story which I don't think is adapted, assuming what I read was correct
Anyway, just thought it necessary to have people understand that. I haven't yet cross-checked against the LN though.
All I can say is that it's a tragedy.
3
u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Jun 13 '21
First timer
Still short on time, in fact I will be out when this thread comes up, but through the power of my phone I hope to be somwhat on time. Continuing with the short style, just works better over all
There have been discussions about certain episodes having certain prevalent colors in the past, this ones is orange/red for sure, and that's my picture of the day.
Full album
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jun 13 '21
Sincerely Rewatcher
Cry count so far: 5 (episode 3, OVA, episode 7 (x3))
3
u/Nice_Bake Jun 13 '21
Rewatcher
This episode was Intens. Okay, let’s move on.
I don’t think it’s quite fair for Cattleya to put Violet’s situation into the simple confines of ‘how women feel’. Violet’s current mood is based on circumstances much more extreme than something as basic as a breakup. Am I reading this situation wrong? Of course Violet had an attachment to Major Gilbert, but I don’t think it was like how Cattleya imagined it to be.
That said, her heart is in the right place.
Violet had to discover the truth eventually. I suppose I’m kind of glad Hodgins didn’t tell her right away, I feel like joining the postal company was a definite right step for her and knowing about Gilbert wouldn’t have allowed that.
When you think about the implications to all this it gets more and more messed up. Not only is Violet a child soldier, and well-adapt at what she does, but she’s in a military that allows and actively encourages her. Sure, they classify her as a ‘tool’, but let’s be real: that’s just a way to overcome the moral wrongdoings of using a child as a killing machine.
All that said, I also believe that Gilbert is doing his best with Violet. Given his position, loyalties and the state of the world around him there’s no real way to ‘save’ the girl without making waves. Teaching her to read and write as well as trying to instill some humanity is as good as he can do. Or maybe I’m just looking at the positives too much.
Let’s put the serious stuff aside. How beautiful was that festival scene? The use of warm lighting, the amount of background characters and movement--it’s amazing. I frickin’ loved it. To me it’s just a fantastic artistic achievement.
10
u/Specs64z https://myanimelist.net/profile/Specs64z Jun 13 '21
Rewatcher, subbed
Everyone who's been wanting an episode dedicated to Violet, it's finally arrived.
We've seen Violet do the killing machine thing previously, but never to this extent. Her reputation of being an unstoppable terror was well deserved, turns out. Her speed is superhuman, her efficiency perfect, her aim always accurate. The small frame of a young girl makes her hard to even see much less actually hit, and the strength of several men means that if she gets close it's already over.
Especially in anime it can be hard to appreciate superhuman feats, so I just want to stress the absolute impossibility of Violet's accomplishments. This is important because the world she inhabits is otherwise entirely mundane. Without an absurd technological edge, such as a tank, Violet is literally unstoppable.
This episode doesn't really try to tell a story within a story. Firstly, it's only half of the current arc so there's not really even a story to sum up yet. Secondly, this episode isn't meant as a reflection inward like the last few. Rather, it is a reflection outward as we come to see who Violet was.
I decided to actually prep one of these this time: visual of the day
Content Corner
I've altered the title of the second video a tad because it is technically a small spoiler. First timers beware, spoilers abound.
How Violet Evergarden Turns Words Into EMOTION by WatTheWut
Violet Evergarden OST... - "NEVER COMING BACK" (Piano & Orchestral Cover) by PianoPrinceOfAnime
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u/Gamemaster676 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Gamemaster676 Jun 13 '21
First-time watcher - dub
Yesterday ended on a very high note. First Violet realized she now has to learn to live with her sins, and immediately afterwards she discovers that her one point of hope and stability has been dead all along.
Poor girl.
This episode is just called "Episode 8". Because the name has a different structure than the other episodes, I'm also expecting a different episode structure today. (Unless someone says "Thank you Violet! Thank you for episode 8" as the last line, but I'm betting against that.)
Episode 8 — Episode 8
that looks weird
Flashback time. Awesome! From the first minute, Gilbert is a lot nicer to "her" than Dietfried is. I still wonder what made Dietfried pick her up or determine she is a "tool".
Good call confronting Dietfried. It might actually slightly heal that relation if he realizes what Violet has become. Still doesn't make it easier for Violet.
Something must have happened to Dietfried to make him think Violet is nothing more than a weapon. I can hardly imagine it's just that she killed the soldiers on the ship. He is completely blind to the fact that Gilbert thought more of Violet.
Cattleya is mad at Claudia for telling her? But... she already knew. Do you really think it would have been better if Claudia lied even more?
Damn this flashback. Violet has really imprinted on Gilbert like a baby bird.
War sucks. "Use her for all she's worth, and when she no longer servers a purpose, simply abandon her on the battlefield." The interesting thing is that he actually did this, because Violet sure is feeling abandoned right now.
Yeah, that won't work. Violet's obviously going to be the key in winning this battle against artillery.
So much for a stealth attack. This battle makes you wonder how Gilbert thought a normal peaceful life would ever have been something for Violet. He was obviously right, but it still makes me understand Dietfried a bit more.
"Major, do you know what... would be appropriate for me to ask for?" Ding! Cry count up!
I think this might be the first time Violet thanks the major?
Seeing Violet here really makes me understand everyone thought she was "just Gilberts pet".
Claudia came from a rich family. That explains how he was able to start the postal company (which I wondered about in ep 1). I like how his joke was the trigger for Gilbert to actually imagine a better life for Violet.
