I don’t think there’s an ounce of doubt that Violet Evergarden was the most anticipated series of Winter 2018. It won the poll here and at RC, it generated a tremendous amount of buzz everywhere. And it’s not that difficult to understand – there’s a lot going for it. Not only is Violet Evergarden a Kyoto Animation series (which is a hype generator all by itself) but it represents a cooperation between the iconic studio and Netflix, and the light novel was the first to be awarded the grand prize by KyoAni’s awards jury. Hype away.
One could certainly play devil’s advocate without having to stretch too far. I would start with the fact that the Kyoto Animation Awards are effectively self-serving – it’s KyoAni singling out its own properties in an attempt to generate buzz for them. The studio’s business model has evolved to the point where they almost never produce something they doesn’t own outright, and while the positive financial impact is undeniable, there is a downside – namely, the “sameness” that pervades all of these works to some degree. I call it the “postage rate”, and it varies with every self-promoting series KyoAni makes – just how much are they mailing it in?
Given all that, I’m rather conflicted about Violet Evergarden, and about my own ability to be impartial about it given that I feel like I know the studio’s patterns by now. There’s no other studio apart from Shaft where the imprint on the product is more pronounced, though for my money KyoAni certainly does it much better. And I would never watch a frame of Violet Evergarden and think it had been made by anyone else. But that doesn’t mean a show can’t be a standout anyway, and this one certainly makes its case in very strong terms.
In the end, I think where I come down on “Violet” is this – it’s very much a series that exists within the safe, established Kyoto Animation framework. But it’s about as well as I’ve ever seen the studio execute that model, at least based on the two episodes (premiered at Anime Expo) that I’ve seen. The studio’s best works – Hyouka, Kanon, Koe no Katachi – are the ones that exist outside the assembly line, independent projects that don’t have to push the same buttons. But as far as the rest of them go, this series is about the most restrained, measured and generally pretty of the bunch.
And make no mistake about it – Violet Evergarden is very, very pretty indeed. The mere fact that the first two episodes were finished a full six months before airing should tell you this is a rare anime – KyoAni normally executes a sane production schedule anyway, and Netflix’ money makes this production even more of an outlier. Animation is butter smooth, backgrounds exquisitely detailed, and the aesthetic (kind of a Victorian cyberpunk) quite distinctive. And I think that voluptuousness is important in telling this story, because it’s a relatively simple one in its own terms.
In the end, this is basically a classic light-novel premise – super-weapons that look like hyper-cute teenage girls (because of reasons) trying to find a way in a postwar world. The weapon of consequence is Violet (Ishikawa Yui), who spent the war in the service of Major Gilbert (Namikawa Daisuke). Both were gravely wounded in the final days of the war (as seen in a quite well-executed series of flashbacks), leaving Violet in recovery for 120 days, her arms lost, and Gilbert’s fate unknown. He’s left her fate in the hands of Colonel Hodgins (Koyasu Takehito) with the idea that she live with Gilbert’s wealthy relatives the Evergardens in the gorgeous, Mediterranean-looking city of Leiden.
There is a bit of “light novel disease here”, as in exposition by explanation, but I’ve certainly seen much worse. When I speak of restraint with LN adaptations a lot of that comes down to resisting the temptation to make sure everything we’re supposed to know – including the characters’ emotions – is said out loud. And “Violet” does a middling job on that score – I’d much rather have things left to us reading the moment (especially given how beautifully the faces are drawn and animated), but the hammer used to beat us over the head is more ball-peen than jack. The characters are fairly boilerplate thus far, though it’s early enough that we could see that change.
In fact, it’s really too early to judge whether the story in Violet Evergarden is up to the job of standing up to the visuals. This premiere is effectively a prequel, setting up the main story – which finds Violet rejecting the Evergardens to work for Col. Hodgins at his factory (in a gorgeous restored mansion) in Leiden. There’s some meat on the bones of this premise – Violet’s desire to be useful and productive when she can no longer be a military dog, a company whose job is to give form to the thoughts of those unable to set them to paper. Violet Evergarden is undoubtedly a creature of its medium (why do the “auto memories dolls”, too, have to be moe girls?) but perhaps its one which brings an unusual amount of sensitivity and even some creative ambition to the table. We’ll see how the balance shakes out, but at least we can be assured that this series is going to be a true visual feast.
