A new television anime adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved Anne of Green Gables series, titled Anne Shirley, is set to debut in April 2025 on NHK’s E-Tele channel. The project, produced by Answer Studio, will bring a fresh take on the iconic story of Anne Shirley, the spirited orphan who finds a home with the Cuthberts in the small town of Avonlea.
The anime will focus on Anne’s development from a young girl into adulthood, highlighting key relationships such as her deepening bond with the siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, her close friendship with Diana Barry, and her eventual romance with Gilbert Blythe. These elements of Anne’s journey also appear in Montgomery’s later novels, which will likely be explored in the series.
Anne of Green Gables, first published in 1908, takes place in the late 19th century in the fictional Canadian village of Avonlea. It tells the story of Anne Shirley, an imaginative 11-year-old girl mistakenly sent to the Cuthberts, who had originally planned to adopt a boy to help on their farm. Anne’s adventures and her impact on the community have made the series a staple in literary and cultural history.
The Japanese connection to Anne of Green Gables dates back to 1952, when novelist and translator Hanako Muraoka first translated the novel into Japanese under the title Akage no Anne. The story has since inspired multiple adaptations, including the 1979 anime series directed by Isao Takahata, a founding member of Studio Ghibli. This series is notable for the early involvement of Hayao Miyazaki, who contributed to the layout and designs for the first 15 episodes. Future Ghibli director Yoshifumi Kondō also played a key role in overseeing animation production.
Takahata’s 1979 anime adaptation has since been celebrated, with a compilation film of the series released in 2010. In 1989, a compilation of six episodes was personally supervised by Takahata but was not given an official release until later, when it was included in the Mitaka no Mori Ghibli Museum Library’s collection of international animation classics.
In addition to the 1979 series, the Before Green Gables prequel series, produced by Nippon Animation, aired in 2009, offering fans a deeper look into Anne’s early life before her time at Green Gables.
As anticipation builds for this new anime, fans of the Anne of Green Gables saga can look forward to a fresh interpretation of a timeless tale, brought to life by the acclaimed animation studio, Answer Studio.
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