Little Women: A thorough review of the moving animated masterpiece

Little Women - Little Women

■ Public Media

TV anime series

■ Original Media

novel

■ Broadcast period

January 11, 1987 - December 27, 1987 Broadcast period January 11, 1987 - December 27, 1987 Broadcast time Sunday 19:30-20:00
Broadcasting station: Fuji TV Network, 30 minutes x 48 episodes

■Broadcasting station

Fuji TV Network

■Frequencies

half an hour

■ Number of Episodes

Episode 48

■Original Story

Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" and "Little Women Continued" from Kadokawa Bunko

■ Director

Director: Fumio Kurokawa

■ Production

Production: Nippon Animation, Fuji Television

■Works

©NIPPON ANIMATION CO., LTD. 1987

■ Story

The March family, who lived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, left the town when they were caught up in the Civil War and moved to New York, Massachusetts. The story follows the growth of the four sisters in their daily lives, including the search for a house, Jo's novel submission, Meg's debut at a ball, the gift of a piano to Beth from the Lawrence family next door, and the rift between Amy and Jo.

■Explanation

The story is told from the perspective of the fourth daughter, Amy. When it was first broadcast, Amy also read the narration for the sponsored cuts, but this was cut when it was made into a video software. Also, the character design is by Yoshifumi Kondo, who worked on "Anne of Green Gables", and he is in charge for the first time in a long time.

■Cast

・Meg/Keiko Pan・Jo/Eiko Yamada・Beth/Mayumi Zhuang・Amy/Ray Sakuma・Mary/Taeko Nakanishi・Frederick/Yu Saka・Hannah/Hisako Ohkata・Martha/Ranko Mizuki・David/Kouzo Shioya・James Lawrence/Kohei Miyauchi・Laurie Lawrence/Nobuo Tobita・Anthony/Kazuyasu Sogabe・Carl Brook/Toshihiko Kojima

■ Main staff

・Original story: Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" and "Little Women Continued" (Kadokawa Bunko) ・Setting: Mid-1860s, Massachusetts, USA ・Produced by: Koichi Motohashi ・Production management: Mitsuru Takakuwa ・Planning: Shoji Sato, Eiichi Kubota (Fuji TV)
Music: Kazuo Otani Director: Fumio Kurokawa Producers: Junzo Nakajima, Taihei Ishikawa (Fuji Television)
・Screenplay / Akira Miyazaki ・Character design / Yoshifumi Kondo, Toshiki Yamazaki ・Animation director / Toshiki Yamazaki, Takumi Furuyama, Atsuko Otani ・Art setting / Seihei Kawamoto ・Art director / Masamichi Takano ・Director of photography / Toshiaki Morita ・Sound recording director / Etsuji Yamada ・Color design / Akiko Koyama ・Finishing inspection / Hisayo Kozakai, Chieko Morosawa ・Animation check / Hirofumi Nakata ・Animation / Noriko Moritomo, Yoshizo Iwami, Kumiko Kondo, Koichi Hayashi, Hiroko Minowa and others
OH Pro, Doga Kobo, Dragon Pro, Toshiko Nakagawa, Seiko Shinohara, Yoichi Mieno, Kumiko Hida, Tsuyoshi Tamaki, Studio ET, Kiyoto Ishino, Atsuko Narumi, Akiko Murata・Finishing / Studio Robin, Neko Pro, Kikura Kobo, Naoko Izumiguchi, Tomomi Tohma, Noriko Yanagisawa, Yoichi Kunii, Masako Yoshida, Junko Abe・Background / Atelier Loake, Studio Aqua・Saiga / Studio Robin, etc.・Special Effects / Masao Yoshiyama・Cinematography / Trans Arts・Sound Production / Audio-Visual System, Masakatsu Aida・Mixer / Chiaki Sato・Effects / Akihiko Matsuda・Sound Studio / Taihei Studio・Laboratory / IMAGICA
・ Title / Mitsuo Harada・ Editing / Yoshihiro Kasahara, Shinichi Natori・ Negative editing / Hidetoshi Kamitono・ Storyboard / Fumio Kurokawa, Shinichi Tsuji, Shigeo Koshi, Norio Yazawa, Eiji Okabe, Fumio Ikeno, Takao Yotsuji, Masao Kuroda, Kozo Kusuba, Hiromi Sugimura・ Assistant directors / Takeshi Yamaguchi, Shinichi Matsumi, Hiroko Yamaga, Jun Takagi・ Production desk / Shunichi Kozori・ Production assistants / Nobuaki Nakanishi, Yasuhiro Tasaki, Hiroyuki Sakai, Matsumi Tanaka, Takashi Yokoi・ Production / Nippon Animation, Fuji Television

