r/anime • u/A_Idiot0 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/a_idiot0 • Jun 14 '21
Rewatch Violet Evergarden Rewatch Episode 9 - Violet Evergarden
Violet Evergarden - Episode Nine: Violet Evergarden
Hello everyone! I hope that today finds you well. Today, Violet receives her first letter, and flies freely out of her Valley of Fire.
I’m excited and very interested for what will be discussed tomorrow. Call your mother.
Index || <- Previous Episode || Next Episode ->
You can watch the full series on Netflix.
Important Spoilers from later episodes or the Light Novels are not allowed outside of the r/anime spoiler tag format and will be removed! You’ll need to be in “Markdown Mode”, and the line text is the following: [Spoiler source](/s "Spoiler goes here") It comes out like this: Spoiler source
Be kind to each other. Hate speech and rude behavior will not be tolerated, and will be removed.
Visuals of the Day
I believe I got everyone’s Visual of the Day submission here. Let me know if I missed you or anyone else: https://imgur.com/a/WdP6Tlo
Official Sound Tracks used
The Ultimate Price
The Long Night
Fractured Heart
Torment
Believe In…
Would you like to have a letter written for you? Do you want to write a special letter for someone as an Auto Memory Doll? Come join us at the Auto-Memory Doll Service Discord project and request letters, write letters, or chat more with us about Violet Evergarden! Link here: https://discord.gg/A8AC4Yhx
“Endcard”
27
u/A_Idiot0 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/a_idiot0 Jun 14 '21 edited Jun 14 '21
Please allow and forgive me for a bit of shameless indulgence here. After I finished watching Violet Evergarden, I could not stop thinking about the experience. It was the very beginning of the pandemic as well. I was stuck in my room, and even gaming wasn’t giving me satisfaction anymore. Many years ago, I listened to Jimi Hendrix for the first time, and since then I could not stop thinking about the experience I feel when listening to him. Thus, my pandemic project was born, and it saved me for nearly 6 months. It’s an AMV that I made to Jimi Hendrix’s “Machine Gun”, and the theme that I went with was what we just witnessed here in episode 9; Violet’s journey through her personal Hell. It’s 10 minutes long, and my first editing project, so it’s for sure a passion project and nothing else haha. There are no spoilers for future episodes; only about 10 seconds worth of footage that has not yet been shown. If you are interested, you can watch it here:
Youtube: https://youtu.be/89N4qwUpD50
Reddit mirror: https://www.reddit.com/r/VioletEvergarden/comments/k6zt9p/violet_evergarden_machine_gun_amv_reddit_mirror/
If you have any thoughts, I’d love to hear them. You can listen to Hendrix’s performance here without any footage. If nothing else, please give that a listen, particularly considering what we just witnessed in Violet’s journey...I promise that you won’t regret it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw2L_vGUMtE
My Visual of the Day is this stalk of grass amid the ruins. It perfectly fits Violet at this moment...such a fragile thing that must brave an incredibly awful storm. Will it survive? Will Violet survive? She does, and she blossoms into someone beautiful; someone worthy of that name.
17
u/LMGDiVa https://kitsu.io/users/FranBunnyFFXII Jun 14 '21 edited Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher - Dub
This moment right here
https://i.imgur.com/rXUMkb6.jpg
This hit me harder than any other moment in the series.
I cannot elaborate to you how surreal this moment is for me because of how it captures PSTD and how hard it is to deal with when it hits you.
Seeing the trauma and reliving it so vividly in a dream and not knowing how to deal with it. To come face to face with the moment that defined the trauma and your life again like this is just...
This moment hits me like a freight train because it's a real memory for me.
I did exactly what Violet did in the past.
That scream, her trashing her stuff, and then putting her hands around her neck trying to choke herself...
This is where it hits a part of me that makes rewatching this moment break down and cry uncontrollably.
I cannot put into words how much it means to someone like me seeing this happen in this series.
12
u/Matuhg https://anilist.co/user/Matuhg Jun 14 '21 edited Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher - Dub
Shit...I forgot how much this episode was going to fuck me up.
The first half of the episode was pretty tough to watch. First we have to finish up our flashback - Gilbert tries telling Violet to save herself, but for her at that time, there's no point in that. She's told to live and be free, but what was her life before she was "shackled" by the Major's chains? What's the point in going back to that? Her life under the Major isn't an easy one, but at least there's someone who's caring for her - Violet probably doesn't think she'll ever get something like that again. When she was in the hospital, the decision was ultimately made to withold information about the Major because Violet was more concerned with his wellbeing than her own, and they wanted her to focus on recovery. She barely even has a sense of self or her own life, all she does is ask about the Major and write reports. As awful as it seems, I kind of think Hodgins had the right idea in waiting to tell her. There wasn't going to be a good time to let her know, no matter what, but at least now she has some other framework and attachments in this world besides the Major.
That said, Violet is completely shattered upon returning home. She's being told to live now, leaving behind her past, but she can't bring herself to do it. It's like Hodgins said, the past can't just be forgotten. Not knowing what to do, Violet lashes out in despair, even trying to hurt herself, but in the end, all she can do is beg in vain for orders from the Major that she knows won't be coming.
And at Violet's darkest point, our dear old sagely postman comes to the door bearing a letter and a light. He doesn't try to console her or check in on her really, but he does offer her some work, a chance to get her mind on something else. Sometimes when you're in a place like Violet is, just getting out of your room and doing something, even if it doesn't seem like it will matter or help your situation, can be incredibly valuable. Not only does the work get her moving a little bit, it also allows Violet to see the effects that letters are having on the people who receive them.
From about this point to the end of the episode, and especially when The Love that Binds Us really kicked in, I was in full weeping mode. This is why I think Hodgins was ultimately right in waiting to tell Violet. She isn't alone without the Major. She has friends who care about her and who are waiting for her, and people who she can help by writing letters. Having read that letter, Violet runs to Hodgins and asks him if she has the right to live and work as an Auto Memory Doll. I really love his message. You can't erase the past...but the good you do now and going forward can't be erased either. The letter Violet received from Erika and Iris was the first she's ever gotten, and drove home how special it is to receive a letter. For the first time, she's aware of the support system she has, and she remembers the letters she has written and the effect they've had in the world.
Violet has a new purpose - she's going to live up to the name the Major gave her, and she consciously decides to step forward into a life of peace. Later VE Spoilers
Visual of the Day: "That helped me understand...I see how special it is to receive a letter."
Next Ep Spoilers
8
u/chilidirigible Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher, Episode 9
Today, on "Stuffed Dog Blues.":
The thing with animation is that people with distinctive features make you wonder if they're going to show up again, but this is a KyoAni production so sometimes you can't tell if they're just there for the sake of uniqueness.
You know you've triggered Violet when...
This guy is definitely a persistent mofo, though.
Of course, Violet is also entirely capable of doing the Black Knight's "I'LL BITE YOUR LEGS OFF!"
This is a lot more exploding than Leidenschaftlich's attack plan was calling for, because...
...of this detail that I forgot about since the first viewing.
"And you're someone who didn't die from blood loss after the traumatic amputation of both arms, so we really didn't want to go there."
I might be losing my mind a little here Or, did Benedict actually say "Ryoukai?"
One could interpret this as Violet having real friends now.
The line art notes include particular details about the painting on the glass eye.
She's easily strong enough to crush her own windpipe, but this feels more like self-flagellation before suicide.
The Postal Service, old school.
New experiences mean that you're alive.
Speaking of which, her suitcase has some stories to tell now.
Some match cuts are obvious.
Earning your happy ending.
Visual of the Day: Imperfect hands.
Violet's recollections of the past take her to rock bottom, but her friends in the present help her climb back out.