DP
January 11, 2018 at 8:14 amI’m probably more favorably disposed towards Kyoto Animation than you are, and count Hyouka and Nichijou as two of the best series I’ve ever seen, but I think you hit the nail on the head here: Violet Evergarden is very attractive and lush, but based on this first episode, also seems pretty formulaic, and not necessarily very interesting. It’s certainly not an example of KyoAni stretching itself, or taking any creative risks.
Goh
January 11, 2018 at 8:17 amThat was a truly disgusting first episode, maybe Kyoani’s worst ever . The fact that this series is unwatchable is perfectly clear during the first 5 minutes but that same thing could also be said for some of their other garbage works ( Amagi, Myriad Colors). What’s especially shocking in this particular case is how vapid, inhuman and tastelessly false everything feels in its melodramatic attempt to be emotionally resonant and beautiful. Looking and listening to these characters was excruciating. It made me feel like I am among soulless dolls and that there is no hope for anything recognizably human here. But it would be an easy mistake to praise the production values while panning the story and characters. No, it’s all part of the same dreadful package. This is not a waste of talented animators as one may be tempted to believe, but an unconscious indictment of a whole aesthetic, a pose of ”making quality anime” that cannot ever be redeemed no matter how many animation frames or money you throw at it.
It’s very sad that a studio responsbile for some of the best anime of all time (Nichijou, Hyouka) has fallen to this level.
sonicsenryaku
January 11, 2018 at 10:17 pmwow…..just wow…..I’m intrigued by your opinion on this first episode. Perhaps you could divulge a bit regarding why you despised the storytelling on this display here so much; I’m genuinely curious. So far, some of the negative comments I’ve gleaned don’t actually say anything concrete about why they actually disliked the premiere. Don’t get me wrong, if you disliked what you saw, that’s perfectly fine; but why complain so vehemently about the storytelling and espouse passionately on how “disgusting” it is, without saying anything meaningful to explain your point?
Goh
January 12, 2018 at 6:42 amSee my recent reply to Molly where I try to explain why I feel this way. It’s clearly not about a single scene or two but a general impression, a combination of factors. My strong reaction comes from being a fan of Kyoani in the past, a studio that even in this grave decline can still produce likable and solid series like Kobayashi. So I’m obviously more invested in this than a thousand other terrible anime. I think it matters that we express this outrage or else we’re giving the impression that this is a normal state of affairs and we’re satisfied or at least ”not offended” by this complete lack of artistry from a studio that has proven in the past that when it tries it can produce something truly amazing.
Matti
January 11, 2018 at 8:56 amI think I’ll just listen to Aroduc on this one.
Matti
January 11, 2018 at 9:04 amJust want to add that, as a photography lover, I absolutely DESPISE the way this studio uses depth of field. Just wrong on so many levels. It’s actually even worse than the results you’d get from those gimmicky “Portrait Mode” weasel-features you see on new smartphones.
sonicsenryaku
January 11, 2018 at 10:07 pmperhaps you can explain exactly what’s wrong with it; not just in this show but in other kyo ani productions. I’m asking because i want to compare notes. I might be able to understand your position if you actually explained yourself a bit; saying that you have a background in photography is not enough to make someone understand what you find wrong with kyo ani’s photography techniques
Matti
January 12, 2018 at 11:17 amYou don’t need any background, but you’d at least need to hold a camera – a proper one, APS-C sized sensor minimum, not smartphone or small sensor pocket-cams* – with ~50mm lens attached. Go try mimicking some of the scenes you see in this anime. Take lots of pictures from aperture wide open to stopped down and see; how depth of field changes at various apertures, how much is blurred in front and behind your plane of focus, how gradual the fall-off from sharp to blurred areas is at various apertures.
Then go back to the anime scenes and see how jarring all the fall-off is (that is, if you can get over their gaudy simulated lens flare first) between foreground and background of the subject that’s supposedly in focus. They get it wrong far more than they get it right. Heck, the only instances where they get it right are with wide-angle “landscape” style shots (because it’s easy when you don’t need to simulate anything) or with portraiture style single-talking-head-looking-directly-in-camera (ala dating sim) shots (which is, again, piss easy). Everything else is dog-awful.
