How to Watch Violet Evergarden in Chronological or Release Order

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Anime expert Chris Hill shares the best order to watch this moving anime

Co-authored by Chris Hill and Glenn Carreau

Last Updated: March 2, 2026 Fact Checked

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Release Order

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Chronological Order

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All Content & Movies

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Where to Watch

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Will there be more?

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Filler Episodes

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Violet Evergarden has been hailed as one of the best modern anime series out there—poignant, emotional, and impactful in every episode. Luckily, it’s also a relatively fast watch, with only a single season and a couple of movies to get through. In this guide, we’ll introduce you to the entire Violet Evergarden catalogue and show you how to watch the franchise in release or chronological order, with exclusive insights from an anime expert. Without further ado, let’s get started!

Violet Evergarden Watch Order Recommendation

Anime expert Chris Hill recommends watching Violet Evergarden in watch order. Here’s what that looks like:

Violet Evergarden (anime series, episodes 1-13)
Violet Evergarden: The Day You Understand “I Love You” Will Surely Come (OVA)
Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll (side-story film)
Violet Evergarden: The Movie (sequel film)
Violet Evergarden Recollections (recap movie)

Section 1 of 6:

How to Watch Violet Evergarden in Release Order

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Release order is definitely the best and most straightforward way for first-time viewers to enjoy Violet Evergarden. Hill says, “The watch order for this one is really simple,” saying that it’s fine to watch it all in the order it came out in.^{[1]
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Chris Hill
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Expert Interview} The show and movies were released in the order that they’re generally supposed to be viewed, with Violet’s story beginning in the 13-episode series and continuing in an OVA and two films (with a recap movie on top of that, if you need a refresher of the first 10 episodes at any point).^{[2]
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- Violet Evergarden (anime series, episodes 1-13)
- Violet Evergarden: The Day You Understand “I Love You” Will Surely Come (OVA)
- Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll (side-story film)
- Violet Evergarden: The Movie (sequel film)
- Violet Evergarden Recollections (recap movie)
Meet the wikiHow Expert

Chris Hill is an anime expert.

Section 2 of 6:

How to Watch Violet Evergarden in Chronological Order

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Chronological order can also be a fun way to watch Violet Evergarden, but it might spoil some mysteries for first-time viewers that they’d otherwise uncover naturally by watching in release order. Basically, watching in chronological order will reveal a lot of Violet’s past early on, so it’s better to try this watch order if you’ve already seen the series and want to experience it in a new way.
- Violet Evergarden, episode 8, part 2 (flashback)
- Violet Evergarden, episode 9, part 1 (continuing flashback)
- Violet Evergarden, episodes 1-4 (anime series)
- Violet Evergarden OVA: The Day You Understand “I Love You” Will Surely Come
- Violet Evergarden, episodes 5-7
- Violet Evergarden, episode 8, part 1
- Violet Evergarden, episode 9, part 2
- Violet Evergarden, episodes 10-13 (you can also watch Recollections after episode 10 for a recap)
- Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll
- Violet Evergarden: The Movie
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Alternatively, here’s a simplified chronological watch order that’s definitely more beginner-friendly, if you’re a first-time viewer who still wants to experience the show (mostly) according to its timeline, aside from a couple of flashbacks. Just watch the OVA after episode 4, then finish the series and continue with the movies, like so:
- Violet Evergarden (anime series, episodes 1-4)
- Violet Evergarden: The Day You Understand “I Love You” Will Surely Come (OVA)
- Violet Evergarden (anime series, episodes 5-13)
- Violet Evergarden Recollections (recap movie, optional)
- Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll (side-story film)
- Violet Evergarden: The Movie (sequel film)

Section 3 of 6:

All Violet Evergarden Content & Movies

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Violet Evergarden (series)The Violet Evergarden anime series follows Violet Evergarden herself—a young girl raised as a child soldier, who was terribly wounded in a recently-ended war. Now recovering and forced to build a new life for herself, Violet begins working at CH Postal Company as an “Auto Memory Doll” (a scribe of sorts, responsible for transcribing people’s thoughts and feelings into words).^{[3]
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- The anime series is just one season long, with 13 episodes in total.
- The original light novel series is also relatively short, consisting of just 4 volumes.
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Violet Evergarden OVA: The Day You Understand “I Love You” Will Surely ComeIn this 30-minute OVA (original video animation) special, which takes place between episodes 4 and 5 of the anime series, Violet takes an assignment from an opera singer. She’s charged with writing song lyrics and must learn more about the depth and nuances of human emotion to do so.
- Hill says that even though this happens between episodes, you don’t have to stop watching the series to watch the movie. “You’re totally fine watching the series, watching the special, and then watching the [movies].”^{[4]
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Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory DollEternity and the Auto Memory Doll is a side-story film, taking place after the events of the show (and before the events of the next movie). In the film, Violet’s job takes her to a prestigious girls’ boarding school, where she must help a well-off debutante named Isabella York.^{[5]
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Violet Evergarden: The MovieViolet Evergarden: The Movie is the final installment in the Violet Evergarden series, concluding Violet’s story as she finally learns the meaning of the words “I love you” (the final words left to her by Gilbert Bougainvillea).^{[6]
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Violet Evergarden: RecollectionsRecollections rehashes the story of Violet Evergarden from episodes 1 through 10 of the anime series, running for roughly an hour and a half. It’s a great recap for anyone needing a reminder of what happened at the beginning of the series, or a possible way for people to experience the events of those episodes when in a hurry.^{[7]
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Section 4 of 6:

Where to Watch Violet Evergarden

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You can watch Violet Evergarden on Netflix. Netflix is your one-stop source for all things Violet Evergarden; it has the full anime series and both movies, as well as Recollections. The OVA is also there, under the name “Violet Evergarden Special”. Keep in mind that you’ll need a paid Netflix subscription to watch everything!
- You can also buy or rent the Violet Evergarden movie on Amazon Prime, as well as the original Japanese version of the anime series.

Section 5 of 6:

Will there be more Violet Evergarden content?

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It’s unlikely that there will be more Violet Evergarden in the near future. Existing Violet Evergarden content (including the 1-season anime and movies) covers the entire Violet Evergarden light novel series, which means the entire story has basically been adapted already. Given that, you probably won’t be seeing any more Violet Evergarden being made.

Section 6 of 6:

Are there any filler episodes of Violet Evergarden?

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No, it’s a short series with no filler episodes. Violet Evergarden is a 13-episode anime series, plus two movies and one 30-minute OVA special. In total, it shouldn’t take more than 10 or so hours to watch the entire Violet Evergarden catalogue (or a little more if you’re including the recap movie), so it definitely isn’t a difficult series to get through. It’s short and plot-focused, without any extra episodes containing skippable content.
- The only piece of Violet Evergarden media that’s “skippable” is the recap movie, Recollections—assuming you’ve already seen episodes 1-10 of the anime.
- Recollections doesn’t contain any bonus scenes, so the only reason to watch it would be for the recap.