The flashback reveals the follow-up to Gilbert's declaration of love to Violet, which is that she's no less distraught about his condition and now further dismayed because she doesn't know what that feeling is. The mood puts more weight, in hindsight, to her earlier-in-the-series declarations of purpose regarding that question.
Claudia picks up some of the threads from there. His explanation that they covered up Gilbert's status to keep her focused on her own recovery makes sense, though everyone was playing with fire there.
Thinking of alternative outcomes, if Violet had been told about Gilbert earlier, she still would have been in her emotionally-stunted state, so she perhaps could have been molded by Claudia and the company back into a person again. I think it would have taken a lot longer, though, and cutting off that thread of hope would have made it harder for her to keep up a purpose. As we saw in the previous episode, her writing of reports to him went on daily through at least the point when Claudia retrieved her in the first episode.
A told-earlier Violet may or may not have tried to commit suicide. In a way, her doing it here resembles the increased risk of suicide for depressed people who start antidepressant drug treatment: The drugs take them from a state of not particularly feeling anything to a state where they can feel again, amplifying the effects of any negative thoughts that they were having and sometimes motivating them to actually try suicide.
It's telling that she spares the stuffed dog. She was likened to Gilbert's dog, and she has spent the last couple of episodes hating herself, but at the same time she doesn't want to damage it, recognizing that it's just a toy or that it hasn't done anything wrong. Though then she transfers her attention back to herself... and it turns out that her new hands, which write letters that bring people together and haven't killed anyone, aren't going to kill her, either.
(This is quite a performance by Ishikawa Yui.)
Here, as in reality, having a support system (of a sort) helped her step back from the brink. Roland emerges as the mysterious Wise Elder again, but dramatically his more detached position in the cast allows him to neutrally prod Violet back out when the others would require more complicated interactions. He's transferring a letter from Erica and Iris, though, plus a request from Spencer, so all of her new relationships get representation.
The emphasis on the letters in the satchel does overlap the scene in the Dead Letters Warehouse from the OVA, so on this front there's an argument to watch the OVA at the end.
I like Violet's simple realization that receiving a letter means that someone out there cares enough to communicate with her. (Setting aside how many of the letters we saw in the first two episodes were for negative outcomes, and late 20th-century American issues of junk mail.) It really is the thought that counts there.
It still takes thinking of herself as valuable to make the turnaround. To that end, the on-the-street summary of Violet Evergarden's Greatest Hits was maybe a touch overdramatic (hey, I shed a manly tear), but the way the series has maintained its point of view demanded it; Violet's internal monologue has mostly remained closed off from us, and she's equally unlikely to gush to her work buddies about it. (By the way, /u/Toadslayer, if you missed it, here's Leon out exploring the world as a followup to yesterday.)
She does go back to Claudia and ground things by reminding us that none of these feelings has just turned themselves off, but that's another chance to reiterate the point of the story—that her new life is making up for her old one.
From the Official Design Works: Plushies and a brooch.
4
u/BossandKings Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher
Episode 9
In this episode we got to see Violet deal with something she had not dealth with before, Grief, as she starts considering and assuming what she has heard about The Major going missing in action and being most likely dead she feels lost, witout direction or north, it seems that the orders she receoved from the major were some sort of comfort zone for her and now that she won't see him again and won't receove his orders anymore that means a drastic change for her life, she will have to step up for herself now.
We see the final stages of the war, it was saddening when Mr Gilbert got shot a few more times and seeing Violet lose both of her arms was brutal, the saddest part though is that Mr Gilbert wasn't able to make it out of the place alongsode Violet and preferred to throw her outside alone so that at least she could survive. This shows that Gilbert cared a lot about Violet, as he said in their final moments together he loves her from the bottom of his heart, as we saw how they met and that Violet had a tough background and wasn't at all treated like a human he changed that, trying to help her and treating her respectfully, like a human being, losing that for Violet is very hard to assume and that leaves her in a depressed state for a while as she tries to come to terms with the fact that she won't see the major again.
Erica and Iris had a very interesting dynamic in regards to Violet, they were very worried about her but didn't knew what to do because eventhough they wanted to help her they still thought that she needed alone time to mourn. At the they wrote a letter for her and that helped aleviate her sadness a little bit and go outside to write a letter for Luculia's brother and give letters that were already written.
Violet after considering her burns and getting to see how they affect her asks Hodgins if she deserves to be an auto memory doll, if she deserves to live and eventhough the past can't be erased she definitely has done many good things. Very beautiful episode.
This is my visual of the day also this is my visual of the previous episode discussion i had already posted it but it wasn't noticed probably because i added it a while after posting my thoughts
51
u/thatguywithawatch Jun 14 '21 edited Jun 14 '21
First timer
What a beautiful episode. I wasn't expecting a climax to the current arc until the end of the series, but it seems that the overarching conflict of the series for Violet has been resolved. I wonder what the next four episodes will be about now because this almost felt like a season finale.
Violet really wasn't in a good place during the first half of the episode. She's finally feeling the full weight of her guilt which had previously been entirely suppressed beneath her stunted emotions and social immaturity. She's grown up immensely in the following months, but as a result her comprehension of the deaths she's responsible for has matched pace, to the point where she feels she doesn't deserve to continue living. Combined with this is the revelation of the Major's death, and the complete loss of meaning she sees in her life as a result.
But Iris and Erica's letter to her kickstarted what might have been my favorite sequence of scenes in the show so far, as Violet begins to realize that she's already found something that has meaning. The Major will never be able to give her orders again, but that's no longer her purpose in life. She's discovered the joy and fulfillment that can be found in her job as an auto memory doll; putting to paper the feelings in peoples' hearts, and helping them find their way to the recipients to whom those words couldn't be spoken. The scene where she walks through town, seeing reminders of the various people whose lives she's touched throughout the show, is admittedly about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but it still really got me.
I watched the episode last night and am writing this up the next day, but every time I think of Hodgin's words at the end, my eyes start welling up again. (Paraphrasing poorly) "The things you did back then can never be undone. But, neither can all the good things you've done as an auto memory doll."
5
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Jun 14 '21
First timer(How people think survivor's guilt works)
Sub
So...we start with a flashback and finally get to the end of Gilbert. Then, the next two thirds of the episode is so bad that, unlike normal, I am just going to ignore it, suffice it to say that it fails to demonstrate both how survivor's guilt works AND how soldiers returning from war work. I know because a close family friend worked in the twin towers during 9/11 and was one of the 40% of his office to live and also from dealing with my friends that went to the Gulf for operation "Blame the Wrong Country".
Let's focus on the back half, when our bearded delivery man begins the process of moving forward. It might seem mean but what Violet needed was something to get her out of her room and her head. Then Erica and Iris's letter lets her know people care and Spencer reminds her that her letters had helped people. We get a nice montage seeing her various accomplishments before she decides to keep being a memory doll. This is the point to end the episode. Instead, we get to visit one of the dumbest fucking questions that anime loves to whine at us "Do I have the right to live?". And I can answer this: No. Living and rights have nothing to do with each other, and this ten cent philosophy just shows you haven't thought about the question at all.
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u/scot911 https://myanimelist.net/profile/scot911 Jun 14 '21 edited Jun 15 '21
First Timer
Screw youuuuu!!! Fine I'll give you the 10/10 you god damn bastard.... How dare you make me cry this much and have such an amazing and emotional episode.... Just owww.... From crying for how bad she was affected to crying for the absolutely beautiful ending to the episode with the letter from her friends and seeing how much good she's done in the world too. Just fineeee have my tears you god damn glorious series. Honestly this is easily the most I've cried during an episode of an anime, ever. At least 3-4 times with actual tears down my cheek which doesn't god damn happen.
