Daddy-Long-Legs

 Title: Daddy-Long-Legs (Watshi no Ashinaga Ojisan)
 Creator(s): Jean Webster
 Studio: Nippon Animation
 Year: 1990
 Genre(s): Shoujo, drama, romance
 Length: 40 episodes
 Reviewed by: Yukari on July 06, 2007

Synopsis

Upbeat and ebullient Judy Abbott grew up in the John Grier Home for orphans. Her life is changed forever when an mysterious trustee decides to send her to high school, on the condition that she writes to him frequently. Judy immediately names her anonymous benefactor, "Daddy-Long-Legs" after catching a glimpse of his tall shadow. At the Lincoln Memorial School in New York, Judy makes friends and explores the world she never knew outside the orphanage.

Review

Based on the popular classic children's novel, this is a beautiful coming-of-age story that focuses on the details of a young girl's life and her insecurities. This anime's selling point is the main character's bubbling personality. She is the poster child for optimism. In fact, Judy's cheerfulness is contagious! She is always overflowing with so much enthusiasum that nothing seems to get her down. Judy's immaturity in dealing with life's trivial annoyances is a bit frustrating at times, but it is all part of her learning from her mistakes and growing up. Those who watch this anime will reminisce on their own childhood. Judy is far from perfect but her positive energy is definitely her biggest strength. She is a very charming girl.

Our heroine may be portrayed as a high school student (college student in the novel) but she has quite an immature personality. This is probably the aftermath of living in an orphanage all her life. It doesn't help that Judy's bright red braided pigtails gives her a Pippi-Longstocking appearance. Sometimes her scenes with Jervis Pendleton look a bit silly because she looks like a twelve year-old. It seems a bit inappropriate for her to be courting a man more than twice her age! I'm not sure if I liked their relationship because of the astronomical age difference, bur if the age factor were ignored, their romance is very sweet.

The anime generally follows the original novel, but it also delivers many details that weren't included in the book. The events in the anime were also greatly exaggerated. In the anime, Julia Pendleton likes Sallie McBride's older brother, Jimmie. This situation did not exist in the book, but it made the anime interesting. The animation itself was decent, perhaps even better than some of the more modern anime being shown today. However, an odd thing is that the art looks different at times, especially if you compare episode 37 with previous episodes.

"Daddy-Long-Legs" is a really cute classical anime that has the ability to warm your heart with its innocence. It has the ability to turn a frown upside-down. Overall, this was an extremely enjoyable anime to watch!

Overall Rating: 4/5