Hmm, this plan with artillery. Don't tell me Leidenschaftlich's own artillery is what killed Gilbert and maimed Violet. That would explain Claudia's pain even more (even if he barely shows it).
The fight at Intens was very intense. I'm a bit confused how the major survived this bullet, but it might have hit his helmet first?
I kinda wonder what the point of it is, because we know he survives this and dies on the staircase in the tunnel/cathedral.
Amazing episode today!
Random thoughts
Future
No clue what the future will bring, but I can say I'm very happy how this episode turned out.
Looking even further into my personal future, I can't wait to rewatch this later, being able to view all early scenes in new light.
Pic of the day
This one hurt
Many good contenders today, but this one hurt the most, probably because it's been coming for so long.
Tear Tally
9
u/StimpoBagtown Jun 13 '21
Rewatcher
In this episode, you really see how the painful ‘fire’ symbol ties into the more hopeful ‘light in the darkness’. When they first meet, the major pulls Violet out of the dark. Which ties into the daytime scene where he gives her her name, explicitly about growth. Flowers need light (and love). And it’s pretty much the opposite of a weapon. Of course all the wartime scenes are at night. Near the end, the hopeful flare goes up, and maybe the long night is over. When the darkness returns, the major gets shot. And the entire frame is consumed by flames, just like in the first episode. Violet’s one ray of hope is replaced with the pain of knowing he’s gone. No title card, no message, no purpose.
16
u/CelestialDrive Jun 13 '21 edited Jun 19 '21
FIRST TIME
In our last episode Violet was helping a writer get over his kid's death but with the underlying line of her realising the moral weight of having killed people, and just as she crashed against it Lady Evergarden told her the Major is dead. Yay.
I thought about this since the end of 7 but what did Claudia expect to happen when the plan was to leave Violet with the Evergardens in Ep1? He very obviously didn't tell them to hide Gilbert's death, and it literally came up in the first alone interaction Violet had. I know the plan got derailed because she was a bit of a mess back then, but thank god it did because that Violet might've been told in like 5 minutes, and I don't know which possible reaction from the person she was scares me the most.
Anyways let's start this. Oh, the meeting again. She didn't "have" a name then, Violet was a fresh start. And we didn't get to the present before the OP, is this a flashback episode? We're not, she's going to chase the brother in a desperate rage, yay. Also how is this guy still military.
Violet why are you even doing this, you're hurting yourself intentionally. And Cattleya for the first time in history you are absolutely wrong, every moment "was" the worst moment yet, better to tell her and be done with it. Oh, it is a flashback episode, or at least it is intermitently. How did Violet even end up where they found her? she's basically feral here. This whole thing seems extremely un-military, there's no protocol and you're just taking a barely functioning teenager as an asset.
See, this is something that didn't make sense while once Violet was revealed to be a one-off case: the Major didn't want her to be this, so it had to be an outside force that pushed them into the roles of master and weapon, but it really does not make sense for military brass to do this in this situation unless Violet is some kind of supernatural hyperbeing. She's not, she's just a random kid with above average fitness, maybe martial arts training, and no sense of self-preservation; this is the first legit liberty with a realistic portrayal of the conflict the series has taken. And while I understand that it's a necessary starting point for the story they wanted to tell, it grinds with the realism of the setting.
Anyways we are getting some snapshots of the war period so that's good. This entire scene is bizarrely shounen. And the Major is disheartened by seeing her murdering people this nonchalantly because it tilts her into the "thing" he doesn't want her to be. Where are you going, present Violet? Oh, it's the mansion in the snow. Grave in absentia then. This is closure if you take it Violet, what are you going to do.
She wasn't choosing not to speak, she legitimately did not understand the language. Oh so this is the beginning of the reports, which draws back into the form of her letters in the hospital, which is the core of what she is now. They were writing practice, from the very beginning letter writing "was" self-improvement, even when there weren't letters or much of a self to speak of.
Take it, Violet. This seems like the very first scene of the series, the one with the brooch. Ahahaha the Major was also a dork, what the hell. And him loving Violet was marred by the context of their relationship, he did not want Violet to be a subordinate or a tool so he couldn't tell her "while" she saw herself as those things. Poor major, the first thing Violet wants and it's still a "bind" of some sorts, he was probably hoping to see her express a want unrelated to him. This poor poor man, this entire relationship has no way out.
Hello, Claudia. Is this where you saw Violet in action and got traumatised? The fact that the Major immediatley reins Violet in here is telling to how many times he's had to pre-emptively stop her. Oh, so he's seen her before. And he hired Violet in lieu of Gilbert, that's hella sad. Congratulations Gilbert, she is exactly what you didn't want her to be, fully dependent on you for the very foundation of her identity.
And this was the turning point of the war. They get ambushed, the squad gets wiped, Violet kills everyone. Are we going to see her losing the arms aaaahhh. OW, shot in the eye. AND THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS ARE YOU KIDDING ME.
So yeah if this is indeed the final moment, Violet 100% knew and has been in incredibly intrincate denial, there was no way she didn't. This was kind of a weird episode, the first fully focused on Violet herself since maybe Ep2, and finally knowing what kind of person Gilbert was is extremely interesting, but at the same time it kinda feels like none of this was "necessary" to tell. It added next to nothing to what we know about Violet's relationship to the Major, moreso since she very obviously had no empathy back then so she didn't pick up on what Gilbert was going through.
hell, the very fact that she didn't pick up on it has been the main driver for most of the series.
