One pleasant surprise from Anime Central 2025 was the presence of the new Anne of Green Gables adaptation, Anne Shirley. The convention had two staff members as guests of honor: Producer Nakayama Yoshiko, as well as the voice of Anne, Inoue Honoka. Inoue is actually the daughter of veteran voice actor Inoue Kikuko (Belldandy, Aina Sahalin, various mom characters throughout the years).

Both guests did commentary over a screening of the first episode, providing a lot of insight into the production process. These are my notes from their Anne Shirley panel, but I will also be posting my interview with Nakayama and Inoue in the next few days as well!

• They actually had the full animation done for the recording, a rarity. Inoue couldn’t stop being absorbed by the beauty of the animation.
• She did the fish-eye lens scenes over and over. 
• Marilla’s voice actor has pretty much no anime experience before this, and is actually primarily a stage actor. Inoue once worked on dubbing a film with her and felt at ease.
• Nakayama wanted to convey just how talkative Anne is to both people who are familiar and unfamiliar with her character.
• They went to a great big lake the day before just like in the show. Specifically, Lake Michigan.
• When Anne first spots the Cuthberts’ house, the yellow color of it is meant to show how Anne sees the house in her head. 
• For Nakayama, Anne walking into the house while crying is a really funny contrast. For Inoue, Anne going from crying to not crying all of a sudden left an impression.
• Nakayama feels bad that Honoka has to keep up with a character like Anne who flips moods all the time.
• Nakayama: Marilla is kind of tsundere. Matthew is strong and silent but has to go along with what Marilla says.
• Honoka was told she could do Anne’s gestures while she was recording (like covering her face), which is unusual.
• Nakayama: Anne’s personality and maturity for her age means she doesn’t try to make fun of anyone even if they are being hard on her. 
  • Honoka: “I couldn’t do that.”
  • Nakayama: “Same.”

The screening was followed by a Q&A, which continued the look into their process.

• The biggest challenge was finding a studio to actually do the show; the trends right now are isekai, action, and otaku-oriented works. The 1979 version also looms large and studios thought it would be difficult.
• Inoue watched the old anime as a kid, and in middle school she learned about Lucy Maud Montgomery. That made her really want to land the role. She thought it was as unlikely as winning the lottery.
• While Nakayama and the staff had to cut a few scenes due to time and money, the basic story remains unchanged. There is one thing she technically changed: adding a stoat. 
• Inoue prepared for the role by rewatching the 1979 anime. She also read the Japanese translation of the original books by Muraoka Hanako (apparently a very famous and beloved translation), and even reread it again after landing the role.
• For Anne, Matthew, and Marilla (but not Gilbert), Nakayama had a clear idea of how she wanted them to sound, and Inoue was in top 3 for Anne.
• At the audition, Nakayama pushed for Inoue. There was someone else who was in the top running but she can’t remember who it was, and another who would have been too busy.
• A lot of the cast members are similar in age, and they go out for food after recordings, to get Korean food and such.
• In June 2023, they all went to Prince Edward Island (where Anne takes place). The art director’s suitcase got a large crack, but nothing was stolen.
• As a kid, Honoka didn’t name everything like Anne does, but she could feel the life force from nature, and thinks Anne is similar. 
• Some Japanese fans took issue with the color of Anne’s clothing and such, but they have experts who look at this stuff, and they hope the fans understand that not everything can be as they want. 
• One of the hardest things for Inoue was having to match the lip flaps, but it was fun actually getting to see Anne’s expressions. It’s like she really is in Green Gables.

Afterwards, everyone attending the panel got a piece of promotional art autographed by both Nakayama and Inoue. I noticed how above and beyond Inoue seemed to go to appeal to her fans, and I think she’s going to be a very beloved performer in the years to come.