The Spring 2025 Anime Preview Guide

Anne Shirley

Prince Edward Island is a beautiful, small island in Canada. By mistake, the orphaned Anne Shirley is taken in by the elderly Cuthbert siblings, Marilla and Matthew, at Green Gables. Although they are confused, they are comforted by Anne's imagination, and their bond as a family deepens. She meets Gilbert Blythe, who becomes her constant rival, and Diana Barry, who becomes her confidant. And through her interactions with her classmates, teachers, and the people in the village, the young Anne grows up.

Anne Shirley is based on the Anne of Green Gables novel series by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Saturdays.

I am not particularly nostalgic for Anne of Green Gables. The time I read it once as a child, I remember liking Anne and relating to her dreaminess and strong will, but it didn't make that much of an impression on me overall. However, I know that it's a major touchstone for a lot of people; it's considered with particular reverence in Japan and Canada. A new adaptation that's anything short of lavish would be outright sacrilege.

With all that in mind, it's not even a little surprising that Anne Shirley is a stunning and faithful new adaptation of the classic children's novel. It's heavy on the old-school charm, of course, with character designs that draw a lot of inspiration from 70's anime, despite this purportedly being an all-new adaptation and not a remake of Takahata's legendary series. I found myself as entranced by the lush, painterly backgrounds as Anne herself, even considering a trip to Prince Edward Island, which I'm sure has a healthy tourism industry thanks to this exact story.

Rather than translating the Japanese lines, the subtitle translation uses corresponding lines from the book as written. This is a wise choice; so much of Anne's charm comes from her quirky way of describing things and her unique way of looking at the world. The specific phrasing of her naming the road she and Matthew Cuthbert traveled on “The White Way of Delight,” and proclaiming herself to be in “the depths of despair” is important; putting the lines through multiple layers of translation would mean losing multiple layers of meaning. The thought of how the people of Canada would revolt if Anne didn't talk like the character they grew up with is too terrifying even to consider!

If I had grown up with her the same way, I too would have been horrified at the idea of changing anything about Anne. I can see why this story has spoken to so many readers across generations, even over a century later. Anne's charm lies in her weirdness; she's chatty and outspoken in a way that wasn't socially acceptable for young girls in the early 20th century. There's so much humanity in how she advocates for her own feelings and cries out in frustration at being mistreated because she didn't happen to be born a boy. The interplay between her creative way of expressing herself, Matthew's soft-spoken nature, and Marilla's harshness creates a kind of triangle of foils, each bringing something necessary to the others' lives that was missing.

I do not regard Anne of Green Gables with reverence; I simply do not have the kind of relationship with the text that can only be formed by reading it as a child. However, I may keep up with Anne Shirley because even now, I can appreciate a well-told story about an off-beat young woman.

I think all too often, human beings equate “old” with “bad” or “unrelatable.” An anime based on a Canadian book from 1908 will probably be passed over without a second glance by most modern anime fans. But here's the thing about Anne of Green Gables specifically: this is a book that has been adapted for film and TV (including anime) dozens of times over the last century—and seen success nearly every time. Anne's story speaks to the very core of human nature—the need for love and belonging as well as the joy to be found in the world around you. And this anime does a great job at making the spunky, red-headed girl as endearing now as she was 100 years ago.

Anne is a creature of pure empathy. Able to imagine herself as anyone or anything and see the world through their point of view. This gives her a way of seeing the world that is both entertaining and infectious. Whether it's her joy or sadness, she dominates every scene she's in.

But while it's easy to get caught up in Anne herself, it's Matthew and Marilla who steal the show in this first episode. There is so much subtlety to what we see—show, don't tell in its purest form. We can see that Matthew is both enraptured by Anne and depressed knowing he's going to break her heart when she learns they were expecting a boy. His low-key fight with Marillia that same night ends with a scathing rebuke of her self-assuredness hidden within an admission of his own verbal defeat.

And as for Marilla, we have one of my favorite types of characters: a person who talks the talk and walks the walk. She is no hypocrite; she is just as strict and serious with herself as she is with those around her. But strict and serious does not mean unkind. Moreover, while Marilla sees herself as a practical woman, she also believes herself to be a moral person. She may have no idea how to raise a child—especially a girl—but she'll be damned before sending a kid off to be abused and treated like a slave.

All in all, this is a fantastic first episode for an anime that I can't help but imagine will turn out to be one of the best of the season.

