ANIME REVIEW | Returning to Green Gables with "Anne Shirley"
Every Monday evening at 8 p.m., my family would sit in front of the television and turn on the Disney Channel. At that time, the TV series Avonlea (or Road to Avonlea for the Canadian audience) would come on. For my sister, this series was a continuation of the Anne of Green Gables series that she enjoyed reading. However, for me, this was my introduction to the 19th-century setting of Prince Edward Island, as my time watching Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea would come a little bit later.
So forgive me if I feel nostalgic as I, no longer a child but a forty-year-old man, sit down every Saturday evening and get all warm and fuzzy with the new anime series Anne Shirley. Although this isn’t the first time Anne of Green Gables has been given the anime treatment (Isao Takahata would do it in 1979), it nevertheless feels like a momentous occasion. Luckily, the folks at The Answer Studio (Golgo 13) are treating it as such, as it is easily the most beautiful and endearing series airing this season.
Like the classic Lucy Maud Montgomery books, Anne Shirley begins with the titular character (Honoka Inoue) awaiting her adopted parents. The father figure, Matthew Cuthbert (Yasunori Matsumoto), arrives at the train station, shocked to find a redheaded girl instead of a boy. However, Anne’s charm and perception easily win over Matthew, but a bigger hurdle arrives in the form of Matthew’s sister Marilla (Aya Nakamura). At first, Marilla wants to return Anne to the orphanage and get a boy instead, a revelation that upsets Anne in every part of her soul.
Thankfully, after returning to the orphanage and seeing the witch of a woman who might take Anne, Marilla has a change of heart. And it’s a good thing, as Anne winds up being a wonderful help around the house. Granted, she isn’t perfect, especially when she reacts harshly to Rachel (Kimiko Saito) after she’s criticized for her looks. But great things happen to Anne, especially when she makes her first friend: Diana Barry (Yume Miyamoto).
From there, Anne Shirley allows the audience to watch the tomboy of Green Gables transform into a woman filled with dreams and aspirations. With every person she meets, she is another new friend won over by her charm and wit. Whether it’s going out for a picnic or reenacting a scene from their favorite story, Anne, Diana, and the rest of the girls at the Avonlea School embrace life in the countryside with eyes filled with wonder. As for the boys, well, poor Gilbert Blythe (Naoya Miyase) learns quickly why no one pokes fun at Anne’s hair.
There’s a terrific amount of morals and values sprinkled throughout every episode. Marilla punishing Anne for stealing her brooch turns into a lesson on why you should sometimes trust someone’s word. An incident where Anne accidentally gets Diana drunk puts a wedge in their friendship, until a situation with Diana’s sister allows Anne to show why she’s got the biggest heart in Green Gables. Even though this series takes place in the 19th century, Anne Shirley still stands the test of time with what you can apply to one’s own life.
It also helps too that this series is chock-full of humor. Sometimes it’s in the way Anne expresses herself, as she’s practically a dictionary of big words and poetic perspectives. Other times it can be found in Matthew, who one time struggles to buy a dress with puffy sleeves for Anne’s performance. Even Marilla can deliver some laughs within that serious body of hers, albeit it’s more laughs thrown at her rather than with her.
The Japanese voice cast does a tremendous job bringing Lucy Maud Montgomery’s characters to life. Inoue is a pure delight as Anne, bringing out all sorts of emotions to the character in ways that Montgomery would be proud of. Nakamura may start out as shrewd in her role of Marilla, but she winds up being a wonderful voice of reason brimming with surprising positivity. Matsumoto is a kind soul as Matthew, who brings both a fatherly warmth to Anne and brotherly support to Marilla in a very natural way.
Almost every moment of Anne Shirley looks like a Ghibli movie. The Answer Studio brings out Prince Edward Island in a ravishing and beautiful way. Flowers, trees, rivers & ponds, homes, shops, and the Avonlea School are all shown with a cinematic level of care. How Anne expresses herself comes out in a delightful way thanks to how she’s drawn. Without a doubt, this is the most gorgeous anime of the season, and may be the very best of the year. (With that being said, the CGI horses look weird at times.)
You could not have picked a better composer for the show’s score than Michiru Oshima (Bloom Into You, Little Witch Academia). The folksy Celtic sounds that play throughout the show are absolutely perfect for every scene this show gifts us. Opening theme “Yokan” by Tota is one of the most charming theme songs of the year, as it’s paired nicely with the visuals of Anne bringing magic and dancing to every person she comes across. Laura Day Romance takes the acoustic guitar route for the end theme “Heart”, a beautiful folk song that has some impressive pencil-drawn animation paired with it.
Anne Shirley opening sequence
Anne of Green Gables is an iconic book, and Isao Takahata’s adaptation of the series is the same. By some miracle, Anne Shirley manages to stand toe-to-toe with the Ghibli cofounder's version, thanks in part to its ravishing animation and the amount of care placed into the source material. This is a take on Lucy Maud Montgomery’s iconic books that deserves the eyes and ears of every person who loves classic literature brought to life. Not only is Anne Shirley the best anime of the season, but it’s one of the greatest adaptations of a beloved book series that I’ve ever seen!
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Anne Shirley can be viewed on Crunchyroll, and has been licensed by Crunchyroll. Episodes 1-9 were observed for review. Promotional consideration provided by Crunchyroll.
