The Japanese release date for Netflix’s Violet Evergarden anime has already arrived for the winter 2018 anime season, but eager fans want to know when the episodes will become available in the United States and other English-speaking regions. Thankfully, the general time frame for the release date of the English dub is already known and the number of episodes for Violet Evergarden has also been confirmed.
Animated by Kyoto Animation, the Violet Evergarden release date in Japan was set for January 10, 2018. Netflix secured the international streaming rights, and so far, Episode 1 is available in Canada, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, and, of course, Netflix Japan.
The Violet Evergarden English dub is already available for Canada, the U.K., and the Phillippines. Audio is also available in Japanese, French, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish, depending on your location.
The official website does not specify the exact timing for Netflix’s Violet Evergarden release date in the United States. It only says that the TV show’s international release window is the spring of 2018. However, Netflix has now officially confirmed that the U.S. release date is April 5, 2018.
The other countries which received the Violet Evergarden English dub will air the episodes as they come out during the winter 2018 anime season. Netflix USA typically sets up their audiences for binge-watching and will delay the release of an anime until all of the episodes have aired.
Kyoto Animation has not officially confirmed the number of episodes, but Moetron News reports that the TV anime is listed for 14 episodes . Moetron claims that this information might mean the first season’s ending will be Episode 13 and the 14th episode is a Violet Evergarden OVA episode , but this speculation has not yet been confirmed. However, the U.S. release date happens to coincide with the day that Episode 13 airs in Japan, so the rumor is very likely to be true.
The Blu-ray page for the franchise also lists four volumes containing a combined total of 14 episodes. Each volume contains three episodes except for Volume 2 and 4, which include four episodes each.
U.S. Anime Fans Turn To Netflix Region Spoofing And Piracy
The Violet Evergarden anime was highly anticipated months before being released. A day before Episode 1 aired in Japan, the MyAnimeList score was almost a nine out of 10 and no one had even watched it yet!
Unfortunately, anime fans across the world are not patient. Rather than wait for the official release, some will watch a pirated download from various sites. Others are turning to Netflix region spoofing, which is when a Netflix user hides their true location by using a virtual private network (VPN) or a web proxy service. That way, a U.S. Netflix user could watch English content already released in Canada and the U.K.
According to NBC News , Netflix has waged war on the spoofers because Netflix pays its licensing fees by region. That means if a non-U.S. Netflix user watches a movie or TV show only licensed for the United States then the owners of the content are not paid for the views.
Unfortunately, as Netflix has invested more and more into anime exclusives, the huge delay for American anime fans has only become even more noticeable since popular series like Fate/Apocrypha are being delayed by months. Thankfully, the U.S. release date for the Netflix Violet Evergarden anime is not too bad, but let’s hope the Netflix executives realize they need to fix the problem.
[Update March 15, 2018] Added official release date on Netflix U.S. for the anime.