It’s not like this shit is hard. Production I.G mastered it almost 20 years ago. Sigh… there was a time I’d actually look for the Director of Photography in the credits of anime and search for their work. Now almost everything’s friggin snapchat (no, not Instagram because you can actually find good stuff on there) quality with regards to composition and framing.
* Not trying to be posh/pompous. You’ll at least need a sensor size similar to what they use in cinematography, either APS-C, Super35 or Full Frame. Sensors in your iPhone are barely larger that the fingernail on your pinky, which is why smartphones resort to computational techniques to achieve the look of purpose-built lenses, with less-than-stellar results most of the time.
sonicsenryaku
January 12, 2018 at 5:39 pm“Sensors in your iPhone are barely larger that the fingernail on your pinky, which is why smartphones resort to computational techniques to achieve the look of purpose-built lenses, with less-than-stellar results most of the time”
Yea, I’m actually aware of that.
“It’s not like this shit is hard. Production I.G mastered it almost 20 years ago”
Out of curiosity, what production i.g series or movie (i have a pretty good guess which one you’re going to refer to) would you say manages its photography better when compared to violet evergarden and why?
P.s. there’s more to visual fidelity than just photography; it feels to me that you are ignoring a lot of the finesse found with the storyboard and the art, color, and mechanical design; which i find to be a shame. Although i get it; sometimes there are one or two visual elements that can act as deal breakers for some. Kyo ani’s simulation of lens has never bothered me too much because it’s always been used abstractly rather than them trying to actually simulate a 1:1 representation of a real camera lens. Sometimes, i really think people get so absorbed in everything being so accurate that they miss the point of what art is supposed to be. Granted you can argue that if kyo ani does not want to be criticized for failing to properly mimic camera lenses, they shouldn’t try so hard to emulate it but i dont know man; like i said, there’s this thin line between conveying abstraction and attempting to imitate reality. Naoko Yamada is the kind of director who likes to imitate reality with her photography while ishidate is more abstract with his compositions. From what I’ve seen, Yamada’s works seem to emulate a camera lens to some mixed results but they mostly lean on the positive side (tamako love story for example).
Panino Manino
January 14, 2018 at 7:16 amI’m not as of a radical opinion as you are, but I share some of the frustration. They should tone it down a bit and get rid of that “gray layer” that the final image have.
May I ask for some Production IG example? Moribito, perhaps?
And what about Koi wa Ameagari, do you approve it?
Yann
January 14, 2018 at 10:12 amWho says they have to replicate the physics of photography in anime form?
It’s made out of DRAWINGS and they’re not limited to the optics of camera lenses.
Your point makes no sense…
Guardian Enzo
January 11, 2018 at 9:07 amDamn… Tough crowd.
Marquis de Carambas
January 11, 2018 at 9:18 amSo it would seem. I have no axe to grind about the visuals. Just the usual skepticism of light novel adaptations. I’ll give it a couple more episodes. But, I’m still coming down from the highs of last year — I won’t easily be appeased!
Bel
January 11, 2018 at 10:25 amI feel indifferent about the first episode, and my eyes feel tired because of that softening effect/filter they use in the show. It looks very pretty, but it doesn’t quite have the framework of a story to match that prettiness it yet.
If a studio other than KyoAni works on Violet Evergarden, I don’t think this show would have received even half the hype we are getting now. KyoAni have mastered the visual aspect, but they really need to work on their storytelling (or for goodness’ sake find more interesting stories to tell) more.
Molly
January 11, 2018 at 10:58 amGeez what exaggerated comments and violent reaction to an innocuous episode. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that some people are mad because KyoAni is geared towards a more female audience.
Where’s the backlash to Koi wa Ameagari which it’s potentially really problematic and as of the premiere doesn’t stray to far from the underage girl falling for the much more older counterpart trope. That’s somehow not offensive but the use of depth of field is suddenly a crime against fine taste.
I for one appreciated the nurturing and protective relationship established between Violet and Hodgins and am looking forward to her character ark.
