With frequent references to dolls and its protagonist's initial robot-like mannerisms, Violet Evergarden might have you wonder if Violet is human.
But unlike some spiritual successors, this is more than an anime about a robot gaining feelings.
Violet Evergarden is one of the most heartbreaking anime but also one of the most heartwarming ones.
Below, we answer all your questions about the heroine's humanity.
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What Are the Auto Memory Dolls?
Despite their name, Auto Memory Dolls aren't all dolls, robots, or cyborgs, at least not in the narrative present. In Violet Evergarden's universe, this is essentially a fancy term for transcribers and ghostwriters.
While there are now humans who bear the title "Auto Memory Doll", the first one was, indeed, a machine, created by an inventor named Dr. Orland.
The Auto Memory Doll was tasked with transcribing for Orland's wife, a writer who had gone blind and was distraught by the prospect of no longer penning novels.
Eventually, the role of the Dolls expanded. Others asked for a Doll of their own, and humans who wished to perform a similar job as ghostwriters, copyists, and transcribers took to calling themselves Auto Memory Dolls.
This is where Violet's story comes in; Violet Evergarden starts after a devastating war.
In the following period of peace, many people need to send letters to loved ones but lack education and skills, or simply struggle to express themselves. As such, Auto Memory Dolls are here to help.
This is the job Violet chooses to perform, finally helping rebuild the world after a lifetime of carnage.
Is Violet Evergarden Human?
Violet Evergarden, the titular protagonist, is a human, though her mannerisms, robotic arms, and job title initially suggest otherwise.
If, of course, you are interested in a modern feminist philosophical analysis, you might want to consider her as a cyborg, due to her hybrid status.
In Donna Haraway's essay, A Cyborg Manifesto, we read:
By the late twentieth century, our time, a mythic time, we are all chimeras, theorized and fabricated hybrids of machine and organism; in short, we are cyborgs.
Violet Evergarden unfolds in what looks like an alternative post-WWII Europe but with technology that is way more advanced than our own.
Violet was raised as a weapon but strives to become increasingly human while bearing the wounds of a hybrid past.
She was once a soldier raised in a completely dehumanizing way. Now that the war is over, she needs to find a new purpose in life.
Her goal to understand the last words of her major, Gilbert, leads her on a quest to understand human nature.
From this quest, she emerges undeniably human.
Violet's Physiology Explained
Violet has robotic arms, causing viewers to wonder about her biology. Nonetheless, Violet is not a robot.
She is a human being who grew up in an environment that required her to be emotionless. As someone who was groomed to be a soldier, Violet only learned how to fight.
An explosion caused her to lose her arms. Her setting's very advanced technology undermines this disability, creating a compensation most disabled viewers might have a hard time identifying with.
But such technological developments seem to be the norm in Violet's world and her cyborg physical state doesn't undermine her human inner world.
Violet's skills are above average and might seem superhuman, but this is partly because of her training as a soldier, and partly good old anime logic, as many human characters in fantasy works are overpowered.
Despite these abilities, the narrative chooses to focus on Violet's humanity at all times, and it's better off for that.
Why Did Violet Become an Auto Memory Doll?
After an emotionally stunted childhood as a soldier, Violet must integrate into civilian life and learn to function without Gilbert.
She becomes an Auto Memory Doll to understand his last words: "I love you."
Having heard that Auto Memory Dolls write letters full of emotion, making them seem like their clients were the ones who actually wrote them, Violet decides that this is the right place for her to study human nature.
Of course, the task is difficult at the beginning, as she does not understand human emotions at all.
She transcribes others' words literally, without emotions, ending up with letters that can be misunderstood by others.
While she finds her way around her work, she also has to deal with the trauma from her early life as a soldier.
Arguably, the most intriguing aspect of the series is Violet's development over time.
As an Auto Memory Doll, she meets different people that awaken all sorts of emotions in her, helping her understand human nature better.
The anime is a triumph of emotion and Violet's development by the last episode is truly amazing.
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