01.
Everyone who loves anime knows that "Violet Evergarden" will premiere at 8:00 tonight.
Before the official premiere, many anime fans have already started to speculate about this anime. Listening to the name, it seems to be a very warm and romantic work? Will it be a love story? His Highness Greenwald seems to have a very high evaluation of this anime...
Previously, the ratings of "Cardcaptor Sakura" dropped a lot compared to before, mainly because the anime that Hill played before were too adult. At the beginning, "Cardcaptor Sakura" was watched by everyone, and everyone was infected by the tenderness and warmth inside, but as time went by, the length of "Cardcaptor Sakura" was compared to the previous anime. It has grown a lot, and it is more suitable for younger children than the previous ones. In addition, it has some "routines". Under such circumstances, it is normal for the ratings to decline.
Joan Baker once raised questions about this, and Hill replied: "Every movie/anime has its corresponding audience, and it is impossible to achieve 'everyone likes'. In the case of "Magic Card Girl Sakura", I have some Accidental, but it's normal when you think about it carefully, but I can tell you that the DVD of this anime is definitely selling well."
The previous anime did not cause much waves among children. The screen of "Natsume's Book of Friends" is too monotonous for children. Without cool monsters and handsome clothes, Natsume is at most screaming for a fight. That's the end of the punch; Madoka Magica was pretty kid-friendly at first, until, until... you get the idea.
Compared to this, "Cardcaptor Sakura" is different, beautiful clothes! magic! There are so many handsome shapes! —So during the period when it was playing, if there were children at home, the magic mobile phone was occupied by the children.
In addition, the peripherals of "Magical Girl Sakura" are selling well.
Despite this, the number of adults watching this work is actually much less than before, and some people even wrote to complain why this anime is still being played, can some "fighting" and "mature" anime be played, this is He can't stand it-yes, most of these people who wrote to complain were men.
Even Theodore became anxious. He regarded himself as a person from the devil world, so he couldn't tolerate others saying anything bad.
Hill also understood their worries, but he also knew that sooner or later he would take some pictures of the children and draw them into the camp here. In addition, he had originally planned to set up a one-stop service for magical girls, so he still played "Cardcaptor Sakura" in three months with some pressure.
In fact, Hill understands that the best way to solve this problem is to increase the number of magic phone programs, which are available for all ages. But it is not easy. It is easy to move works, but it is not easy to develop talents from zero to some. However, it has to be done. Hill thought.
I really wish I could avatar myself. One for animation, one for movies and one for domestic affairs... Oh, it feels like the result is that Monroe is drained. cough. just kidding.
Shortly after the end of "Cardcaptor Sakura", the DVD was released. Sure enough, the sales volume was no less than that of the previous works. Then there were some contributions about this work, most of which were lamenting that Yueda Town is a beautiful city, loved by family, Surrounded by friendship and love, everyone inside is extremely kind and gentle.
So other people read these movie reviews and wanted to watch the show again, and then bought the DVD.
In fact, this kind of work should be read by one person calmly and slowly, to experience the feeling in it.
Hill actually likes this kind of sunny and warm works.
In his opinion, what to convey to the audience and how to convey it is the author's choice in the final analysis, just like a very sensitive character, "The Virgin". In fact, there is nothing wrong with the feature of "the Madonna". The problem is that many authors will associate it with stupidity—for example, while being a virgin, they must also involve the people around them, or they can't distinguish between good and evil in others, and the madonna has no brains... It should be condemned It's the stupidity, not the Madonna. Hill has always felt that if you want to advocate truth, goodness and beauty, then you should advocate it. How you convey it is your choice, and what you convey is also your choice.
Not long after "Cardcaptor Sakura" ended, some people also had doubts about the upcoming "Violet Evergarden".
Could this also be an anime that is too casual and gentle? I don't like things that are too bland...
But generally speaking, it is a new anime, so everyone is still willing to spend time watching the premiere.
Seven thirty in the evening, Winter City.
Since late autumn, there have been fewer and fewer people walking around Winter City at dusk, because the temperature is really too low. The cold wind was bleak, but it did not blow away the dark snow clouds that shrouded Winter City. This low temperature makes the roadside taverns and restaurants do not do business-in general.
