10 Second Anime - Violet Evergarden - Episode 9

Violet struggles to accept the loss of Gilbert and find a way to live without him.

Episode 9 - "Violet Evergarden"

Hmm.

This was a rough episode to get through, because it explained in gory detail everything it took for Violet to find herself recuperating in a hospital for months. We saw exactly how she lost both arms, from rifle fire and a grenade. We also how grievous the wounds of both Violet and Gilbert were, where neither of them should have survived just from blood loss.

But, we also saw hints of where the story goes from here. The important point of this episode was reconciliation. In Violet's case, that's reconciling her past with her present, reconciling the sins of war with living in peacetime, and reconciling the fact that though she can't erase the terrible things she did in the name of war, she also can create wonderful memories in her present circumstances. Violet needs to struggle with the dichotomy of her past actions of breaking people apart forever with her current job of bringing people together through their emotions and intentions. She gets stuck on the idea of deserving such a blessing of living on while so many others did not, or cannot, and even by her own hand. Claudia, also a veteran struggling with survivor's guilt, along with Luculia's brother Spencer, knows there's only moving forward while trying to make up for those negative deeds.

The pivotal moment where Violet accepted her present and even a future was when she couldn't bring herself to harm her stuffed dog.

I knew she was going to be okay after that, even when she tried to harm herself, another dog of sorts, I already knew it wasn't serious. She was going to live in this imperfect world without Gilbert. The rest of the episode was reinforcing the aspects of her new life bringing people together by delivering letters and by writing a letter for Spencer.

Now, where do we go from here, since this episode seemed like a season finale? We got hints! We got clues! First, there was that enemy soldier that gut shot Gilbert and threw the grenade that took Violet's other arm, along with his crazed commander that self-destructed the base. Who do you suppose is leading this anti-peace faction? Second, Claudia claims that Violet hasn't lost anything at all. If that's not a clue that Gilbert is alive somewhere, I don't know what is. I'm still hoping! I still believe! Of course, Claudia could just be saying that Violet has gained so much since she came to work as an Auto Memoranda Doll, but come on. We've got at least three episodes left to grab the audience by the feels and give them a good twist and squeeze.

Heh.

This is rough stuff to watch. Gilbert took so many bullets and Violet's arms got destroyed and cut off.

We've finally caught up to the first episode flashback.

Aw. Violet had never hear the word "love" before. How can she be even worried about what a strange word means when she and Gilbert are bleeding to death and she's got no arms?

So, that was a rubble cloud coming down the stairwell, not a fiery blast. I'm telling you, there's a chance Gilbert's still alive!

Back to present day. I'm having some trouble figuring out how long it's been since that final day of the war. This fortress is still in lying in ruin, so the winning side doesn't think it needs it? These old fortresses are usually placed in geographically advantageous places for whoever owns it. It should be cleaned up by now, or at least parts of it.

Aw man, we don't need rain to come down to make it ambiguous whether someone has tears streaming down their cheeks.

Something appears to be wrong with Violet's right arm prosthetic. Psychosomatic?

This anti-peace faction shows that the war isn't over for some people.

Nice bit with Violet seeing her younger self saluting. She's still trying to reconcile being a soldier with being a civilian.

Benedict is still showing off those high heels.

Cluadia says both he and Cattleya are on fire from the guilt of their war actions. I'm very curious about Cattleya now! Sexy spy? Brothel house mother? Please tell us more!

That's a terrible nightmare. Violet sees Gilbert in the stairwell and then he starts bleeding as he parrots his older brother's words of ridicule.

Don't hurt the little dog, Violet. Oh good. The little guy is okay. This means Violet is going to be okay.

She's trying to hurt herself but she's no longer strong enough, or is not serious about it. She still needs to follow the Major's orders to live.

Ha! Benedict finally sprained his ankle on those high heels. He and Iris should just wear some sensible boots like Erica and Violet. Hee! I loved that KyoAni glare Cattleya gave him too.

Postman Santa Claus delivers the life lessons too.

Aw. She got her first letter from her coworkers.

Something looks really wrong with Violet's right hand. It appears she typed Spencer's letter to Luculia with only her left hand.

Nice montage of the people she's already helped so much. These deeds don't go away, just as the terrible deeds of war don't go away. Make some more great deeds of bringing people together to offset those horrible war memories.

Claudia give the title of the episode, since he's the one who officially named her - "Violet Evergarden."