Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Violet Evergarden: The Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Violet Evergarden: The Movie is a romantic-drama continuation of the popular hit anime. Adapted from the light novel series created by Kana Akatsuki, Violet Evergarden: The Movie is a feature-film that was designed as a follow-up and sequel to the Violet Evergarden series. Featuring animation from acclaimed production studio Kyoto Animation (Beyond the Boundary, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), Violet Evergarden: The Movie was distributed by Shochiku and the film became a big box-office hit when released in Japan – generating over 20 million during the theatrical release. Featuring the voices of Yui Ishikawa and Daisuke Namikawa, Violet Evergarden: The Movie is a compelling continuation of the series and one that fans won’t want to miss out on.

Violet Evergarden (Yui Ishikawa) has had a life on a long and winding road with many unexpected turns along her unique journey. After spending time as a youth as an Auto Memory Doll, Violet finds herself continuing to be drawn to document her thoughts and feelings in letters. The words on a page are meaningful to Violet.

Now with the return of Gilbert Bougainvillea (Daisuke Namikawa), Violet is overwhelmed and finds herself at a total loss for what to say. Yet the magic of writing might be the answer Violet seeks to expressing the feelings of her heart. Can words express the longing of a heart?

The Violet Evergarden series is one that is gifted with a great cast of characters. This is one of the most important elements of the series and the feature-film manages to continue to explore the wonderful cast. The exceptional character designs for Violet Evergarden: The Movie are by Akiko Takase (Violet Evergarden, Violet Evergarden I: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll).

The character designs are some of the best that can be seen in a modern anime production. The designs are beautiful and are enormously well done. A fantastic showcase for these characters. The journey of Violet Evergarden is one that brings an enormous amount of depth to the character and her journey. Audiences will find the heart of the character one of the most compelling aspects of the film and in exploring this, the film takes flight.

The animation is visually stunning and this is one of the best elements of Violet Evergarden: The Movie. The film has exceptional animation ushered in with art direction by Mikiko Watanabe (Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, Violet Evergarden) and animation direction by Akiko Takase (Violet Evergarden, Violet Evergarden I: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll). The feature-film also features additional art from Mutsuo Shinohara (A Silent Voice, Sound! Euphonium).

The team of animators involved in the film production managed to create a visually lavish world that expands upon the original style of the television series and has become even more ambitious in scope. The animation is phenomenal, rewarding the senses with stunning vistas. The animators did a great job bringing to life the storyboards by Taichi Ishidate (Violet Evergarden, Clannad).

One of the most effective elements of the production is the sound direction. The sound direction for Violet Evergarden: The Movie was phenomenal. The film has an enormously engaging Atmos sound design and under the sound direction of Yota Tsuruoka (Arakawa Under the Bridge, Beyond the Boundary), Violet Evergarden: The Movie achieves a stunning audio-canvas to explore the time and world of these characters.

The cinematography by Kōhei Funamoto (Violet Evergarden, Beyond the Boundary) is first-rate and one of the best achievements in recent anime productions. The cinematography is sophisticated: creating a tapestry of color and light that achieves a stunning visual effect. The visuals shine bright here and there is plenty to appreciate about the efforts of Funamoto. Funamoto has a good background working within both television and feature-film productions and the effort here is something that plays a significant role in the storytelling – after all, film is a visual medium and Funamoto delivers some of the best visuals in the Violet Evergarden stratosphere to date.

The score composed by Evan Call (Violet Evergarden, Midnight Occult Civil Servants) is incredible ad one of the most enjoyable elements of the film. Composer Call provides an evocative and moving score that can help bring one to tears. The music provides a great backdrop to the romantic elements of the story. Moving and emotional, the score hits the right notes.

Written by Reiko Yoshida (Girls und Panzer, K-ON!), Violet Evergarden: The Movie does what some might consider impossible. It expands on the exceptional anime series and finds a way to build something that fans of the series won’t be able to ignore. The story is well-written and the main characters are at the heart of the tale. Yoshida is a strong storyteller in bringing this tale to life. This makes the experience much more rewarding.