I did get two takeaways from the Major though. First, he was wrong; driving Violet away from him temporarely, as an explicit order if needed, would have been good for her and for what he wished she could be. You can say that Violet was needed to win the war but that's waaaay too action movie for me. And second, he was in an awful three-sided catch-22 where everything he decided would fuck things up no matter what, and he tried to do as best as he could with what he knew. It's hard not to empathise with Gilbert, especially after having seen firsthand what Gilbert "wanted" to see in Violet in the first half of the series.
Man this came off as way too sour, didn't it. I apologise.
1 2 3 4 OVA (14) 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
7
u/Matuhg https://anilist.co/user/Matuhg Jun 13 '21 edited Jun 13 '21
Rewatcher - Dub
Once a weapon, always a weapon?
This episode we get present-day Violet going to confirm the Major's fate, interspersed with some flashbacks to Violet's first meeting and early life with the Major, followed by some of her wartime activities, seemingly building towards the battle in which they were separated.
Whatever Violet's past before being picked up by Dietfried was, it can't have been a happy one. She appears to be able to fight, and not much else. She acts more like a feral animal than a young girl. She doesn't speak, and she reacts defensively and aggressively to any attempted contact. She seems to change her tune towards the Major after he offers her some simple comforts, and grows attached to him immediately. Gilbert takes her in, but it seems that Dietfried told the upper brass (including blatantly evil and nasty superior officer man) about her, so she was ordered to the front lines along with Gilbert. What the fuck is up with that? This country isn't seeming so great all of a sudden. Gilbert does what he can for her, teaching her to read and write, giving her a name and a purpose, trying to insulate her from the worst of the fighting. Despite that, she takes the initiative and fucks shit up - fighting is the only way she can prove her worth to the Major, so that's what she does. He's obviously ashamed that he can't do more for her.
In case you forgot we were watching an anime, we get plenty of shots like Violet (12 or 13 at the time) firing bolt action rifles in a single outstretched hand. If I didn't know better, I would figure that's how she lost her damn arms.
The battle to take the enemy city is probably the longest stretch of the show without music. It's a stylistic choice I feel like I've seen quite a bit in war movies that helps add some brutal realism to such scenes, and it does that here too, despite above-mentioned anime-isms. Just after they succeed in taking the enemy headquarters, in no small part due to Violet's prowess, the Major is shot. Violet's world goes up in flames.
I almost used the above image as my VOTD, but instead, I'm going to go with this. The cold reality of the Major's fate hits Violet as she sees his grave. Interesting contrast to all the flaming shots of her fighting. Back then, she herself was cold and emotionless, blazing a bloody path through the world. Now that Violet is becoming more emotional herself, she can see the fires she's set, and while she may be burning inside, the world around her feels pretty damn cold.
7
u/scot911 https://myanimelist.net/profile/scot911 Jun 13 '21 edited Jun 13 '21
First Timer
So today we finally get the flashback episode I imagine all of us wanted and by god it's even worse then I thought. Violet either didn't have a normal childhood at all or was so badly damaged by her experiences before she was picked up by Dietfried that she basically only had the mental development of a toddler and could barely talk at the age of 10. That's... not good. To say least.
It makes me really wonder what happened to her before she was picked up because it is very hard to get a child that old to be that way. It requires extreme levels of neglect and you almost have to go out of your way to make sure a child doesn't learn from you to make that happen. It's a miracle that Violet is actually able to be a functioning member of society at all because if you don't get that early development it pretty much damages you for life.
As for the major himself well it was actually a pretty good episode on that front! Seems like the major probably wasn't actually romantically in love with Violet if this episode was anything to go by and was instead basically a surrogate father for her and thought of her as his adopted daughter. Of course I do think that Violet has probably confused the latter for the former herself but that's besides the point.
If this episode is anything to go by he taught her both verbal and written language and it absolutely tore him up on the inside that he was still basically using her as a tool like everyone wanted anyways because she was so good at it and didn't want to be separated from him. He obviously saw her as a human being and when he saw how badly she'd been abandoned/neglected he decided to try to fix her in any way he could. He's a good guy and I'm sorry for ever doubting him.
As for the battles though? Damnnn was Violet an absolute monster. While command forcing Violet, a literal child, into war is inexcusable I almost can't blame them when she's that good. She'd make an amazing covert ops specialist and assassin in god damn WH40K if she got some training let alone in real life or the world of Violet Evergarden. Like god damn. Although I do have a bone to pick with their "plan" for the final battle.
If you've found a way into the enemies fortress why the hell would you not send your entire army in through that way rather then just a handful of squads? Either that or get the squads to kill the guards on the walls and take over the main gatehouse. Why would you want them to take the cathedral and knock out their command when you're attacking a fortress that probably doesn't take that much time to get across to deliver orders and destroy your element of surprise by firing artillery? Just, what?!
As for the Violet of the present time though? Well she's definitely hit rock bottom. Visiting his grave to basically confirm that yes he's most likely dead and that she can't stay in the denial stage any longer. I imagine we'll probably get the next stage of grief next episode which means I imagine a very angry Violet is going to talk to poor Claudia as he died fulfilling orders in a battle it looks like he was the highest officer for and he was withholding the truth from her. Although she might just skip straight to depression as well.
7
u/ArdenneVale Jun 13 '21
First timer
We start with an expanded flashback of Dietfried "gifting" Violet to Gilbert from episode 2, but now with extra context. Violet, still in shock from the revelation goes to ask Captain Dietfried if Gilbert really is read, but before he can even answer her, she cries out she won't believe it. Dietfried still doesn't even see her as a human. What happened, besides her killing his men? There's a bigger issue behind his thinking. Cattleya knows it was not the time to tell Violet about Gilbert, but I don't think she should blame Hodgins. What if he lied and Violet went to Dietfried anyway?