But today those places are full.
Because everyone came to watch the anime, no matter what individual people think about "Cardcaptor Sakura", the overall evaluation is still very high. Hill personally promoted "Violet Eternal Garden" to everyone in the live broadcast before, so everyone kept in front of the magic phone with the idea of "watching an episode no matter what".
Many people can't afford a Magic Phone, but can certainly afford a glass of wine. Merchants use the psychological investment of customers to buy a magic phone, and they will be able to earn back the cost of the magic phone in a short time.
Joan Baker once mentioned to Hill that this would cause some potential customers of the magic phone to disappear, and Hill responded: "Do you think I look like a greedy person? The behavior of these merchants is also within my expectations. They put The impact of the Magic Phone and my show has been further amplified."
Joan Baker nodded, "So..."
"Actually, I own the first tavern that used a magic phone to attract customers." Hill raised the corners of his lips, revealing the truth.
At present, he actually has some properties in major cities, but he did not renovate them after buying them, so that they maintained their original appearance, so basically few people knew that the owners behind these stores had changed. Hill has done many things like this quietly leading the trend.
Joan Baker couldn't help admiring Hill in front of him.
"Well, even so, I still feel a little distressed, why don't you give me Josh Kenny's house anyway, you don't use it very much anyway." Hill leaned over and said.
Joan Baker: …
He silently withdrew his awe.
Before the broadcast of "Violet Evergarden", Theodore once asked Hill worriedly, would adult men like this anime like it? He feels that if two animes in a row are not pleasing to the same group, it will have an impact on the next anime.
Theodore had a point.
Hill nodded, "It's absolutely fine for adults, the heroine has to undress in public in the first episode."
Theodore: "Pfft." What the hell is this.
All kinds of people have various ideas, time waits for no one, eight o'clock is coming soon, the first episode of "Violet Eternal Garden" will be broadcast in two countries at the same time.
02.
The bustling street, the warm lights, the shining light on the light blonde hair, the shining light in the jewel-like eyes, the blurred background.
Such a scene at the beginning of the chapter shocked the audience.
"This, this picture..."
"How can it be as delicate as a work of art?!"
"Ah! This light!"
Oh yes, the exquisite graphics of "Violet Eternal Garden" are among the best among so many anime on earth, let alone people from other worlds who haven't watched many anime.
A completely different style of painting than the previous ones.
The girl in military uniform stopped in front of a booth, and the man in front also stopped: "What's wrong?"
"Have the Major's eyes, the same color as the Major's eyes.
What should I call the feeling that popped up when I saw this? "
The girl's voice was very pleasant, she was as beautiful as a doll, her eyelashes covered her blue pupils, and there was a radiance from the bottom of the sea inside, beautiful and quiet.
The major's emerald eyes, the emeralds on the booth, melted into a sparkling and intoxicating luster.
This is the equivalent of a wedge.
After this delicate and beautiful transition, the girl opened her eyes in the hospital.
Then there is the interspersed background introduction.
The heroine is Violet Evergarden, a hybrid of demons and humans. She is a simple weapon with a beautiful human appearance but no human heart. The war ended when she was injured and hospitalized, and her superior—that is, Major Gilbert who appeared at the beginning—entrusted her to Lieutenant Hawkinson. For some reason the Major never showed up.
She lost her hands in the war, and now has arms made of adamantine silver crafted by black dwarves. She only knows how to obey one person's orders, she doesn't seem to have human emotions, and her appearance is so beautiful... This setting is very novel to people from other worlds. In this context, the production she showed Major Gilbert was very moving.
"Wow—this looks like a cool anime!" someone speculated.
How cool does that sound if it's true on the surface that pretty girls are actually weapons of war or something~
But soon everyone lost their excitement.
The meaning revealed by those details hints at the death of the major, those sad eyes, the delicate emotions of the characters... It is wonderful, of course it is wonderful, but there is a sense of melancholy that weighs on the hearts of the audience.
There are also Violet's memories of the major in the middle, and at the end, the two of them were covered in blood in the dark corridor. This is already a hint.