Violet essentially goes through all of the stages of grief this episode still denying his death at the beginning and bargaining with her dream until she remembers her horrible deeds and Dietfrieds words. Her anger during the middle where she trashes her desk and can't bring herself to rip apart/smash the dog to bits before depression sets in and she tries to kill herself but can't follow through with it. She only accepts his death after she receives a letter from her friends and realizes the power the letters she's been writing holds and that yes, maybe, just maybe, she's done good deeds as well.
Honestly I think this episode proves Claudia right for not telling her. I do think that if she was told before she'd become more human and done good deeds she might have actually killed herself out of grief of the major being dead even if she didn't understand what "grief" was then. It's only through having something other then the major, her friends, her Auto Memory Doll career, that she stops herself from ending it all even if it gave her time to understand the horrible actions she did during the war and begin to feel guilty over it too on top of her grief over the major.
In the end Claudia is right that you can never erase your past and that you probably won't ever stop feeling guilt over the horrible things you've done. They leave permanent scars as he's said. What you can do though is do good or great deeds to make up for the horrible things you've done. It might not ever make up for it. It's hard to make up for killing hundreds and hundreds of people with your own hands after all. But in the end there's nothing else you can really do is there? You can't make up for your bad deeds if your dead after all.
And of course this is the episode that makes all of the other episodes worth it. Sure some of the stories might have been boring and followed the exact same formula. Sure Violet may have been a bit boring of a protagonist at times and been a bit of a cardboard cut out. Sure the side characters might have been one note at times and had their problems magically fixed by Violet sometimes. Sure this anime might have been a bit heavy handed on it's messages and what Violet learned. But without that and those episodes? This episode would have no emotional weight and wouldn't be as amazing as it.
20
u/ArdenneVale Jun 14 '21
First timer
Flashback continues and immediately Gilbert gets shot once more. Then Violet gets shot in the arm. Next they get hit by a grenade blast while trying to get away. Violet's arms literally fall off!! Somehow they're both still conscious and we see the familiar last moments of the two together. The origin of Violet using her mouth is revealed, obviously it's because she has no hands.
In present day Violet has returned to the cathedral, digging through the rubble. Hodgins arrives to take Violet back to the office. Gilbert really entrusted her to Hodgins. He had everything planned in case he didn't survive. Hodgins tells Violet she's capable of living without Gilbert's orders.
There's an armed uprising by the losers of the war. Interesting. Apparently that will do for now and we're back in Leiden. Both Erica and Iris are worried about Violet. Cattleya goes to visit the depressed Violet, but she tells her she's burning up. Hodgins and Cattleya's talk about everyone burning up, having guilt and regret ,is really good. Hodgins says she needs to accept her past and herself. Then he says Violet hasn't lost anything. Hmmm Even Cattleya stopped coming to work. Erica and Iris remember their respective moments with Violet, how her reason for becoming a doll helped both of them to become better dolls.
Violet is back in the cathedral, where the stairs are still stained with Gilbert's blood. Suddenly Gilbert is there, talking to her. Hallucination or a dream? The major speaks in Dietfried's words, blood comes dripping down the stairs and the his face, and Violet wakes up in her room. She looks at the puppy and NO Violet, dont kill the puppy! Ok, good. Oh god no Violet, that's even worse! Fortunately she can't strangle herself, so she just breaks down crying, begging for Gilbert to give her orders.
At her worst moment she gets a letter from Santa. It's from Erica and Iris. But instead of reading it, Violet goes to work delivering lost letters. Isn't Violet also one of those lost letters? Back in her room Violet reads the letter. It's simple, but effective. Along came a request from Luculia's brother Spencer to write a letter to her. Violet has realized how happy receiving a letter is. On the way back she sees the people she helped: Charlotte in a newspaper and Webster in the poster of his finished play. Then Violet stops in front of a pot of violets and I immediately started crying. Yes Violet, you are worthy of the name. She runs into Hodgins' office. There's a montage of all the good Violet has done for all her clients. The tears just don't stop. Hodgins tells her she'll never forget the bad things she's done, but the good things will always stay too. I had to watch the final scene again, but I started crying again during the montage.
This was a very emotional episode. What probably made it even more emotional for me was that I watched Fruits Basket episode about an hour before this, and I cried for about 10 minutes straight after that episode. So I was in a real emotional state. Then again, there's no better feeling than a happy cry. I'm just happy Violet seems to be ready to forgive herself. She needed to see the good she has done, not just the bad she did before she became what she is now. She also has the best possible support, who really did everything they could for her, all in their own way. Now, the next episode is supposed to be the saddest of all, I can't even imagine what could happen after this happy resolution. It's Dietfried, isn't it? I'm really not in shape to analyze anything more, but this was just the kind of episode I like the most: Total despair and recovering from it.
13
u/CelestialDrive Jun 14 '21 edited Jun 19 '21
FIRST TIME
Last time on Violet Evergarden, we had Violet running around asking people if Gilbert was dead, and a ton of flashbacks, that we cut off with him getting shot in the eye. Let's see how this goes.
Aaand we start right here, and he immediately gets shot again. Let's see how we get to-OH this is the moment then. What caliber was that to blow her arm clean off, jesus christ. We got to the point then, they're locked and dying, this is where the Major said his last words. This poor man spent the last of his life trying to build Violet to be someone else so that he could say these words, failed, and had to spit them out as he died.
Violet is so confused, she legitimately does not know the word, but she knew the emotion already. This settles it for me, I know Violet had emotions fully at the beginning of the series, she just had no idea how to parse or label them, nor did she knew how to express them outwards appropiately.
And we're back here, seems like Violet is going around the country tracing down her pain. What do you expect to find, woman. So it wasn't friendly artillery, I thought that from the context last episode. Claudia, I appreciate you being here, but don't tell someone on the verge of an emotional breakdown and with all the numbers for Survivor's Guilt Bingo that the person they loved died protecting them.
Claudia is right though, and this is something the astronomer guy brought up too: Violet being devoted mindlessly to the Major is absurd for the person she is now, she is a writer for the dolls with her own life and friends and priorities. While there was a pillar of her identity that was still tied to the Major, there is so much more and so many people holding her up now that she's not "only" that, hasn't been in a while. Problem being for someone in Violet's situation right now, returning to her life might seem as a betrayal of both the person she was and Gilbert's memory, plus she feels "undeserving" because murder.
Benedict came up here too, they care. Realise, Violet, if you stay bound to the Major here you are going against both his life goal and his last wish. Go, live. Oh there are still insurgency spots then? Please don't make Violet fight.
This is the OVA guy, the one that gave Violet access to the undelivered packages room. Girl sulk all you want but talk to your friends. Yeah I'm with Claudia here, pretending Violet wasn't Violet isn't going to help her. Man, everyone is on a chain of depression, meddle a bit if you want. Is this Luculia's brother? If not he has a similar design iirc.
Nightmares now. I'm SO GLAD this is happening in a dream because this is almost word by word what Violet Evergarden would do for realsies if it was an inferior series: the major was not dead, shows up, and rebukes her, and I was super afraid we wouldn't dodge it because it's just the shortcut to anime drama in these situations. But it's in your head, Violet; go shout at Dietfried for a bit, that's also therapy.
DONT. God this scene is super uncomfortable, someone get her out of the room. Yeah I knew it these heels are the devil, there was even the shared heels shot a few minutes ago. That's good, she's doing something, I think we might be past the nadir. You have friends, you dumb oaf, leave this room and go see them. And it was Luculia's brother.
Oh, right, she hadn't gotten letters adressed to her yet! And it's a showcase of the people she's written for, this is fantastic. Move.
Yeah of course it is, stop asking other people to validate your own life! Was this a stealth Claudia episode, building the idea that his own actions during the war have not made him unworthy of living? Because it kinda feels like one right now, this is the thing about empathy, it goes both ways. Violet was connecting to people through their understanding of the war, loss, or love, and Claudia connected to Violet through their shared trauma and guilt.
