Ai no Wakakusa Monogatari
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Little Women | |
|---|---|
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| 愛の若草物語 (Little Women) |
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| Genre | Anime, Drama, Historical, Shoujo |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Yoshio Kuroda |
| Studio | Nippon Animation |
| Network |  Fuji TV, Animax    Animax HBO Antena 3 RTL II, tm3, Tele 5 ORF 1 |
| Original run | 1987 – 1987 |
| No. of episodes | 48 |
Little Women (愛の若草物語 Ai no Wakakusa Monogatari?) is a 1987 Japanese anime series produced by Nippon Animation, based upon Louisa May Alcott's classic novel Little Women, which premiered across Japan on Fuji Television as part of Nippon Animation's World Masterpiece Theater staple, which adapted classic works of Western literature into anime television series.
Nippon Animation's adaptation was not the first anime based on Little Women, being preceded by a 1980 TV special produced by Toei Animation and a 1981 TV series made by Toei, in association with Kokusai Eigasha Wakakusa Monogatari Yori Wakakusa no Yon Shimai.
The series has been broadcasted in many countries and has been dubbed and subtitled in German, Dutch, French, Japanese, English, Italian, Spanish, Arabic and Hebrew.
Contents |
[edit] Story
Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy are four loving March sisters living with their mother in the USA during the Civil War. Their father is a military doctor fighting in the Union Army. After a terrible battle in a neighbour town, the Confederates pass through their town and burn it. Over the ruins of their house the March family also learn that the factory in which their father invested all his money has been burnt too. Homeless and pennyless, the family heads towards Newcord (Concord in the original novel), where the father's aunt lives, hoping for the old lady to help them. The girls try to adjust to their new life, face many hardships, meet new friends and wish to the war to be over at last.
Although this series was not the first anime based on Little Women (it was preceded by a 1980 TV special produced by Toei Animation and a 1981 TV series made by Toei with Kokusai Eigasha), it is likely the most popular anime adaptation of the story, and many fans who have seen all three anime versions consider this one to be the best.
[edit] Distribution
Ai no Wakakusa Monogatari premiered across Japan in 1987 on Fuji Television as part of Nippon Animation's World Masterpiece Theater staple. The series was also later aired across East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and other regions, by the anime satellite television network, Animax.
The series was first dubbed into English by Saban Entertainment and was broadcast across the United States by HBO in 1988, under the title Tales of Little Women, making this one of only three WMT serials to have been broadcast on television in the U.S. As the 1981 Kokusai Eiga TV series was also aired in the United States (on CBN cable) and also partially released on video, the two series are sometimes confused.
[edit] Alternative titles
- Little Women
- Tales of the Little Women
- Tale of Love's Young Shoots
- Love's Tale of Young Grass
- Eine fröhliche Familie (German - "A Happy Family")
- Les Quatre Filles du Docteur March (French - "The Four Girls of Dr. March")
- Mujercitas (Spanish)
- Una per Tutte, Tutte per Una (Italian - "One for all, and all for one")
- Piccole donne (Italian)
- Onder Moeders Vleugels (Dutch)
- نساء صغيرات (Arabic)
- נשים קטנות Nashim Ktanot (Hebrew)
[edit] Themes
- Opening Themes
- "Wakakusa no Shoutaijou [若草の招待状 | Invitation of the Young Grass]" by Eri Nitta (eps 01-14)
- "Itsuka Kitto! [いつかきっと! | Return Someday!]" by Keiko Han, Eiko Yamada, Mayumi Shou, Rei Sakuma (eps 15-48)
- Ending Themes
- "Yuuhi to Kaze to Melody" by Eri Nitta (eps 01-14)
- "Otousama eno Lullaby" by Satoko Shimonari (eps 15-48)
[edit] Comparison
In addition to renaming the town of Concord "Newcord" (the reason for which is not entirely clear), Nippon Animation opened the series with several episodes of original material which did not appear in the novel, in a way of introducting the characters and historical setting.
[edit] External links
- Animax Asia's official website for Little Women
- Animax South Asia's official website for Little Women
- Ai no Wakakusa Monogatari at the Internet Movie Database
- Ai no Wakakusa Monogatari at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
