Let's have another bullet point list, shall we?
- I'm enjoying this so much. I really might like it better than the Sullivan films. Sure, it's anime and it's in Japanese, but it's so well-made I don't even care. I can't believe I haven't watched this before now!
- I ought to finish the entire series tomorrow. In some ways I'm sad, because I've loved it so much and I don't want it to end. That's what the books are for, though! I even had the forethought not to put my copy of Anne of Green Gables in storage with the rest of my books, so once I finish Howl's Moving Castle I think I'll reread Anne.
- I finally thought to take notes while I was watching today, so here are my scattered thoughts:
- According to the subtitles, Japanese promos are so much politer than American ones. Instead of telling their viewers to "Tune in next week!" or "Don't miss the next episode!" they respectfully implore you to "please watch" or "please wait and see." It makes me laugh.
- The English loan words are easy to decipher. "Cake," "ice cream," "Christmas," and "present" are all as they are in English. None of the names have been changed either, so you get to listen to Japanese voice actors pronounce "Anne Shirley," "Gilbert Blythe," and "Marilla Cuthbert." I think my favorite bit is when Anne calls Diana's mother "Barry-san," haha.
- I was amused by the Anne-dyes-her-hair-green fiasco as always, but I call shenanigans on Anne having her hair pixie-cut in March and then it all being back to normal (almost waist-length) by August. Nope. Speaking from experience, hair growth doesn't work that way.
- The English writing in the backgrounds is usually quite good, but every once in a while I'll catch some errors. When Anne and Diana went to visit Aunt Josephine in Charlottetown, they walked under a banner proclaiming the "83th" exhibition. Then in Anne's nightmare, Ruby Gillis's name was spelt with two b's.
- Speaking of Ruby, there was a moment when she was in hysterics over being caught in a snowstorm at school, and Miss Stacy slapped her! It sounds terrible, but in context it was so funny. I actually laughed out loud.
- Funny visual: Aunt Josephine rides a carousel with Anne and Diana.
- There was an anecdote I don't remember from the book where the hired man, Jerry, tricks Anne into thinking she'd eaten poisoned apples and was about to die. She then goes on to write farewell notes to Matthew, Marilla, and Diana, and they were so melodramatic I nearly keeled over myself from laughing so hard. Oh, Anne.
- The most recent episode I watched (#37) had Charlottetown mistranslated as "Charlottesville" in the subtitles. Of course it was completely unintentional, but as someone who left home to go to school in a city called Charlottesville, it made me unexpectedly emotional.
- This episode also happened to feature Marilla reflecting on Anne growing up. There was even a shot of fifteen-year-old Anne holding up the dress she had come to Green Gables from the orphanage in and laughing at how small it was. Are you trying to break my heart, show? Marilla cried and I have to admit, I sniffled a little, too. Many of my friends talk about how now that the Harry Potter movies are over, so are their childhoods. I don't quite feel that way, since I think that that series ended with the books anyway, but something about watching Anne grow up really hit home. And I'm just the growing up one. I can't imagine how my mother would feel, especially seeing as she's about to send my brother off to college, too.
- Gilbert is growing up very nicely indeed. (Note to self: He's fictional and still a teenager, at least in this story. Stop thinking what you're thinking at once!)
- I will never not love the "Unfortunate Lily Maid" sequence, in any incarnation.
- Some pics from Akage no Anne:
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| Anne and Matthew |
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| Marilla. Strangely, whenever an important character is introduced, they are surrounded by a flowery frame, as seen above. I think this is probably a Japanese thing. |
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| Anne and Diana, making their vow of friendship. |
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| Young Gilbert |
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| Why so adorable, Gilbert? |
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| Older Anne. |
