The first scenes from the movie would make more sense if you watched the series, understanding who the grandmother is and how/why the letters she cherishes exist, who Violet is and who the Major is to her but from a viewer point-of-view it's not mandatory.
The animation is fantastic beyond compare, the characters are believable and as a stand-alone movie it is amazing BUT I can't help but feel the writers have cheapened the whole experience of tracking down 'the major', I feel it should have been a 25 episode epic of Violet chasing down rumors and shadows while Major Gilbert, feeling remorse for forcing her into combat eludes her, ending with a pan-ultimate scene where Violet finally embraces her one true love and cries 'I am alive, I am free and I love you too, from the bottom of my heart'.
I realize that not everybody likes long running series (for example Bleach, Fairy Tail, Attack on Titan, Black Clover - even Fruits Basket and Clannad) and to them this must seem beautiful, and it is, I rated 9/10 but what is to become of the series now? Though it is somewhat Japanese to know the end in the beginning (I want to eat your Pancreas, Grave of the Fireflies etc.) so perhaps some shadow chasing is still possible and this isn't the death bell of the series created by the talented Kyoto Animation studio.
The animation is fantastic beyond compare, the characters are believable and as a stand-alone movie it is amazing BUT I can't help but feel the writers have cheapened the whole experience of tracking down 'the major', I feel it should have been a 25 episode epic of Violet chasing down rumors and shadows while Major Gilbert, feeling remorse for forcing her into combat eludes her, ending with a pan-ultimate scene where Violet finally embraces her one true love and cries 'I am alive, I am free and I love you too, from the bottom of my heart'.
I realize that not everybody likes long running series (for example Bleach, Fairy Tail, Attack on Titan, Black Clover - even Fruits Basket and Clannad) and to them this must seem beautiful, and it is, I rated 9/10 but what is to become of the series now? Though it is somewhat Japanese to know the end in the beginning (I want to eat your Pancreas, Grave of the Fireflies etc.) so perhaps some shadow chasing is still possible and this isn't the death bell of the series created by the talented Kyoto Animation studio.