By Andrew Osmond.

Violet Evergarden is set in an alternative world, told across a cluster of countries which often look European. These countries have been in a terrible war with each other, but a ceasefire has been signed. Now a new peacetime industry is springing up, an organised postal service, which is as important in this world as the Internet is in ours. But as many people have no experience in putting their intimate feelings on paper, a new profession has sprung up to help them write their letters. These professionals are called Auto Memory Dolls.

And no, they’re not robots; their name comes from the typewriters they use. They’re simply young women – scribing and ghost-writing are clearly viewed as female callings – trained to channel their clients’ feelings. But there’s one Doll who might be taken as a robot. She’s mostly expressionless, scarily efficient – her typing speed would rival Clark Kent’s – and she has huge trouble comprehending emotions, especially her own. It’s blindingly obvious that she’s hopelessly, piteously in love with her missing military superior, who probably died in the war. For the woman is a former child soldier, Violet Evergarden. Continue Reading