■ Main Characters

The eldest daughter of the Meg March family, 16 years old. Serious and quiet, but also has a strong desire to attend balls and fall in love.

The second daughter of the Joamarch family, 15 years old. She is so lively that she wishes she had been born a boy. Her dream is to become a novelist.

The third daughter of the Bessmarch family. She is quiet and shy, but good at playing the piano. She loves dolls and picks up kittens on rainy days.

The fourth daughter of the Amy March family. She is spoiled and selfish, and often fights with Jo. She worries about her low nose, and pinches it with a clothespin when she sleeps.

Mary is the mother of the four sisters. She is intelligent and kind, but when she was young, she had a similar personality to Jo.

Frederick is the father of four sisters. He is a civil engineer but also a captain in the Union Army. He was wounded during the battle, but only slightly.

James Lawrence: The next door neighbor to the March family. He gives Beth a piano as a gift.

Laurie Lawrence James' grandson, he couldn't help but be interested in the March family. He met Jo at a ball and became close with her, but he also had some failures. Later, he married Amy.

A reporter for Anthony Newspaper, an original character for the anime. He incurs Joe's anger over the novel, but later becomes good friends with him.

Carl Brooke: Lawrie's tutor. In the original story, his real name is John Brooke. He later marries Meg.

■Subtitle

・1/Daddy's back!
・2/Milky finds Anne ・3/It's dangerous! Run away quickly!!
・4/The war begins!
・5/The town is burning!
・6/Goodbye Hometown!
・7/The aunt is mean!
・8/Please rent me your house!
9. Angry Joe!
・10/Praised and criticized・11/I feel sorry for Aunt Martha!
・12/I hate thunder!
13/Our Strange House 14/Amy and her Bad Friends 15/The Mysterious Boy Next Door 16/Oh No! Meg is Not a Thief!!
・17/ President Joe and Lincoln's speech!
・18/Meg and Jo make their debut at the ball!?
・19/A scorched dress and a handsome gentleman ・20/Jo's visit is full of energy!
・21/Announcement! Jo's confident work ・22/A hungry Christmas ・23/Beth! Overjoyed by an unexpected gift!!
・24/The beginning of Meg's little love?
・25/Novelist Joe's $2 masterpiece!
・26/ Scared Beth and the old gentleman next door ・27/ Amy gets punished at school!
28/Amy! What are you doing?
29/Don't die! Amy fell into the river!
・30/I wish I could say sorry!
・31/Meg is not a dress-up doll!
・32/The troublesome personality of Aunt Martha ・33/It's a fun, fun outdoor party!
・34/Amy had a bad dream!
35/Meg, that's definitely love!!
・36/Joe's novel was featured in the newspaper!
37/Chichikitoku...Jo sold his hair!
・38/A telegram with bad news has arrived!
・39/Letters, letters, letters written by everyone ・40/Beth has scarlet fever!
・41/Mom, please come back soon!
・42/God please help Beth!
・43/Let's go to the big city, New York! Joe ・44/The fake letter incident, who is the culprit?
・45/Grandpa hit Laurie!
・46/An Unexpected Christmas Present ・47/Goodbye! Anthony ・48/Spring! Each Departure