Goh
January 11, 2018 at 12:04 pmAmeagari’s was far from a perfect first episode ( too many exaggerated and unfunny anime hijinks ) but it’s still miles ahead from this atrocity, both when it comes to its narrative and its understanding of how visuals should work. While I’m not convinced that its characters and story are all there yet and I don’t know which direction it will go to in its treatment of its subject matter, there’s no backlash to be had and there shouldn’t be because it at least tries to tell a human story.
Look, in the past I too have felt that there’s a gendered backlash against Kyoani from guys who confuse the comedic and artistic genius of Nichijou (to use one example) for mindless moe. It’s completely ridiculous and off base to use this defence in this instance though.
Violet Evergarden does not reveal a Kyoani geared towards a female audience. To me it feels as if the studio is completely unmoored (aesthetically and narratively) from anything resembling actual human reality. I honestly don’t know what audience they have in mind. At least with the cynical pandering of a Free or Amagi you could perceive their thought process. Here it’s as if they’ve been consumed totally by their own bullshit, they believe they’ve released a good and beautiful story. And that’s somehow more sad.
Molly
January 11, 2018 at 4:00 pmRegarding Ameagari… You say that Violet does not resemble human reality -but what human reality is that where you have a high school girl enamored with her boss and doing all sorts of things like the one in this episode where she’s caught smelling his shirt, and the dude doesn’t find it at all disturbing? If this isn’t trope-ish and derivative, I don’t know what is. Sure the quality depends on the execution but it’s nothing to write home about in terms of characters behaviors and motivations. It’s still firmly grounded in anime reality.
As for your reaction to Violet, I really don’t get what’s so offensive. In essence, you have a former child soldier given a second chance at living her life, surrounded by people that support and encourage her to discover herself. Where in that is the atrocity? There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but it doesn’t personally offend me either.
Thanks for your reply.
Goh
January 12, 2018 at 6:28 amIt’s not about what’s happening. It’s always about how it’s presented to us. A good writer can make the most outlandish events and behaviors seem natural, obvious and relatable. And the opposite of course. You can have a series where nothing ”offensive” happens on paper but the falsity of it all can make your hair stand on edge.
More specifically, regarding Ameagari, I too was worried at first that the boss was too dense, cute and anime-y for a grown man. But that final scene of him at the window assuaged by fears a bit. Basically you have a scene where he entertains the notion of having a relationship with a high school student while reminiscing on his own lost youth that manages to be successful. First it makes him into less of an angelic cypher, it is a hint that he maybe suspects that the girl is into him and all that without destroying our first impression of him. It’s a scene that’s interested in him as a character and it shows. It makes his feelings seem relatable and human. Same with the girl smelling his shirt beforehand. It may seem hyperbolic but the series tastefully tries to get into her head and visualize how she has come to feel this way. Again, it’s not perfect, things can still go very wrong by next week, but it’s defintely trying.
What enrages me about Violet is its earnest assumption that this is what a good story is supposed to feel like. You can describe the premise or what happens in this first episode and it would be kinda meaningless because it won’t capture why I think it’s awful. I can begin by stating that it’s both completely humourless and terrified of any semblance of naturalism or spontaneity. It tries to be romantic but it’s so plastic and melodramatic that every subject or character it tries to engage in automatically feels like a lost cause. It’s so false and barren that you want to escape by pressing delete.
And I mean the visuals (and the audio) play a huge part in cementing that impression. Everything, from the voice actors (it’s like they’ve been given directives to sound as stilted as possible), to the music and the general ambience screams ”Such a beautiful story, with lush backgrounds, mature themes, world building and attractive character designs we’ve created here…” trying to persuade you that it’s true. I know I use strong language but I don’t exaggerate in this case. I honestly find it disgusting. I admit that I had a bad feeling from the first time I saw that trailer. But maybe one can forgive a trailer for trying to be flowery and ”beautiful” , when that same thing is trying to tell you a story with that exact same insufferable tone then my reaction seems obvious.
sonicsenryaku
January 12, 2018 at 9:25 am@Goh…you still haven’t explained anything regarding how violet evergarden creates this falseness; and to drive my point home, just look at you’re description for why Ameagari excels. In your advocating for the show’s writing, you actually use scenes from the episode to support your argument and elucidate how the show creates a very human experience. You clarify how Ameagari cultivates proper human emotions and allows them to resonate with the viewer through proper narrative staging, enlarging the scope of the character’s perspectives in a way that naturally allow us to infer information about their cognition and behavioral motivations (and i agree because even i mentioned that in my comment on enzo’s post of the episode).
