Guys you all know by now that I love the World Masterpiece Theater or at the very least Japanese anime adaptations of Western childrens literature. Ive already gone on about how much I love Anne of Green Gables in my multiple reviews of the books and the 1979 anime...and I swear to God the second I read that there was going to be a new Anne of Green Gables anime simply titled Anne Shirley I just about screamed. Seriously was ANYONE expecting this to happen in the year 2025? I sure wasnt But boy was I happy to check it out Im always down for more Anne of Green Gables even if I had a feeling it wasnt going to reach the highs of the 1979 anime. But then I heard that not only was Anne Shirley going to be 24 episodes long it was going to cover not just the first book but the next two books Anne of Avonlea and Anne Of The Island. I admit I grew worried that the producers for this were going to compress three books into a format that wasnt going to work for it. Anne of Green Gables is a story that absolutely needs room to breathe and the 1979 anime understood this to a T which is why its so beloved across the world. My fears would prove to be validated now that the show is complete. Dont get me wrong I still really like Anne Shirley as a show and compared to all the bad isekai slop that gets churned out Ill gladly recommend Anne Shirley to anyone wholl listen...but the decision to compress three books into 24 episodes is the shows biggest flaw not just in what it leaves out in the adaptation process but the speed through which it covers the content and the results that came from doing so. The story centers on two adult siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert who live in a farm on the beautiful Prince Edward Island in the late 1800s. Matthew is getting on in years so they decide to adopt a boy from an orphanage to have him help around the farm. Yeah this was apparently a common practice in late 19th century Canada. But a miscommunication has them wind up with a girl instead and this girlAnne Shirleyisnt any ordinary child. Shes an outgoing talkative energetic red haired kid who loves to imagine things and is a romantic idealist despite the bad life she had up to this point. Although Marilla and Matthew do their best to bring her up they cant contain her wild energy and Anne finds herself in a variety of situations like making friends dealing with boys learning things in school wishing she could follow current fashion trends despite Marillas distaste for anything extravagant and fashionable and so on. One things for sure: Avonlea wont be the same with her around and maybe this will prove to be a good thing for everyone involved. For anyone interested episodes 110 cover Anne of Green Gables episodes 1115 cover Anne of Avonlea and episodes 1624 cover Anne Of The Island. I do own and have read the latter two books in the series but its been years since Ive read them. Now there will be a lot of comparisons to the 1979 anime and I hate to make comparisons to it because that series and Anne Shirley are two very different adaptations with different approaches to the books so its inevitable that there will be differences between the two. I dont even think Anne Shirley is a bad series if my rating hopefully gives any indication. But in order to help you understand Anne Shirleys issues comparisons to the 1979 will have to come up in order to illustrate the things that the 1979 anime succeeded in and Anne Shirley fell short in. One of those issues being of course the pacing. Yeah in its attempts to cover three books in a 24 episode run Anne Shirley speed runs through the books content like a race car in the Formula One. Whereas the 1979 anime adapted one chapter per episode Anne Shirley opted to have a single episode cover four whole chapters each and because of this approach it often feels like it doesnt leave itself any time to settle down and let things breathe. This is unfortunately the shows biggest problem and this single issues effects are completely entrenched in everything about the series. Because the producers want to cover three books instead of one of course theres going to be a lot that has to be cut out. Some stuff I didnt mind being cut out such as Anne spanking a student during her tenure as a teacher and a lot of the religious elements because these days religion isnt a big deal as it used to be but there are whole chapters events and even characters that are completely left out to the point where their absence causes huge plot holes that make no sense if you havent already read the book. For example Mrs. Allan a ministers wife is established to have become friends with Anne at some point in Anne Shirley with the series even briefly referencing the event where they become friends in question. But heres the thing: Both the book and 1979 anime actually show how this happens i.e. the liniment cake incident where Anne bakes a cake for Mrs. Allan for a tea party but accidentally put liniment in it because she had a cold and the two bond over the silly mistake. But because Anne Shirley reduces the liniment cake incident to just a throwaway footnote any interactions Anne and Mrs. Allan have make absolutely no sense because the series chose to leave out the chapter that explains how they became friends so in the actual series it feels odd that Anne is somehow friends