I can't be impartial here – I loved the first episode of Anne Shirley with every fiber of my being. Given how much I adore the novel it's based on, L. M. Montgomery's 1908 Anne of Green Gables, that's saying something; I have been known to be remarkably picky about adaptations of books I love, as anyone who has watched a Pride and Prejudice adaptation with me can attest.

But this new version of Anne's adventures is doing it right. Not only are the subtitles remarkably faithful to the text, in spirit if not in fact, but the episode captures Anne, Matthew, and Marilla beautifully. With Anne and Marilla, that's perhaps less remarkable; Anne's irrepressible nature is a mainstay of the books, and Marilla's crusty old New England/Maritimes attitude is equally adaptable. (I know the book is set in Canada, but trust me when I say that I knew a lot of Marillas growing up in Maine.) But Matthew is a little more difficult. He's quiet and solemn on the outside, keeping himself to himself for the most part. He doesn't speak much, so it's up to his body language to convey the kind of person he is, and that comes across very clearly here. The slight hunch of his shoulders when he realizes that the orphan asylum has sent a girl and the mild change of expression on his face as he recognizes that sending Anne back is simply not an option for him are beautifully done, as are his barely-noticeable rebukes of his sister Marilla when she's grumping about Anne. He says a lot without speaking, and that's important to understanding his character.

This also has the feel of adaptations that have come before it, making it feel like an homage not just to the original anime version from 1979, but also to the 1985 mini-series and the Disney Channel spinoff from the 1990s. The backgrounds are exquisite and feel largely faithful to what we've seen before, even if the ocean is the wrong color and far too calm for that part of the world. Green Gables itself captures the look of old Northeastern farms in the placement of its buildings and its furnishings. Even the wheel marks on the bridge are thoughtfully done, showing the slight deviations of some drivers.

The voice acting is also solid. Anne's overwrought delivery is perfect for her character, and the way she subsides into true melancholy when telling Marilla about her past shows why she's so ebullient when she thinks she's found a home and imaginative in general. Marilla's appropriately taciturn in her mannerisms and utterances, and Matthew just gruff enough, even if he's the character whose design and delivery I'm the least sold on. Fans of the original anime, the novel, and Montgomery's story in general should find a lot to love here, and if you've somehow lived without a visit to Green Gables before now, make your dory fast and come aboard – this is a good place to learn why Anne is so beloved.

This might count as some kind of blasphemy, considering I am both a professional English teacher and a professional Isao Takahata superfan, but I have somehow managed to go my entire life without engaging with the story of Anne of Green Gables. It is possible that I watched the TV mini series on CBS at some point in the 90s, though it clearly didn't make enough of an impression to stick, considering that it took until my late 20s to realize that the story of Anne Shirley and The Secret Garden were, in fact, two completely different texts. Anyway, the point is that I have absolutely no frame of reference to determine whether or not Anne Shirley the anime is a faithful adaptation of the story, nor if it captures the spirit of the book in any meaningfully unique or exceptional manner.

What I can tell you, though, is that this is a delightful little cartoon that is just overflowing with pep and charm, much like the titular Anne herself. I was immediately struck by the absolutely gorgeous, painterly backgrounds, which contrast exceptionally well with the brightly colored and lively character animation. It's almost like watching expertly crafted paper dolls frolic around the paintings in an art museum (and it also, coincidentally, reminds me of a stylistic flourish that Takahata himself might have experimented with during his time at Studio Ghibli). Anne Shirley's lovely and warm aesthetic is so instantly pleasant to look at that it ingratiates the viewer to the characters as well.

Given the cultural impact that the Anne of Green Gables story has had on the anime industry since Red-Haired Anne aired in the '70s, I can see how the spunky and curious Anne left her mark on so many anime heroines to follow. She's energetic without being exhausting, bright without sounding precocious, and she's allowed to have conflicts and frustrations that simmer underneath her smile and afford her a lot of humanity. When she discovers that her arrival at the Cuthberts has been tainted by Marilla's disappointment of having a hearty young boy to adopt, her eyes overflow with tears, and your heart just breaks for the poor girl. The direction of this series is effective in how it plays with creative shots and different “lenses” for its make-believe camera to fluctuate between Anne's highs and lows.

If The Answer Studio can keep up this level of vivid production as the season continues, I can see Anne Shirley becoming one of the standout hits of the spring. My understanding is that there is a deep catalogue of stories chronicling Anne's life, and I am now very eager indeed to see where this adaptation goes in chronicling her story.