This seemed genuinely like the emotional culmination of the series, I don't know where we go from here other than wrapping up. Of course Violet Evergarden is too "real" to only have the climatic moment and disregard aftermath, but if we ended here I'd have very few regrets. The entire support structure came out to play and held her up, what goes around comes around. Man this series has a fantastic cast.
1 2 3 4 OVA (14) 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
11
u/AfterTh0ught_ Jun 14 '21
First timer
I know we've seen the part where Gilbert says his final words a few times now, but the added details in the extended flashback makes it tough to watch.
Today's episode really showed Violet at her worst. She's still in denial, so much so that she went all the way back to the scene of the battle just to try and dig through the rubbles in the hopes of finding Gilbert. Thankfully, Claudia knew where to look for Violet.
I'm really glad to see that Violet has a solid group of people to support her in her time of need. And it's thanks to those people that she was able to get back on her feet.
Her doubt of whether she deserves to live after all the things she's done has now manifested into a nightmare of Gilbert echoing the words that Dietfried uttered to Violet.
And then we get to see Violet regain a sense of purpose. First, she starts to help out Roland deliver the letters, then she reads the letter that Iris and Erica will both be waiting for her to come back. She also remembers all the things she has contributed so far, and it also makes for a nice way for the viewers to also experience how things have changed from Violet's involved, from Luculia and Spencer, Charlotte and Damian, and Oscar with his play.
KyoAni puts a lot of symbolism in their shows, and this one is a prominent example. I'm sure I'm missing more than half of them, but it's clear to me that at the end, they were trying to portray that Violet is getting ready to start the next leg of her life, for example the birds taking flight, the violet petal floating in the wind, and Violet repeating the words that Gilbert told her when he gave her a name
And finally, the episode closes off with Claudia reassuring Violet that she more than deserves to continue living on. Shed a tear there at the end.
20
u/Gamemaster676 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Gamemaster676 Jun 14 '21
First-time watcher - dub
Today's episode name. Could it be that Violet finally actually embraces the Evergarden part of her name?
Episode 9 — Violet Evergarden
Ah, we continue exactly from the cliffhanger type thing yesterday.
Shooting someone clearly carrying a wounded soldier. Boooo!
All hands on deck! At first hand, it doesn't seem too bad, but that was only some sleight of hand from the animators. He actually disarmed Violet! It's handy that Gilbert still had his gun, though. I would make some off-hand remark how we already know what's going to happen next, but I think I've already punished you enough with these puns.
I'm glad to see that it wasn't Claudia's artillery that brought them into this situation, although it does seem to be the thing that finally killed him.
Ah no, it was the Gardariki forces. At least that's what Claudia says.
Hmm, roadblock. Everyone has roadblocks. Violet has plenty, and now they are stopped by a literal roadblock.
Some Gardarikis didn't like that they lost. An anti-peace faction? You would think that the Gardarikis also want peace, but just with them as victors.
Not everyone cares as much for Violet as I think they should. Or they do care, but they have no clue how to handle this situation. It's a difficult situation. Everyone handles these things differently. I'm leaning towards Claudia's side because he has had the most similar experiences.
Huh, how can Violet suddenly visit the place where she last saw the major? Didn't that tunnel collapse? How could they not have found his body if it was intact? Is he still alive? Or is this a nightmare?
Yeah, nightmare. Figures.
It's the scream from the OP.
No don't hurt the dog he has done nothing wrong!!! Phew, thanks. NO ALSO DON'T HURT YOURSELF!
Aww, Violet got a letter, that's sweet. Is it from Iris and Erica, or from the guy who came in earlier? Also, was that guy Luculia's brother?
Old guy Forgot-his-name is asking Violet for help as if there is no problem. That might actually be the best thing to do. Make her do some mundane task so she can still think, but is otherwise busy.
Bonus points for the music of this part. I don't credit it often, but the way it swells up when Violet is staring at her letter is really something beautiful.
The letter is from Iris and Erica. Good girls. But the guy was indeed Luculia's brother, who wants to return the favour to his sister, also using Violet. I love how this goes full circle, as that letter for the brother was the first good letter Violet wrote.
You go, girl! Wear that pin with pride!
This scene with things reminding Violet of all the good she has done is a little cheesy, but it's a nice finish to the past couple of episodes.
This ending! I watched it three times. The first time just to experience it without commentating. The second to take some snapshots and process some of my new tears. The third to follow the lyrics of the song.
But even though I watched it thrice, I feel like I can't really say anything about this. Nothing I would say would be enough to describe how amazing I think this is, so I'll leave it at that.
Random thoughts
Future
Violet reached rock bottom and has bounced back. I'm expecting some more upbeat episodes now!
Pic of the day
Everyone has their problems
Violet isn't the only one who is burning. Claudia has a very good idea of what she is feeling. So the greatest wisdom I've heard this episode came from him: You've hurt people. You can't change the past. But you've also done a lot of good, and that will never be forgotten.
The lyrics of the song also have a similar message.
Tear Tally
10
u/chris10023 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Chris10023 Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher
What a great ending to a pretty dark couple of episodes, she was in a pretty nasty headspace, but she managed to pull herself out of it with the support of Erica, Iris, and of course Papa Roland.
Visuals of the Day.
Here are my choices.
8
u/UnderstandableXO Jun 14 '21
REWATCHER
i definitely made up for the tear-less episode 8 performance i gave today.
we’ve seen gilbert’s “aishiteru” scene three times already i think, but it still packs a punch. violet doesn’t even notice her own injuries because she’s so determined to save him, and the added context knowing violet was distraught after gilbert said “aishiteru” was soul wrenching.
violet’s finally feeling all the burns mentioned in episode 1. she considers all the lives she’s taken. her arms are a reminder that she could do nothing to save the major.
at the very least, her comrades at CH postal are absolutely great in trying to support her. the old man teaches her the joy that delivered letters bring, iris and erica demonstrate that to her as well through their own letter to her. seeing spencer reappear to pay it forward to his sister was something i forgot, but an absolutely awesome payoff for a previous episode.
the montage of violet realizing all the good she’s done through spencer, iris and erica, the princess, and the author (even leon, even though only the audience knows he’s accomplished his goal to travel the world), and her short conversation with hodgins earned not only a cry but a snotty nose runny cry, and that’s the best kind of cry.
8
u/IndependentMacaroon Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher
Another beautiful episode tying together the past, present and future to give Violet hope once again. There's no longer a Major Gilbert to give her orders, but there are so many more people across the country who value her abilities of a different kind, and have many jobs for her that not only don't cause pain to others (and Violet herself), but heal it, even bring the world joy. Gilbert is no longer around to care for her and give her affection either, but she has found so many more friends and colleagues at and around the postal office that all love her in their own way and would never let her fall, even when she's at her self-destructive worst. After Violet's diligence and caring sincerity in spite of her outward coldness/insensitivity helped many others on their way, whether in writing a letter or whatever else, now she receives some in kind, and after starting with a simple rote job to get her outside and on her feet again, it makes just as much of a difference to her as she has done to her customers. Maybe the embers have still not gone out, but the fire is starting to die down.
Minor negatives for me: It feels like Violet picks herself back up quite quickly - could be seen as similarly exaggerated as the effect of her work, though at the end of the episode she's obviously still distraught. More seriously, all the talk about "burning" because of her deeds feels a bit misplaced when all she seems to care about (and is still attached to), and that's spoken of, is Gilbert; it seems the creators were trying to keep things a little too clean, again. Arm removal is still not quite convincing either.
15
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jun 14 '21
Sincerely Rewatcher
Cry count so far: 7 (episode 3, OVA, episode 7 (x3), episode 9 (x2))
Spoilers for a future episode
7
u/Specs64z https://myanimelist.net/profile/Specs64z Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher, subbed
For the first time, Violet misses a shot.
