What's the issue with the movie?
Violet Evergarden spoilers ahead!
The anime series follows a girl, Violet, who is an ex soldier, trying to reintegrate back into society after the war. Not knowing much about life and human interactions and feelings, she is eager to understand what the last words of her mentor meant.
Right before his death, Gilbert, the said mentor and Violet's major, told the girl he loved her. Now she works as an Auto Memory Doll, a person who writes for the ones who cannot write or don't know how to express their feelings. Since Violet herself is a stranger to human emotions, this journey becomes an enlightening one for her.
Violet Evergarden does a pretty good job at writing Violet and her character development. At the beginning of the series, the girl is nothing more than a pawn, ready to do as she's commanded. She has little autonomy and the only skill she possesses is her extraordinary combat abilities, the girl is an outstanding soldier and a powerful threat to her army's enemies. However, Violet shows that she has so much more to offer along her journey.
The girl realizes that she's capable of true love, and that Gilbert was the one she cared very deeply for. She learns to understand other people and their emotions and tries to deal with her own past and grief.
The ending of the anime seems very inspiring as it shows that even a person this broken as Violet may be given a second chance and try to start a new life, leaving all the horrors behind. However, the ending of Violet Evergarden: the Movie was not so encouraging.
In the movie Gilbert turns out to be alive and he doesn't want to see Violet because he's confident that the girl will be much happier without him. Ex major is tormented by the guilt of turning Violet into a ruthless killing machine and bringing her this much misery. No matter how hard the man tries to keep his survival a secret, Violent finds out about it, and the movie ends with the two living together on an island. Sounds like a common happy ending, but why are the fans upset then?
The viewers compare the movie ending to a typical Disney princess story: after all the struggles a girl reunites with her beloved and they live happily ever after. All of this takes away the bittersweet feeling that the anime series left and changes the impact the show has made on so many viewers.
The writing was exactly what made the anime so good, and the magical plot armor that Gilbert turned out to have along with a cheerful Disney ending of the movie takes this effect away.
Gilbert's plot twist raises many questions among the fans. In the series he was mortally wounded and it looked like his chances of surviving were extremely low. He was incapable of even moving by himself, Violet had to carry him out of the battlefield. The bombing resulted in the building where the couple stayed collapsing, and if Gilbert hadn't pushed the girl away, she would've never survived either. That's why seeing the man alive feels very unnatural for the audience. Moreover, it decreases the impact of his sacrifice in order to save Violet's life.
Violet Evergarden worked so well on showing the girl's grief and her moving on after everything she's done and everything she's experienced. Finding a new appreciation in life and dealing with acceptance resonated with so many fans, and these concepts were built on Gilbert's death. That's why the movie ruins all these themes and ideas for the viewers.
Violet was an abandoned child who didn't even have a name. Gilbert was the one who took her in, named her after a beautiful flower and showed her that life could be more than just constant suffering. The base and core of her personality originated from his treatment of the girl.
The major raised Violet from childhood, taught her things about life and society, and their relationship has become the foundation of Violet's future independence. The movie ending undoes all that and brings Violet back to being incapable of living without the man. Their relationship was very crucial and powerful, indeed, but the beauty of it was in the fact that Violet had to be strong by herself and learn to live without Gilbert.
Some fans are also upset by the mere concept of Violet and Gilbert having a romantic relationship. They find the idea of a man raising an orphan child just to fall in love with her and marry her afterwards quite problematic. It creates an uneven power dynamic, and makes the girl too dependent on the man.
By the end of the day, it's still a matter of personal preference whether you like the series or the movie ending more. There's nothing wrong with loving romantic happy endings even if some viewers feel like such an ending ruins the entire idea of Violet Evergarden. The movie is still incredibly beautiful and it has a lot of moving moments that are sure to touch you even if you dislike the destination point. So we suggest you give it a try and create your own opinion on this matter.