KyoAni Bounces Back from Arson Attack with 'Violet Evergarden Gaiden: Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll'

Violet Evergarden Gaiden: Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll (alternatively titled as Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll) is a gaiden (i.e. side story) feature-length film of the Violet Evergarden anime series.  I actually thought, at first, that this was already THE Violet Evergarden movie, which everyone has been looking forward to.  But this was actually different from that.  Although it’s a movie that was screened in theaters (back in 2019), Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll is only a side story.  This means that, while it’s definitely well-made, it’s presumably unessential to the saga (kind of like how movies of shonen anime series are usually non-canon).  On the other hand, the actual Violet Evergarden: The Movie is slated for a 2020 release, and will serve as sequel to the anime series.

Anyway, in Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll, Violet Evergarden is hired as a tutor/handmaiden for Isabella York, the heiress of the noble York family, who’s attending an exclusive all-girls academy.  While she’s initially cold toward Violet, Isabella eventually learns to trust her, to the point that she becomes comfortable with opening up about her sad past.  By the time Violet’s contract expires, they’ve become friends, and Violet has properly prepared Isabella for the duties she has to face ahead.  A few years later, Violet gets to meet Taylor Bartlett, Isabella’s adoptive sister in her past life.  With the help of her co-worker Benedict Blue, Violet helps Taylor in realizing her dream of becoming a postman.

I love Violet Evergarden.  Stylish, absorbing, moving, and well-crafted, it’s arguably one of the best anime dramas of all time.  Moreover, there’s something about its tone, pacing, and detailed animation that makes me feel nostalgic for those excellent 80’s-90’s anime series (usually adaptations of Western literature) that I grew up with.  I expected Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll to be more of the same, and it indeed turned out being so – only with more exquisite visuals due to being made for cinema (and having the budget for such scale of production).

This is the first Kyoto Animation anime to be released after the horrific arson attack on the studio, so this is kinda special (it’s likely that this movie had already been finished prior to the fire, but still).  Being Violet Evergarden, it’s already emotional as it is.  But this detail gives it another layer of sentimentality.

It’s really impossible not to get through a Violet Evergarden story arc without at least getting misty-eyed.  Violet Evergarden has that way of giving you the feels.  Its script, visual storytelling, music, and direction simply collaborate impeccably to elicit such earnest emotional response from its audience.  While Violet Evergarden has had stronger episodes than Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll, it is still very affecting nonetheless.

All in all, Violet Evergarden Gaiden: Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll is a fantastic anime film.  And it definitely serves as a splendid appetizer for Violet Evergarden: The Movie.