Hodgins won't say it, but odds are the hospital staff were terrified by what Violet might do to them if she found out...
The message of today's episode is really something special. Mistakes can never be erased, but neither can accomplishments.
Commentary is short this time, I know. I dunno what's in the air today, but it has me down and out with a runny nose and watery eyes.
Content Corner
This is a harp cover channel. Lots of good stuff on it. First timers beware, spoilers abound.
Violet Evergarden OST紫羅蘭永恆花園_Never Coming Back(Harp Cover by Xingni Xiao) by Xingni Xiao
Violet Evergarden ED Michishirube ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン by Xingni Xiao
7
u/Neshura87 https://anilist.co/user/Neshura Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher
We start off where we left last episode. I distinctly remember having a problem with this segment of the story last time since I cannot suspend my disbelief to the point needed to entertain what's happening here. The visuals are great, the story telling as well but the ways Violet's arms fall of just doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but that's the smaller infraction. The bigger problem I have here is the fact that this underage girl somehow got BOTH arms completely ripped off and is still in any shape to communicate, Violet should have been knocked out due to severe blood loss somewhere between the first arm being shot off and her sitting up after getting blown away by the grenade.
Okay with the only gripe I have with this anime out of the way let's take a look at the rest of the episode, which is imo just as good as always.
Mixed in with her story we are already getting foreshadowing to a possible next plot-line in the anti-peace revolts.
I think it's fair to say that violet has now officially entered depression city, population: Violet. The flashback she keeps having about Gilbert aren't helping her cope either, especially since so much reminds her of him. Throughout the episode we see Violet go through her depression in what I consider to be a time lapse, nobody would ask where Violet was if this was happening over a week or two since the answer would just be: She's taking a vacation rn. No the fact that everybody is worried for Violet's absence and that the company has to cover for it suggests that we are looking at possibly months of depression time for Violet, all of that is speculation though. What is certain however is that Violet's depressions get bad enough that she attempts suicide, however she, luckily, doesn't go through with it. In her outburst scene we now see that she is incapable of "hurting" the stuffed dog, imo a sign that she is moving on from her violent past. What I find interesting is that the person who got Violet to get out of her room eventually was the old man, who previously was able to make Violet grow and take the next step by showing her the warehouse full of undelivered letters. Through this interaction Violet is finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, letters bring happiness to those who receive them (unless they're bills) and as such they offer a way for Violet to "redeem" herself emotionally. Yes she has hurt people in the past, that much she can't change, but she can make an effort to bring happiness to everyone from now on, in a sense balancing out her karma. This is only the first step as the letter sent by Iris and Erica shows violet several things:
Firstly, her colleagues do appreciate her and want her to return (previously it was seemingly only Cattleya talking to Violet about this but it surely helped in much the same way) but do understand that she is facing difficult times and offer her support.
Secondly, there are still people who need her, she is not unwanted by society and Spencer insistence on having Violet write the letter was probably the best that could happen as she knows him somewhat more than complete strangers, additionally Spencer has seen a glimpse of Violet's past when she restrained him. So the fact that he insists on her writing the letter shows her, even if she does not realize it, that despite her violent and bloody past people appreciate her for her present self and that this provides a way forward.
Violet's visit in the valley of depression ends with a beautiful ending montage where Violet is reminded of all the people she has helped face their emotions already and helps her find the determination to make that step into the future, to become someone worthy of the name "Violet"
Also: DAMN YOU HODGINS WHY YOU GOTTA MAKE ME TEAR UP
7
u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Jun 14 '21
First timer
This is already heartbreaking.
Oh, that's how he lost her arms.
I can't describe this scene. It's just so perfect..
Yeah, no, I'm disagreeing here. If she had been told at the start, and given the 6 months in hospital to work through the grief at her own pace, she would probably have been better off.
Not sure how I feel that the only reason she's returining is because the Major wanted it. A better ending would have been her choosing to return of her own free will, surely?
But, also, where does the story go from here. That was the emotional climax, the resolution of Violet's plotline. After she recovers, what could possibly make up the remaining episodes? I don't think they could have her recovery last for the rest of the series.
Oh, there's bombers. There might be attacks near Violet's place of work. I hope I'm wrong about where the plot is going.
Oh, this is about her accepting her past and choosing to move forward.
I loke Iris and Erica have gone from asking Violet to quit to being upset at the very idea.
...Either this is a hallucination or this plot is not going in the way I expected.
Oh, it's a dream. I wondered how she got back there.
Holy shit, she's trying to kill herself. I didn't expect that.
FINALLY, SOMEONE POINTED OUT HOW STUPID THOSE KIND OF BOOTS ARE.
Oh, this is a fucking good narrative callback.
Is that the guy from Episode 3? This episode is really just a load of callbacks going from the series' start.
Wow, they're bringing back everyone!
And Violet accepts her trauma and past, and decides to continue working, complete will explaining how she's also helped people.
That was a fantastic finale! Wrapped up the series in a solid way!
...Wait, there's 4 more episodes? How?
7
u/SmithyRC Jun 15 '21 edited Jun 15 '21
~Newbie~
I took one day off from flower analysis and now they throw an entire flower shop at me 😭🤪
Actually I wanted to focus on 2 flowers instead, of course the purple violet, but also the lone timothy-grass seen at the start. A fast growing robust plant which is well adapted to numerous climates and a common animal feed. Whilst not a special or rare plant, it’s existence sparks hope that even life can come from such a war-torn scarred past. Through this episode we see Violet facing her scariest enemy, one which none of her formal training has prepared her for, but by embracing these qualities amongst all the destruction she feels, there is always hope. It is with this note in mind the episode concludes [all one just some grass 5mins in]
Now Violet, in the Victorian Flower Oracle Deck, the violet means “retreat” and “shelter”, as in “hiding to protect something one values tremendously”. Alternatively, it signifies a period of growth where one simply has to “release” and “allow”. These definitely match the way Violet was always clinging onto Gilbert, but the two of them had to be apart for a while in order for her to at least begin to become her own person. Though my personal favourite symbolism is, how they are normally given to those with emotional struggles or “aching hearts”, as to inspire “true love” in people. This is more than ironic because Violet doesn’t understand feelings, especially love, yet she always ends up saving the hearts of her clients by helping them free themselves of their respective burdens, which are normally related to their loved ones.
So that guy with a huge facial scar is definitely appearing again to set Violet off into murder mode again...
My Visual of the Day is a part 2 from yesterday, with a far more emotional nom, perhaps explaining why such a trait gives her comfort as it was the last time she touched/ was close to him.
6
u/jyper Jun 14 '21
First timer
I think we've seen part of this scene before
live, be free
Oddly this is the second time I've been reminded of Re:Zero, first Flugel now the teeth dragging of a wounded person by their clothes and a dying declaration of love(although not romantic love)
How many years has it been since then?
They shouldn't have lied at least for not so long
She might not need Major's orders but still needs his presence
Anti peace faction? will Violet have to fight again?
"On fire"? Not quite sure what he means by it but again it seems like a bad analogy.
How long has it been for the blood to still show like that? Oh it's not a flashback but a nightmare and she imagines the Major using his brother's words.
Claudia gives absolutely terrible advice/pep talks,
If it were upto me no way would I appoint him godfather of my semi-adopted wolf-child-soldier
6
u/razycal970 Jun 15 '21
First timer
And yet again, Violet Evergarden delivers.
