How The Answer Studio Breathed New Life Into a Classic With Anne Shirley
by Isaiah Colbert,
The story follows the eponymous 11-year-old orphan, an imaginative and headstrong red-headed girl, on her journey of self-discovery. Initially adopted by mistake by a family expecting a boy to pitch in with farm work, Anne navigates the ups and downs of holding on to her boundless curiosity and optimistic worldview, winning over the hearts of everyone she encounters as she goes.
To celebrate the anime, producer Yoshiko Nakayama and Honoka Inoue, the voice behind Anne, made a special appearance at Anime Central 2025. There, they hosted a panel giving attendees a behind-the-scenes look at the show's creation.
In a sit-down interview with Anime News Network, Nakayama and voice actor Inoue discussed Anne of Green Gables' timeless appeal, the joys and challenges of adapting the first three volumes into an anime, and their efforts to ensure the tale's magic resonated with a younger generation.
Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables has sparked numerous adaptations, including silent film, radio, stage, and TV adaptations, as well as Nippon Animation's 1979 anime. What aspects of Montgomery's storytelling drew you in and inspired you to reimagine Anne's world through the lens of anime?
Yoshiko Nakayama: I've loved Anne of Green Gables, and I've been reading it avidly since junior high school. It's a story in which you don't see big developments take place. It's always a story about the small slices of life that take place. But through the story, you see Marilla warming up to Anne, for example, and Anne uses her vivid imagination to overcome a lot of obstacles in life. She does not run away from any hard challenges that come to her. It's that kind of courage and appreciation of the small joys of daily life that I wanted to bring to the screen.
How do you strike a balance between capturing the story's original charm and appealing to modern viewers?
Nakayama: One thing is to come up with a pacing that would not bore a young audience of today. And also to make sure that they would be enticed and curious to catch up on the next episode. All the episode titles are also judicially chosen from quotes from the novels.
From the very beginning of the show, Anne radiates an unrestrained imagination and a profound appreciation for life's often-overlooked wonders. Inoue-san, what guided you in bringing that essential facet of her character to life?
Honoka Inoue: I didn't have specific intentions or goals for acting out Anne. But, for this show, most of the animation was already completed by the time of the recording sessions, so I could catch all the small expressions and gestures that Anne was making. I was very much able to adapt to the character and then play her out that way.
Anne Shirley is a character who effortlessly charms those around her with her sincerity, even when she blurts out the most unexpected remarks to those who tease her. How did you prepare to voice such an iconic and beloved character like Anne?
Inoue: I see Anne as a character who is somewhat different from everyone else who's around her. I think that is her charm, and probably why a lot of people within the context of the story— and also readers—love her. In terms of preparing to act out her character, it's not something that I really prepared as much as trying to draw out the Anne Shirley within me. It's not as much as the Anne Shirley that someone might imagine; it's a character in the story's universe that I try to bring to life. So, in terms of preparing, it may not really answer your question if I really prepared for anything. Maybe I did not go in to prepare to act as much.
As an offshoot of that question, what aspects of Anne's personality were the most enjoyable and challenging to convey in the booth?
Inoue: The best part is that Anne Shirley speaks so many gems of expression. It was a joy for me to be able to actually say those as my own character. The most challenging part was that, in the show, the animation was often already completed. So I actually had to match the mouth flaps of the character. That was somewhat of an unusual experience for me, so I found that as a challenge.
What has been your favorite line read for Anne in the anime?
Inoue: Anne Shirley's words from the first episodes. I apologize. I forgot my notes in my room, so I don't have the exact quote, but it's Anne mentioning how beautiful the world is. If I can find that for you after the next question?
Sure! The next question I wanted to ask was were there any specific scenes from the book that you were most excited or hesitant to bring to life?
Nakayama: The thing that I looked forward to was when Anne would grow up and go to university in Edmonton, and [meets her roommates] at Patty's Place. Roommating is something that is becoming more common in Japan, and so that kind of slice-of-life was something that I looked forward to in animating.
Inoue: (lifting her smartphone, jangling her phone charm against the table) Ah!
Did you find it?
Inoue: (nods) The interpreter [Takayuki Karahashi] is scared of making a reverse translation back from the English translation that we made it into English, back into Japanese, back into English. However, Anne Shirley's words were, “Isn't it wonderful to be making new discoveries?”
As I was given [the script] to read in the audition, I was very nervous that I might be crushed by the world's expectations of such a highly regarded character as Anne Shirley. But I felt a lot of encouragement that I could deliver such encouraging lines and play out Anne Shirley.
What makes Anne Shirley's story endure through generations, and what emotions do you hope fans carry with them after each anime episode?
Nakayama: For me, it is the story of an orphan girl who often finds herself in adverse situations, but through her vivid imagination, she puts awful thoughts into words, gets accepted, and brings joy to an otherwise conservative village. At first, even as readers and viewers might find her much of a yuppie girl, she eventually becomes endearing, and then we come to love her.
Inoue: I see Anne [as someone] not to be pushed around by everyone else around her. She has her own way of getting things done. I think that is her charm—she's never buried. I believe that is why readers and viewers all around the world continue to love her. She has a strong core and a vivid imagination to support that.
I hope that that is the kind of strength in Anne that encourages many people. That she would be the one pushing everyone's back to step out into the world and continue to give encouragement. It might sound like I'm the one giving everyone encouragement. It's not really me, it's Anne the character, so I side with her that way.
Anne Shirley is currently streaming on Crunchyroll in the U.S.
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