With violet evergarden, all you’ve basically said is that the show is not Ameagari and that’s….not compelling criticism, or even good criticism. What does violet evergarden’s writing actually do that makes the scenes feel false, disgusting, and hollow? You still haven’t said much; all you’ve done is tout fancy yet ultimately nebulous adjectives to explain your feelings towards the series, explicating nothing about how the writing actually fails at feeling authentic (I’ve read all your comments by the way). Again, I’m not trying to be disingenuous or disrespectful of your opinion; once more, look at your approach for Ameagari and then look at how you speak about violet. The writing quality between those two responses are night and day. It’s like you knew how to explain the natural splendor of Ameagari’s writing but with Violet evergarden, you can’t seem to explain what’s wrong beyond saying, “well, that’s how i feel;” and yet you’re so passionate about why you feel this way. I just want to understand your position better, that’s all. As well worded as your response is, it inevitably rings hollow without the substance to back up your claims.
Goh
January 12, 2018 at 10:42 am@sonicsenryaku: Replying above your post seems weird, but that’s the best I can do with this site’s layout. Well the reason I was being specific with Ameagari and not with Violet was because I thought that in the second case it wasn’t necessary. I don’t disagree that the words I use, without examples, may seem vague but I thought that I could describe the essence of the anime in a totalizing way without being bogged down in specifics so as to best capture what’s really wrong with it. I was gratified to hear that hikari also felt what I was describing because it seems so obvious. You take one quick look at it and you get it, it’s fundamentally wrong. I guess I could try and talk about particular scenes, though it’s not a very pleasant endeavour, to satisfy your demands.
Right off the bat the episode starts with extremely melodramatic music and characters that immediately seem vapid, a potent combination of character design, voice acting and writing. This is a shiny version of uncanny valley. You know it in your bones that these people don’t shit, they have no internal organs, there are no awkward movements, funny quirks or spontaneity. They are these hyper beautiful animated statues. Whatever’s supposed to be there is some unconvincing abstraction. Again it’s not about what happening in the first scene or later on at the hospital. It’s about presentation, tone and feel. Those things cannot be quantified, it’s not about plot holes, continuity errors and whatnot. It’s about how a scene makes me feel when I watch it. It can be hard to universalize that but it’s the only thing that matters here.
When they visit a port city later on there’s the infuriating pretense of creating a real world, a sense of space. You get the ridiculous rpg city name, the anchor and the vendor stores, everything perfectly in place. This can satisfy only an extreme wiki/lore fetichist. The world is fundamentally empty because it’s inhabited by automata. The rpg feel continues in the scene where they visit the old lady’s house. Just look at the mannerisms here, the scenes where they’re talking about infrastructure to convince us that this is a realistic work with consequences and adult considerations. Given the profound sense of alienation that I as a viewer feel at this point how can i be moved by the romantic declarations of love at the end? Have I bought into these creations as real people with thoughts and feelings? Not even close.
What about the themes? Does the anime have anything to say that approaches our everyday reality? No, it’s all the same lip service to seemingly mature subjects (human weapons, war and death, the nature of humanity) that ‘s been conning anime fans into thinking there’s something profound there since forever.
I’m sorry if that’s not satisfying, that’s all the energy I can invest in this nightmare at this point.
sonicsenryaku
January 12, 2018 at 12:32 pm“When they visit a port city later on there’s the infuriating pretense of creating a real world, a sense of space. You get the ridiculous rpg city name, the anchor and the vendor stores, everything perfectly in place. This can satisfy only an extreme wiki/lore fetichist. The world is fundamentally empty because it’s inhabited by automata”
So because the series goes out of its way to establish a world with dimension and identity, you’ve come to the conclusion that the its artificial and disingenuous in its portrayal. Creating a lush environment to illustrate an abstract sense of beauty doesn’t inherently take away from the sense of society and economy being conveyed. It’s odd, because you seem to be harping on the fact that the construction of the story’s setting is ostensibly perfect and that by it’s nature, it feels inorganic..but why? because, the creative team wants to create a sense of space? because they want to articulate their urban sprawl in a majestic fashion. Why criticize the modality to which the visuals go out of its way to careful craft its world as being false; it lacks any kind of validity, especially since all the factors you mentioned about world building can be applied to the approach most creators take when illustrating their world.
