Back to BustyKagefusa's Profile BustyKagefusa's Profile

If you like Lovecraft and good paced arthouse films you will probably get a kick out of this. It strikes me as a college film student's final project, one made with skill and passion, but ultimately supremely lacking in budget. I suppose that is a little unfair though, as good artistic expression really shouldn't be limited by conceits of budgetary concerns, but the most obvious drawback to this special is the lack of budget and lack of movement.

The pacing, framing, music, and use of color is all excellent, and the little models and dioramas were obviously put together with a specific creative vision in mind. ... Even if you have never read the books I would say this is worth at least one watch for the inspirational value, seeing something truly unique being done and how the limitations of budget can be worked around. The Festival is likely the best adaptation because of the fact that it has the most movement, the most interesting shots, and the body horror. Art students would hopefully enjoy this and take away many lessons from it. It's a little bit Tim Burton-esque in a way, and has a certain charm that most these days will probably miss, but it knows how to drag out tension and the fact that it can do this with little figurines is laudable.

Of course I would recommend reading the original stories first to get all the finer details. Lovecraft may have died poor and generally unknown, but his cosmic horror has exploded in recent decades into the horror of the future. Most people know Lovecraft now, and the works he has inspired continues to grow at a rapid pace. Some low IQ individuals (like those writing not recommended reviews) may hate him for his love of his own people, but they cannot fight against his rise. The same mongoloids who would criticize Lovecraft's in-group preference are the same hypocrites who would never call out other - darker individuals - for their own in-group preference. Naturally, you cannot argue with a midwit leftist mind, you cannot argue with twisted logic.

Lovecraftian is the horror genre of the future, and he will only continue to get popular and those using cosmic horror will continue to grow.

Time is the greatest handicap for this generation's adaptation of Anne of Green Gables - "Anne Shirley". Adapting L. M. Montgomery's literary classic about a freckled red-headed orphan girl growing up requires one thing above all else - Time. Time for character development. Time for subtlety. Time for world building. Anne Shirley simply has no Time. No time for real character development, no time for real subtlety, and no time for real worldbuilding.

Putting to one side the digital visuals (especially the backgrounds) that are trounced by Akage no Anne's from 45+ years ago, Anne Shirley does not have the Time nor the Budget to truly ... do justice to the source material. It can't even get a narrator. The pacing is wild, all over the place, and huge swathes of Time are blown passed in an effort to cover the major events from the series. This has simply gutted the nuance and the subtlety from Montgomery's story. Just go watch Akage no Anne and compare it to Episodes 1-10 of Anne Shirley, the content speaks for itself.

Even the events that manage to get adapted are done so to a lesser, and more rushed degree. Anne recovers from her broken ankle like it was nothing, Anne doesn't even touch the water in a scene where she supposedly almost drowned, and by episode 10 - Matthew is dead - and we're supposed to believe that "we've known this man forever". Anne Shirley even goes so far as to remove IDLEWILD due to time constraints. This decision is utterly baffling for anyone who has read the books. There are three integral moments to Anne's loss of innocence, these are Idlewild's destruction, the collapse of the story club, and Matthew's death. As stated above, Idlewild has been completely removed. The story club is seen in one episode and then Never Mentioned Again. And Matthew's heart attack, death, funeral, and mourning is completed in just the first half of a single episode...

And when it comes to character cuts for time, good lord watch out. All the foundational characters in Anne's youth like Mrs. Thomas are completely glossed over. Diana's great aunt Josephine is completely cut, the Allens are barely present, and everyone from Marilla to Josie Pye to Anne's quartet of childhood friends are significantly lesser than what they once were. Removing all these things is a serious detriment to the overall quality... And on the topic of Heart, while the Church is shown a couple times throughout Anne Shirley, the religiosity and spirituality of the original has been scaled down considerably. There are no hymns at Matthew's funeral, Anne rarely prays, and worst of all (as mentioned above) the routine consultations with Mrs. Allen are nearly absent from the production.

Now that the show has ended I can talk about Anne's days at Redmond, her romance with Roy and Gilbert, and her new friends. Guess what, just like the first half, all of these things have been stripped for time and are lacking in detail. The animation (featuring human/horse CGI abominations everywhere) does not improve, and anyone hoping for the off-pacing to get fixed is in for a rude awakening. In fact, the 2nd half of Anne Shirley may have even worse pacing than the first. Forget months and minor events being skipped, now entire years are being blown right passed. Entire school semesters and seasons are covered like a recap episode in a long running shounen series... Worse yet, for the sake of drama and to make up for the lack of good character development, the source material is sometimes changed. Roy kissing Anne is something that never happens in the book, and would be seen as quite inappropriate for the Victorian era - but because Roy is only in the show for a few scenes spread across 3 measly episodes, the creators likely thought they needed to "shotgun" Roy and Anne's short affair. It ends up hurting Anne's character, and it makes the entire last arc come off as fickle.

When it comes to an adaptation, Akage no Anne is superior to Anne Shirley in every way. Akage no Anne, which is considered to be a very faithful adaptation, takes 47 episodes to cover Anne's youth up until the death of Matthew - Anne Shirley attempts to do this in just 10. That should give you an idea of just how much has been trimmed to try and tell ALL of Anne's story... it was a fool's errand. Anne of Green Gables deserves Time. Even the prequel covering Anne's childhood received a 39 episode run time. Trying to aggregate the story of Anne's entire life into just one 24 episode show is foolishness. Sometimes, disappointing can be worse than bad.

