This is the second audio commentary from the Blu-ray of Violet Evergarden the Movie. The first one which I listened to was the commentary by the production staff. There is another one by the music staff too.
The voice actors featured in this audio commentary were:
Isihkawa Yui, who voiced Violet Evergarden
Namikawa Daisuke, who voiced Gilbert Bougainvillea
Koyasu Takehito, who voiced Claudia Hodgins
Kiuchi Hidenobu, who voiced Diethard Bougainvillea
The following is a summary of the things that were mentioned in the audio commentary.
Voice recording for the movie was carried out in January and February 2020 over a total of four days. The first day was for all scenes which did not feature Gilbert or Diethard. The second day was for the scenes which had the four voice actors (Ishikawa, Namikawa, Koyasu, and Kiuchi). The third day was for scenes with only Violet and Gilbert. And the fourth day was for scenes from Daisy's time. When the voice recording was done, the visuals were still in the works, although some scenes have already been coloured in.
Ishikawa mentioned that she saw the instructions from sound director Tsuruoka to composer Evan Call, saying that those instructions for the music were actually quite abstract. She also mentioned that the voice recording for the TV series started in summer 2017 and was completed by the end of the year, before the series was aired in 2018. She also said that when she and Director Ishidate visited Germany (I think it was for AnimagiC 2018), the production staff came along because they wanted to scout for locations for the Gaiden movie.
Koyasu revealed that he initially thought Violet was a robot, then an android, before it dawned on him in Episode 3 of the TV series that Violet was actually human. The term "Doll" and the mechanical arms coupled with the way Violet spoke gave him that initial impression. (Personal note: I also thought this was an anime about a robot girl...) The actors talked about the growth of Violet. From someone who would put down everything she is doing to go and be with Gilbert (during the TV series), to a person who has emotions and was willing to forgo seeing Gilbert because she needed to fulfill her promise to Yuris (in the movie). And the scene which showed Violet being so human, when she was worried about how to act when meeting Gilbert.
Koyasu, Namikawa, and Kiuchi mentioned that this series was the first time they worked with Kyoto Animation. (Ishikawa has previously worked on A Silent Voice.) And there wasn't any audition for their parts. The only audition held was for the part of Violet. The rest seemed to have been selected by sound director Tsuruoka. He was mentioned many many times during the audio commentary. I guess this shows how closely the sound director works with the voice actors.
Most of them believed Gilbert had died when they were recording the TV series. Even when told at the end of the TV series' recording that they will be doing a sequel, they still weren't sure if Gilbert was alive or whether it would be more flashback scenes. Koyasu was touched just by reading the script for the movie--he originally skipped through just to look at his parts, but ended up reading the entire script because the story was so touching.
Koyasu was also quite cheeky during the audio commentary. He even tried to do some new voiceovers. Like in the scene when Hodgins met Gilbert at the island's school. "Hello, is this Gilbert's home?" And Namikawa played along, saying "No, it isn't." Oh, Hodgins is the only one who calls Violet
as "Violet-chan"; everyone else calls her "Violet" (although in the
light novels, Benedict calls her "Vi").
The voice actors praised the way KyoAni delivered the movie. They saw a lot of synergy between the visuals and the voice acting, and found it really interesting how KyoAni managed to give a part to the telephone in a movie about letters. There were also other comments about camera angle and the fantastic backgrounds.
At the end of the movie, the voice actors were talking about the red
ribbon at the Ekarte Island school's gate and outside the post office.
Ishikawa also raised the idea that maybe the man at the post office
is related to Gilbert by blood after the male voice actors were
discussing whether he could be Gilbert (which he can't, because Gilbert
would be 93 years old by then).
Some other episodes about the voice acting:
- Hodgins screaming "大バカヤロー" was not in the initial script; it was later added in by Director Ishidate.
- Sound director Tsuruoka told Ishikawa to "become the letter" when she was recording her final letter to Gilbert; it was supposed to be a narration without emotions.- Originally, there was no plan to use the song "Michishirube" at the letter scene. But sound director Tsusuroka decided to use that song because the word "michishirube" appeared in the letter, and he said something like, "That's like telling me to use 'Michishirube'."
- Sound director Tsuruoka told Ishikawa and Namikawa to record the reunion scene together (mentioned during a previous event too) and told them he would not be using any music, so how the scene turns out will depend entirely on their acting. Talk about pressure... but they recorded that scene in a single take.
- During the voice recording for the scene when Yuris passed away, many voice actors went out of the studio because they couldn't hold back their tears.
I was actually hoping for more insights about the backstory, but it is nice to hear the voice actors talk about episodes from the recording. Now to find time for the music staff audio commentary...
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) Laura and the Auto-Memories Doll (unofficial translation of ローラと自動手記人形)
Flowers and the Auto-Memories Doll (unofficial translation of 花と自動手記人形)
Tellsis (Nunkish) translation:
Last line of Violet's final letter to GilbertInsights on the movie:
Audio commentary notes:
