Forum - View topicNippon World Masterpiece Theater and Daddy Long Legs.....
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Steve Berry
Posts: 522 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA |
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I recently finished watching Daddy Long Legs, and I have to say that this has been, by far, one of the best romance/shoujo-ish shows I've watched, along with Emma and the first third of Kare Kano. I loved the characters, how they grew, the love story was well done, and despite the limited animation I found that all the faces were very expressive. The voice acting was good too. I also liked that, in general, they didn't back away from some of the more complicated issues, and yet, at the same time, they weren't really overly-melodramatic about it (which is usually what turns me off from shoujo). Not only was it fun, but I just thought it was all modulated enough emotionally that it didn't really get over the top. Plus, Judy Abbot has got to be one of my new favorite female anime characters-- it's hard not to want to root for her.
I just think it's such a bummer that shows like this go almost totally unknown by the American anime community. I can't believe (well, actually, I can, from an American marketing stand point) that shows like Utena and Sailor Moon were what was brought over to the US in the 90's for shoujo. I know there are fans of these shows, and I guess they're alright, but they're not really my cup of tea. I, personally, even liked this show better than Maison Ikkoku and Kimagure Orange Road, the 80's stand-bys for romance-- I just thought the characters in Daddy Long Legs were generally more complex and more believable on an emotional level, and I really bought into the all the characters' growth, as well as the romance. Even though I think the US Market might not have been ready for this in the 90's, I'd think this show would sell reasonably well if it were picked up and distributed now, with so many more shoujo shows on the market. Besides, it's not _that_ old.... it was only made in 1990. Anyways, watching this show, and Future Boy Conan (which, I know, isn't really Nippon World Masterpiece Theater-- but it feels like it), has made me interested in watching more shows from the World Masterpiece Theater oevure. Has anyone else seen any of these shows that might have opinions or suggestions? I've done some research on my own, but I'm just looking for the opinions of others who've actually viewed them. |
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Steve Berry
Posts: 522 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA |
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Wow, has no one seen this anime?!?! or other World Masterpiece Theater anime?
::best scooby-doo imitation:: Old schoolers, where are youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu?? |
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velocet
Posts: 240 |
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I don't think I'd be accused of being an old-schooler by any stretch of the imagination, but I have seen and enjoyed this show. The setting really threw me for a loop because it was so different to everything else I'd watched, and the characters really shone throughout. I have to say I loved how much Julia especially matured as a character, by the end she's like a different person. I admit, I came across this show by buying a bootleg around 2 years ago, but I'd love a proper copy (now that I have morals...!) is it available on R1?
I wouldn't say I enjoyed it more than something like Maison Ikkoku, but about the same I think, both are really great gentle paced romance shows. For Emma and Kimagure Orange Road, I prefer them, but I've only read the manga for each, and as I'm more manga inclined, I think that's just my preference, though the Emma manga does go on from the anime and some of the best moments (for me) we never animated, which is a shame. I haven't had a chance to look into any of the other World Masterpiece Theatre titles, but I would be interested, if they're of the same standard as this was. It's one of those things I've been meaning to look into, but whenever I get the time to watch something new, something else grabs my attention and I forget! |
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Steve Berry
Posts: 522 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA |
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Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not alone in the world with my love of Daddy Long Legs! :} I knew there had to be _someone_ out there who had watched the show and liked it.
I also found Julia very interesting, and thought her development was really pronounced. She became an interesting character, and it felt very real, very gradual-- her growth and maturity. That's one of the things that made the show more engaging for me-- the side characters really felt true to life and really fleshed out the story a lot. And somehow, comparative to other shows.... like, say, Kare Kano, I didn't feel like the stories of Julia and Sallie and Jimmie somehow sidetracked the show. I was never feeling "When are they going to get back to the _real_ story?" the way I did in Kare Kano. They were always able to tie it all back into Judy's experience of them, making it all seem to tie together. I originally found Daddy Long Legs as a fansub, but they haven't finished the whole show, so yeah, I broke down and got a bootleg to finish it, which I haven't done in years. I just can't understand why a show like this isn't released in the U.S.... I feel like there's a real market for it, and it has a good "pedigree" with being a World Masterpiece Theater production. It's also a lot less "kiddy" focused then other WMT shows-- it really hits that older teen/early college demographic much better. I've watched the first few episodes of Anne of Green Gables and 3,000 Leauges in Search of Mother (aka Marco), and although they're both very good, very emotionally moderated and true to life, they're both still children's stories. It's sort of like apples and oranges compared to Daddy Long Legs. I just haven't really had as much fun with a romance/ coming of age story in a long time. Also, I'm so partial to the old PBS/Canadian live action production of Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea, it's hard to relly warm up to another rendering of the story. Those stories, btw, really have much the same feel as Daddy long Legs and Emma as well. Turn of the century, love of nature, love stories, etc. Really worth checking out if you're looking for something similar. ***** Re: Emma, yeah, I was reading the online translations being put out, and then it got liscened (yeah!!) 2 chapters before the ending (wah!!), so I still haven't been able to see the wrap up. But yeah, the show was great, and where the manga continues is great too. I hope that anime gets "extended" to fill out the rest of the story, as the production values were so good. Quality.  Emma definitely fills the sort of need I'm thinking of, after finished up Daddy Long Legs.
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HyugaHinata
 Posts: 3505 |
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I'm glad you liked it.
It's always great knowing that people have appreciated my work as a translator.
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h0neipiee
Posts: 1 |
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Hello, how can I watch Daddy Long Legs Anime? When I was a kid I used to watch this anime with tagalog dubbing. Now, I am looking where I can see this anime again. Pls help. Thanks.
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6584 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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I'm sorry, but unless it is being legally streamed by a licensed site then links or referrals aren't permitted. Best of luck tracking it down.
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vanfanel
 Posts: 1261 |
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I'm an old-school WMT fan who also wishes WMT series could find a market in North America -- especially considering how many of them originated there in the first place in terms of source material.
I haven't seen Daddy Longlegs, but I did read the book for no other reason than that I knew a WMT version existed, and I was on a classic children's lit reading kick at the time. I disliked the novel for its endorsing of communism and atheism, as well as for the fact that the romance aspect of it -- which is not really a big part of the story until toward the end -- struck me as more creepy than sweet. Maybe the anime handles it better; it's a short book, so I'm sure the story and characters must have been expanded upon greatly to get a TV series out of it. The story did inspire one thing I support, though: there's a charity in Japan called "Ashinaga" (Longlegs) that collects money to help orphans go to school. Students can often be seen on weekends collecting donations in public areas, and a chain of curry restaurants has donation boxes for them at the registers, too. The WMT shows I've seen (in order of preference) are: #1 "3,000 Leagues in Search of Mother" #2 "Anne of Green Gables" (which does become more of a coming of age story later -- Anne doesn't stay a little girl for the whole thing. Also, the early episodes are quite slow; it livens up a lot once Diana and Gil show up, providing Anne with people her own age to interact with.) #3 "Little Women" (It only does the first part of "Little Women's" two parts, and isn't as gritty as some of the earlier WMTs, but it gets the job done for me.) #4 "Pollyanna" (I've seen the first half, which covers the original novel. I think that calling someone who is naively optimistic "a Pollyanna" does a disservice to the original story.) The range here goes from "I love it!" to "I like quite a bit"; I haven't seen any WMT yet that I didn't like. |
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