“What about the themes? Does the anime have anything to say that approaches our everyday reality? No, it’s all the same lip service to seemingly mature subjects (human weapons, war and death, the nature of humanity)”
you contradict yourself here; one minute you’re saying the anime has no themes to speak of and then next you’re saying that it’s themes are the same tired preachy bullshit anime spews all the time; which one is it? From what i gathered from this first ep, this series is less about war and violence and more about themes of social and behavioral acquisition through the emphatic use of language. This understanding of one’s human emotions by learning through others; understanding the power of language and the meaning of words; how words and the way they are spoken can imbue depth and unravel one’s own emotional spectrum. We as human beings learn about the dynamic intricacies of human emotions by interacting and understanding each other. We are able to contextualize our experiences through our intimate exploration with one another and one of the main ways we do this is through communication. The fact that you only were able to get war, violence, and human nature feels to me like you checked out after 5 minutes rather than taking into consideration how all the storytelling elements congeal together to accentuate this social behavioral learning through human experience and the significance of literary composition.
But hey, if this first ep alone made you feel so enraged about how “false” everything feels, that’s cool.
Panino Manino
January 14, 2018 at 7:22 amI have to “defend” Koi wa Ameagari.
There’s not “disgusting per se” about the premise. If you don’t like it, that’s it, doesn’t mean that it’s automatically disgusting.
Koi wa Ameagari is “a good romance”, really, no joking. Putting aside the questions about age gap, for what I know the relationships there are well developed and understandable. That being said… I agree that the episode was not “perfect” and left the door open to some “misunderstandings” about some scenes, like the shirt. I can’t fathom why the scriptwriter thought that cutting out Akira’s explanation to Kondou was a good idea, or cutting out some crucial thoughts of Kondou about Akira.
Their relationship is definitely NOT disgusting, but the anime need to make sure to make things clear.
Guardian Enzo
January 11, 2018 at 1:28 pmI definitely wouldn’t say KyoAni is geared towards a female audience, myself. Before “Free!” they seemed almost exclusively to cater to the disc-buying male otaku crowd. While they’ve diversified some I would still say that’s their main audience, and Violet Evergarden strikes me as a series that’s pitched more towards male than female viewers.
Molly
January 11, 2018 at 3:26 pmIn fairness, no studio is geared towards the female audience especially of the more mature kind. The josei adaptations are few and far between. In rest, there’s the solitary slash anime (and even there, in many cases, you’re stuck with problematic content rather than with LGBT representation), bishounen / male idol shows and various iterations of the romance genre. With very few exceptions, it’s hard to find any kind of content let alone good content targeted specifically at this demographic.
A review of the novels mentioned something a long the lines of Kino no Tabi which eh.. but at least I find the characters to be more emotive and empathetic whereas in Kino’s Journey you could never connect with anyone except Shizu, maybe.
Guardian Enzo
January 11, 2018 at 7:16 pmI would argue that Brain’s Base has always been a studio that caters more to female buyers than male.
Molly
January 12, 2018 at 3:42 amI would say that in the past, J.C. Staff also used to appeal more to a female audience and now’s more of a mixed bag. But it definitely feels like in recent years, these shows have taken a step back compared to the bulk that is produced. That’s why when something is marketed so openly to a female audience, it makes an impression.
hikari
January 12, 2018 at 7:24 amThank you very much for your detail explanation Goh…cause even though I have this unexplainable/abstract nagging feeling about my impression regarding Violet 1st ep compare to KoiAme (which I enjoy a whole lot greatly that I even rewatch it again for the 2nd time) that I just can’t describe it very well, though I probably didn’t exactly share your strong disgust on Violet.
I guess it’s just kinda strange that I usually enjoy/like or heck even love some of Kyo Ani series like Clannad AS and their Key’s series, Hyouka, Haruhi, Free, Koe no Katachi, etc despite all their flaws….sometimes I even rewatch some of those series episodes which I liked a lot, but I just left feeling cold after watching Violet 1st ep despite it’s gorgeous visual, I just can’t connect at all with the story/charas presentation despite I usually not that hard to please especially if you give me lovely visual, I eat that up (I’m not that militant in analysing sakuga/animation or whatever those technical aspect in depth)….heck, I even enjoy watching your generic RPG anime, Tales of Zestiria.