with some random ministers wife with no explanation whatsoever. The series even leaves out important characters like Dianas Aunt Josephine who becomes one of Annes biggest supporters and confidants. The series accelerated pacing also hurts the characters and how they develop. One of the reasons the 1979 anime is so beloved is because it absolutely made optimal use of its 50 episode run time. The staff for that show understood that Anne of Green Gables is a series that cannot be rushed and deliberately chose to make it a leisurely downtoearth quiet series that prided itself on its atmosphere ambience and making you feel like you were living right alongside Anne and her friends in Avonlea growing up alongside them and observing their growth. Yes modern audiences might see it as boring nowadays but in my opinion slow pacing doesnt always equal poor quality and I hate that it feels like producers are treating children like they need constant stimulation and instant gratification like Cocomelon. What happened to teaching kids patience and appreciation of atmosphere? Because the 1979 anime took its time and allowed everything to happen organically we got to watch the characters grow and develop in a way that felt natural and real and their development is the series biggest highlight. The 1979 series made sure to have everything leave an impact impatient watchers be damned. Anne Shirley wants to achieve this as well but in its desire to cover three books under a 24 episode run time it has to completely bum rush through adapting whatever chapters it feels like making the characters development growth and relationships not feel as organic or impactful. Thats not to say the series is bad at showing the characters actually changing and developing over the course of the series. Considering all the slop we get nowadays Anne Shirley is pretty much top tier compared to stuff like Solo Leveling or all the crap isekai that care more about hype sakuga and indulging power fantasies than having threedimensional characters to care about. On its own Anne Shirleys problems dont necessarily make it an inherently bad show far from it as it still understands what its about. But when you compare how the 1979 series adapted Anne of Green Gables the cracks are more easily noticeable. Actually it seems like this is a persistent problem for all anime series these days where a short episode run completely cripples a shows ability to flesh out its characters and story in a way that can actually leave an impact. Remember when series that were 2452 episodes long were commonplace and people knew how to use the time they were given? Because I do There are also some original additions to Anne Shirley that werent in both the 1979 anime or the books many of which flat out make absolutely no sense. For one an early episode has Anne claim that shes never seen a map before and no I dont mean a map of Avonlea in general I mean maps in general. I checked both the sub and dub and both refer to Anne not knowing about maps in general. I know Anne was established to have had very little education but she was never so stupid that she hadnt seen a map in her entire life Is the show trying to make her seem dumb? Because she isnt Even Before Green Gables got this right both the book and anime Plus not long after that upon starting school Anne becomes head of the class right away whereas in the book she wasnt interested in being so until after she accidentally got Diana drunk. In that same vein Anne says Gilbert is her rival before the whole carrots incident but in the book she doesnt see him as a rival until she starts studying for Queens Academy. One episode has Anne openly lament that Mrs. Hammond one of her foster parents didnt teach her how to swim but neither the books 1979 anime or Before Green Gables have anything like this and it had always been established that Annes foster parents only ever used her as free labor or an unpaid babysitter to raise their children. I know I shouldnt be harping on all these little changes and differences but having read the books and seen the various anime adaptations its hard not to point them out Also what is it with this anime and weasels/ermines? Seriously in almost every scene theres a weasel or ermine in the background even in the opening. It makes me wonder if someone on staff wanted to give Anne a cute little weasel pet like with Romeo in Romeos Blue Skies but the producers told them no and they decided to get revenge by shoving them into every possible scene they could. I really want to know the story behind whoever decided to put weasels into the anime. Yes Anne Shirley is a very flawed anime in terms of the method behind its adaptation process but there is a lot that is good about it and Im not gonna go through this review without praising the things it does manage to do well. One of those things is the soundtrack. I admit Ive been a fan of Michiru Oshima for years and shes done the soundtracks for a shit ton of stuff I grew up on. Nabari no Ou My Sister Momoko the liveaction Sailor Moon series Snow White With The Red Hair Ride Your Wave the Haikarasan movies Fancy Lala and so on. Shes been in the game for years and shes still going strong even after all this time. You cant tell me she doesnt do a great job with whatever shes given and her work on Anne Shirley is no different. It