The audio commentary of Violet Evergarden TV series OVA had Ishidate Taichi (director), Fujita Haruka (series direction), Urahata Tatsuhiko (script), and Suzuki Takaaki (world setting) as the commentators.
The OVA was set between episodes 4 and 5. As work on the "Extra Episode" started after episode 13, the animation staff had to go back to episodes 4 and 5 to look at how Violet acted and looked back then.
After the script had been finalised for the TV series, Ishidate was thinking about the story for the OVA. That was when Yoshida Reiko (series composition) suggested asking Urahata to write it. Coincidentally, Urahata received the request just a week after he watched a musical.
The storyboard for this episode was shared by Fujita, who did the first half (later clarified to be until the scene where Irma was approached by Hugo while she was waiting at the train station) and Ishidate who did the second half. Fujita's portion covered the classical musical piece, which was composed by Evan Call and he also sang a demo for it. Fujita praised his singing. The opera portion was sang by TRUE, while the lyrics were written by Evan in a fictional language. This was then used as a setting that the classical language split into northern and modern Tellsis branches.
Urahata brought up that, even in the history of opera, there was the change in language, from Italian to German, German to French, and eventually even English was used.
They said it was nostalgic to see the clumsy writing of Violet. At the same time, Violet now understood that the client was not satisfied with her work.
Urahata came up with many love letters for the lyrics. This OVA only used the soundtrack from the earlier episodes. During production, Fujita asked how to express a sad Violet and Ishidate suggested making Violet stand and look at the corner of the room.
It was music producer Saito Shigeru who suggested an episode on music.
The OVA showed the moment when Erica fell in love, but she still did not realise it.
When writing the stage play in the middle of the OVA, Urahata referenced George Gershwin's "Summertime" for Porgy and Bess as he wanted a modern drama adapted into opera. This was an era that did not have a lot of entertainment so stage plays were important leisure for general public, with no radio, no television. The setting led him to create such an opera. Fujita brought up that even units of measurements were created by Suzuki for the setting but did not have a chance to be used until the OVA.
They talked about the high cost of engaging a doll. In episode 11, soldiers talked about having no way to spend money, which was why they thought of engaging a doll to write letters. Suzuki added that the actual cost was actually touched on in the light novels.
When designing the characters, Ishidate asked for Irma's boyfriend to be made more handsome, so that he stood out from other mob characters.
Suzuki pointed out that Leiden has three train stations. There was one at each end of the city, at the east and west, plus a tram line connecting them and a central station for the tram. This was because, like in European countries, they could not run railway tracks across the built up city centre. Urahata also mentioned how train stations in Europe used to be named for their destinations, such as Finland Station in St Petersburg.
The contents of the letters in the warehouse were created after the lyrics were developed. Suzuki had gotten used to translating by then, though he bought a new 32-inch monitor to use with his existing 26-inch monitor for better workflow. Ishidate also said that he was in charge of Hodgins's handwriting in episode 13, while Fujita was in charge of Violet's handwriting such as when she tried to write letters in episode 1.
The lyrics for "Letter" were written by TRUE. The song itself was more colloquial compared to the more classical opera-style. Suzuki mentioned that the poppy flower is the flower of remembrance in England. When the song was being played, Urahata commented that Violet wrote the lyrics but, at this point in the story, still did not fully understand its meaning.
As the OVA came to a conclusion, Ishidate said that he was fortunate to be able to bring Violet to everyone and looked forward to being able to do so again.
Urahata brought up that, even in the history of opera, there was the change in language, from Italian to German, German to French, and eventually even English was used.
They said it was nostalgic to see the clumsy writing of Violet. At the same time, Violet now understood that the client was not satisfied with her work.
Urahata came up with many love letters for the lyrics. This OVA only used the soundtrack from the earlier episodes. During production, Fujita asked how to express a sad Violet and Ishidate suggested making Violet stand and look at the corner of the room.
It was music producer Saito Shigeru who suggested an episode on music.
The OVA showed the moment when Erica fell in love, but she still did not realise it.
When writing the stage play in the middle of the OVA, Urahata referenced George Gershwin's "Summertime" for Porgy and Bess as he wanted a modern drama adapted into opera. This was an era that did not have a lot of entertainment so stage plays were important leisure for general public, with no radio, no television. The setting led him to create such an opera. Fujita brought up that even units of measurements were created by Suzuki for the setting but did not have a chance to be used until the OVA.
They talked about the high cost of engaging a doll. In episode 11, soldiers talked about having no way to spend money, which was why they thought of engaging a doll to write letters. Suzuki added that the actual cost was actually touched on in the light novels.
When designing the characters, Ishidate asked for Irma's boyfriend to be made more handsome, so that he stood out from other mob characters.
Suzuki pointed out that Leiden has three train stations. There was one at each end of the city, at the east and west, plus a tram line connecting them and a central station for the tram. This was because, like in European countries, they could not run railway tracks across the built up city centre. Urahata also mentioned how train stations in Europe used to be named for their destinations, such as Finland Station in St Petersburg.
The contents of the letters in the warehouse were created after the lyrics were developed. Suzuki had gotten used to translating by then, though he bought a new 32-inch monitor to use with his existing 26-inch monitor for better workflow. Ishidate also said that he was in charge of Hodgins's handwriting in episode 13, while Fujita was in charge of Violet's handwriting such as when she tried to write letters in episode 1.
The lyrics for "Letter" were written by TRUE. The song itself was more colloquial compared to the more classical opera-style. Suzuki mentioned that the poppy flower is the flower of remembrance in England. When the song was being played, Urahata commented that Violet wrote the lyrics but, at this point in the story, still did not fully understand its meaning.
As the OVA came to a conclusion, Ishidate said that he was fortunate to be able to bring Violet to everyone and looked forward to being able to do so again.
My overall thoughts on Violet Evergarden The Movie
Events:
Translations of short stories:
The Tailor and the Auto-Memories Doll (unofficial translation of 仕立て屋と自動手記人形) Gilbert Bougainvillea and the Fleeting Dream (unofficial translation of "ギルベルト・ブーゲンビリアと儚い夢")
Violet Evergarden short stories: "Logbook entry" and "Diary entry" (unofficial translation)
The Starry Night and the Lonely Two (unofficial translation of 星降りの夜とさみしいふたり)
Diethard Bougainvillea's If (unofficial translation of ディートフリート・ブーゲンビリアIf) Tellsis (Nunkish) translation:
Last line of Violet's final letter to GilbertInsights on the movie:
Audio commentary notes:
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