Aug 6, 2023
Akage no Anne, probably the best anime for kids - it has a pretty good english dub readily available on youtube (minus one episode). I would say it's probably the best slice-of-life tv show ever.
If you are a person who likes reading books, you are in for a treat with this show. I haven't read the book but apparently this show is a near perfect adaptation. And the writing and the pacing of the show very much feels like a good quality fiction book.
The animation is serviceable. In terms of technicalities the animation (character animation more specifically) doesn't hold up to shows like Future Boy
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Conan or Neon Genesis Evangelion, but that is not to say that it looks bad - it actually looks good most of the time (definitely better than most other shows in the same era like Lupin III) but there is a bit of an uncanny valley effect that happens every now and then.
However, where the show truly shines is in its static artwork, the background art is phenomenal and is just beautiful to look at.
Music is good. It has a classical feel which suits not only the location and time of the story but also the 1970s animation this show uses. If you've seen Grave of the Fireflies it sounds very similar to that. My only complaint about the music is that it sounds quite sentimental which sometimes doesn't quite fit with some of the scenes.
There are a two main problems with Akage no Anne (Anne of the Green Gables):
1. The show peaks in the first 2 thirds. This is to be expected because, as with any coming of age story, you'd expect the ending to be a bit slow and sombre. Some people may dislike this change in tone. As Anne becomes less energetic and more adult-like the show becomes less entertaining but, again, this is to be expected.
2. Animation quality is significantly worse in the last third of the show. It's not that bad but it is low frame-rate and a bit less detailed - thankfully the art style of the show is the same and the lower animation quality is only really noticeable with character movement. It feels slightly rushed, and the pacing is noticeably quicker but some of that may have been a stylistic writing choice rather than a budget issue.
Despite this however, the ending (last 5 episodes) is pretty good and is comparable to the quality in the middle third of the show.
So, with that out of the way, why should you watch Anne of the Green Gables? Aside from its good artwork, world building, and good story, what is it that makes this show shine? Well, Anne of the Green Gables really has fantastic characters and most of the episodes are quite a lot of fun. From childhood antics to very relateable slice of life moments this show has a little bit of something for everyone. And it has a decent bit of tragedy baked in as well. Take the best bits from Only Yesterday and maybe a few elements from My Neighbours the Yamadas and put it into a sprawling 50 episode detailed story, and you have a really good slice of life series. That's basically what Anne of the Green Gables is.
How did I find out that this anime, and such a niche one at that, exists and actually end up watching it?
1. Gigguk / Garnt mentioned it in one of his videos in passing.
2. I looked up the anime and found it was made by my two favourite anime creators of all time, Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki.
3. It turns out Anne of Green Gables has a pretty passionate community so it's easy to find.
If you are looking for anime classics, Akage no Anne is a great one. If you're looking for more classics from the 70s, check out Future Boy Conan, another critically acclaimed TV shows made by the two Studio Ghibli directors, Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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