A new delay has just been announced for the much-awaited Violet Evergarden film: this Monday, Kyoto Animation has announced that they will be postponing the release of the said movie due to concerns brought about by COVID-19. The studio has not yet announced a new release date for the film.

It will be remembered that on September 2019, Kyoto Animation announced that they will not push through with the film’s originally-scheduled January 2020 opening. This is because of production delays brought about by the arson incident that was perpetuated against the studio last July, causing the death of 36 people and leaving 33 people injured. The release was re-scheduled to April 24 but as mentioned above, said schedule will not push through anymore.

Director Taichi Ishidate, who directed the anime series, returns to direct the film. Script will still be handled by Reiko Yoshida, character design and chief animation by Akiko Tase, and music will still be composed by Evan Call. The film will be taking place several years after the war that killed Gilbert Bougainvillea, the man Violet loved. As the world is slowly becoming peaceful, Violet Evergarden finds a certain letter.

First released as a light novel series written by Kana Akatsuki and illustrated by Akiko Takase, Violet Evergarden won the grand prize in the fifth Kyoto Animation Awards novel category in 2014. It was then published in 2015 by KyoAni’s publishing arm, KA Esuma Bunko, and was then subsequently adapted into a 13-episode anime series by the same studio. The anime series premiered on January 2018 in Japan and in other countries as well via Netflix. The story revolves around Violet Evergarden, who was once used as a soldier in a recently-ended war. She tries to reintegrate into society by becoming an Auto Memory Doll, or robots hired by people to write for them. The series follows her in learning how to become an Auto Memory Doll, understanding the feelings of people and the world around her, and trying to comprehend her former major’s dying words to her: “I love you”.

Source: Anime News Network