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It’s hard to deny that anime has risen to be one of the world’s most influential forms of media, with its visuals and storytelling charming audiences in every corner of the globe. That said, the medium has a long and often unsung relationship with other media, withadaptations of manga, light novels, and non-Japanese media adaptations playing a major role in the development of what stories ultimately make it from the animator’s desk to the screens of fans everywhere.
Anne of Green Gables, a 1908 novel by L.M. Montgomery, tells the story of a charmingly imaginative orphan who comes to live with an elderly farming couple on the idyllic countryside of Prince Edward Island. Known for its endearing characterizations and universal themes of childhood wonder and friendship the novel has been an international bestseller for generations, becoming a beloved children’s novel in Japan. The perennial popularity of the book, with its theme of imagination and enjoying life’s simple pleasures amongst a gorgeous setting, have allowed it to become one of the few works of media that have received not one, but multiple anime adaptations through the years. The style of these adaptations, almost 50 years apart, reveals a lot about how the style and production of anime have changed across generations of Japanese animation.
1979’sAnne of Green Gables
World Masterpiece Theaterand Early Anime Adaptations of Classic Literature
World Masterpiece Theaterwas an ambitious anime anthology that began in the 1960s and ran for decades on Japanese public television, adapting well-known international novels as a form of educational entertainment for Japan’s young audiences. Because the 1970s were still a relatively early period of Japanese television, TV anime series of this time were very heavily influenced by their respective networks’ need to fill scheduling time.
This need to fill large quantities of airtime allowedAnne of Green Gables, the first and among the most well-known of World Masterpiece Theater’s adaptations broadcast on Japan’s Fuji TV, to be a long-running and faithful adaptation of its source material.World Masterpiece Theaterwas an important stepping stone forStudio Ghibli legends Isao Takahataand Hayao Miyazaki, so this long-running classic of televised anime, based in turn on a classic of world literature, naturally commands a fair bit of respect. And the entire series is free to watch on YouTube.
The 1970s series gives a great deal of its runtime to dialogue, with episodes gradually taking their time to flesh out the relationships of Anne, the Cuthberts, and those in their lives. While this doesn’t necessarily have the same kind of pacing you’d expect from anime produced in the streaming era, it portrays the depth of the source material that lets the characters’ simple charms shine through.
Some of Anne’s imagination is brought to life in the opening and closing songs, but the episodes themselves are often grounded in the Victorian mannerisms and imaginative ideals of Anne’s conversations. The cel-shaded animation and lower aspect ratio certainly date the series to the earlier days of Japanese television, but that aesthetic hasplenty of vintage charm.
WhatAnne ShirleyBrings toAnne of Green Gables
The Charm ofAnnefor a New Generation
Broadcast on the educational block of Japan’s NHK television station and simulcast on Crunchyroll for global audiences, 2025’sAnne Shirleyis a charming update to its 1979 predecessor. The series is broadcast on Japan’s NHK-E educational block, following in the same footsteps ofWorld Masterpiece Theaterin trying to bring iconic literature out through engaging entertainment. One unifying thread betweenAnne ShirleyandAnne of Green Gablesis being able to boast of the involvement of some of the top talent working in anime today.
The OP animation forAnne Shirleyis directed by Naoko Yamada, whose work on theSound! Euphoniumfranchise and her recenthit anime featureThe Colors Withinhave made her one of the biggest rising talents in anime. Yamada’s ability to draw out the emotional psyches of her young protagonists as seen in projects like The Colors Within, she is a natural fit for Anne Shirley’s style of presenting the titular character’s flights of imagination through bright, often humorous visual sequences.
IfAnne Shirleyis “better” than its 1970s predecessor is an easy enough question to ask, but a bit harder to answer in conventional terms. The two adaptations vary quite a bit in when they were made and how they were meant to be watched. WhileAnne Shirleyisn’t as immediately faithful an adaptation as the 1970sAnne of Green Gablesdue to its shorter episode counts and more condensed story beats, it succeeds in bringing out the charm of the characters for the modern sensibilities of Japanese youth. Makingacclaimed literatureavailable and exciting was the goal of both series, and both in turn are reflections of a great story that has continued to capture the hearts of young audiences in Japan and across the world.
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Anne Shirleyis currently streaming on-demand and through simulcast onCrunchyroll.
