Novel Review: Violet Evergarden

Light Novel: Violet Evergarden

1. About Violet Evergarden:

Violet Evergarden (ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン, Vaioretto Evāgāden?) is a Japanese light novel series written by Kana Akatsuki and illustrated by Akiko Takase. It won the grand prize in the fifth Kyoto Animation Award's novel category in 2014, the first ever work to win a grand prize in any of the three categories (novel, scenario, and manga). Kyoto Animation published the first light novel on December 25, 2015, under their KA Esuma Bunko imprint. A 14-episode anime television series adaptation by Kyoto Animation premiered in January 2018, with several advanced screenings taking place in 2017.

2. Plot:

The story revolves around Auto Memories Dolls; dolls initially created by a scientist to assist his blind wife with writing her novels, and later rented out to other people who needed their services. While the initial function of these Auto Memories Dolls is only to generate voices into text, a second group of people created a company that rented out beautiful, talented women who, while having the same function as the original Auto Memories Dolls, can also perform military-related tasks.

3. Summary:

In the aftermath of a great war, Violet Evergarden, a young female ex-soldier, gets a job at a writers' agency and goes on assignments to create letters that can connect people. 

After four long years of conflict, The Great War has fınally come to an end. Caught up in the bloodshed was Violet Evergarden, a young girl raised to be a deadly weapon on the battlefield. Hospitalized and maimed in a bloody skirmish during the War's final leg, she was left with only words from the person she held dearest, but no understanding of their meaning. Recovering from her wounds, Violet starts a new life working at CH Postal Services. 

There, she witnesses by pure chance the work of an "Auto Memory Doll", amanuenses that transcribe people's thoughts and feelings into words on paper. Moved by the notion, Violet begins work as an Auto Memory Doll, a trade that will take her on an adventure, one that will reshape the lives of her clients and hopefully lead to self-discovery.

4. Resume:

The story follows a young woman named Violet, who was a child soldier as a kid, trained to kill or be killed with ruthless efficiency. While she is an accomplished soldier, it's the only world she knows, leading Violet to have under-developed emotions and no understanding of love and affection. After Gilbert, the man who named and raised her, professes his love for Violet moments before they're separated in the midst of fighting, Violet is left to find her own identity on her own.

Violet starts to understand what "I love you" really means.

In the aftermath of the war, Violet takes a job as an "Auto Memory Doll." A "Doll," as they are often referred to, is sent out to various clients to transcribe their messages into letters that successfully portray both the words they want to say and the emotions behind them.

With little to no understanding of what love, sadness, happiness, and similar emotions feel like, Violet is initially quite bad at her job. Thankfully she sticks with it, and through various tasks, Violet starts to understand her own feelings, mainly in regards to Gilbert. At the end of the chapter 5 , Violet realizes that she loves Gilbert as he loves her, but is it too late? Gilbert is believed to be dead after disappearing during the war. He even has a grave at his family's home, though no body is buried there.

Although Violet spends most of the season off the battlefield, it's thanks to her skills and sacrifice in the final chapter, that allows the peace talks and treaty to finally happen. Along with that, Violet successfully fights off the enemy without killing anyone, showing how much she's changed. At the end of volume 1 of "Violet Evergarden," Violet finally writes a letter in her own words, addressed to Gilbert, wherever he is. In this letter, she says that she will always believe that Gilbert survived, and admits that she loves him back.

In flashbacks, "Violet Evergarden" shows Gilbert's last remarks to Violet, when he tells her he loves her and instructs her to "live." Gilbert desperately wants Violet to grow into her own person, rather than living the rest of her days thinking of herself as a "tool" of violence. If he is really alive, it's reasonable that he might decide to give her space, both to find her own identity away from his influence and connection to the war, and to allow her to come to her own conclusions about her feelings for him.

5. Review:

“Pleased to make your acquaintance. I rush anywhere to provide any service a client might wish for. I am from the automated doll service, Violet Evergarden.”

When I read that catchphrase that the girl always says when she meets a client, I felt emotional. There are lots of emotions poured into that statement, containing her feelings to whom she adressed as “Major.” The statement describes well her thirst for orders from “Major,” and also what she really wishes for: to be of use to him. Kana Akatsuki, the writer of this novel, describes that it very well.

"A captivating story which ventures beyond your imagination, almost perfect in every way." 

That's what I would use to describe this novel. Even though my expectations were very high before I read this, it still managed to surprise me in every single chapter. This novel has the power to play with your emotions to such extent that you end up thinking about what you read for weeks, let alone days. The really descriptive narration enables the reader to picture the scenes perfectly, as if he/she was really there.

The story, as the title indicates, centered around Violet Evergarden, an Auto Memories Doll who “rush anywhere to provide any service a client might wish for.” She had the job of amanuensis, or an assistant who writes down dictations or copies manuscripts. In the novel, her main job is to type or write anything that the client wanted. It could be a letter, a play, or a transcription.

But of course, what she actually does are not limited to that kind of things. In chapters one to five, she met various clients with their own requests: a person who wished to write a play, a mother who wanted to send a letter, a soldier who wanted to convey her last message, etc. Those people had their own backgrounds and different characteristics, but Violet remains in her style: calm, elegant, and firm. She never hesitates to tell what’s wrong or right in front of others. She always addressed people with honorifics, even when people saying bad things to her. She remains just like that, whomever the person she meets.

As the story continues to roll through ups and downs, there are some parts when Violet remembered her past as a soldier, as a beautiful killer. And that eventually gets told in the last chapter; her meeting with “Major.” The chronological order might seem reversed, but it fits properly, since the last chapter is the most emotinal part in this novel, it will become a waste to put it in the first part. Also, putting the story of how Violet become an amanuensis will answer readers’ curiousity on who actually Violet Evergarden is.

Violet has such a charmingly prominent presence that it extends beyond the novel. Admittedly, my first encounter to this story is actually from the anime announcement, with Violet in the promotional poster, depicted in lavish details in elegant Prussian blue jacket, silk pleated skirt that swayed neatly as she walked, an emerald brooch that shined brightly just like her blue iris, and the brown case that she brought. The elegance is accentuated by the calm demeanor, keeping mum unless needed, always honest with her words, and maintain a polite humility.

In the novel, that beauty and elegant quality comes through through vivid descriptions that describe everything in fine details. In the beginning of every chapter, Violet is always described with her usual outfits, ornaments and tools, but I never feel bored to read that same part again, because even though the author describes the same things, the way they are described may vary for different stories. In other words, the way a client responds to Violet’s coming may affect how she is described in the story.

It is a bit different for the last chapter where the Violet had not appear as an amanuensis yet. But reading the way Violet changed from a “weapon” who only knew how to kill people to the Violet who passionately works to takes dictation from other people is amazing in some ways. After reading the preceding chapters, it made me understand well where her elegant yet firm personality comes from, which is answered in the last chapter. Once again, the really detailed description is also what makes this chapter also good.

Still, even though the story ends with a nice scene, this last chapter doesn’t answer completely how Violet started to work in C.H. Postal Company, and why her job is to type or write words from another people. The answer to this might lie in the second volume. Or perhaps the upcoming anime will cover that part as well.

Although I enjoy reading it, there is still something that bugs me after all; the content is all about Violet. While it could be good in some ways to have her always in the focus in the stories, but from another perspective, it makes her feel too special. 

I understand a lot of Violet’s story through reading this novel. But I guess I won’t get bored when I see the anime that will air soon. My interest in the anime has actually grown more after reading the story with the captivating descriptions.