Episode 4 of Anne Shirley, “One Can’t Stay Sad Very Long in Such an Interesting World,” aired on Crunchyroll. The episode retells another iconic scene from L.M. Montgomery’s widely beloved classic, Anne of Green Gables. Now that Anne has settled into Avonlea and established her close friendship with Diana Barry, her adventures and misadventures continue.

The team behind Anne Shirley is obviously quite careful with the lines of dialogue it chooses to portray in its relatively brief 24-minute episodes. Anne Shirley‘s creative decisions in the anime adaptation show a very complex understanding of the Anne of Green Gables characters. Such impressive storytelling is both entertaining and meaninggul, successfully adapting a timeless story about family, friendship, whimsy, and personal growth for modern anime audiences.

Marilla Makes an Unexpected Move in Anne Shirley Episode 4

Keeping Anne Home From School Is a Significant Character Development For Marilla

After Marilla takes some interesting and wise advice from Rachel, she allows Anne to stay home from school. The unexpected move shows some complexity on both Marilla and Rachel’s parts. They are exercising patience as parents, teaching an extended lesson to Anne, while also allowing her to have some extra time to process her big emotions at the same time.

It’s examples of relationships like these that make Anne of Green Gables such a beloved depiction of a healthy and affirming childhood. Audiences love other forms of children’s media classics like My Neighbor Totoro for similar reasons. Not only was such a parenting choice revolutionary in the late Victorian era in which Anne of Green Gables was written, but it remains a timeless reminder for parents and caretakers.

Anne Resists the Idea of a Future Without Diana as Her Bosom Friend

By the time Marilla gets back to Green Gables from her advice-seeking visit with Rachel, Anne is crying about something entirely new: the idea that Diana will marry one day and that they won’t be able to play together all the time. Marilla averts her face to laugh as Anne processes her feelings rather loudly, and Matthew stands nearby, scratching his head in concern and consternation. The rest of Episode 4 shifts from truancy concerns to friendship misadventures for Anne, revolving around another iconic Anne of Green Gables scene: Anne accidentally gets Diana drunk on cordial.

The Anne Shirley episodes echo the melodic ups and downs of the first Anne of Green Gables novel. The tone isn’t quite as frenetic, but it does have lively ebbs and flows as Anne flits from feeling to feeling, from experience to experience, and the adults around her often sigh or chuckle accordingly. Adapting these tonal shifts takes care; otherwise, it would feel stilted or silly, and the attention given to depicting the characters with both humor and complex detail seems to be the key.

Anne Shirley Episode 4 Features Anne & Diana’s Big Cordial Mix-Up

The Anime Perfectly Captures the Humor & Heartbreak of the Novel’s Original Scene

Anne Shirley Episode 4 has another highly memorable Anne of Green Gables scene to follow the one in Episode 3, where Anne loses her temper and breaks her slate on Gilbert Blythe’s head in class. This time, Anne’s next foible occurs when Diana Barry visits Green Gables for tea. Diana and Anne giggle and play at being true ladies as they curtsy on the porch of Green Gables, and Anne invites Diana inside.

Anne’s time to shine as a host barely lasts fifteen minutes, despite her carefully following Marilla’s instructions on which bottle to serve her new bosom friend, Diana. Anne thinks she’s serving Diana raspberry cordial, but instead, she accidentally gets the girl drunk on wine. Diana limps home, feeling sick. Marilla warned Anne that Mrs. Barry is incredibly picky about who Diana is allowed to play with, and she takes immediate offense, making the most uncharitable assumptions about Anne’s character and intentions with Diana.

The Cordial Incident invites a moment of sweetness that sheds light on Marilla’s loyal character and strong bond with Anne. Marilla realizes the mistake right away and immediately takes up Anne’s defense, speaking with Mrs. Barry right away. Mrs. Barry turns a deaf ear to Mrs. Barry. When Anne then goes to try explaining herself to Mrs. Barry, Mrs. Barry says something very important to Anne.

Mrs. Barry’s Reaction to Anne’s Unique Speech Delivers an Important Message

When Anne expresses her sorrow over her mistake to Mrs. Barry, the old lady balks at Anne’s emphatic speech. Again, Mrs. Barry takes the most uncharitable reading of Anne’s character and calls Anne disrespectful. This dialogue exchange is in Anne of Green Gables, and it’s an exceptional choice that it was included in Anne Shirley, as well.

“Oh, Mrs. Barry, please forgive me! I did not mean to intoxicate Diana! Just imagine if you had just one bosom friend in all the world! Do you think you would intoxicate her on purpose? Oh, please don’t say that you won’t let Diana play with me anymore! If you do, you will cover my life with a dark cloud of woe!” – Anne

“How dare you mock your elders with big words and dramatic gestures. I don’t think you are a fit little girl for Diana to associate with. You’d better go home and behave yourself.” – Mrs. Barry

Mrs. Barry isn’t the first adult to remark or even assume that Anne’s theatricality is mocking or high in the instep. All the other adults seem to consider this and ultimately decide that Anne’s emphatic speech isn’t because she’s mocking her elders, but because she’s merely sensitive, precocious, harmless, and perhaps doesn’t properly understand social queues. Keeping Mrs. Barry’s line in Anne Shirley shows a true understanding of Anne’s character and how it can affect her interactions with others, especially with a certain kind of adult.

Gilbert Blythe Doesn’t Stop Getting in Anne’s Way in Episode 4

Anne Shirley Episode 4 Sets Gilbert Up as a Wholesome Academic Rival & Anne’s Next Potential Friend

Conveniently for Marilla, Anne wants to go back to school because it means seeing Diana again. Sadly, Diana’s mother forbids her to speak or even look at Anne. Anne and Diana must communicate through secret notes that their girlfriends kindly pass between them in class. This also means that Anne is around Gilbert Blythe again, and this becomes the source of many new feelings for Anne.

Anne Shirley Episode 4 shows that Gilbert Blythe is still interested in Anne. Gilbert plainly wants to be her friend. Not only is he charming to their fellow classmates, but he’s just as smart as Anne. He’s also incredibly kind and not at all competitive. Anne is, though, and that competitive spirit begins to show to a delightfully humorous degree in Episode 4. It promises a fun dynamic between the two potential school rivals.

Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley Have the Perfect School Rivals Dynamic for the Anime

No matter how Gilbert tries, though, he can’t seem to pick the right time to befriend Anne. Anne is either in her mind daydreaming, reading poetry, talking with her girlfriends, or trying to steal moments with the bosom friend she’s unjustly barred from. In Episode 4, Anne savors her relief when she realizes that Diana took great pain to pass her a reassuring note in school, only to be interrupted by Gilbert.

So much storytelling in Anne Shirley is done in quick but telling dialogue choices. Sweet Gilbert had a plan: he pretended he needed help with math just so he could have an excuse to spend some time with Anne, if she was willing. But to Anne, some boy brutishly interrupted her rare moment with her favorite person: how dare he? And like a wounded heroine, Anne turns up her nose, leaving Gilbert confused. The exchange would be sad if it weren’t funny and obvious to the audience that it’s only a matter of time until Anne and Gilbert become friends.

Episode 4 Brings the Anime Series Nearly Halfway Through the First Anne of Green Gables Book

The Remaining 20 Anne Shirley Episodes Could Cover Material Well Beyond L.M. Montgomery’s First Book

Fans have speculated about how much of Anne’s story Anne Shirley will adapt since the series’ announcement. The pacing of the story in the first four episodes, and the opening sequence in the most recent episode premieres give some interesting clues. The first anime adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, 1979’s Akage no Anne, has over double Anne Shirley‘s planned 24 episodes, and 1979 series only covers the events of the first book by L.M. Montgomery.

Episode 4 brings the story up to Chapter 18 in L.M. Montgomery’s first book, which is nearly half of the novel. The opening sequence of Episode 4 also shows Anne as an adolescent next to Marilla and Matthew, and as a grown woman in an elegant orange dress. These are all very hopeful signs that the series will tell Anne’s story beyond the first book. This would be wanted and remarkable for Anne of Green Gables fans because very few adaptations of any medium adapt Anne’s story beyond the book, and even fewer adapt beyond the first book in a way that’s loyal to the source material, as Anne Shirley has done so faithfully and beautifully thus far.

Anne Shirley is now streaming on Crunchyroll.