Do you remember Anne of Green Gables? The anime classic is getting a brand new remake in April 2025. Fans of a discontinued Netflix series could also be pleased about this.
Those who grew up in this country before the big manga boom could already see several anime series on children’s TV in the 1970s – without realizing that they came from Japan. What formats from Heidi to Nils Holgersson had in common was that they all belong to the World Masterpiece Theater series, which has been used to adapt famous works of literature since 1969.
These classic anime series also include Anne of Green Gables by Isao Takahata, who later co-founded Studio Ghibli (The Last Firefly), which will be re-released in the spring season of 2025 as Anne Shirley. If you don’t know the 46-year-old classic and the lively redhead still looks familiar to you, it probably has something to do with Netflix…
The classic anime Anne of Green Gables is returning: the series is based on the same template as a Netflix hit
Just like the Netflix series Anne with an E, Anne of Green Gables is based on the classic Canadian children’s book Anne of Green Gables by author Lucy Maud Montgomery. In each version of the story, an orphan girl is sent to a farm at the end of the 19th century, where a boy had actually been expected as an adopted child. But it doesn’t take long for everyone to take the bright Anne into their hearts.
The new anime version by director Hiroshi Kawamata (Hal’s Flute) deals with Anne’s further growth and how she becomes a young woman. According to Anime News Network, elements from the later novels in the Green Gables series will also be incorporated.
Incidentally, the very first adaptation of the popular material appeared as early as 1919 with the silent film Anne of Green Gables, which is now considered lost. 100 years later, the same material was adapted into three seasons by Netflix.
Can the new Anne anime also be seen in Germany?
Yes, from April 5, 2025, you can watch the brand new series Anne Shirley in simulcast via Akiba Pass TV. 24 episodes are planned initially. The original 1979 anime, on the other hand, can be found as a purchased title on Amazon in a stream. Only the prequel Konnichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables from 2009 has never officially made it to Germany.