This is just how I feel which basically come down on my own subjectivity and enjoyment regarding those two series and I eat up those taboo/controversial themes in anime-manga-books etc as long as it’s well executed according to my own standard and enjoyment. Beside we don’t know for sure how it’ll end anyway (KoiAme) and I also hope the next few eps of Violet can actually improve my impression so that I’m not just looking at those super gorgeous visual while still feeling meh/indifferent w/ the story-charas, etc.
PS. So far, reading KoiAme manga didn’t make me squick/gross at all so I hope the anime continues to deliver as well, considering as an older (very much older) female and fujoshi, KoiAme definetely not targeted toward me…it’s just in the way Mayuzuki Jun sensei touch that remind me of all of those shoujo-josei oyajicon and shotacon manga that I particularly enjoy and find charming like Nodoka no niwa by Akiyama Kaori (aka “May-December Romance: The Manga” which has such a cute and lovely art style+cover), Ristorante Paradiso, Shuuden na Futari, Dear Mine by Shigeru Takao, Kumiko & Shingyo series by Nanpei Yamada, Boku no Chikyuu o Mamotte and its sequels, Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii, and obviously Otoyomegatari etc. All of those series can be said said contain taboo/controversial theme regarding age gap story.
I guess even though she write a seinen manga but there’s just something on her (Mayuzuki sensei) writings that just remind me with all those shoujo-josei manga titles that I mentioned above.
hikari
January 12, 2018 at 7:27 amUgh…I made mistake, this reply should actually directed toward Goh’s post above, Oh well…..I guess I can’t edit/fix it anymore.
MoeBleh
January 11, 2018 at 3:16 pmYou do know that KyoAni is the favorite studio among pedophile otakus, right? You think the cute-girls-doing-cute-things gig is targeted at females? LOL!! It’s essentially bedrock for all the lolicon hentai doujin market.
Molly
January 11, 2018 at 3:58 pmThat says more about the audience than about the studio. That’s like saying someone shot up a place because they played too much Call of Duty. A few years back there was an academic lecture about the lolicon undertones in Miyazaki’s works so you know, YMMV. And I wasn’t even talking about cute-girls-doing-things in the first place. Of course, those are male-orientated shows. But thanks for the overreaction.
Guardian Enzo
January 11, 2018 at 7:17 pmIn fairness (and I agree, that was an overreaction), I think KyoAni knows exactly what they’re doing and who their audience is.
Molly
January 12, 2018 at 4:44 amI don’t doubt that for a second but it’s not like the problem is limited only to this studio. It”s just that they’ve been more open about pandering to their audience especially post-2009. Whereas some other studios might mix some decent shows with Prison School and Shimoneta.
As far as quality content, in the last decade, they had Hyoka and that’s about it. Having said this, there’s no denying that Free attracted so much disparagement because it is for women and continues to be extremely popular whereas their other shows don’t leave that much of an impression outside their core audience. Hence my original comment. You didn’t see a backlash to Hibike! Euphonium about how it panders to the lolicons.
At least, in this regard, Violet Evergarden is different compared to their shows produced in the last five years or so. Doesn’t hurt that the script is written by Reiko Yoshida (who’s not just another run-of-the-mill hack). Time will tell.
Bel
January 12, 2018 at 8:49 amI don’t know about the light novels, but as a female, I don’t feel Violet Evergarden the anime is geared towards a female audience.
Violet reminds me too much of an Evangelion’s Ayanami Rei type of character: badly injured when we first see her, regarded by most people as a doll without feelings or a heart, only obeys the order of this one guy whom she regards as the meaning of her life, orphan with a tragic past, zero social skills (and it doesn’t hurt that she’s pretty). I’m not fond of this particular character type.
I know the writers are starting her out at the bottom personality-wise in order to facilitate her character development in the future, and we are supposed to feel sorry for her. But… hmm, I don’t know. The execution feels too heavy-handed and deliberate to me.