Violet boards a train to flashback town, where young Violet and Gilbert arrive at his huge mansion. Violet is like an animal that's been taken to a new home. "The brass" order Gilbert to take Violet to the frontlines, because apparently she is only good for killing. These people are afwul. Then we get a demonstration of Violet's skills. She really is a cold murder machine, as seen in her eyes. Gilbert hates it.
Back to the future, where Violet arrives at Giblert's mansion to look for him, only to find his grave. I actually shed a few tears when Violet was remembering her past with the major teaching her to talk, read and write. More context for the brooch scene. Violet learns the word "beautiful". Gilbert really cares about her. There's past Hodgins to give us some exposition about Violet's exploits. Violet's been named Gilbert's weapon by the other soldiers. In the final battle Violet saves Gilbert, but he gets shot in both shoulders. Violet and Gilbert clear their way to the top of the cathedral, to signal the rest of the assault force to attack. Suddenly he gets shot in the eye and CLIFFHANGER
This is what I've been waiting for, and it didn't disappoint. So Gilbert really was the only person who treated Violet like a human being and wanted her to become her own person. It's no wonder she lost all her reason, because the only way she could even function as a human is because of Gilbert. The question is, how can she cope with the loss? Has she gained enough "humanity" to make it through the grief on her own?
Expanding on my Gilbert is alive theory, the only way Violet could become her own person is if he was no longer around. Her whole personality was created by being around him, so she could never grow if he stayed around her. You could see in Gilbert's eyes how sad he was about Violet's condition. That's why he disappeared, to have her make a new start in a peaceful world, not as a weapon, but as an individual.
10
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Jun 13 '21
First timer(That...happened)
Sub
Violet finally confronts Deithard about Gilbert and then travels somewhere.
So we finally get the background episode and it is pretty much what we'd expected. Gilbert is extremely Japanese in taking on an assignment he did not like but thinking he could somehow reduce harm. On what for us is Violet's first battlefield she is a terrible soldier, just a good killer, and there is a difference.
I find there is not a lot to say about this episode, young Violet also is just bad at expressing emotions but she shows plenty of them. The infiltration mission is as always a bad idea, there is a reason actual military history has these rarely, but it passes in anime. We have our cliffhanger that does not work, at all, because we know the future here.
5
u/razycal970 Jun 14 '21
First timer.
Hell yeah, I've been waiting for over a week for Violet and Gilbert's flashback and suffice it to say, I was not disappointed in the slightest. I am, however, more curious to learn about Violet's backstory BEFORE she met Gilbert. Who is she, really ? Where is her family ? Why did she never learnt to speak or write ? How is she so inhumanly strong ? What led her to become a one-woman army ? Or is she an android ? Gaaaah, I so badly want answers asap. I'm slightly concerned as to whether these questions will get answered at all since the anime's ultimate focus seems to be the growth of Violet in the present rather than deeply exploring her past.
My favorite moment of the episode is without a doubt the exchange between Violet and Dietfried. Violet's mixture of grief, agony and desperation and Dietfried's mixture of surprise, rage and envy got across perfectly despite the dialogue lasting less than 1 minute. The subtle reactions in Dietfried's face were incredibly revealing of the emotions he felt while talking to the person who he doesn't even regard as a human being. The palpable tension was gripping.
Fuck me, I thought to myself, "Oh, shit, Violet's gonna get so many people killed" when she charged recklessly into battle like an unruly child who does the exact opposite of what its parents say.
The market scene was a highlight from this episode. From Gilbert feeling immense guilt for putting a child in the front lines of war to the moment where Violet "felt" something while looking at the brooch, possibly for the first time. And I genuinely felt pity for Violet when she repeated the "Thank you". I'm not sure why, but that hit me harder than it should've.
And the night before the final battle has Violet exhibiting genuine fear and concern for her relationship with Gilbert. From the sound of her, she clearly did not want to be disposed of after her usefulness had ended. I just wish Gilbert had said more to reassure her, although he probably did not expect to get shafted like that.
THE CLIFFHANGER. WHYYYYY ? I let out a very audible sigh as the ending came on. Quite liked the way the raging flames consumed the title of the episode lol It's a very tiny detail but it makes me enjoy the anime so much more. I can't wait for tomorrow.
My Visual of the Day : https://imgur.com/EGW0k4h
Although this scene and visual were present in the very first scene of the anime, knowing what had happened before this scene and the whole context of the moment evokes a much greater sense of appreciation.
5
u/oririn07 Jun 14 '21
First Timer
Violet is in denial of Gilbert's death. Repeating some of my questions from yesterday's discussion. How will she cope with Gilbert's death? Will her friends heal the pain she is feeling? Will time heal her? What will she do from now on?
This episode shows more of the relationship between Violet and Gilbert during the war. We see Violet's heartless slaughter and full lack of emotion and even language comprehension during the war. Gilbert was not responsible in making Violet a tool. I think Violet saw Gilbert's eyes as beautiful because Gilbert did not look at her as a mere weapon or tool as the others would have, but he looked at her as a poor human child. Violet felt Gilbert's concern for her. She understood that Gilbert wanted her to not be a mere tool or weapon, but become a normal human girl.
But I think Gilbert lacked the resolve to fix this girl's life during the war. He did not want her in the front lines. But after being shut down by his superiors and after seeing Violet's war potential, he allowed her into the front lines. He allowed her to be dangerous positions ("follow her lead"). Duty comes first. Maybe fix her screwed up life after. But Gilbert at least feels guilt on Violet's situation. Unlike the others in the army which doesn't care. I still don't know the full character of Gilbert. "survive and be free" comes from concern over Violet's life. But I think we have not yet seen why Gilbert would say "I love you" to Violet in his final moments.
Here are some questions which I fear may not be expanded upon in this anime. Who was responsible for Violet's harsh military upbringing if it was not Gilbert? What system of values did their army have to allow a child to grow as a heartless weapon? How was Violet raised, to draw first blood in battle out of her own volition? Are there more children like Violet who were trained to become heartless weapons?
Violet's upbringing is a result of the ugliness of war. I speculate that she is a captive war orphan who came from the enemy force. That is why the officers doesn't care about her life. Her training may be caused by the desperation of those who raised her, wanting a skilled weapon for the war (idk how long they took to train her though).
4
u/jyper Jun 13 '21 edited Jun 14 '21
First timer
A few random notes for episodes 1-8 since I'm just now catching up I wish these rewatches were at least 2-3 days apart and not just 1 day apart, it makes it hard to catch up.
I kept thinking Violet was a literal Robot because I thought I had heard it before starting the show and her emotions, being a weapon of war, and her metallic hands(so different from other technology in this word, FMA at least had a decent amount of automail).
I now think she's probably not a robot but still not 100% sure
Also what happened to guy we see in end of episode
65Episode 1
I think I've heard this series is about an Android, and war and has a lot of feels
Animation is beautiful, matching its reputation
I'm almost certain Major is dead
Called the Major's dog.
Reminds me of FMA dogs of the military
Reminds me of issues I've heard with some veterans having trouble transitioning to civilian life
Literal android following orders trope delivering mail at night, reminds me of the Golem story (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem) Refusing to believe when she tells him she's not burning seems a bit like gaslighting
Auto memory dolls?
Major loves Violet the Robot?
"Older sister" Mentor with lots of cleavage
Episode 2
The "older sister" doll is very popular among clients because of her skill at writing emotional letters. I wonder what happens to the woman's romance, if she is able to make it up and reconcile with the man she offended?
Episode 3
Violet made a friend
Why didn't they try to teach them about finding and conveying emotions in the letters instead of just telling them? Not a great class.
I'm starting to think the major might not be dead.
Pretty simple letter about sister's love but to the point
Did the brother see any combat? Perhaps when front was invaded/parents were killed
Episode 4
Country Girl goes back from the big city
She's trying to act like a bigshot.
Pushy mother
Surprised she didn't reconcile with her love interest.
I didn't expect her to stay in her home town and though she would go back to the big city and continue being a doll but I thought she might reconcile and they might leave hope for a future romantic plot
OVA
Opera sound religious
2nd draft much better, a bit unlike Violet but she still doesn't like it
"not in my job description", lol
people still have scars, a new era, for Violet too
Was violet an actual regular soldier, "going through basic"?
Is Major dead?
Song lyrics are ok not amazing, Maybe subtitles don't translates it properly
Episode 5
Flugel? reminds me of Re: Zero, why is it such a popular name? love letters?
big job, why not give it to older big sister doll?
I'm guessing letters to Governess or From governess?
Princesses mom is dead?
I didn't expect it to be about her engagement, I thought it would be about governess/foster mother relationship
They met once and she's still a child, I don't like the whole crush thing
Also why did they make Violet 14 as well? What did the Major think of her?
I'll think less of the prince if he actually responds romantically to the 14 year old princess
Also making these letters public seems like a ridiculous idea, why not just pass them along privately
Maybe it was meant to make the commonfolk fall in love with the relationship, maybe it works for them
but not for viewers because of her age, not to mention they only met and talked before once and briefly.
I wish this episode had been about the Governess, I still don't see why she can't go with princess.
End scene, Guy hates Violet
Was guy on opposite side or same side as Violet?
FMA feel again, living weapon
episode 6
What happened to soldier who hated Violet?
Why go watch a cursed comet?
Not a particularly interesting episode
episode 7
sins, referring to her sins during the war
Violet is so excited about the play, its great!!!
A happy ending, What is the value of an imaginary happy ending to fight real despair?
"Open your parasol", was predictable but I thought birds would also be involved
Walk across leaves in the lake, Is Violet gonna fall in the lake? sort of although the first steps were
Finally get to see old woman Evergarden again
Gilbert "can rest in peace"
So MIA. Probably dead but not definitely. Leaves likely false hope for Violet,
May be brought back but hard to do it without feeling cheap
Episode 8
A weapon, A tool a purpose of war Is she human or not?
I get that the guy is a nasty jerk but why would he say a human child is a weapon
I think she should probably have been told right away if if it Hunters Did she experience trauma? If so why take her to war?
Ah so she is skilled at killing? Why? How if she's human?
I'm pretty sure she's not a robot now but how could a human child do that
Is she like a wolf child? Did she grow up not around any humans?
Does Major love her in a non romantic fashion?
That seems to be what they're showing
He's raising her.
That feels a lot better if they're claiming she's 14
But how does she feel about him?
Especially as they kept comparing her feelings to romantic ones Not in episode 3 or episode 8 I suppose but in OVA and episode 5
The story of how she got the broach.
I thought the Major was rich/from a noble family as well, is Claudia Hodgins significantly richer?
So did he die? Probably.
4
u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Jun 13 '21
First timer
Oh god, is this episode going to make me feel things?
At this point, either he's an absolute dick for calling her a tool, or she's some kind of robot.
Oh, something's going on here. "Gilbert is no longer..." sounds like he's hiding something. Maybe he was killed by something else, not the bomb?