Lieutenant Hodgkinson asked Violet to choose one of the three dolls as a discharge gift, and Violet chose a dog. Lieutenant Hodgkinson asked her why, and she replied: "The major brother once said that I belonged to Gilbert. Dog." When she said this, her expression was very natural, as if she was saying something that should be taken for granted. Reminiscent of her gentle look when she rubbed her face against the dog doll just now, that layer of melancholy deepened.
After arriving at the home of the family who planned to adopt Violet, they had the following conversation.
Madam: "Just treat us as your biological parents."
Violet: "I didn't have parents in the first place, so I don't need someone to replace me."
Madam: "Don't say that, we also had children who died in the war."
Violet: "I can't replace a dead child."
These words seemed a little too indifferent, but after considering Violet's setting, she felt that she said it as a matter of course.
There was a light moving in the old woman's eyes, and there was a sadness mingled with astonishment in her eyes.
In front of the magic phone, many people had tears in their eyes.
At this time, the war has been over for more than a year, and many people really died in the war. The wife lost her husband, the child lost her father, and the parents lost their son... But people always have to move forward, life always has to go on, as long as you are not dead, you have to live, you have to live, or fall , or live well. Many of them choose to divert their attention and dedicate their feelings to other people.
Putting this line here is really heartbreaking and sad.
This is true, but who wants to admit it.
This girl really has no "heart".
Then Lieutenant Hodgkinson said with a bit of numbness, as if reciting lines: "Villet, you can live happily here, this is Gilbert's wish."
This sentence makes melancholy deeper.
Magnolia City. Demon Magazine.
Theodore lay on the table and watched the anime half-deadly. What is this, Your Highness Greenwald, you lied to me. I thought it was some anime when you said that you took off your clothes in public, why is it so uncomfortable...
Afterwards, when Violet broke out her emotions and asked the lieutenant why the major left her here, the audience's suppressed emotions in the first half of the episode also burst out, and some kind and sensitive people had already shed tears together.
On the contrary, Theodore let out a sigh of relief. He experienced too many traumas in his youth, so he has a relatively strong ability to accept this aspect. "Finally broke out, and that's good."
The second half of the first episode became easier, because Violet questioned whether she was abandoned because her hands were injured and useless. The lieutenant took her to the postal company he opened and made her a member of the company. Tell her you can still work, you are useful.
"There is a department here that helps people write letters. After all, many people can't write." The lieutenant officer introduced.
"I didn't know how to write before, the major taught me." Violet said. She looks so cute.
It is really the feeling that the three sentences are inseparable from the major. ... But while thinking of the death of the major implied in the play, which made the audience smile, there was another shadow in their hearts.
This is really healing and depressing.
Then the lieutenant entrusted Violet to the postman Benedict and asked him to take her. After the lieutenant officer left, Benedict briefly introduced the work content, and then handed the uniform to Violet, "Uniform, put on."
"Okay." Violet said in a tone of following orders, and then directly held the hem of the clothes with her hands, and undressed in public...
The postman Benedict in the play and the audience outside the play were shocked at the same time.
Theodore popped out directly.
This, is this what His Royal Highness Greenwald said...
This... ahem... well, this really fits Violet's character.
Many viewers sprayed water, and some attentive viewers noticed that Violet's exposed body had large and small scars. This picture is really very detailed.
After this rather relaxed scene, the postman Benedict saw Violet wearing gloves and asked her to take off the gloves. She bit the edge of the gloves with her teeth and took off the gloves, revealing her hands made of metal.
He should be surprised by now. Many viewers thought so. He even questioned her as a kid just now, implying that she couldn't finish the work.
As a result, what the audience did not expect was that the postman Benedict just opened his eyes slightly. The animation portrayed it very delicately. His expression did not change much, but his voice was a little softer—just a little bit, "Sorting Will there be trouble with the mail?"
"No big problem." Violet replied.
Then the postman Benedict continued to explain the work to her. He acted as if nothing had happened.
Winter City. tavern.
"Why is this man so cruel." An aristocratic lady complained.
A man over there said with emotion: "Maybe I have seen it a lot."
"Ah..." The noble lady just now was startled.
"After all, the war has just ended. If you have seen too much sorrow, you won't feel much about the sorrow in front of you." The man's voice was a little low, "But seeing such a young girl suffer such inner trauma, I still feel a little uncomfortable... This postman should have his own story."