Taichi Ishidate (Beyond the Boundary, Violet Evergarden) directs. Expanding on the hit series, Ishidate returns to the world of Violet Evergarden by making something that is uniquely special with a strong scope and sense of ambition. The production is well developed in nearly every facet of the film – a testament to the wonderful efforts of Ishidate as a filmmaker. Every scene has a sense of unique framing and scope. The director understands the tale and the elements that are necessary for the experience to be all the more profoundly engaging. Violet Evergarden: The Movie taps in to the great strengths of the anime series and builds on what came before. The results? One of the best modern series-to-film sequels. No Violet Evergarden fan will want to miss this special and deeply moving film.

Violet Evergarden: The Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Crunchyroll, Violet Evergarden: The Movie is presented in 2160p HEVC / H.265 4K UHD. The presentation is provided in the theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1 widescreen. The release also includes an impressive HDR (high dynamic range) presentation provided in both HDR10 (the industry standard) and Dolby Vision (which provides additional HDR metadata). The high-dynamic range encode provides the animation with more robust color depth. HDR enhances both the brightest and darkest elements of the picture (with brighter whites and deeper blacks). The entire color spectrum becomes more impressive as a result.

The animation is stunning on the release. Colors look incredible. The line art and detailed background animation appear enormously well detailed throughout the entire film presentation. This is one of the best looking 4K UHD presentations on an anime feature-film that I have seen to date and the results are simply breathtaking. If a presentation deserves perfect marks, this is an example of such a transfer.

Violet Evergarden: The Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of audio options. The main selection is Japanese Dolby Atmos (with a Dolby TrueHD core). The lossless Japanese audio track sounds remarkably crisp and engaging on the release. The Atmos sound offers a more rewarding spatial sound experience with the atmospheric channels offering a more immersive soundstage. The results are tremendous and fans of Violet Evergarden: The Movie will find the exceptional encode quality to be first-rate throughout the presentation. Dialogue is remarkably crisp and easy to understand during the presentation. The original score is beautifully reproduced and the music enhances the experience. The surrounds are actively used throughout the presentation and the sound mixing is first-rate (offering one of the best Atmos sound mixes on a modern anime production).

Violet Evergarden: The Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release is a 4K UHD & Blu-ray combo pack release. The 4K UHD disc contains the supplemental features. The standard Blu-ray disc included in the package does not include any supplemental features. The limited-edition collectors release includes a deluxe chipboard art-box features a special o-card slipcover with special printing. The chipboard art-box also includes the standard 4K UHD case inside, which includes a o-card slipcover. Underneath the slipcover, there is additional art-work showcasing more unique art.

The release has a beautiful design and demonstrates a premium quality that is not found on a standard edition release. This is a nicely designed collector's edition for fans to display and house on their shelf. (Please Note: the 4K UHD sleeve art also contains additional inner-art, though it is housed in a standard black 4K UHD case – if one elects to customize and exchange the black case for a clear style case, the set showcases even more unique artwork).

The collector's edition also includes a box including 12 unique art-cards showcasing more illustrations for Violet Evergarden. This bonus is a nice touch and adds a greater element of collectability to the package. These full-color art-cards display additional character art work for fans of the series.

On disc extras include:

TV Spots (HD, 5:16)

Trailers (HD, 3:17)

Violet Evergarden: The Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Violet Evergarden: The Movie is an incredible achievement in animation. The feature-film expands on the Violet Evergarden anime series and offers something that is uniquely rewarding for fans of the television series. The series was one of the best modern anime series I have seen and the film is a breathtaking accomplishment that finds the right ingredients to expand the tale. The animation is enormously rewarding and every facet of the art shines bright. The colors are evocative (and look all the more impressive with the stellar HDR grade).

The 4K encoding is top-notch: this is a reference-quality presentation. Fans of Violet Evergarden should consider this to be an essential 4K UHD release with an outstanding presentation. The collector's edition package also includes a deluxe chip-board art box, a lovely slip-cover (with additional art-work), and a set of 12 art cards with additional illustrations. Highly recommended.