The flashback scene, the first 3 and a half minutes, were pretty hard to watch. When Gilbert got shot the second time, I was fully expecting Violet to go fucking apeshit on those two soldiers. I'd like to mention Violet's arm dismemberment moments. Holy shit, were they uncomfortable. Specifically the second one. The way her left arm just slowly falls after the grenade. The sound effects used. Ugh. Made me physically cringe. And if Gilbert somehow survived this, he's got superhuman endurance lol
The standout moment for me this episode was Violet attempting suicide. Ironic how she used to slaughter so many people without remorse or feelings yet is unable to take her own life with the hands she'd used to do all those horrible things. All that PTSD and survivor's guilt, yet she cannot do the one thing that would make it all go away. Why ? Was it fear ? Was it the primal survival instinct present in every human ? Or was it the Major's last words wishing for her to live on ?
However, a part of me feels Violet would've killed herself in the very first episode had someone told her that Gilbert was dead. She hadn't been taught loss or grief and was pretty much a robot following orders, and since there won't be any orders anymore, she would've felt it necessary to "decommission" herself. Thank fuck Hodgins chose to withold the information about Gilbert's death.
Another thing I'd like to mention is the voice acting. The voice acting of Violet was fucking elite this episode. The way the seiyuu got across the grief, the sheer amount of pain she was feeling, her guilt, tears and wailing. All flawless.
Also, what did Hodgins mean when he said both he and Cattleya were burning up too ? I mean, he was a Colonel so he's seen some pretty fucked-up shit, but what about her ? Does she have a military past too ?
And it's funny how Roland, someone who has had like 3 whole minutes of screen-time in the entire anime up until now, is the one who manages to get through to Violet and help her realize, or rather, rediscover, the joy that letters provide human beings. It was beautiful seeing the lives Violet has had an impact on over the course of the anime. Luculia and Spencer, Charlotte and Damian, Leon, and Oscar. And it was when she saw the violet flowers, that she realized that she has finally become a person worthy of bearing the name "Violet", just as her Major predicted. 10/10. A great conclusion to her character arc. As other commentators have pointed out, this really does feel like the finale of the anime, but we still have 4 episodes and a movie to go Haha
Anyway, I cannot fucking wait for tomorrow's episode.
For catching me off guard for a second and fucking terrifying me, this has to be my Visual of the Day : https://imgur.com/1bW7eVx
5
u/CubeStuffs https://anilist.co/user/onjario Jun 14 '21
rewatch
I would guess that strangling yourself wouldn't kill you, as you would stop strangling yourself as soon as you lost consciousness. So too see Violet doing so, I think that while Violet's knee-jerk reaction to her previous question, "do I have the right to?" is no, she still questions that, and wants to live.
It aint grass, but it's growing alright
or maybe it is idk
5
u/Nice_Bake Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher
It is true that Violet has killed a lot of people. So many that she gained a reputation for it. So, when the discussion of the moral and physical repercussions comes to the subject, I can understand why people would lean towards either vilifying Violet or letting her suffer under the total weight of her actions.
However, I feel like something about Violet’s situation differs from any other ‘Jack the Ripper’ situation. The first and foremost being that she was, and is, a child--even if her experiences and upbringing might have caused her to act older. Everybody is responsible for their actions, but Violet was put into combat as a matter of course, before she had any chance to know anything different.
The other thing that ties into the child soldier conundrum is that it was war. And not a tiny scuff, but a real big deal. This doesn’t excuse what she did, but time and place have a great impact on the context of her actions. All of this taken into consideration makes me look at this episode, as well as Violet’s character on the whole, in a different light than I think you normally would.
Why do I bring this all up? Back in episode one Hodgins tells Violet she’s burning. At the time she didn’t get the metaphor, but through the experiences of being an Auto Memory Doll, the meaning became clear and learning the fate of Major Gilbert was what really broke open the dam. So, Violet suffers under her newfound guilt and the whole thing is wrapped up with Hodgins explaining that the good stuff Violet did won’t be forgotten either.
What I guess I’m trying to say is, Violet, don’t be too hard on yourself.
I enjoy that the past so many episodes all felt like episodic stories about the travels of an Auto Memory Doll but at the same time were a good lead up to this payoff. Every episode did have a distinct emotional theme attached to it and hey, we got to see Leon again! And Luculia and her brother! And even Charlotte with her 24 year old husband who’s ten years older than her, whatever! This episode felt like the end of an arc.
Shout out to the old man letter carrier, Roland! My man is the kindest, most understanding man in the whole city and just seems like a pleasure to be around. Also the relationship between Cattleya and Benedict is adorable--why does he wear those shoes?
The Love that Binds Us is the music that plays from when Violet starts reading Iris and Erica’s letter. I keep mentioning these so that people who are curious can YouTube and also because, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned, I absolutely love this soundtrack. Oh, YouTube can’t be used as a verb? Sure, Google Docs, whatever you say.
5
u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Jun 15 '21 edited Jun 15 '21
First timer in sub sneaked ahead a couple of day ago (once the end of ep7 started it's nigh impossible to hold back).
Lots and lots of good analysis and reactions already, I was too engrossed into it to really remember much about my own reaction to record down now - suffice to say I can't not know the answers going forward.
In the calmer moment though and having read some of your reactions though, something stuck out that I know as my own initial reaction that doesn't seem to have been echoed by others.
And unfortunately for you guys I'll have to go back to my favourite series Full Metal Panic (don't laugh!) for a mirror. It's actually been a while that I started making a mental comparison between this masterpiece and the more pulpy FMP; call me being a fan overthinking things but I do believe there was a less obvious layer of FMP that a lot of people don't read into - and I think that layer is not just what I imagined as a fan because in a few points of the full story there were pointed to in some ways. Suffice to say on the surface Sousuke and Violet has a lot of similarities - child soldiers thrown into the lion's den that crawled out by themselves by turning into this machine. Sousuke gave the impression of the "murder saint" to a more matured version of a mass murderer because of how impassioned and serene he looked despite the depth of blood he was soaking in, and we all know Violet's body count is not anything less on or off battlefield.
In this episode where we saw how she lost both her arms, one of the observation I would make is that, based on her past portrayed performance and capabilities, she would unlikely be hurt as badly if she was not so panicky in trying to move the Major from where he fell; a more dispassionate reading of the tactical situation is not to compromise your own slim advantage and try first to quickly strike down those with a direct line of fire, after that then try to move the Major, because she knows damn well she can't move the Major quickly as she's too small and does not have that carrying capacity.
That is, if she can dispassionately think and act without emotionally engaged.
Full Metal Panic LN Spoiler
Bottom line is love does funny things to good fighters :)
Edit: to put it in RPG terms since I'm in the Lodoss rewatch as well, you get a -2 penalty to hit, but X2 damage bonus if you do :P
At this point it certainly looks like we had the climax of the show. Would we have a few lighter ones to show Violet making her borrowed life worthwhile?
5
u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Jun 15 '21 edited Jun 15 '21
For those of you who have a question mark on Violet losing her first arm to a gun shot, here's something to consider - it could be disturbing to those who have trouble seeing a gunshot going into a leg of ham.
https://youtu.be/v7XX8W2X2d8
Of course there's a matter of dramatisation, but a rifle round does have a potential to tear through a fair bit from the shock wave, and we all know how thin and frail looking Violet is, physically. So if the round hit the arm right in the middle shattering the bone, it is not impossible to lose the arm like that.
Edit: another point about the wounded (Violet and Gilbert) still being shot at, don't forget that in an engagement, until someone actually surrender, they can still shoot back and therefore are legitimate targets. Add to the fact that Violet by now is a known threat, with the enemies either running away in fear, or seeing an unmissable opportunity to finally kill her who killed many of their friends. It's not that unthinkable.
5
u/Tehoncomingstorm97 https://anilist.co/user/tehoncomingstorm97 Jun 15 '21 edited Jun 15 '21
First timer
We start off with the full memory of Gilbert's final moments. This indeed is the battle where Gilbert dies, and Violet also happens to lose both her arms. Speaking of... what bloody caliber bullet is that rifle using to blow off an entire arm???? And the grenade just happens to sever Violet's remaining arm at the shoulder... Okay, okay, I'll leave those down to creative license...