"Then... that postman thinks so..." the voice of the noble lady was a little sad.
There are too many things behind every line of dialogue, every look in the eyes, and it is worth thinking, reminiscing and crying.
"There are a lot of letters, so don't worry too much." It's not an illusion, Benedict's voice is really much softer, although it's not to the point of "gentleness", but this feeling is touching, "The lounge is also on the second floor. "
Violet gave a military salute, "Understood."
Benedict closed his eyes and walked straight past her, "See you later."
If you just look at his actions, you will subconsciously feel that he has no curiosity or sympathy at all. He didn't ask why your hands are like that, didn't directly say that you should rest more, and didn't care about the military salute... But the nobleman in the tavern Now the lady's heart is full of sadness, and the simple closing of her eyes and leaving has already explained everything.
This anime is really sad.
Different from the tearing pain and despair of "Magic Girl Madoka Magica" until later, "Violet Evergarden" gives people the feeling of melancholy, and what slowly pours into the heart is water-like melancholy. The former makes you unable to breathe, while the latter makes your breathing slow and sad.
Then she began to work continuously without rest—she treated this as an army task, and was finally stopped by the lieutenant who found out, he sent her home, and the two had a conversation under the street lamp.
"How did Gilbert order you in the end?"
"Let me run and live free. And..."
"You have been in the army since you were a child, and you spend every day on missions. You have a lot to learn in the future. Maybe some don't learn, or don't know, and life will be easier. You are burning because of what you have done , you don't know you're burning."
She looked at herself and said, "It's not burning." She looked a little cute like this.
"It's still burning." The lieutenant commander's voice was a bit heavy, "You will understand what I said one day, and then you will find that you have already been burned and scarred."
These heavy words also weighed on the appreciation of the audience.
Night, street lights, stars, flames.
So the night passed.
In the early morning of the next day, when Violet was cleaning in the company, a customer came in and said she wanted to write the letter for her.
"My childhood sweetheart in the countryside, I heard that someone proposed marriage to her family, so I hope I can tell her."
The automatic writing puppet began to help him write the letter, and the next thing is the content of the letter. The narration at the beginning is the voice of the customer:
"The first person to be so gentle to me is you."
Major Gilbert held her in his arms, who was young and dressed in rags.
Then it became the overlapping voices of Violet and the customer.
"You were everything in my world."
In the army, when she was young, she followed Gilbert closely in military uniform, watching his back with blue eyes.
Finally, it became the voice of Violet alone.
"For you, I can do anything."
During the artillery fire and the war, following the command of the Major "Chong", she rushed to the enemy with a giant battle axe.
"I want to know your mind, I want to know your heart."
In the terrible fight in the war, her eyes are always clear.
"Even though we are separated now, I still love you."
The envelope was waxed, and the letter was finished.
loving You.
At the end of the episode, Violet tells the lieutenant that she wants to be an automatic writing puppet that writes letters for others, and the lieutenant asks her why she wants to do this job.
Violet replied:
"I wonder what love means
The major said this to me after the last order.
This is the first time the major said such words, and I still can't understand what kind of state I was in. "
Many memories of that dark corridor. And here comes the end—
"I will absolutely, absolutely not let the Major die!" Violet's arm was already broken, her eyes filled with tears, her voice rose uncontrollably, she went up and bit the Major's clothes with her teeth in an attempt to take him away. Walk.
"Enough is enough! Violet, you have to live, live freely."
Major's emotions were also out of control at this time, and then he said with tears in his eyes:
"I really... love you."
Those sorrows, those confusions, those depressions. Here we have a result.
He loves her.
The first episode ends here.
Snow began to fall in Winter City, and the wind stopped when it snowed, which made the snowflakes fall like mist.
There was silence in the tavern.
The noble lady pressed her hand to her heart.
What kind of feeling is this? There is melancholy and sadness, but in the end, there is a sour warmth in my heart.
Weird, everyone thinks it's a great anime, but most people don't particularly want to see the next episode right now. One episode a day, so just watch it when the time comes. This feeling of peace has never happened before.
But what is certain is that after today, Violet's name has been deeply reflected in their hearts.
And, of course, her major.
—