Violet Evergarden: The Power of the Written Word

Source: Kyoto Animation / 'Violet Evergarden' Anime TV Still

"Each one of these letters is someone's precious memory, after all. And every letter deserves to be delivered."

I am writing this in a sort of typewriter font in honor of this beautiful anime I just finished watching seconds before beginning this post.

Let me explain the context of this viewing. It is currently June 2018, and this has been one of the most trying months of my life. My illness has spiked to new levels of horrible, resulting in meltdowns, fights, and other issues. Yesterday, I arose late in the day to watch the office for my mom, and I had no desire or motivation to do any real work, like writing, reading, or filling out medical paperwork. 

So I did something I rarely do. I logged on to Netflix. And lo and behold, the first thing I saw? "Violet Evergarden."

I know most people write off anime as weird and bizarre Japanese cartoons, but little do they know some animes contain the most beautiful of stories and characters. Violet Evergarden may just be the paramount example of this. 

Gorgeously animated with tear-jerking music, Violet Evergarden follows the story of the girl bearing that same name. Violet was an orphaned child picked up by a general during a war and treated like a tool. She was exceptionally good at combat and killing the enemy, but was treated merely as a tool and believed to have no heart. Having lost both of her arms and the only love in her life in the war, Violet ventures out into the world as an Auto Memory Doll - someone who writes letters for others - to understand what the last words spoken to her mean.

I love you.

Let me make it perfectly clear that is anime is not sappy. It is not cliche. It is not boring.

It is exceptionally beautiful. It is painfully real. And it brings the story of everyday life into a living, breathing being. 

If you love anyone, you need to watch this show. 

The reason this anime speaks so close to my heart is that I consider myself a sort of wordsmith. I feel that my only true talent given to me by God is writing. I love words. I have always loved words. And I have often gotten angry at how flippantly people use words. 

Words truly do have power. Words are not empty tools that we use to convey dull messages to one another.

Words are the very threads that bind, sever, and uphold humanity. 

I truly believe this with all my heart and soul. 

As someone with mental illness, words mean even more to me, doubled on top of my love of writing and reading. 

I feel even more deeply due to my illness. I emphasize more with pain. With human suffering. With the depths of sorrow, grief, and anger we all feel. I also emphasize with the heights of joy, love (romantic, familial, and friend), and happiness we all feel. 

Those rivers run deep for me. I have lost people incredibly close to me. I have watched people I love suffer from death, illness, heartbreak, and many other ailments. I have witnessed lost love, broken hearts, shattered dreams, and nights of sleepless crying. 

I would argue that our current society amplifies a message of superficial feelings: of careless words and throw-away sentiments laced in plastic and glitter. 

You can buy love. You can sell love. You can throw away love. You can trade love. 

Love is a commodity. 

Words are meaningless. 

I have a love for written letters. I had the privilege of working in a mail room for 3 years at my college. My job was to receive, sort, and deliver mail: checks, letters, notes, postcards, packages, parcels, you name it. 

This anime centers on the written word in the form of letters. That deeply touched me. Finally, someone is recognizing the power of letters. 

There is a wonderful Christian woman by the name of Hannah Brencher who started "More Love Letters," an organization where people can nominate their loved ones for "letter bundles" and, if picked, people from all over the world can write them letters. 

http://www.moreloveletters.com/

I actually did this for my best friend James. I submitted a request for him and he received well over 200 letters from several different countries, all packed to the brim with love and encouragement. I even received some love letters from this endeavor as well, thanking me for being a friend to James and nominating him. 

Every month, new love letter requests are posted on the More Love Letters website, and people have a month to write and send letters to that person. 

Having been such a lover of this idea, Violet Evergarden only made my passion flare up again. We are so adjusted to texting, instant messaging, and other faceless means of contact now. That is why I try my best to uphold letter writing. Over the course of my college time, I wrote letters to my fiance, his room-mates, and my friends. Even though I could text them, I found letter writing to be so much more satisfying and beautiful. 

I started a love note chain at my college. I lived alone in my dorm and felt lonely, and wanted to be connected to those in my hall. I set up a table with candy, sticky notes, and Sharpies outside my door with instructions to slip prayer requests under my door or to write love notes or notes of encouragement to one another or to put them on the bathroom mirrors or other public places to spread love. 

It was incredibly successful, and I don't just give the credit to the candy. I give credit to the belief that words are the best thing we have as humans on this side of eternity. Music is a close second. 

And the music for Violet Evergarden is a contribution to the beauty of this show.

I never cried so much over one show. Genuine tears of happiness, sorrow, and surprise. 

I loved this show. Loved it. 

If you get a chance, watch it. I feel so changed after just 13 episodes. 

Discover for yourself the beauty of living and watch Violet Evergarden. 

Here is the music: