View source for Kon'nichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables

{{short description|Television series}}
{{Infobox animanga/Header
| image           = Konnichiwa Anne - Before Green Gables.gif
| caption         = 
| ja_kanji        = こんにちは アン 〜Before Green Gables
| ja_romaji       = Konnichiwa An 〜Bifō Guriin Gēburusu
| genre           = [[Adventure fiction|Adventure]], [[slice of life]], [[Drama (film and television)|drama]]
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = TV series
| director        = [[Katsuyoshi Yatabe]]
| producer        = Kōichi Motohashi
| writer          = [[Michiru Shimada]]
| music           = [[Yasuharu Takanashi]] <br> Hiromi Mizutani <br> Kenji Fujisawa
| studio          = [[Nippon Animation]]
| network         = [[Fuji TV|BS Fuji]], [[Animax]]
| first           = April 5, 2009
| last            = December 27, 2009
| episodes        = 39
| episode_list    = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}
{{nihongo|'''''Konnichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables'''''|こんにちは アン 〜Before Green Gables|Konnichiwa An 〜Bifō Guriin Gēburusu|lit. "Hello Anne: Before Green Gables"}} is the 26th in [[Nippon Animation]]'s ''[[World Masterpiece Theater]]'' [[anime]]. The series is an adaptation of [[Canada|Canadian]] [[children's literature]] author [[Budge Wilson]]'s 2008 prequel novel ''[[Before Green Gables]]'', which was translated into Japanese as ''Konnichiwa Anne'' (こんにちは アン) by Akiko Usagawa. It chronicles the early years of main character [[Anne Shirley]] as she loses both her parents and is adopted by Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert.

==Production and development==
Introduced in [[Lucy Maud Montgomery]]'s 1908 novel ''[[Anne of Green Gables]]'', the series marks the 100th anniversary of the original novel's release and the 30th anniversary of its anime adaptation, ''[[Anne of Green Gables (1979 TV series)|Akage no Anne]]'', also produced by Nippon Animation and one of the first pioneering ''World Masterpiece Theater'' series. The series is narrated by [[Eiko Hisamura]], who portrayed Anne in the original ''Akage no Anne''.

While developing the series, Nippon Animation's staff undertook research by visiting a historical village in southeastern Canada which formed the inspiration for [[Avonlea (Anne of Green Gables)|Avonlea]] in the novel, going to historical houses preserved from the era in which the novel is set and taking photographs, with core staff members and character designer and chief animation director Takayo Nishimura (previously chief animation director and character designer for ''[[5 Centimeters Per Second]]''), basing the characters, props and settings on them and also from historical books that he bought there.<ref name="nhk">{{cite episode | title = World Masterpiece Theater | series = imagine-nation | url = http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/imagine/index.html | credits = Tim (MC), Isabell, Bene, Sei (reporters/interviewers) | network = [[NHK World]] | airdate = 2009-01-13 | access-date = 2009-01-18 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090126084941/http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/imagine/index.html | archive-date = 2009-01-26 | url-status = dead}}</ref>{{failed verification | date= February 2024}} Nippon Animation's staff have followed this format of contextual research while producing other ''World Masterpiece Theater'' series.<ref name="nhk"/>

The series premiered on April 5, 2009, and aired every Sunday from 19:30 to 20:00 [[Japanese Standard Time|JST]] on [[Fuji Television]]'s [[Broadcasting Satellite (Japanese)|broadcasting satellite]] network BS-Fuji. From May 2009, it also aired on [[SKY Perfect|SKY PerfecTV!]]'s network [[Animax]]. Online streaming on [[Biglobe]] was announced, but was eventually suspended.<ref>[http://anime.biglobe.ne.jp/title/index?id=2493 現在、この作品のパック販売はしていません。] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120701114050/http://anime.biglobe.ne.jp/title/index?id=2493# |date=2012-07-01}}(Biglobe: meaning "This masterpiece is now not on sale")</ref>

==Staff==
* Director: Katsuyoshi Yatabe
* Series composition and screenplay: [[Michiru Shimada]]
* Original character design: Yoshiharu Satō
* Character designs and chief animation director: Takayo Nishimura
* Music: [[Yasuharu Takanashi]], Hiromi Mizutani, Kenji Fujisawa
* Art director: Shigeru Morimoto
* Colour design: Tomoko Komatsubara
* Production: [[Nippon Animation]]

== Characters ==
;[[Anne Shirley]]
:{{Anime voices | [[Rina Hidaka]] ([[:ja:日高里菜|日高里菜]])}}

;Joanna (Harrigan) Thomas
:{{Anime voices | Seiko Tamura ([[:ja:田村聖子|田村聖子]])}}
:Anne's maternal aunt, wife to Bert and mother to Eliza, Horace, Edward, Harry and Noah. She is constantly trying the make ends meet, and as such is often in a bad mood.

;Bert Thomas
:{{Anime voices | [[Setsuji Satō]]}}
:Joanna's husband and father to her children. Due to his laziness and alcoholism, he is unable to hold down a job, usually spending whatever money he earns from the oddjobs he does on cheap liquor.

;Eliza Thomas
:{{Anime voices | Rika Wakusawa ([[:ja:わくさわりか|わくさわりか]])}}
:First born daughter of Thomas family and primary income of the household. She cares for Anne like her own child, but later marries Roger Emerson and leaves Anne behind.

;Horace Thomas
:{{Anime voices | [[Yumiko Kobayashi]]}}
:First son of the Thomas family.

;Edward Thomas
:{{Anime voices | Chiaki Shimogama}}
:Second son of the Thomas family.

;Harry Thomas
:{{Anime voices | [[Taeko Kawata]]}}
:Third son of the Thomas family.

;Noah Thomas
:{{Anime voices | [[Satomi Kōrogi]]}}
:Fourth son of the Thomas family.

;Jessie (MacIntyre) Gleeson
:{{Anime voices | [[Mitsuko Horie]]}}
:An old widower with high standing.

;Lochinvar
:Anne's companion cat. His name is taken from a line of the poem "[[Marmion (poem)|Marmion]]" by [[Walter Scott]].<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext04/marmn10ah.htm Marmion, by Sir Walter Scott] (Project Gutenberg) <br>''O, young Lochinvar is come out of the west''</ref>

;Narration
:{{Anime voices | [[Masako Ikeda]]}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.nippon-animation.co.jp/before_GG/ Anime television series official website]
* {{IMDb title|id=1456228}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090215214334/http://nippon-animation.co.jp/news/detail.php?id=132 Nippon Animation's official announcement]
* {{ann|anime|10550}}
* [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-03-01/before-green-gables-to-debut-in-canadian-embassy-in-japan ''Before Green Gables'' to debut in Canadian embassy in Japan] (Anime News Network)

{{World Masterpiece Theater}}
{{Nippon Animation}}
{{Anne of Green Gables}}

[[Category:2009 anime television series debuts]]
[[Category:2009 Japanese television series endings]]
[[Category:Animated television series about orphans]]
[[Category:Anime and manga set in Canada]]
[[Category:Anne of Green Gables television series]]
[[Category:Drama anime and manga]]
[[Category:Historical anime and manga]]
[[Category:Japanese children's animated adventure television series]]
[[Category:Nippon Animation]]
[[Category:Prequel television series]]
[[Category:Slice of life anime and manga]]
[[Category:Television shows set in Canada]]
[[Category:World Masterpiece Theater series]]