OP Sequence
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OP: 「予感」 (Yokan) by (Tota)
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「何かを楽しみにして待つということが、その嬉しいことの半分に当たるのよ」 (Nanika o Tanoshiminishitematsu to iu koto ga, Sono Ureshī Koto no Hanbun ni Ataru Noyo)
“Looking Forward to Things Is Half the Pleasure of Them”
I noticed there was some material this week that was anime original. The part where Matthew hangs the picture up in Anne’s room, the scene where Anne is asked to find Avonlea on the map, and Anne having lunch by the river with her friends- I don’t remember those being in the book. It does annoy me that they use up precious screen time on anime original material when they already have to cut material from the books to fit everything into 24 episodes. It makes no sense. I guess they did it to illustrate Anne’s character more- for example, the map part shows that for all her flightiness, Anne has brains. I also find it a bit odd that they waited until the 3rd episode to premiere the OP and ED, when normally we get that in the 2nd or 3rd. But on some level, it makes sense that the first 2 episodes serve as important introductions, while most of this episode was “a day in the life of Anne” kind of thing, except for Gilbert at the end. I will say, the folksy, understated vibes of both the OP and ED are well-suited to the series.
Anne’s confession of the week involves Marilla’s missing brooch (it has the soul of violets lol). Marilla insists that Anne lost the brooch and is lying about putting it back and confines the girl to her room until she confesses. Which is bad timing for Anne, as there’s a picnic that day that she’s absolutely dying to go to, and while ‘fessing up to Marilla does get her out of the room, it doesn’t get her to the picnic (at least at first). We know if there’s one thing Anne’s good at, besides imagination and getting into scrapes, it’s dramatic confessions. I liked the touch with dropping the pea- it added flair to her story. By a stroke of luck, Marilla discovers afterwards that the brooch was on her shawl the whole time and that Anne never left the house with it, much less dropped it in the Lake of Shining Waters. We get an apology from Marilla and Anne can make it to the picnic on time. What this episode shows is that even grown ups aren’t infallible and that they need to have more faith in the children they’re raising. I feel like in the book, the whole situation of Marilla not believing Anne’s truth was treated more seriously whereas here, it gets glossed over as a cute little “all’s well that ends well” and let’s move on to the next thing, which bothered me a little, given that you’re trying to teach a child the value of telling the truth, and then don’t believe her when she does. It should be noted that the anime switched the order of events. In the book, this happened right after Anne arrived, before the Cuthberts decided to keep her, so they barely knew her and her honesty (not that it excuses Marilla). In contrast, in the anime, they move the events to later on, where it makes even less sense for Marilla to doubt Anne’s character after so much time had passed.
It must be ice cream week in anime. I found it funny that after yesterday’s Kusuriya no Hitorigoto featured ice cream, Anne gets her first taste of the frozen treat this week too. Anne has her red letter day at the picnic and makes new friends- not much to note here. The most important part of the episode comes last, when Anne starts school. She enjoys it at first- what’s not to love about it- friends, learning new things, getting out of the house. I was worried when they added in the scene with the girls giggling over lunch by the river- dancing awfully close to the “CGDCT” line- which was not at all the spirit of the book. Thankfully, it moved away from that, but it still gives me a small cause for concern in the future. Anne makes a splash, in a good way for the first time. While she’s behind a grade (not surprising given the scattered upbringing she’s had) she’s clearly a bright little girl, excelling in academics. She quickly makes it to the head of her class.
Just when everything seems to be going smoothly, Gilbert Blythe (Miyase Naoya), an older boy who’s behind a few grades due to an ill parent, returns to school. Almost all the girls at school are smitten with him, including Diana, but his personality is anything but school prince, given the way he teases them. Anne is ambivalent about him- he’s a looker, but too cheeky, she declares. We can already see sparks start to fly when Gilbert is curious about the new girl, but she doesn’t pay him any mind, too busy staring out at the sparkling lake. What comes next is probably one of the most famous scenes in the series- he calls her carrots and she smashes the slate over his head. In the anime, this gets played off as the class goading him into grabbing her attention, whereas in the book, it happened more spontaneously. I also found it interesting that the director chose to emphasize the moment with a playback/multi-shot, which kind of lent a whiff of Japanese comedy TV. The end result being that Anne gets in trouble and ends up having such a bad day, she refuses to go back to school. I can’t entirely blame her. Public humiliation is a horrible method of classroom management, but unfortunately, that’s how it was in those days. One thing that is interesting to see as the books go on is how these childhood experiences shape her as an adult and her interactions with children. So, keep all this in mind going forwards.
Gilbert plays the foil to Anne here- he comes off as more chill and reasonable in contrast to Anne’s hair trigger temper. He immediately realizes he was in the wrong and apologizes, whereas Anne stubbornly refuses to accept his apology. I can sympathize with Anne though- he rudely interrupted her day dream with an unkind remark- if you remember how she reacted to Rachel Lynde, it’s no surprise that she acted the way she did here. Anne has room for growing, but she’s still only 11, and mellowing out (somewhat) is something that comes with age.
While I wasn’t happy with some of the choices made this episode, I’m glad to have some Anne in my week rather than none at all. I’m really looking forward to next week’s episode- it’s one of my (many) favorite parts in the book.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「heart」 by (Laura day romance)
Preview
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