Daddy Long Legs 1

 

The first classic/older Shojo anime series I will be reviewing is Daddy Long Legs (Watashi no Ashinaga Ojisan). The Daddy Long Legs anime is based on  a novel of the same name written by Jean Webster in 1912. The major difference between the novel and the anime is the age of the main character Judy Abbott. In the novel Judy is 18 years old, and the novel covers her college years. In the anime Judy is 14 years old, and the anime covers her high school years. Daddy long Legs  was broadcasted in 1990, and won a award that year for excellence in children’s television programming.

Below is a screenshot of Judy Abbott singing.

     Episode 1 of Daddy Long Legs starts off on a Sunday at the John Grier orphanage with the orphanage’s children becoming sad after seeing the normal children lead normal lives with their parents. Judy Abbott, one of the older orphans, misbehaves and gets punished by having to write a essay about her behavior. Later in the day the orphanage’s children get paraded in front rich people after church, and they receive symphony, and gifts from the people. Judy Abbott really dislikes having to go through that ritual every Sunday, and she thinks that people show them kindness just so they themselves can feel better.

     Then later that night Judy and the other older orphans find out that the orphanage’s committee will choose one of them to attend high school at the committee’s expense, after their monthly visit. Because of Judy’s energetic, and excitable nature, is told not to cause any trouble. But because of her nature, Judy causes all sorts of problems at the orphanage, and at the committee meeting. Judy is sent back to her room to write another essay after her screw-ups at the committee meeting. Later Judy is told that she was chosen for the high school scholarship biased on her skills she demonstrated in writing her essays. She rushes out of the orphanage’s office to thank the committeeman responsible for choosing her for the scholarship, but all she see’s is the shadow of his body against the orphanage’s wall, so she says she will call him daddy long legs because of his long legs, at this point episode 1 ends.

Here are some screen shots for episode 1

Below are some screen-shots of Daddy Long Legs, and the ending animation.

     Well, here the review. Daddy Long Legs is a true example of a good Shojo anime, Shojo anime has always been about character, and story being above action. In this series we see that the main character, Judy is the heart and soul of the orphanage, for all the trouble she causes, she is the bright light that cheers up everyone else. Episode 1 sets up the series perfectly, we will get to see how Judy does in the real world after leaving the bleak environment of the orphanage. This series is going to be about coming of age, growing up, and developing one’s place in the world. So if you want to watch an anime with a little more story and a lot less action, this is one to watch.