■ Related works

・Little Women Nan and Jo

■ Theme songs and music

・OP
#1 to 14
・"Invitation to Young Grass"
Lyrics: Yasushi Akimoto Composition: Toshihiko Takamizawa Arrangement: Jun Sato Vocals: Eri Nitta #15~ (Odd-numbered episodes use verse 1, even-numbered episodes use verse 2)
・"Someday for sure!"
Lyrics by Yumi Ookubo; Composition by Koichi Morita; Arrangement by Kazuo Otani; Song by Keiko Han, Eiko Yamada, Mayumi So, Rei Sakuma; Ending Theme
・"Melody of the Sunset and the Wind"
Lyrics: Keiko Aso Composition and Arrangement: Masataka Matsutoya Singer: Eri Nitta IN
・"Lullaby for Dad"
Lyrics by Yumi Ookubo, Music by Koichi Morita, Arrangement by Koichi Morita, Singer by Satoko Shimonari (Canyon Records)

Little Women - Review and Recommendation

Broadcast in 1987, "Little Women" is an animated series based on Louisa May Alcott's classic novels "Little Women" and "Little Women". The series depicts the growth of the four March sisters against the backdrop of the Civil War era. The story is told from the perspective of the fourth daughter, Amy, which offers a fresh perspective to viewers.

This anime was broadcast on Fuji TV from January 11 to December 27, 1987, every Sunday from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. It was a long series of 48 episodes, each 30 minutes long, which made it popular with viewers. It was produced by Nippon Animation and Fuji TV, and directed by Fumio Kurokawa.

The story is set in Massachusetts, USA in the mid-1860s. The March family moves from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to New York City due to the Civil War and starts a new life there. As the four sisters grow up, various episodes unfold, including Jo's novel submission, Meg's debut ball, Beth's piano as a gift, and Amy and Jo's falling out.

One of the features of this work is that the story is told from Amy's point of view. Amy is a spoiled and selfish character who often fights with Jo, but the relationships between her family and friends seen from her perspective bring out a new charm. Amy also narrated the sponsored cuts when the show was first broadcast, but this was cut when it was made into a video software.

The character designs were done by Yoshifumi Kondo, who is also known for "Anne of Green Gables". Kondo's designs vividly express the individuality of each of the four sisters, leaving a strong impression on viewers. In particular, Jo's lively nature and Amy's selfishness are well conveyed through the character designs.

The cast is also impressive, with the voice actors playing each character, including Keiko Han as Meg, Eiko Yamada as Jo, Mayumi Sho as Beth, and Rei Sakuma as Amy, adding excitement to the story. Eiko Yamada's passionate performance as Jo especially captured the hearts of viewers.

Music is also an important element in enhancing the appeal of this work. The opening theme, "Invitation to Young Grass," is written by Yasushi Akimoto, composed by Toshihiko Takamizawa, and sung by Eri Nitta. The second half of the opening theme, "Someday, Someday!", is sung by the voice actors of the four sisters, further deepening the emotion of the story. The ending theme, "Melody of the Sunset and the Wind," is written by Keiko Aso, composed by Masataka Matsutoya, and sung by Eri Nitta. These songs leave a deep impression on the viewers' hearts.

"Little Women" is a touching work that depicts the growth of four sisters and the love of family. In particular, the story told from Amy's point of view provided a new perspective and gave viewers a fresh impression. Each element, including the character design, cast, and music, is of a high standard, making it a work that leaves a strong impression on viewers.

The reason I recommend this work is that it depicts a story of family love and growth. The individuality and growth of each of the four sisters are carefully depicted, allowing the viewer to empathize with and be moved by their lives. In addition, the story told from Amy's point of view offers a new perspective and gives the viewer a fresh feeling of emotion. Each element, including the character design, cast, and music, is of a high standard, making it a work that leaves a strong impression on the viewer.

"Little Women" is a moving work that depicts a story of family love and growth. In particular, the story from Amy's perspective provides a new perspective and leaves viewers with a fresh impression. Each element, such as the character design, cast, and music, is of a high standard, making it a work that leaves a strong impression on viewers. The reason we recommend this work is that it depicts a story of family love and growth. The personalities and growth of each of the four sisters are carefully depicted, allowing viewers to empathize with and be moved by their lives. In addition, the story from Amy's perspective provides a new perspective and leaves viewers with a fresh impression. Each element, such as the character design, cast, and music, is of a high standard, making it a work that leaves a strong impression on viewers.