Though Promare has a number of similarities to Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill, it comes off more like an imitation than a celebration. It’s all style and no substance. The supporting Galo/Lio shorts are better, but there’s little point in watching them as stand-alones… and they don’t work well as prequels either.
The first Violet Evergarden movie meanwhile is a side-story (split into two parts) which appears to take place at some point after the series’ conclusion. Indistinguishable from the TV episodes the movie won’t change anyone’s minds regarding the franchise, but it can be watched as a stand-alone for those on the fence about whether or not they want to watch the series.
Personally, I’ve never been fond of the whole ‘proper lady, gilded cage’ setup/concept and the particular iteration featured here doesn’t do anything to change that opinion. Fortunately that’s only the theme for the movie’s first half; the second goes back to focusing on the delivery service. Unfortunately, it does so by heavily featuring a new child character who wants to join the office. So long as you don’t mind kids this works as a fitting conclusion. For me however it means pretty much the whole movie ends up a wash.