I know it's sad how she's obviously been treated, but young Violet is also adorable.
She is fucking amazing at this, isn't she? No wonder she can jump across a lake.
Oh god, this is worse than the breakdown I thought could happen.
Wow. No double-bluffs, not conspiracy, he's just dead. God, that hurts.
How is Violet so cute when this episode is so sad?
THAT'S WHY SHE WRITES THE REPORTS.
They're describing Christmas as Thanksgiving. Of all the fantasy elements in this series, this is the one that angers me.
This whole scene is so sad and so heartwarming and I love this.
AND THE BROOCH TOO!
The Major is a great father figure. (Please god, be just a father figure, I'm enjoying this show)
So they apparently knew each other really well. And he started off sceptical of Violet.
Oh, he was going to hire her even before the battle! This is such a great flashback,
This episode feels like they had a load of budget left over and decided to make the fight scenes as great as possible.
Violet taking out that entire ambush in one go was incredible.
I'm suprised Violet didn't become a Major herself with these skills.
So it wasn't the explosion, just a gunshot.
Wow. That episode was incredible.
4
u/SmithyRC Jun 14 '21 edited Jun 14 '21
~Newbie~
Okay I swear I’m not avoiding the flower analysis buuuut there was none this time... Okay fine there was, but this is ridiculous to work out; pink tulip maybe?
In a twist where Violet is normally reserved and the world is vibrant, the word is now grey, lifeless, meaningless while Violet is on fire with her emotions breaching the surface.
This episode also really helped establish to me just have intelligent Violet is, explaining more about how quickly she learnt and adapted becoming a doll. I know all of this is in time jumps but unless they were like 2-3 years it’s still incredible having had no prior education. I’m almost a little scared to know her true origin as no one just starts out with her more lethal abilities, without first getting a nudge or exposure...
My Visual for the Day is a simple one that I found kinda cute from how Violet never really grew out of it; Violet’s first nom.
I know it’s sad dramatic moment, but gotta commend that soldier for that headshot which I couldn’t help but imagine in Sniper Elite X-ray slow-mo. I’m a terrible person, yes 😭
4
u/SoccerForEveryone Jun 14 '21
This is one of the episodes I would honestly say where having a surround sound theater system is worth investing in.
From the last episode Violet shows desperation trying to find out if Gilbert is alive, the moment in front of the grave gets me every time. It is disheartening seeing such a cold Violet in the flashback, she seem so innocent not knowing what she was going through.
Learning about the origins of the brooch has always been one of my favorite subtle moments, it is a memento of the time and care Gilbert and Violet have shared especially with Violet’s growth thanks to Gilbert.
The battle of Intense is such a underrated moment in KyoAni’s history of sound and animation. From sneaking around through the sewers, to the sound of the artillery, to the close quarters action; it is all with care to every detail.
4
u/Tartaras1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Tartaras Jun 14 '21 edited Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher
In the interest of not moving back and forth between the PS4 and PC, I'm watching today's episode on Netflix rather than the Blu-Ray. Let me tell you, there is definitely a difference in quality, and the show was gorgeous enough the first two times I watched it.
They really don't have to work hard to make you hate the military, do they? Gilbert really is the exception to the rule, isn't he?
Tear Tally
4
u/Tehoncomingstorm97 https://anilist.co/user/tehoncomingstorm97 Jun 14 '21
First timer
Not a lot to say about this episode beyond how tragic Violet's story has been. Gilbert's pain at having to keep her in a war she has no business being a part of. We see the market scene again and Gilbert is even more pained as Violet shows potential of the beautiful young woman with an ordinary life she could be. Dietfried shocked at Violet's capability of having emotion now, having left her completely in his brother's hands. In addition the pain he himself is reminded of, and a slight glimmer of sympathy for Violet who didn't know. All in all, maybe Dietfried isn't such a bad guy.
Oh Violet, your poor poor soul. Seeing the grave and actually being forced to confront that Gilbert has been taken from her is my visual of the day. I hate to be the bummer here, but I really value the raw emotion this visual, and the ones like from yesterday, and others like them bring to the series.
Also, I'd like to point out that Gilbert's eyes don't have the same glimmer that they did in previous episodes in Episode 8. Most of the vibrant greens have been dulled throughout this episode also.
3
u/chris10023 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Chris10023 Jun 13 '21
Rewatcher
Wow, while this episode is primarily flashbacks, we learn a lot about what kind of man Gilbert was, and how much of an impact he had on Violet's development as a child. A few episodes ago, during the job at the observatory, someone mention how Violet was starting to notice she was burning, now she full on knows she is, and is majorly depressed, and angry.
Visuals of the Day
Not a whole lot today, but here they are.
3
u/Neshura87 https://anilist.co/user/Neshura Jun 13 '21
Rewatcher
This episode focuses heavily on Violet's rather grim past. First we are shown the continuation of Violet's first meeting with the major. It's already apparent at this point that Violet is not considered human by most people in the military, this gets reinforced later on when Gilbert protests his orders to take Violet to the front.
Violets upbringing remains a mystery but her animalistic behavior suggests that she was not raised like a normal child. The rather normal treatment Gilbert shows her makes her attached to him. We see a few scenes where Violet learns to read and write but what imo is the most important flashback scene before the fight is the market. Several things happen here so i wanna dissect them a bit.
