10 anime to watch if you like Anne Shirley

Anne Shirley, the plucky, imaginative, redheaded orphan, has been beloved by generations of readers ever since Lucy Maud Montgomery first introduced her in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables.

Recently brought to life in the critically acclaimed 2025 anime adaptation, Anne Shirley captures the magic and whimsy of her journey from girl to woman on idyllic Prince Edward Island.

Fans eager for more high-quality slice-of-life anime featuring spirited female leads coming of age should look no further. Here are 10 anime series that thoughtfully explore similar themes of family, friendship, and personal growth against richly realized historical backdrops.

10 must-watch anime for fans of Anne Shirley

1) Akage no Anne

Akage no Anne (Image via Nippon Animation)

Before the 2025 series, anime studio Nippon Animation brought Anne Shirley to the small screen with a 50-episode adaptation that aired in 1979. More faithful to the novels than later series, Akage no Anne will appeal to purist fans with its wholesome portrayal of Anne's trials and triumphs at Green Gables.

From her apology to her sobs in the woods after an embarrassing mishap, Akage no Anne captures moments that are sure to stir nostalgia.

With its message about persevering with hope and heart despite life’s setbacks, Akage no Anne remains essential viewing for both longtime fans and newcomers. The series introduces viewers to Anne, whose optimism continues to inspire young women to follow their dreams.

2) Natsume’s Book of Friends

Natsume’s Book of Friends (Image via Brain's Base & Shuka)

This supernatural coming-of-age anime, spanning six seasons, shares Anne Shirley’s warmth and emotional honesty. After his grandmother's death, 15-year-old Natsume discovers he can see spirits and inherits a magical book that binds spirits his grandmother once defeated.

Like Anne, Natsume struggles to control his impulses and often feels out of place before finding kinship with both human and non-human allies. His gradual journey towards self-acceptance and building a chosen family mirrors Anne’s own path as a girl tragically orphaned by fate.

By turns bittersweet, hilarious, and heartrending, Natsume’s Book of Friends delivers adventures alongside affectionately realized characters who grow together through acts of understanding.

3) Barakamon

After punching an elderly critic, hotshot calligrapher Seishuu Handa is sent by his father to the Goto Islands to reflect on his mistakes. The clumsy city slicker’s garden-variety struggles adjusting to rural village life quickly evolve into life lessons imparted by the islands’ childlike but strangely wise residents.

Like Anne Shirley, Barakamon draws humor and heart from a talented outsider finding his place in an idiosyncratic community. Despite early mishaps and his initial difficulties integrating, Seishuu perseveres, soon losing himself in the island’s rhythms and forging meaningful connections.

Echoing Anne’s cultural hurdles in fitting in at Avonlea, Barakamon is a feel-good story of personal growth through human bonds.

4) Heidi, Girl of the Alps

Heidi, Girl of the Alps (Image via Zuiyo Eizo / Nippon Animation)

This beloved 1974 series captures acclaimed novelist Johanna Spyri’s Swiss Alps settings, with lush backdrops that seem to leap off the page.

Following orphan Heidi’s adventures living with her gruff grandfather in the mountains, viewers are transported, tasting the fresh alpine air and feeling the cold winters seep into their bones. Much like Anne Shirley’s unlikely bond with the Cuthberts, Heidi transforms the life of her reclusive grandfather.

She herself flourishes while tending goats amid the picturesque meadows. With charming slice-of-life escapades centered around the landscape’s natural rhythms, Heidi, Girl of the Alps shares Anne Shirley’s transportive power as a temporary refuge promising simpler times.

5) Mushishi

This atmospheric supernatural series shares Anne Shirley’s deep appreciation for the mysteries of the natural world. Set in feudal Japan, Mushishi follows a mushi master’s encounters with mushi—ethereal beings that embody natural phenomena, often invisible except to those sensitive enough to perceive them.

Much like Anne’s imagination reveals magical dimensions within Avonlea’s forests and fields, Mushishi’s wanderer protagonist, Ginko, unveils reality’s overlooked aspects, facilitating coexistence where misperceptions breed disaster.

Both anime explore humanity’s relationship with the environment, juxtaposing civilization-building ambition against nature’s indifferent, sometimes inscrutable, complexity. Animated with a hauntingly atmospheric score, Mushishi engages with thematic richness.