Anne Shirley is disappointing because it doesn't trust the audience enough to have sought out the prior adaptations for themselves. We already have adaptations covering Anne's very early life, and Anne's preteen to young adulthood years. It should have been obvious that with the other Green Gables books covered, they could have started with Anne of Avonlea, and moved on to Anne of the Island. Imagine the first 10 episodes of Anne Shirley (near half its episode count) not being an inferior retelling of Akage no Anne, but simply additional time to dedicate to fleshing out the above mentioned books.

Anne Shirley's first half will forever be a rushed recap of Anne of Green Gables, and the latter half will forever be hindered by the first half. It rushes the development of every aspect of the source material, and also leaves itself with even less Time to dedicate to the "new" material... such a missed opportunity.

A faithful and masterfully charming animated companion to the original book about a freckled red-headed orphan.

As someone who was introduced to this version after following a thread of curiosity from the recent "Anne Shirley", I have to say I am overjoyed to have discovered it a few months ago. I watched the BD edition with the english dub and it was especially a treat to behold after growing tired of most middle-of-the-road anime these days. You'll find no Isekai here, no Shounen battles or cutesy Slice of Life (though you will get to know Anne intimately throughout a portion of her own). The literary classic ... series from over 100 years ago is brought to life by a Japanese anime studio from over 45 years ago...

Akage no Anne is, to keep it simple, a breath of fresh air for anyone who enjoys masterpiece theater programs. If you find old world charm and a heavy air of intellect in period pieces like I do, you will swear by this animation. As mentioned above, this project is quite old itself, and thanks to its pre-digital hand painted cels - Victorian Era Canada feels much more believable and tangible to your eyes. There are some truly wonderous and eye-catching moments throughout the more "imaginative" years of Anne's childhood. And thanks to the BD quality, the richness and color of the original work is free to dazzle you. It is still a product of its time, but that's also a large part of its charm. The animators had no digital pens and digital software to insta-delete mistakes they may have made, everything you see was painted onto physical cels and animated like a flip book. The works of the pre-digital age have a distinct pop to them, a certain look that can only be attained by having actual layers of art on them, not just binary layers blended together in a digital program.

I personally believe that any period piece animated during our current digital era is forever disconnected from a certain element of tangibility necessary to make the old times depicted truly believable. Akage no Anne does not have this problem, you can literally see the motes of dust and dirt on the cels which proves how "real" the art actually is. The beautiful environments surrounding Green Gables are translated perfectly into visual form. The painted backgrounds especially are truly wonderous in my opinion, nothing looks flat or ugly. It's so beautiful and refreshing to see after so many anime from recent times with abysmal CGI or lazy and completely uninspired drab backgrounds. The homes and various architectures from Victorian Era Canada are also represented well, everything is believable, and you will often see characters making tea or baking food using the antiquated technology of the era. The house interiors and wallpapers are especially a treat.

I suppose one of the most noteworthy things about Akage no Anne's visuals is that they have (as we would call it now) that distinct "Studio Ghibli" style. The fun fact being Hayao Miyazaki, yes that one, and some of the crew that would go on to form Studio Ghibli in the 80s actually worked on Akage no Anne. You could basically call Nippon Animation at the time - Proto Ghibli. I believe this is most apparent during the first 3rd of the series when Anne is quite small and prone to daydreaming. You can just see with your eyes the care and wonder in certain moments that would go on to become the animated staple of Ghibli.

As for the story, I have been told that Akage no Anne is quite faithful to the original book by L. M. Montgomery, at least when it comes to the time period actually covered by the show (11-17 year old Anne). Every major event is covered, but more importantly, the little and more subtle moments are as well. This is one of the biggest problems with "Anne Shirley", it has no detail. The pacing is rushed, the subtlety is all but gone, and the characters often move and act out of their era. The Victorian Era had down to earth people, quite reserved, homely... and Akage no Anne reflects this mentality well, much better than the new show whose bouncy character animations can often take you out of the time period supposedly being represented on screen.

Akage no Anne has wonderful pacing. There are often episodes where nothing of real substance happens, but you aren't bored for a minute and before you know it the end credits are playing. That's the mark of a truly well-paced show. You lose yourself in the world and the characters and the goings on no matter how big or small. You get a real feel for Anne as a person and Avonlea as a community. You'll watch her grow, make mistakes, make friends, star in village Christmas plays, that sort of thing. Anne and Diana's friendship is especially heartwarming to see.

The last thing I want to mention is the spirituality of it all. Despite being made in 1970s Japan, the Christianity of Anne of Green Gables remains intact and is venerated. Faith and the faithful are not denigrated and subverted like you would see in many post-modern "western" productions. Religion is treated as a backbone of the community, and something to fill your soul with joy. The wife of the town priest Mrs. Allen is a common confidant for Anne, and they get along very well. This was quite refreshing to see.

Although I was introduced to Akage no Anne through Anne Shirley, it has turned out to be a far better adaptation. You owe it to yourself to watch this Proto-Ghibli production if you have any love in your heart for Anne of Green Gables, literary classics, traditional animation, or masterpiece theater. It is a delightful little period piece of the Victorian Era, based on a book series that is popular in both the west and the east. I would also recommend watching Konnichiwa Anne at least once, as that covers the very early life of red-headed Anne.