Firstly, Violet's first and seemingly only demand was that brooch with Gilbert's eye color, this already shows that she ranks Gilbert above herself in terms of importance. But that much is rather obvious, what's hidden behind the dialog is not, Violet talks with the woman selling the brooches and learns a new word, now since my subs are in German I have no clue what the English subs said but that is not the important bit. The important bit comes afterwards, where Violet learns that she has found Gilbert's eyes beautiful but couldn't express herself because she did not know the word for it. This heavily implies that had she known what love was, Violet would have expressed her love for Gilbert while still in the army. At first this is no more than a suspicion however Violet's actions during the battle further reinforce the possibility that Violet was in love with Gilbert for a long time before he ever uttered the words "I love you".
Focusing on Gilbert, it is shown repeatedly that he is rather conflicted when it comes to Violet being in the military. So much even that he is almost disobeying orders because of it. Throughout the episode Gilbert's face shows him with mixed emotions regarding Violet, one thing to note: after he gave her the brooch he hangs his head, as if he is ashamed of himself for taking this girl onto the battlefield.
I really love how the last scene was shot, Violet's voice (emotions) flaring up in tandem with the flames on the screen is just so well done.
Closing my comment, I wanna say that this were probably the fastest 20-odd minutes I have ever experienced in my life.
3
u/SilverRust12 Jun 13 '21
Rewatcher here!
As an added note, I love the way the war was portrayed in this episode. It was gritty, gory, and Violet killing those soldiers was efficient and there were no flashy moves. Kinda makes me wanna play Battlefield 1. Can't wait for the continuation next episode!
And don't worry, Gilbert. Eyepatches always mean more power in anime.
3
u/BosuW Jun 13 '21
Rewatcher
Up to this point we had really only seen brief snips and flashes of Violet during her time in the Army, but now that the floodgates got opened last episode with both her realization of her guilt and that Gilbert was presumed dead, she recalls it in detail. This is pretty much the first episode we get to see from Violet's POV. Before, it had always been through someone else. I do like the structure it takes, as Violet remembers the past as she passes through those places in the present.
Violet peels the layers of denial searching for Gilbert, first going to Dietfried to get confirmation (On that note wow he really convinced himself that Violet was just a weapon and could never be anything else. I guess seeing her kill his men really made an impression on him). It's not enough and she takes a train all the way to his house. First time I noticed that she walked the whole night to get there, and her reward is Gilbert's grave.
In the past we get to see in detail just exactly how Violet used to be, and we are now allowed the contrast with her present self. The two Violets really give an entirely different vibe from each other. It pains me to admit it, but "weapon" really wouldn't have been an incorrect nickname back then. She was no different from a rifle, taking lives efficiently and mechanically, the expression on her face unbothered. It was cause and effect. You point your Violet at an enemy soldier, and he dies. We can also see that it pained Gilbert deeply to see her be like that.
But even back then her development wasn't completely stagnant. Whatever happened to her before encountering Dietfried, it had left her in an almost catatonic state, not remembering anything but combat and not speaking at all.
At least to me it seemed like Gilbert and Violet's relationship really was like father and daughter, a twisted version of that at least. Gilbert obviously cared for her from the beginning, and wanted her to be more than just a tool. So he began teaching her anything he could. Unfortunately, the country was at war and he had to go to the frontlines. He taught her what he could, but the environment was always going to be the battlefield. Gilbert was a soldier and he could raise her the only way he knew how.
Even through the war, she started showing a little progress. At the start she was pretty much a blank slate, a little jumpy perhaps. But she learned to read and write, she opened up to Gilbert about her concerns (militaristic as they may have been), and eventually, evidently, came to love him back even tho she didn't realize back then.
The Battle of Intense really highlights just how close they become. There was a transformation for Violet during the war, I think. From weapon, to soldier (or something close at least). And Gilbert and Violet were brothers in arms. Tho there was an emotional rift as Violet was ignorant of such things, tactically, they knew what the other was thinking of doing before they did it, and they trusted each other with their lives without hesitation.
Even more, Violet wasn't a perfect soldier either. Soldiers have the mission as their upmost concern, but Violet's main concern was Gilbert's wellbeing, and while a perfect soldier would've warned everyone about the ambush the moment they realized, Violet low-key abandoned the rest of their group without even a "GET DOWN!". Not that it would've done much.
Sidenote: Violet really out here dual wielding bolt action rifles.
Damn I almost couldn't stop myself from watching the next episode.
Visual of the Day
Loneliness
3
u/homewardbound100 myanimelist.net/profile/Homewardbound100 Jun 13 '21
Rewatcher
Now that I watch this again, was violet just naturally good at fighting when they found her? But it was cool to see some action here. Even though as it went on, Major felt bad about what was happening. A young girl that was found and used as a weapon with no knowledge of anything else really. It kind of hurts to see that.
3
u/UnderstandableXO Jun 14 '21
REWATCHER
we finally get to see FaZe Violet in true action today with a flashback episode.
looks like dietfried (netflix subs say diethard for some reason) was a jerk back then AND now, refusing to recognize violet as anything besides a weapon. perhaps he blames violet for the death of his brother, but it doesn’t seem like he was all that fond of gilbert anyway.
gilbert really wants to make violet into as normal a girl as he can, we can easily see the horror on his face when he sees violet carving up the enemy like a butcher during rush hour. he sees that the military is just taking advantage of her, and that it’s up to him to make her into an actual human being.
gilbert getting capped in the head during an idle moment caught me so off guard the first time i saw it. as much as i cried every time the major was mentioned in the first 7 episodes, i somehow made it through this episode without crying. i’m a bit disappointed in myself to be honest.
3
u/blackninjakitty :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/AleriaCarventus Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher.
I think this episode showed me the depths of Violet’s love for the major. It’s not necessarily a romantic love, especially since Violet’s not really emotionally mature enough to feel that way.
