I've loved Anne of Green Gables since I was a child, so I was so excited to see this come out. No adaptation has topped the '85 CBC miniseries as my favorite, and while I still don't think "Anne Shirley" beats it, it comes the closest. It's warm and cozy, and leans more into the humor than any other adaptation I can think of.

I admit, it was a bit jarring at first to see Marilla actually showing the same open facial expressions and exaggerated body language as I've come to expect from anime characters, being used to her being portrayed as a stiff and proper woman who keeps her emotions close to her chest, at least when we first meet her. But I was won over when in the first episode she leaned over Mrs. Blewett and made me laugh out loud, and it didn't take long to get used to after that.

The biggest thing that makes Anne Shirley stand out as an adaptation, aside from the obviously gorgeous animation, is the humor. I admit, while I did watch the '79 anime series "Akage no An" years ago, I don't remember much of it so I can't say if this is truly unique to Anne Shirley, or if it's something about anime adaptations of the books, but "Anne Shirley" leans hard into the humor of every scene. Even scenes where the humor of the situation would be subtle or not noticeable, it is made blatant by the character animations, expressions, and voices. Coming directly to this series from a rewatch of "Anne with an E", which leans heavy into the drama and and Anne's trauma, it's a stark difference that shows just how different adaptations of the same source material can bring something new to the table.

And while I think on the whole, I appreciate the comedy and think it's a breath of fresh air, I think the series could stand to slow down and linger in the moment more. The series refuses to linger on any tension, any potential drama being laughed off by the characters as soon as it's over. (though this does apply more to the first 9 episodes, some heavier plot points such as Matthew's death are allowed to be heavy for a great while, as it should. I had wondered, with the tone of the show being so light, if they would omit Matthew's death or gloss over it, but I'm pretty satisfied with how it was handled.) I certainly don't think it needs to make as big a deal of things as "Anne with an E", which takes things to the extremes (I swear I also love "Anne with an E", but tonally it serves as a great contrast for "Anne Shirley"), but the pacing feels as if the writers were going down a checklist of scenes from the books and as soon as one was concluded they went on to the next one without letting the previous scene having any chance to breath.

Speaking of which, some of the scenes they decided to omit are baffling to me. I was holding my breath for the liniment cake scene, one of my favorites, and it never came! Some scenes, such as Anne selling the neighbor's cow by mistake, are told well after the fact. Why just tell us the story instead of showing it?

There's also hardly any sense of time passing. When a scene changes it's difficult to tell if it's been one day or one month or one year. The transitional shots are not long enough to get a sense of how much time has passed or what's happened during that time.

Nearly all my problems come down to things feeling rushed. I thought when I started the series that they would be only covering the first book, but when I realized how fast things were moving I looked it up and realized they were actually covering the first three. That was what caused all the problems, I think. With a 24 episode run, I think it would have been perfect for adapting the first book alone with a slower pace, allowing the series to linger more on emotional scenes, have longer transitional scenes to show time passing, show off the gorgeous watercolor backgrounds and nature shots more, and include iconic scenes that were cut. (Again, I mourn the loss of my liniment cake!) Maybe it would even work with the first two books. But cramming all three books into 24 episodes just suffocated the whole thing.

And perhaps this is a petty complaint, but what's up with Gilbert's hair? I did not recognize him as Gilbert in the promotional material. I could excuse him not having dark curly hair if this was live action and they chose to go the Percy Jackson route of simply choosing the best actor regardless of appearance, or if they made him a full blond or light brown to give him a more distinct hair color from Diana, but instead they gave him a pinkish, maybe strawberry blond color? It looks more like a different shade of red hair than anything else, which makes things a bit confusing in my opinion.

But, I'll always say that the most important thing in an adaptation is not accuracy to the source, but if there's heart to it. There are some flat, soulless adaptations of Anne of Green Gables out there that are just painful to watch. But "Anne Shirley" is far from a soulless re-telling. The characters are all lively and lovable. The bright colors bring just as much whimsy to the world as Anne's imagination. The soundtrack is lovely, and I cannot praise the watercolor backgrounds or title card sketches enough. The people who worked on this show clearly held a great deal of love for Anne of Green Gables, and it shows.

If only they had more time to bask in that love in the show itself, I think "Anne Shirley" would have quickly made my favorites list, but as is it will remain a fond, cozy show to re-watch and enjoy on rainy days.