Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager to return to the rolling hills and shimmering seas of Green Gables, where Anne has at last succeeded in winning over the obstinate Marilla. To be fair, Marilla put up quite the battle, and likely would have ruthlessly abandoned any lesser children. But Anne made swift work of her through a multi-pronged attack, demonstrating both her intense personal charm and tragic backstory on the ride to Miss Spencers’ place, and then capping that off with the looming threat of alternative adopter Blewett. Seeing Anne’s look of despair at returning to her childhood of suffering was too much for Marilla, and thus both our heroines made their way back to Green Gables.
With the initial trial of simply earning a space at Green Gables behind us, I’m looking forward to seeing the show settle into some sort of comfortable rhythm. Though Gables’ pastoral beauty and meditative pacing make for an inherently slice of life-reminiscent experience, its origin as a young adult bildungsroman means it’s unlikely to simply luxuriate in any one tone; there is conflict and momentum, it is simply illustrated at the pace of life in Green Gables. With this episode boarded by Masterpiece Theater mainstay Fumio Ikeno and scripted by Takahata himself, I’m guessing this will serve as a fine indicator of the road ahead. Let’s return to Anne of Green Gables!
Episode 6
How does this opening feel so nostalgic already? The song certainly helps tremendously, with its horn and percussive accompaniments feeling tied to a specific era of Japanese pop music. That melody entwines with the textured color work of the painted cels, fully evoking one of anime’s golden ages
It’s so tonally reassuring. With this graceful song and visual accompaniment, it feels like a promise that the material ahead will be treated with utmost dignity. It’s the same feeling as tucking yourself in the corner of a library with a great and familiar book
Oh, I love this violin melody as the episode proper begins. Warm but wistful, slightly melancholy, full of yearning
Marilla treats the next morning as Anne’s final interview, testing her ability to help out around the house
By the time lunch rolls around, Anne is literally vibrating with anxiety about whether she’ll get to stay or not. C’mon Marilla, give the poor girl a break
Already through this day’s procession of chores, Anne of Green Gables is visually celebrating something anime rarely has much time for: the simple satisfaction of purposeful labor, working with your hands and mastering the world around you. Generally such a thrill is too small-scale for animation, but you’ll see it celebrated from time to time in slice of life shows – it’s actually one of the first and greatest appeals of Laid-Back Camp, for example
Incredible procession of emotions conveyed by Anne as she learns she’s allowed to stay. First shock, then a kind of rueful gratitude at Marilla’s manner, then pure relief as she thinks about the terror of the alternative, then absolute tearful joy as she allows herself to fully believe something this wonderful is happening. Her feelings are further illustrated through both the music and the background. The strings rise in chorus with her changing expressions, and the background pans upwards from a forest thicket to the blue sky, echoing her shift from mental disorientation to pure happiness, and also reflecting her preoccupation with all the beautiful things she’s seen at Green Gables, that she now at last has the right to believe are hers. Just a top tier moment of animation artistry in all regards
Anne is so happy that she’s for once at a loss for words, and can only describe her feelings as “so much more than glad”
“I’ll try to be so good. It will be uphill work.” Oh my god Anne
“Can you tell me why I’m crying?” “I suppose it’s because you’re all excited and worked up. Sit down on that chair and try to calm yourself.” They are both so good. Marilla simply will not countenance all these emotions in her kitchen
As Marilla drones on about responsibilities and schedules, the voices of Green Gables are already urging Anne to come out and play. Another great set of expression shifts here, as she does her best to maintain focus, but keeps drifting towards the window
The “Snow Queen” tree provides a natural mirror for Anne’s elation, as we pan through lovely multilayered compositions of its blossoms in bloom
And of course, losing track of her promise to Marilla entirely, Anne rushes off to say hello to the entire forest. A beautiful song sequence follows, with dazzling woodland backgrounds making Anne’s delight perfectly relatable
This show does a very good job of creating depth in the composition in ways that don’t necessarily tax the animation. Anne herself is frequently placed deep in the composition, with layers of brush in front of her creating a sense of internal space, and there are lots of shots that pan sideways across different levels of terrain, which also naturally implies depth. All effective ways to emphasize that this forest is a kingdom to explore, not just a tapestry to admire
Mr. Cuthbert is also happy to hear the news, which he responds to in his usual loquacious manner with a series of “well now, well now!”