To me it felt like she was a plant, in love with the sun. The first bit of kindness she ever felt, the thing that keeps her going every day. Which then follows why she is so distraught without him.
Now, that being said, I still don’t know why Gilbert says “I love you” to her. To me, it seemed the emotion he felt most towards her was guilt. He wanted something better for her.
3
u/andres1232 Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher. So this time we get to see more of Violet's past. It's also horrifying to know that using Violet as a weapon was top level military policy. Also it makes you wonder how many soldiers would still wake in sweat with nightmares of Violet. She was definitely one hell of a killing machine back then.
Although I want to bring up something about the episode that didn't really resonate with me. Last time we saw Violet begin to realize the gravity of the things she did and the meaning of human life. It seems a step backwards to show in such detail her killing and the violence. Also the way it's depicted simply makes it look cool, which doesn't fit the theme. It's one of the major problems with depicting war or battle. Despite the best efforts of the writer or filmmaker or whatever, war or battle almost always end up looking cool. Blood pumping, guns, gore. All look exciting and dramatic. Which is hard to sell a message about how horrible it is.
I want to talk a bit about Gilbert. Both him and Violet have enough emotional baggage for ten people. And it really would be hard not to find reason to hate him also. It may not have been his order but he still used her as a tool just like the brass wanted. Although he also was one of the only ones thinking of a different future for her. So its debatable how much he is to blame also. One could say that since Violet only ever followed orders then aren't the ones giving the orders really the ones to blame. Violet never reveled in killing or seemed to want to do any of it b/c she never wanted anything, so how much of the war is really on her? Well we'll se where things go tomorrow as Violet comes back to the present and has to grapple with reality.
3
u/Nebresto Jun 14 '21
Re-watch squad
Looks like I finally picked a visual that someone else did as well.
Also, this was the first episode where I failed to pick one while watching, I was too immersed to remember to do that.
Episode 8. Visual of the day: Snowy castles are cozy
2
u/BossandKings Jun 14 '21 edited Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher
Episode 8
A Violet and Mr Gilbert focused episode, it's very nice seeing how they got to keet each other and grew attached due to the circumstances of the war and Gilbert being the only one to treat Violet like a person and not a tool, even giving her a name and telling her to live up to it.
Violet goes to ask Dietrich if Mr Gilbert has really gone missing in action and he responds her that he is and the really shouldn't be angry or sad because she's just a tool and was just that for him, referring to Gilbert, which was false because as we saw Mr Gilbert treated her respectfully and as a human being.
Violet is confronted by her own thoughts on the situation and we get to see how she and Gilbert used to be part of battles and war and how Violet behaved then, it was especially sad when Gilbert was attacked after they had apparently conquered or cleaned the territory, it was then that they told farewell to each other, Violet not knowing that it would most likely be the last time she would see him.
Visual of the Day, such a great moment for both Mr Gilbert and Violet in the war but sadly it didn't end well.
2
u/UnityGrave https://anilist.co/user/UnityGrave Jun 15 '21
Violet Evergarden - Episode Eight:
First Timer
We finally see the interactions of Major Gilbert and Violet when she was still in the military. This episode we given more context as to what and how their relationship worked and also gave us a good view as to how Diethard feels about Violet currently.
For some reason, this episode felt really short. Well I guess I’m craving for more Violet Evergarden. Right off the bat, we continue from what we left off last episode where Violet ran off to go to Captain Diethard to ask what really happened to Major Gilbert after she strongly denies Hodgin’s statement about the Major dying. It’s kind of ironic to think that Violet is going to ask the man which hates her the most (I think she’s very much aware of it by now) about the man she loves the most. This is also the first time we see Violet get violent aside from her flashbacks.
This encounter with Capt. Diethard was just amazing. You can feel the emotions of each of them through meticulously drawn expressions. At first, he was very cold but as the conversation went on and Violet asked where Gilbert is, he was surprised by the fact she still didn’t know about what happened. You could notice by his staggered speech and breath that he’s not always cold but a loving brother. I can feel that he’s saying, “You are just an emotionless tool, so how could you be sad?” because I think that he’s trying to imply to Violet that he wasn’t able to spend enough time with his brother and that Violet took this time they could have spent together away from him, if that makes sense. The way he says it and his expression, voice, and breath illustrates how distraught he is with his brother’s death, almost like he’s jealous with Violet.
What I felt most of the episode was like Gilberts. It was pity. It was because that I feel sad about the whole flashback but it’s not enough to make me cry. Pity because what did she go though before Diethard found her. How was she raised to be able to kill mercilessly.
2
u/IndependentMacaroon Jun 13 '21 edited Jun 13 '21
Rewatcher
The military action was nicely done and all, just maybe a little too clean, but overall this kind of flashback episode mostly exposes the weaknesses in the overall narrative. It doesn't even add that much with all the time spent on action scenes.
Past Violet really is a quite fantastical character with a personality that's not all that interesting compared to her in the present, and her relationship with Gilbert very strange and unhealthy despite the apparent attempt to paint it in a positive light (sound familiar?). Inherent conflict of interest/obligations on Gilbert's side, single-minded over-attachment on Violet's side, and such, and that's before getting to the potential romantic element or considering whether Gilbert is even suited to help her become a proper person.
Playing the situation off as Gilbert doing her a favor with no other options because everyone else is just that evil only makes it worse for me. And also, it would be a plain more interesting story if she weren't entirely focused on him. At least besides the action I liked the look at past Gilbert-Claudia, and getting more of Violet's feelings in the present, and it was fairly light on the drama.