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The "World Masterpiece Theater" version of "Anne of Green Gables" turns the book into a comprehensive fifty-episode series, absolutely the best adaptation ever made. Anne Shirley is a red-headed orphan girl who talks too much, has a big imagination, and gets herself into all sorts of trouble. When a mistake places her in the care of elderly siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert at Green Gables in the the town of Avonlea, she inspires a lot of headaches, but also becomes a vital piece of their family.

Directed by Isao Takahata in his pre-Ghibli days, and staffed by plenty of other familiar names ... (Miyazaki boarded the first fifteen episodes, Kondo designed the characters), the production is incredibly lavish. I've never seen this amount of well-researched historical detail in any other anime series - the crew actually went to Prince Edward Island to study the architecture and natural scenery - and the resulting visuals are breathtaking. Though it has its bumps, dull stretches, and odd quirks, this is a classic in every sense of the word.

A long series like this is the best format for literary classics, because they're often slow paced and episodic. In the case of "Anne," this means there's plenty of room for all of her adventures, not just the famous ones. Anne still walks a ridgepole, renames half the town's landmarks, and mistakenly dyes her hair green, but we also get to watch her grow up from a scatterbrained eleven-year-old to a formidable young woman, who has to face some very tough decisions. The creators were absolutely faithful to the book, to the point of using chapter titles for many episodes, and even fleshed out the ending a bit more than the original. Best of all, despite its age, "Anne" is easily as watchable and wonderful as it was a generation ago.

Kyouhei, Ranmaru, Takenaga, and Yukinojo are four gorgeous guys who make girls swoon without even trying. Alas, they are not immune from financial woes and are in danger of being kicked out of their benefactress's mansion unless they do her one favor: teach her niece, Sunako, to be a lady. This isn't as easy as it sounds, because Sunako is a slovenly shut-in with macabre interests and no desire to change. Her best friend is an anatomical model named Hiroshi, and she can't get close to a good-looking boy without getting nosebleeds and fainting. The boys aren't sure how to cohabitate ... with her, much less give her a makeover. Directed by "Excel Saga's" Nabeshin, the bulk of the show is pure situation comedy, charting the uneasy friendship that develops between Sunako and the boys, particularly their prickly leader Kyouhei. And it also makes a few well-intentioned, but toothless attempts at commenting on the nature and perceptions of feminine beauty.

The show's visuals are very strange. The boys are supposed to be super-attractive, but are drawn in a garish style that makes them look anything but. For the purposes of the comedy and easier animation, the action will often switch to super-deformed character designs, so simplified they're practically stick figures. Fortunately, the cheap visuals don't impact the shows strange but undeniable charms, and the series is at its best when it's at its most surreal. The characters turn out to be genuinely likable and the show's message is a good one: beauty is all about self-confidence and self-esteem, so you can't change for anyone but yourself.

Watching all of "The Legend of Duo" only takes about an hour, because each of the episodes is only about five minutes long. Even for a web-released short-short series, "Duo" looks very cheaply made, and the weaknesses of the production are many. First, the actual animation is extremely limited, to the point where many scenes are really just narration over still frames. All the characters are complete ciphers and the dialogue can really make those five minute episodes feel much, much longer. Still, you can't say the creators weren't ambitious, as they managed to cram in several side stories and flashbacks. ... Would "Duo" have been better if it had been made on a bigger budget by people who knew what they were doing? Well, I doubt it could be worse.