almost reminds me of Yasuharu Takanashis soundtrack for Konnichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables filling it with Canadian fiddles energetic flutes and clarinets and other instruments I cant quite identify right off. The opening by Tota is an absolute banger that I can listen to for hours and the ending song is nice and relaxing. Oh did I mention the animation and storyboarding for both were done by Naoko Yamada? Not even joking. Speaking of the animation I just know people are going to compare the animation from this to the 1979 anime. The 1979 anime opted for a soft muted earthy color palette only going against that during scenes where Annes imagination goes into overdrive but it still managed to look amazing even for the time period. There arent even any exaggerated cartoony faces during comedy moments because the World Masterpiece Theater in general always prioritized realism over exaggeration. Theres really no replacing hand painted cels and watercolor backgrounds. Anne Shirley opts for a much brighter vivid more saturated pastel style and the character designs reflect that even throwing in some cartoony facial expressions now and again. The animation in general while not as strong as the 1979 anime IMHO does manage to capture the oldtimey Canadian idyllic wilderness pretty well and it still manages to look beautiful with its usage of color and be mostly accurate to the time period. I am a little mixed on the character designs. Some characters look fine such as Anne Though why did they make her eyes blue? They need to be green the Cuthberts Rachel Diana Ruby and so on I have to question why they made Gilberts hair look reddish pink. Like...why? Maybe the producers thought it looked like a reddish brown but it looks just as red as Annes hair and wouldnt it be hypocritical of him to make fun of Annes hair when his own is a similar shade? At least the 1979 anime gave him dark hair I also dont like that Janes face looks really square and Josie comes dangerously close to an unflattering fat person stereotype. For all my gripes about how fast the story moves and speed runs the characters development compared to most anime these days Anne Shirley is still leagues above them in terms of actually understanding how character development works. None of the characters remain static throughout the series and Anne Shirley covers a period of 11 or so years of time and like with the 1979 anime we see these characters change grow and evolve throughout their lives. The show is flawed yes but it has good intentions and it still manages to understand why people love Anne as a character. Her growth from an energetic but mischievous little girl to a more mature young woman who retains her usual whimsy and zeal for life navigating lifes different paths and all the growing pains that come with it still manage to carry the entire series extremely well. All of the characters have different sides to them that you cant really sum up in just one sentence and they all feel like people youve met in your life. I admit I cried like an absolute bitch at one characters death late in the series even if we never got to see much of her. Even new characters like Stella Prissy and Philippa brought a lot of energy and charm to the series and never feel like just stereotypes. That said Davy is a little brat and I hate him. I hated him in the book and the show did nothing to change my feelings about him here. But youre probably wondering considering that I generally prefer the 1979 anime over this would I recommend Anne Shirley at all? Honestly...yes. I wont deny that its a flawed adaptation of LM Montgomerys book and the first 10 episodes feel like Anne of Green Gables made for the TikTok crowd or made under Netflix restrictions. But I still enjoyed my time with Anne Shirley and if this can open the door to bringing back anime adaptations of Western literature then I am totally okay with that. On its own its a fine series that still manages to convey what Anne of Green Gables as a whole is about without compromising what makes it good and again compared to all the crappy wish fulfillment isekai and bad ecchi series that get churned out every season that exist solely to cater to the lowest common denominator I would gladly watch Anne Shirley any day of the week even if I like the 1979 anime more. Actually I have an idea: My recommendation to anyone interested in watching an anime of Anne of Green Gables at all would be to watch all 50 episodes of the 1979 anime and then watch Anne Shirley starting from episode 11 that way you can experience both series in a way that lets you get to know the characters without having to deal with the latters pacing issues in regards to the first 10 episodes of its adaptation. Yeah the transition from slow paced 70s anime to faster paced brightly colored version with different character designs may be jarring sure but hey you do you. Or if you dont want to bother with the 1979 anime you can watch Anne Shirley if you dont want to sit through 50 episodes or just dont have the time. For all my gripes about Anne Shirley its still a reasonably good show that understands its source material and how timeless it is and gives me hope that the anime industry can remember its early roots and what its truly capable of. Wow I think this might be my longest review ever.