6) Emma: A Victorian Romance

Emma: A Victorian Romance (Image via Studio Pierrot)

This Victorian-era historical romance shares Anne Shirley’s playful romantic spirit and fascination with period fashion. The show follows Emma, an English maid, as she finds friendship (and perhaps love) while navigating strict Victorian class boundaries.

Swept up in the affectations of the eccentric gentry, viewers are transported to a world of manners and traditions, one historically accurate corset at a time. Despite the constraints around her, Emma maintains an irrepressible joie de vivre despite restrictions, balancing suitors’ overtures to find a partner who values her personality.

With its stunning scene settings and playful orchestral score, Emma delights viewers longing for more of Anne Shirley’s escapist adventures.

7) Shoukoujo Sara

Shoukoujo Sara (Image via Nippon Animation)

Based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel A Little Princess, Shoukoujo Sara echoes Anne Shirley’s poignant portrayal of female friendship. After enrolling at a prestigious boarding school, Sara’s fortunes take a turn when she learns of her father's death.

Reduced to a household maid at her boarding school, Sara faces hardship with strength and imagination, much like Anne conquering adversity through resilience. Despite Minchin’s cruelty, Sara befriends fellow student Becky, demonstrating love’s power transcending class differences.

Shoukoujo Sara animates Burnett’s timeless fable about courage and sacrifice. An emotional high note is Sara using storytelling to maintain hope, reminiscent of Anne transporting orphans via vibrant fantasy.

8) Silver Spoon

Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa further explores the bonds built by pursuing one’s passion in this funny, poignant series. Overwhelmed by urban high school’s competitive academic grind and family expectations, Yugo Hachiken enrolls in the agricultural school Ooezo seeking a fresh start.

Echoing Anne’s adjustment to life in Avonlea, Yugo faces relentless early mornings, the unfamiliar rigors of farm work, and eccentric classmates at his bucolic new home. As he understands his calling through immersive hands-on experiences, Silver Spoon advocates for sustainable living.

It highlights agriculture’s integral, often overlooked role in supporting society. Blending down-to-earth wisdom with personality-rich characters, Silver Spoon, like Anne Shirley, applies imagination towards purposefully transforming one's circumstances.

9) My Neighbors the Yamadas

My Neighbors the Yamadas (Image via Studio Ghibli)

Prolific Studio Ghibli director Isao Takahata departs from grandeur to portray everyday family life in this charming 1999 film. Unfolding through a series of vignettes, it celebrates domesticity’s comforting rhythms and minor frustrations with humorous watercolor-style glimpses into the Yamadas' daily tribulations.

Like Green Gables, the Yamada’s modest home brims with life—grandchildren play hide-and-seek while Granny angrily discovers the dog stole her dentures again. Though the plots revolve around mundane dilemmas like fixing a leaky roof, Takahata infuses profundity through understated voice acting.

The watercolor art emphasizes the fleeting preciousness that binds generations. An anime equivalent to Anne Shirley’s Lake of Shining Waters, My Neighbors the Yamadas finds poetry in the sublime splendor of ordinary moments.

10) Kino’s Journey

Kino’s Journey (Image via A.C.G.T, Lerche)

Based on Keiichi Sigsawa’s light novel series, Kino’s Journey shares Anne Shirley’s sense of wonder by revealing wisdom hidden in commonplace encounters.

The show follows Kino, an androgynous philosophical nomad who travels mystical lands with a talking motorcycle, Hermes, witnessing thought-provoking parables that challenge rigid assumptions. Each country’s peculiar customs offer singular insights into human nature’s paradoxes.

Like Anne collecting life lessons amid Avonlea’s petty squabbles and catty gossip, Kino synthesizes truth from the strange and mundane. Blending fantasy, history, and philosophy into a travelogue, Kino’s Journey will appeal to viewers who like Anne Shirley’s open-minded and curious spirit.

Conclusion

The 2025 anime adaptation has revived L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables novels. With stunning scenery, whimsical adventures rooted in emotional honesty, and a fiercely independent heroine who never loses her wild imagination, Anne Shirley deserves its critical acclaim.

Fans seeking more heartwarming anime about finding kindred spirits and forging family while navigating life’s inevitable changes need look no further than these 10 series. Like Anne Shirley, they remain timeless testaments to the human capacity for hope and boundless love against all odds.