10 Second Anime - Violet Evergarden - Episode 13 [END]

Violet helps defend the peace mission. She resolves to live a long life without the need to follow orders. Season Finale.

Episode 13 - "Auto Memoranda Doll and 'I love you.'"

Hmm.

I never expected Diethard to be the sentimental one of the brothers, but after meeting the brothers' mother, it makes sense that he would be the doting older brother that couldn't forgive himself for not protecting his little brother. All that rage directed at Violet for being there and letting Gilbert die was displaced rage at himself. He finally could let go of that anger at Violet after seeing the lengths she went through to protect him and the mission from the anti-peace forces. Violet just never stops until the mission is done. Added to that was her devotion to Gilbert, which Diethard saw with how protective she was of the brooch the same color as his family's eyes. Getting that closure allowed him to set up some closure for Violet by meeting his mother.

That was a great scene. All of these three survivors of Gilbert became a real family through his memory. Violet became her own person for real, and she didn't need the Captain's orders to live a long life. She was following Gilbert's orders to do that anyway, but she finally understood why Gilbert was so anguished during their last conversation together. He wanted her to be a real person, instead of a doll, or a tool of war. Violet finally understood that, if only a little. That's fine. Becoming a person is a lifelong process anyway, so she's going to be doing just about as well as anyone else.

So, is Gilbert really dead? His family accepts his absence, but they'll always hope they see him again. That tease at the end of the episode... well, I have my own thoughts on who or what Violet saw in the doorway.

Heh.

Not just blocking grenades, but gunfire too. Violet's arms are taking a beating.

Nice. Diethard saved Violet's brooch.

Welp, there's still that inviting target of that big bridge. This rebel general had a good plan.

Train action! Sabotaged brakes! Bombs on a bridge! Can they make it in time?

Ha! Benedict's high heeled boots were good for something.

Violet is splintering her remaining arm. She won't give up, but what is she going to do with no arms to hang onto the bridge?

Ah. Benedict made it to her in time. Sighs of relief all around.

Cattleya's cleavage witness to history...

After five years of war, the big city is restarting an old festival and air show.

Cattleya used to be a showgirl and knew a lot of soldiers before becoming a Doll? The deuce you say!

The hook for this festival is that everyone writes letters for the airplanes to scatter over the harbor.

I like how the little stuffed dog sits right next to the parasol at Violet's desk. Constant companions at home and abroad.

Aw. Violet is having a hard time writing a letter. She knows the feelings she has, but she doesn't know how to convey them. She needs an Auto Memoranda Doll! Oh, wait.

Violet has an inkling of why Gilbert was so angry, and not with her, during their last conversation. He wanted so much for her as a little girl growing up instead of a weapon of war following orders. She's actually been doing a lot of autonomous stuff as a Doll lately, so maybe she already understands that need for independence a little bit already.

Aw. She was still hoping that a Mr. Bougainvillea would be Gilbert. She had to settle for Diethard.

All this time I never knew that Bougainvillea is another flower name. It's that thorny, flowering vine you see in the Northern Hemisphere.

Oh. It's Gilbert's mother. Same green eyes. She's a little forgetful in her late years. Still hoping to see Gilbert with Diethard.

They were going to adopt Violet? I guess Diethard couldn't handle that idea.

Finally Violet can accept someone's forgiveness for Gilbert's death. If not his own mother, who else?

Moms have all the best secrets. Like, Diethard is an old softy for his little brother.

Violet is one of the Bougainvillea family now. She's got the brooch that matches their eyes and she has Gilbert living in her heart like Diethard and Mrs. Bougainvillea.

The Captain ordered Violet to live, and keep on living, and then die. Violet says she doesn't need orders anymore. Good! Good.

Violet writes to Gilbert as if he's in a town far away, but close enough to visit sometime.

Erica fell in love? Ah. Iris is disappointed in her choice...

Even though this story takes place in a continent that looks like a fat Australia with Northern European culture, it's still Japanese. This scattering letters in the sea is very much like all those festivals where wishes get floated down a river with a lighted candle.

Violet's letter is flying far away. If it lands in the shadow of Gilbert, I'm going to bawl my eyes out.

Oh. It landed in a field of violets. Good enough.

Violet can cry like this because she never knew this feeling that she's mourning now, that feeling of hoping for a future with someone.

Epilogue time. Violet wrote "I love you" on her typewriter (I finally learned the alphabet is a cypher for Tamil. How about that?). A new client desperate for Violet's services.

Ooh. She recognized someone, or something at the door. Could it be, could it be... (I think someone just found her letter and has an old story that could somehow, maybe, perhaps lend a clue about Gilbert being alive. Maybe.) I still believe, dammit!

Final Thoughts.

Wow. What a beautiful journey. When KyoAni wants to tell a serious, emotional story with delicate beauty, they go all out. I can't recommend this story enough.

Now, for a little nitpicking. I understand what they were going for with choosing a color palette that was a little flat and washed out, because the setting was supposed to evoke a time and place where paintings were still the medium of choice and photographs would have still been in black and white without and any depth, but the girls in this show were so beautiful that seeing them in that faded light was disappointing. I won't even say it was disappointing, but I just wished for deeper colors for them.

Also, I addressed in past reviews how the adaptation of the source material chose to place Violet's crisis and catharsis in a different place to make for a more linear story of character growth and development, but it felt like the last few weeks just had Violet testing her newfound confidence in certain situations. I'm glad I figured out they were actually still developing her emotionally so we could have this scene in the last episode with the Bougainvillea family. Diethard turned out to be not such a bad guy after all too.

There's still a bit more to go with this current plot, as shown in the epilogue. A special episode is coming too, but it's a chapter that happened in the middle of the season. As for the note at the end where a new project was greenlit, I can only hope that we'll have a more faithful adaptation to the novels where Violet's adventures are more episodic in general instead of serving as backdrops for her flashbacks and personal growth. She's ready to be a beautiful Doll with a certain set of skills to impress people in certain situations. Perhaps we'll see her writing desk get a few more mementos than the little stuffed dog and the parasol? Actual personality development instead of character development? As long as Violet and the world she moves in is animated beautifully, I'll be looking forward to the next installment. However, knowing KyoAni, it will probably be a movie with a bunch of episodes presented together. They love their movies for the serious stuff.