10 Second Anime - Violet Evergarden - Episode 4

Iris' first commission as an Auto Memoranda Doll is to her hometown, but Violet has to accompany her due to an accident.

Episode 4 - "Don't be a tool, become someone who matches her name."

Hmm.

The symbol of the episode is Iris' pair of strappy shoes. I noticed in the first episode that she was still tripping over her high heels, and this week that inexperience with city shoes became the plot point to drag Violet along with her back to her hometown.

Apparently, Leidenshaftlich is a very fictional country, because you can take a train ride from a European capital to Southeast Asia within its borders. The point here is that Iris is a farm girl, rice growing farmers riding caribou, but farmers in this fictional almost European country.

She basically ran away from the farm to leave behind a love rejection, but that farm girl hasn't gotten used to the city yet, as shown by her unstable high heels. Iris is also very aware of not being comfortable coming back home, as shown by her fancy strappy shoes not being suitable to walking around mud puddles. Iris knows she's putting on a façade through some slight exaggerations of her city life, and the fancy pair of shoes she's not good at wearing yet also shows how brittle those little white lies can be.

I'm just impressed the writers introduced this symbol three weeks ago just so they could break her arm this week. Spending all that time with Violet made sure she was going to be the narrator, which marked her as the next person Violet would write a letter for. Let's hope Iris gets used to those shoes as she becomes more honest about her feelings and identity as a farm girl in the big city.

Heh.

So, this episode is going to be a character study on Iris and how Violet learns about love through her.

Iris' first traveling job is back to her hometown Kazalli. I smell something fishy.

Ha. Girls-only lunch to celebrate as Claudia is left behind.

Violet just says whatever is on her mind. No filter. She still hasn't learned tact.

And down goes Iris on her wobbly feet! Did they really show her stumbling in the first episode just so they could break her arm now? Yes, yes they did.

Oh man, this country girl character wanting to show off now that she's in the big city has drama written all over it. It's a clichéd character type for a reason - it works and people can easily spot or identify with that striving nature or trying to reinvent oneself. She may have even cut her hair short to leave a lost love behind...

Aw. Iris wanted to show off her typing skills, but she can't now with a broken wrist.

Cattleya and Erica got left behind. Elections would totally be a busy time for ghostwriters. Imagine political junk mail being typewritten without even carbon paper...

Heh. Iris is from the boonies and is a little defensive about it.

Wow. Violet just gave us some wartime backstory while describing how much of a backwater Kazalli is and why it's a good thing. It doesn't attract crime or military targeting.

Good old-fashioned resource stealing. We don't get a lot of that type of warlike invasion these days.

Ah. This farm country looks like Southeast Asia with all the banana looking type of plants, rice terraces, and... a caribou!

Muddy shoes. Iris should stop wearing those strappy things. They just bring her bad luck.

Whoa. That's how you make an Auto Memoranda Doll introduction. Even Iris is awestruck.

Oho. Iris' mom is a troublemaker. She's the domineering manipulative type who is actually surprised anyone could think differently than she does.

Ha! Iris Mom broke the rules of the contract, so we'll be leaving now. Bye.

Oh, come on. All this subterfuge for Iris' birthday party? I don't think so.

Those kids are great. Their first response to Violet's hands is that it's awesome and they're so pretty.

There it is. Iris' Mom wants to play matchmaker at the birthday party, get her married and move back home. From her expressions, it's clear she is totally ignorant what Iris wants or that Iris could even be angry about such a plan. There is just no malice at all here. She thinks it's great that she pulled this surprise engagement prospective party for Iris. Wow. I'm still shaking my head at the utter lack of perspective.

Iris' Mom just says that Iris should quit her job, come back home and get married. Yeah, no. Of course, this kind of thinking is normal in a post-WWI era.

Oh, there's an old flame in that list of men. There's the number one reason she left this place.

Iris' Dad is a good guy, but it's clear that he just lets Mom do whatever she wants.

And there's the big drama with this Eamonn guy.

That dude turned down the hottest girl next door? What a dumbass.

Har. Violet explains that Iris is crying in her room. So direct.

"We'll find someone better," Iris' Mom said. Guh! She just has no idea what her daughter is feeling. I don't know if the lack of malice or even a hint of perspective makes the Mom's character worse or not. That's almost a case of borderline personality disorder.

This is a good conversation for Violet. She's learning what it means for people to conceal emotions but still leave clues. That's the nuance of tact and politeness.

Ooh. Violet perked up on the part of Iris' story where she told Mr. Dumbass she loved him.

Here it comes. Violet's next Good Letter. It's an apology to her parents, but hopefully Iris' Mom the Brick Wall can figure out Iris actually wants to work in the city.

Ahaha! Violet is going to charge Iris for her services. No employee discounts!

I really liked how there was not even a whiff of Iris getting back together with Dumbass. That ship sailed, and she's still hurt over the rejection, but she's not even entertaining a future with him. You go, girl. Dumbass can pat caribou on the ass as much as he wants in the rice terraces.

Look how small Violet was when she was first adopted by Gilbert. How many years did this War go on?

Ooh. Violet and Iris share a connection. They were both named after flowers.