Violet Evergarden: The Movie: this animation, by ISHIDATE Taichi, a sequel to the animated series (and the previous film, which could be taken as a pair of extended episodes), essentially closes the cycle as it tells the story of a young girl, a letter-writer (dubbed an Auto Memory Doll in this world) who serves as a catalyst for people to connect with each other and, more relevantly, with their own sentiments. She has her own emotions to deal with, which she also does as she writes for her clients. It’s a sweetly melancholic film, best enjoyed with prior knowledge of the material. The animation itself is absolutely stunning: the world design is beautiful, detailed, colourful. Characters are distinctive and attractive. Voice acting is really effective: ISHIKAWA Yui plays the title character quietly; KOYASU Takehito, as her boss, supremely worried about her, is quite good as well; NAMIKAWA Daisuke, as a man in their past who is relevant to them, is properly sad. Composer Evan Call’s musical score is eerily beautiful and helps immensely in giving the film its blue tone.