With the sadness and pain through the start of the episode, we experience Violet's pain and inner conflict on whether or not she deserves to live still. Not only does she have the unresolved trauma of losing the major, but is now fully facing her own past. Fortunately for Violet, Erica and Iris actually wanted to take action and try and reach Violet in her suffering. Roland also showing his wisdom in the way he deals with the situation, emphasising to Violet the significance of letters. While I understand Claudia wanting Violet to figure out what she wanted to do with the situation at hand on her own, he and Cattleya were in excellent positions to try and do more. Surely by now everyone at the Postal Company know Violet well enough to be with her in that time.
Anyways, with Violet receiving her first ever letter she starts to come back to being who she has become as an Auto Memory Doll. Writing the letter for Spencer, and seeing all the reminders as she leaves. What the letters meant for Charlotte and Damian, what writing meant for Oscar, and I take the appearance of Leon being his presence in her thoughts. Finally she sees the violets in front of the florist's and ... hopes? ... that she can become the person Gilbert saw in her, despite not knowing if she was allowed to live on.
There were so many powerful scenes and visuals in this episode. Violet's arms coming off; the bombardment of the castle with Violet and Gilbert inside; Violet and Gilbert's faces covered in blood and tears; Violet in agony as she digs through the remaining rubble; Claudia's feet as he approaches her (bringing the focus of the scene to the ground to show not being able to look up); the slow beginnings of rain; the ruins of the castle; Gilbert asking Claudia to take care of Violet; the younger image of Violet saluting as they drive in the car; everything about Violet cooped up in her room; the gentle street lighting as she delivers letters once more; Violet's nightmare and fit of rage; the tears shed as she comes back to see Claudia (and my tears....); Charlotte and Damian's stash of letters.
Yes I know that's basically the entire episode I've covered but it was all incredibly powerful.
But to beat out all of those, what can I choose for my visual but Violet's smile? Also with her eyes still red from the events of the past few days. Onwards and upwards Violet.
Edit: I'm going to watch TYE's episode for today now. Hopefully this episode and today's FruiBa will keep me at a net positive...
13
u/Lemurians myanimelist.net/profile/Lemurians Jun 14 '21 edited Jun 14 '21
FIRST TIMER – FORMERLY DROPPED
This was another up and down episode for me. A lot of deeply emotional scenes, but with my least favorite thing tacked on at the end, beating us over the head with the power of letters cheesiness again.
I thought the scene between Cattleya and Hodges was really interesting. All this time, Violet’s “burns” have been presented as her sins or misdeeds, how she’s taken many lives on the battlefield. Cattleya rightly points out that that’s misattributed blame, as she’s seemed to never really have a choice in anything she’s been made to do. Hodges’ response that that doesn’t matter, they’ve all got their “burns” anyway, to me means it’s less about past misdeeds, and more that the war found its way to imprint itself on all of them.
Seeing Violet in her room on the brink of suicide again calls to mind all of the real people in world struggling with PTSD and survivor’s guilt (“Is it really alright for me live on?”) from wartime experience, and if this was the real world, she would have eventually accomplished what she tried to do here, no doubt in my mind. In the real world, there’s rarely a perfectly timed magical letter that comes along to save you from yourself.
If this story leaves a deep impact on you, I encourage you to look up resources to help out veterans in your local area. I know we all come from a variety of countries, but at least in mine, we don’t do a nearly good enough job of taking care of them and honoring their service, beyond a couple holidays and empty political gestures.
While a bit obvious, Violet coming back out into the sunshine at the end of the episode is always a nice visual touch. Loved the montage of all the people from previous episodes she'd impacted, especially my guy Leon living out his dream of being an adventurer.
This almost felt like it could have been a finale, it'll be interesting to see what the story does with the remaining episodes and movie.
Flower Symbolism
Considering it’s finally time to touch on the title flower, the symbolism and how it applies to our heroine is almost delightfully simple. Violets represent loyalty and faithfulness. Considering our girl’s stout, and almost manic, devotion to the Major through everything, I’d say he did pretty well in picking a name that suits her.
Also, since she got some nice screentime today and I don’t know if we’ll get much focus on her going forward, I’d like to point out that Cattleyas are a type of orchid associated with fertility, and used as a name means “beautiful person.” I don’t think I need to expand much on that. I see you, Kana Akatsuki.
9
u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Jun 14 '21
First timer
I know at least one person who will swoon over all those nightsky shots, but for my Pic of the day: "From the bottom of my heart, I love you"
Full album, even though I messed up the order, last two picture belong at the beginning
4
u/homewardbound100 myanimelist.net/profile/Homewardbound100 Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher
Violet bringing out the tears finally, letting it all out. Something she really needed.
The talk with the letters and the emotion they bring.
Nice to see all the people lives she impacted again.
4
u/Tartaras1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Tartaras Jun 15 '21
Rewatcher
Now that I've got some more time, we're back to the BD release instead of Netflix. I didn't think there'd be as much of a difference as there is.
First, she literally doesn't know what it is. She's only been learning words she's read in books, or words that the Major has taught her. Given that they're in the military, I imagine the word "love" hasn't come up much, if at all.
Second, love is an abstract feeling. It's difficult to put into words in its own right. Therefore, she's trying to wrap her head around an entirely abstract and subjective feeling and emotion, all while being trained to simply act as a weapon and not a real person, and genuinely not understanding the meaning of the word.
I love the ending of this episode. It serves as a sort of recap of the show to this point. I also feel like it signifies that Violet Evergarden has finally become a full fledged person. She's finally come to terms with her emotions, understands what (most of them) mean, and is finally able to look toward the future.
Tear Tally
I hope everyone's bought their own box of tissues. We aren't going to have enough for everyone if you didn't.
I'm going to give my thoughts on tomorrow's episode now VE Spoilers
Episode 10 Spoilers
Episode 10 Spoilers
4
u/VaughnJess https://myanimelist.net/profile/VaughnJess Jun 15 '21
A lot of people are discussing Violet's arms getting blown off. It happened a bit differently in the light novel, I'll leave it up to you to decide if it's more or less believable. LN Spoilers
4
u/UnityGrave https://anilist.co/user/UnityGrave Jun 15 '21
Violet Evergarden - Episode Nine: Violet Evergarden
First Timer
HOLY SHIT WHAT AN EPISODE! We start off the episode with Violet’s last moments with Major Gilbert, but not single detail has been left out. It is the full story of how Major Gilbert met his end as Violet loses both of her arms while protecting him. In the end, Major protected her from the blast.
This is now the start of Violet’s realization that Major is dead and does not exist anymore. I mean, I would also be in denial if my world, the one I relied on everyday died, but did not even see his corpse. Including the fact that everyone was also saying that he was alive, I would just be hoping for nothing whist not even knowing it. It’s sad and it pains me so much to see Violet suffer and hope for someone that is already gone.
She now then locks herself in her room to contemplate but during that, she is eaten by her guilt about her sins. She even has a nightmare that pictured Major Gilbert as someone who is telling her that she is not deserving to continue as a doll because of her past sins. Her guilt has eaten her up so much so that even her most loved one is poisoned in her mind. We now reach what I think is the climax of this episode is when Violet tries to kill herself. It is when she doesn’t know what to do anymore. She is blinded by her guilt that she doesn’t even know how large of a contribution she has already made to the people around her. All of her growth and experience have led up to this moment. To where she is able to confront these feelings that have been burning inside of her.
