The animation is really... actually it's really good, the few instances where elements look CGI'ed (and probably were) aside, the water in the show being the biggest "offender" there. There's an episode where an astronomy reserach institute hires 80 auto memory dolls to copy rapidly deteriorating books and scrolls that were just recovered. In the shot where you can see them, they're really different character models with different outfits.
Meanwhile any of the war flashbacks has the soldiers all look the same, a deliberate contrast (both as a war metaphor, i.e. dehumanization, and a demonstration of Violet's point of view - people going from not mattering to her at all to being separate entities with hopes, dreams and feelings).
While it looks really good, it's easily my least favorite episode (so much is made prior to this about how auto memory dolls aren't just typist, and now they're there copying books - important work, to be sure, but not what they're usually hired for).
Like modern animation or not...
...but that took some effort.
Pretty backgrounds.
However...
It does have a super important blink and you'll miss it moment for Violet.
What you really need to know about it going in I already posted, I think. Violet is damaged, emotionally and physically, and that's what the anime is about. It is more of a series of short stories with a connecting cast of recurring characters. Violet is obviously in each one. The source material is like this too. The short story nature means that Violet's character arc, and what the show is about, is more observed then directly experienced, except for a few scenes where she is alone. It also means that the more short story type episodes spend a lot of time developing characters you'll never see again.
It also means there's - out of necessity and for the plot device, ghostwriting, to work - a lot of dialogue that contains expositional stuff. Not like in Madoka where the storyline is told through (indeed) too many exposition dumps. It's there, and it is justified - how else would Violet know what to write for her clients, if they wouldn't tell her why and what they need.
Violet's behaviour and mannerisms are exaggerated, but not unrealistic, and for me, in some instances, that was hard to watch, e.g.:
Well that wraps up this particular post.