Guardian Enzo
January 12, 2018 at 12:15 pmWhatever else you say about VE, love, like or hate, I don’t think there’s any question it’s geared towards male blu-ray buyers. To me it’s self-evident in the content, and perfectly consistent with KyoAni’s marketing history.
sonicsenryaku
January 11, 2018 at 11:58 pmThe only hand netflix has in this production is its distribution; all of this is just kyo ani doing their thing solo, which in and of itself is impressive
Guardian Enzo
January 12, 2018 at 6:59 amBut when Netflix is involved (even if it’s distribution only and not production) I think it’s safe to assume the production committee has considerably more money than usual. And even usual with KyoAni is already more than usual.
sonicsenryaku
January 12, 2018 at 9:37 amYea, you’re right that the production committees that were initial involved in the production dished out more money to kyo ani than usual. However Netflix themselves came in really late in the game, likely around the time Kyo ani was finishing episode 9 of the series and were completing storyboards on the remainder of the series (if you look at the production committee list, they aren’t on the main list). They pretty much saw a series that would be finished by the time it began airing and said “hey, how would you like us to own the distributing rights and provide you with the international angle you need to make this a success. We’ll simulcast this series everywhere BUT THE U.S…you know…because we are the paragon of smart business…..yay???”
UndeadCalamari
January 12, 2018 at 6:32 amThe first episode was okay imo. Of course visually it looks great. The OST sounds rather nice as well. Reminded me of good, solid fantasy RPGs soundtracks at times. Not yet sold the story is going to be anything amazing, but it seems like it’ll probably be okay. Hopefully better than just okay, but certainly nothing in the first episode suggests it’ll turn into a bad show or that it’s already a terrible show somehow. Safe is certainly the right way to describe it.
Dein
January 12, 2018 at 7:41 amI think the whole living doll thing is an unwitting metahphor for the show itself. It looks wonderful, and tries to act out human moments, but every attempt at substance in this episode rings very hollow. The show just feels self-aware to an extreme degree, covering it’s synthetic core in a gorgeous wrapper.
I had hoped that maybe the change in theme and place would be enough for KyoAni to drop some of their factory trends, but seeing war, mutilation and death generously peppered with their patented cute facial expressions in those last flashback scenes was jarring beyond belief. Still, the premise is curious enough and it is only the first episode. Plenty of time for it to change things up.
Guardian Enzo
January 12, 2018 at 7:58 amThat living doll metaphor is an excellent point. I wish I’d thought of it…
kaneko
January 14, 2018 at 8:52 amHello Guardian Enzo.
LN are a text medium and everything has to be put into words no matter what. Often what is explained by a character in a LN-based anime was not actually told by any character in the LN but expressed in the prose by the author. It’s not always the LN’s fault if anime staff are not capable of converting material into something shown not told, to match the medium they’re working in. You always malign LN compared to manga, but actually both have a lot of garbage and both have their share of great works. Manga are easier to convert to anime because you just have to get the inbetweens moving, you don’t have to restructure a lot like with LN. Please don’t fall into the fallacy that when an adaptation is middling, the original work must also be of little worth.
Guardian Enzo
January 14, 2018 at 4:17 pmWe’ll agree to disagree on this one.
kaneko
January 14, 2018 at 9:53 pmTo Guardian Enzo.
If you say LN have no merit and haven’t had any good anime made from them, euphemisms like agreeing to disagree won’t make this any less unreasonable.
Lets take another angle. LN are a relatively new genre carved out to sell to anime and manga fans. Many LN are written as anime screeplays to make them easier to imagine as anime and easier to convert into anime. When anime is the medium LN are derived from and are usually trying to mimic, it’s not LN that are the originators for overused tropes and telling more than showing. In case you didn’t know, it’s common for producers to deliberately market test anime candidates as LN at first because it’s way cheaper than having an anime flop. Do you think that if these were made straight to anime without going through LN, the result would be much different?
The problems you say only LN have are everywhere. I know you think HxH is superior but you can’t deny there’s ginormous amounts of telling going on in there. There was a reason people complained about the narration in Chimera Ant arc but you defended it. Your current darling Hero Academia has megatons of hammering the point with explanations. If you’re going to criticize a common problem, don’t make convenient exceptions for what you’re a fan of and only blame LN.