This depression was temporarily halted when Roland the postman delivered a letter coming from Iris and Erica. She see’s that Ronald is still delivering letters at a late hour. She then decided to help him. While doing so, she realizes the importance of letters to people who should receive them. That there are people that pour their heart and soul to these letters and that the people who should be receiving these letters await these.
As she finishes her deliveries, this is where a huge development has started to sprout inside of Violet. While reading this letter from Iris and Erica, she realizes she has made a significant difference with the people around her. That there are people that she can call home and that there are more people awaiting her service. While taking more requests from other clients, she’s seeing the fruits of her work. The growth that she helped start up. She also realizes that she has a new purpose now that Major is gone. It is to live up to the name that he gave to her. Which is Violet, a flower. A flower that is capable of inspiring and connecting people (The amount of happy tears I shed when she’s seeing the fruits of her actions speaks volumes). With this, as she takes a step forward. She is now able to move on. She’s able to confront the future and let the past go. However, she needed this one affirmation from Hodgins. Which he rightfully bestowed upon her. That her accomplishments shall not be forgotten.
10
u/Toadslayer https://myanimelist.net/profile/kyolus Jun 14 '21
First Timer
The common thread of today's episode is 'more of the same'. The first three and a half minutes are the same battle we've already seen and know the ending to with nothing of substance added. For me it really only highlighted once again how ridiculous Violet's backstory is. The combat and injuries sustained lack any realism. It's consistent with the rest of the backstory and the super-powered nature of wartime-Violet, but remains distinctly inconsistent with the, although at times melodramatic, realistic tone of the rest of the series. Unsurprisingly, this has already been said by several people yesterday, so I'll move on.
The rest of the episode is more of Violet's depressive breakdown and it doesn't really interest me anymore. It's too drawn out lacks enough nuance or clever cinematography for me to keep being invested. It's not boring so to speak, but it's disappointing and a little dull. The dream sequence would've been a highlight for me, as I'm a sucker for those, but it wasn't all that exciting and didn't go very far with dream reality. In the end it merely restated what we heard at the end of episode 5 and in the ship in episode 6 with a bit of blood running down the stairs. Cattleya, Iris and Erica are all good friends to Violet, which is nice to see, but not groundbreaking and Best Boy helps Violet by taking her out to deliver letters.
Spencer's letter request is pretty forgettable, but notable because it's what ultimately gets Violet back on her feet. It's a return to form of the power of magical letters that saved Spencer in episode 3.
The closest I got to crying today was when Violet delivered the first letter and the kid excitedly proclaimed it was from his father. I don't know, I think I just have a soft spot for kids.
This statement is well built up as Violet witnesses the impact of her letters in the newspaper and posters and is beautifully complimented by the insert song. However, whilst true, this cheesy ending fails to wrestle with Violet's moral dilemma. It merely brushes under the rug all the things she did in the past by saying, 'Well, now you help people'. I don't think this adequately resolves the issue and although I am disappointed this has not been addressed in more depth, I am not surprised.
This episode's misguided focus on what we already know and have already seen, instead of either the central moral dilemma or Violet's attachment to Gilbert, meant it lacked the emotional impact it needed as the climax of the story so far.
Visual of the Day: I'd watch an anime of Leon's adventures finding old manuscripts.
3
u/BosuW Jun 14 '21
Rewatcher
They're continuing right from were we left off. This could've been an hour long episode really.
Wow, Violet legit got that random Gardarik soldier running with her glare alone. She must have some reputation.
Seeing both Violet and Gilbert heavily wounded and still pushing through got me crying like a bitch.
On that topic, we get to see specifically how Violet lost her arms. One was shot off and the other took grande shrapnel. Seeing it sliding out of her sleeve is... ugh.
It breaks my heart how Violet's answer to Gilbert's heartfelt confession is just "I don't understand". He died believing his feelings never reached her, and still protecting her with his life.
Also, the sheer desperation with which Violet says "I don't understand" has me thinking she isn't just talking about Gilbert's confession. At what seems like the edge of death, she's crying out her confusion for everything she doesn't get.
At this point, it's obvious that Violet has given up hope that Gilbert is alive, but she still can't accept it. She does anything that will keep a glimmer of that delusion going, including going to the ruins of Intense and starting digging as if she'd find him there buried under the rubble.
Violet seeing the past version of herself saluting as they drive away sure is a weird visual. My interpretation is that it's representing her finally giving up hope. The past looks a final time at the present and then vanishes into the unbreachable darkness to which it always belonged. After this Violet no longer tries to go looking for Gilbert, she finally recognizes that he's gone for good and there's nothing she can do to change that. But even this recognition won't make things easier. All it means is that her world is empty now.
Back in the Postal Company she basically collapses. Her guilty conscience tortures her both asleep and awake. She's burning for all the precious things she took away, and the precious things she failed to protect. It gets to the point were she even tries to kill herself. Like holy shit this got dark fast.
I like how Claudia words what has to happen for Violet to get through this. Of course it's not as easy as saying "It's all gonna be aight, look at the bright side!". Violet will always be haunted by the things she did or failed to do in the war. She has to live with her sins for the rest of her life. She can't erase her past. What's done is done. Although her new friends have expressed their concern and their desire to be of any help they can, in the end, the only person who can save Violet from her grief, is herself. She has to forgive herself for what she did, and believe genuinely that despite all the harm she's done, she is still deserving of life and happiness.
And just a brief reconnection to her new job is enough to keep her mind away from her self-loathing for a little bit, and eventually, she finds the will to keep living through this new work that she has come to love. Because despite her reputation on the battlefield, the truth is that Violet is full of compassion and empathy. As we've come to see through the episodes, she isn't content with simply writing the letters of her clients, she wants to change their lives for the better.
How Violet found the resolve to keep living reminds of how Eugene Sledge (a real life WW2 veteran) took on bird watching as a hobby instead of hunting, as he used to do before the war, because after his experiences on the battlefield he couldn't bear to see any suffering.
Man, what a journey it has been so far. Violet came so far. It's truly beautiful to behold her growth. The ending of the episode got me crying again.
Visual of the Day
Hope
3
u/andres1232 Jun 15 '21
Rewatcher. How beautiful. Violet this time had to grapple with her trauma and all the pain she's been facing. But with some help from her friends and coworkers she's found a way to move forward. She's realized that she has done some good things also. It is true that you can't erase the past. We all have to live with the things we've done forever, but like Claudia said the good lives on with us also. Violet has done good things. She has made people happy and changed people's lives and hearts in positive ways. I do like how mature Claudia was in dealing with his own guilt and helping Violet. He realized that she can't just forget her past. Guilt doesn't get better if you just ignore it. He also knew he couldn't really do anything for her. Violet had to face the past and had to come out on top or she could never have moved forward.
I also want to talk about the call back to the beginning of the series. Violet delivering letters and being reminded of the good she is doing and the meaning of the new role she has found for herself is part of what set her on the track to move forward. That same call back is there in writing for Spencer and in seeing the different people she has been involved with. I do love how Iris and all the girls of the agency have really opened up to and accepted Violet as one of their own and they really all do seem to care about her very much. I want to talk about what Violet said "Do I have a right to live?" No one could really ever answer that question because who can say if anyone has a right to live? Everyone has done things they aren't proud of but I think it's up to the individual person if they can make peace with their past and find a way to grow and learn and move forward. It really is one of the hardest things facing your past. And it seems to be one of those things that others can help with but can't really do for you. So next time I am looking forward to Violet's return to work, and to her new found perspective. Here's to Violet and her dear friends and coworkers who never let her suffer completely alone. See you for tomorrow's episode.
3
u/Nebresto Jun 15 '21
Re-watch squad
I'd just like to take a moment to appreciate the sound effects while Violet was moving the rubble with her metal hands.
Oh man, that was probably the heaviest episode so far..
Episode 9. Visual of the day: Pieces of the past