“You’re right Anne. This isn’t a dream. You’re Anne of Green Gables now.” Everybody take a shot
Matthew is very bad at taking hugs. The guy has made it to like sixty-five years old and he’s still nervous around girls, an icon
Green Gables really is a dream of a place. They do have tended farmland, but the majority of the estate just seems to be meadows, streams, and woodland paths, the perfect domain for a precocious child
I love Anne’s mopey look when she realizes she’s done something wrong. As she returns to the house, Marilla asks her what took so long, and she responds with a look like a shoe-chewing puppy
A lovely, music-driven domestic moment as the new family enjoys a quiet lunch. This is basically what I was expecting from the show in the wake of its first conflict being resolved – given Takahata’s reverence for nature and intimate domestic moments as expressed across his filmography, this seems like an ideal venue to indulge those passions
“Just call me Marilla.” “Can’t I call you Aunt Marilla?” “No. I’m not your aunt and I don’t believe in calling people names that don’t belong to them.” Marilla has her principles and she’s sticking by them
Matthew seems okay with Uncle Matthew, but is too afraid of his sister to allow it
You can basically hear his mental wheels turning though, as he attempts to mitigate that disappointment by offering to show her the local cats
God, the amount of incidental character acting in this show is just astonishing by modern standards. It also feels more… I dunno, democratic in its distribution? Modern anime will frequently have significant periods of relative stillness punctuated by furious displays of animation acumen, but Anne of Green Gables treats every idle moment as worthy of animation, and its characters feel that much more vibrant for it
It’s an interesting contrast in priorities. American studios like Disney don’t generally prioritize the vision of individual animators – they’re seeking congruence of aesthetic, which makes the individual animators invisible, but means their collective work contributes to a coherent “visual personality” for the characters they’re animating. In contrast, anime productions frequently allow star animators free range to place their own visual mark on a production, which results in less aesthetic cohesion across the work, but is better suited to celebrating the talents of individual animators. Aesthetic cohesion and animator independence stand somewhat at odds with each other
Anne wonders if she’ll find a bosom buddy, and Marilla asks what the fuck is that
Marilla mentions Diana Barry, a local girl Anne’s age
“She is good and smart, which is better than being pretty.” “Ah, I’m so glad she’s pretty.” These two have a wonderful rapport
Anne used to treat her reflection in a glass window as an imaginary friend named Katie Maurice. You’re breaking my heart, Anne
I love the backgrounds for her depiction of Katie’s private world; evocative pastel splashes, with only the hints of tree trunks providing some sense of reality
“Stop imagining such things. I don’t approve of such goings-on.” No fanciful imaginings in THIS house!
Thankfully for all, Anne approves of the poeticism of the Lord’s Prayer
Ahaha, Anne’s little squeaking noise as she finally goes to her room. I sympathize with Marilla, Anne is certainly a handful
And of course, the moment she gets to her room, she’s off pretending she’s Cordelia again
Looking in the mirror, she is no longer tempted to imagine some other version of herself, some Anne she would be happy to be. She is Anne of Green Gables now, a title she can speak with pride, a title that attests she belongs somewhere. And as she looks outside, our final shot of the episode reveals her as a fixture of the estate, in the place where she belongs
And Done
Congratulations, Anne! Marilla really dragged out the reveal there, but you are officially Anne of Green Gables now. As I both expected and hoped, this episode was brimming with gorgeous scenes designed to capture the emotional tenor of personal moments, as Anne first reveled in the joy of finally belonging to Green Gables, and then enjoyed some tea with her new family. This show packs so much personality into all its incidental character acting, which combine with the lovely backgrounds and music to breathtaking effect. And it’s so rewarding just spending time with this cast; I imagine Marilla will have plenty of future critiques of Anne’s whole deal, and I can’t wait to hear them.
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