Today, we’re going to learn about Japan’s enduring love for turn of the century Canadian children’s literature.
Alternative Titles:
- Akage no Anne
- アン・シャーリー
Year Anime Premiered: 1979; 2025
Animation Studio: Nippon Animation; The Answer Studio
Number of Seasons: 1+ 1 prequel; 1
Source Material Country of Origin: Canada
Source Material Available: Novel, Manga
Is It Officially Licensed Past Where The Anime Ends?: Novel: Yes (because its a novel in English), Manga: No
Is It Fan Translated Past Where The Anime Ends?: No (because its a novel in English), Manga: No
Entry Last Updated: September 27th, 2025
Where To Start The Anne Shirley Novel After The Anime?
Anne Shirley, also known as Anne of Green Gables, is a series of children’s novels written in the early 1900’s. There are eight primary novels in the series, and two anime series that have made attempts to adapt them. For ease of reference, I’ll list all eight novels in order.
Anne Shirley Novels include:
- Anne of Green Gables (Adapted to Anime)
- Anne of Avonlea (Adapted to Anime)
- Anne of the Island (Adapted to Anime)
- Anne of Windy Poplars (No Anime)
- Anne’s House of Dreams (No Anime)
- Anne of Ingleside (No Anime)
- Rainbow Valley (No Anime)
- Rilla of Ingleside (No Anime)
There are also four additional novels—Chronicles of Avonlea, Further Chronicles of Avonlea, The Road to Yesterday, and The Blythes are Quoted—which are short stories written by the author and compiled into books that were published as late as 2009; the author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, having passed in 1942.
Akage no Anne (1979)
Akage no Anne is the first attempt to bring Anne of Green Gables to anime form.
This series covers only the first book, the original Anne of Green Gables, but covers it well with good pacing and minimal changes or omissions.
Anne Shirley (2025)
The Anne Shirley anime was more ambitious with what it wanted to cover, covering the first three books: Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne of the Island. So you would start at Anne of Windy Poplars.
However, as these books are fairly long and absolutely stuffed with side stories both small and large for the large cast of characters, Anne Shirley does cut quite a few smaller adventures and storylines out of the anime for sake of time.
You can definitely still continue the books with just the anime knowledge, but you will have missed some moments as well as some characters. The particularly nice thing about these books is that after the first two books, the series often sends Anne somewhere new in each book, with new characters and the older characters sort of fall out of focus. It makes it easier to jump into the series if you know the core characters and Anne’s basic story thusfar.
Where To Start The Anne Shirley Manga After The Anime?
While Anne Shirley (2025) does have a manga, the manga was released as a companion to the anime in 2025 and will likely be adapting only what the anime covered.
Akage no Anne (1979) is a little more robust in manga form. Akage no Anne adapts the following books of Anne of Green Gables series in the following short manga series:
- Akage no Anne (Adapts Book 1, Anne of Green Gables)
- Anne no Seishun (Adapts Book 2, Anne of Avonlea)
- Anne no Aijou (Adapts Book 3, Anne of the Island)
- Niji no Tani no An (Adapts Book 7, Rainbow Valley)
Will There Be An Anne Shirley Season 2?
There has been no official announcement of an Anne Shirley Season 2 anime.
