It is rare these days to find a show that is simple, beautiful and profound. Violet Evergarden is all three.
Each episode plays out like a short story with something simple and beautiful to say, almost like a poem. It does not pretend to be overly important, grand, or philosophically deep. It just is as it is.
It explores themes of emotional connection, love, gratitude, loss, moving beyond tragedy, finding beauty in a world dominated by suffering, having purpose in life, bringing out the goodness in others, and most of all, appreciating the beauty that is all around us in the world.
My complaints are very small. Certain
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backstories and bits of lore are not explored as fully as I would like (e.g., so what was the war about?). Certain elements are not explained, so the audience just has to assume things (e.g. military experiment, or indescribable super-skilled child soldier?). Certain ages don't seem to match up, or they are just odd (e.g., so she's only 14 [at least SHE thinks that], and she was in the military and now is able to get a job and live by herself?). But these are small and detract very little from the stories being told and it in no way invalidates or detracts from the messages and themes, which I believe are most important. It is not the kind of show that needs heavily detailed lore because despite its fantasy European-inspired setting, it's just a container for the ideas presented in the show.
It is heartwarming and profound. I almost never cry watching movies or shows, but I felt tears well up in my eyes during episode 7, and I completely broke down and wept genuine tears during episode 10. It touched my soul in such a profound way. Further words cannot do justice to the beauty of this show.
