Review: Daddy-Long-Legs (1990)

Daddy-Long-Legs (1990) is a World Masterpiece Theater Japanese anime based on the 1912 novel by Jean Webster. It follows the young female protagonist, Jerusha "Judy" Abbott, through her high school years. She writes letters to her benefactor, a rich man whom she has never met, and thereafter addresses him as "Dear Daddy-Long-Legs" in the series. It contains 40 episodes.

Judy Abbott is a cheerful and intelligent orphan at the John Grier Home. Her parents died when when she was an infant. The children are wholly dependent on charity and must wear other people's cast-off clothes. She has been given the opportunity to study at the prestigious Lincoln Memorial High School by a mysterious benefactor whom she only knows as "John Smith". She has only seen his shadow once, and because of his long legs, she calls him "Daddy Long Legs". He will pay her tuition and also give her a generous monthly allowance. Judy must write him a monthly letter, because he believes that letter-writing is important to the development of a writer. However, she will never know his identity. The only payment she is to give her benefactor is that she write him letters every month but he will never reply.

In high school, Judy thrives as an imaginative student. Her roommates, Sally McBride and Julia Pendleton, also enjoy her whimsical and sincere nature. She also learns etiquette and social norms among New York high society. However, she never confides with anyone that she is an orphan. Since Daddy Long Legs is the only family she has, she gradually becomes attached to him through her letters.

Daddy-Long-Legs was an entertaining show that delighted me. Set in the early 20th century, young women from elite and well-established backgrounds attended private schools and eventually enrolled in private women's colleges like the Northeast's Seven Sisters (e.g., Wellesley, Smith, Radcliffe, Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Simmons, Vassar, Barnard). Many young women were exploring their options, and the anime (and novel) discuss typical young adult issues. As a coming-of-age story, Judy knows her orphan status makes her different and isolated from her rich classmates. Nevertheless, she enjoys school and gradually gains self-confidence.

It is also a surprising love story. Judy is intrigued and desperate to know more about this mysterious benefactor who suddenly shows interest in her education and well-being. Over the years, Judy grows up to be a lively and attractive young woman with a vivid imagination who takes delight in the pleasures of ordinary life. It is no wonder that her friends and benefactor (none other than Jervis Pendleton) find her company enjoyable. Jervis, who finds high-society life mundane and unbearable, likes her free-spirited nature and eventually falls in love with her.

Of course, over the years of her study at college Judy grows into a lively and attractive young woman who takes enormous delight in the little pleasures of ordinary life. It's easy to see why Jervis Pendleton, her rich room-mate's uncle, finds her company so enjoyable.

The themes of the book also reflect upon Webster's Progressive-Era interests in social work and women's suffrage. Webster insists that American society pay attention to child welfare issues (in this case, orphans), and access to a quality education should not be reserved to the privileged few. As an early feminist piece, it is also promotes that women can become independent thinkers and their voices should be heard in public. In the anime, Judy Abbott loosely resembles Pippi Longstocking (who, in other children's tales, is also very intelligent and imaginative with a strong sense of justice) as a tease, revealing how both share similar personalities.

Young adults will easily relate to Judy Abbott. I highly recommend this story.



Opening Theme: "Growing Up" by Mitsuko Horie

Review: Little Princess Sara (1985)

A Little Princess Sara (1985) is a World Masterpiece Theater Japanese anime based on the popular English classic children's novel, A Little Princess (1904), by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It contains 52 episodes.

Sara Crewe, the daughter of a rich miner from India, is an intelligent, polite, and creative young girl. She is brought all the way to London in Victorian-era England for a formal education. The teachers and students learn she is quite advanced for her age. For instance, she speaks French perfectly and immediately becomes the top student. She helps everybody and loves everybody, from little Lottie who is too young for school and desperately needs a mother, to the child servants, Becky and Peter, who are often ignored and mistreated. But the most important thing is Sara's wealth, which make her Miss Minchin's student representative, evoking the mortal jealousy of Lavinia, the ex-favorite.

When word spreads about her father's death and bankruptcy on her birthday, Sara becomes a penniless orphan. Miss Minchin, scared that throwing the girl out will ruin her school's reputation, lets Sara stay, but makes her life impossible. Sara humbly accepts her new fate and is subjected to servitude of the worst kind. At the upscale boarding school, Sara is forced to tolerate the haughty, disdainful headmistress, Miss Minchin. She has to do the hardest work in the kitchen, sleep in a dilapidated attic, and goes to bed mostly hungry, with all of Lavinia's hatred and Miss Minchin's despisal now released at her. Despite her misfortune, Sara's spirit is not broken and proves that anyone can be a "little princess." She remains proud and imaginative as ever as she masters her new life, and her true friends never let her down.

This is one time I will say that the Victorian era (both American and British) produced many classic novels that are still enjoyed by readers a century later. A Little Princess is one of them. Originally a novella, Burnett was inspired by Charlotte Bronte's unfinished novella, Emma, which features a rich heiress with a mysterious past who is apparently abandoned at a boarding school. Fortunately, Burnett expanded the novella to a full-length novel after much success as a Broadway play. When I first heard of this story, I saw the abridged film version, A Little Princess (1995), which takes place in late nineteenth-century New York City. Although I enjoyed it, I felt the story had to cut many memorable parts of the novel to fit a small two-hour window. Thus, I was so delighted to see how the Japanese brought this story to life which no other film company has been able to accomplish.

Since this novel was written during the Progressive Era, Burnett inserted many social protest moments that would make viewers question societal norms, particularly child labor (servitude). Although we have rules and regulations for minors in the workforce, such laws did not exist in the 19th Century. It is hard to fathom that it was once legal for poor children as young as eight years old to work 12-hour shifts. Poor families were dependent on their children for income, and the working conditions were often unbearable. It would take years of progressive social reforms, both direct and indirect like this novel, to expose the magnitude of the social problems to governments. By the 1930s, most Western nations passed labor protection laws for children.

I love this anime because Nippon Animation did an excellent job highlighting both Sara's tenacity and the child labor practices of the time. Although it is underrated, I recommend anime fans with a taste for historical fiction to watch this show. I will hint that good fortune does come her way in the end. It is definitely worth the entire 52 episodes.



Opening Theme: "Hana no Sasayaki" by Satoko Shimonari

Review: Twice Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires #3)

Merit, Chicago's newest vampire, is learning how to play well with others. Other supernaturals, that is.

Twice Bitten, by Chloe Neill, is the third novel in the Chicagoland Vampire series. Shapeshifters from across the nation are convening in Chicago to decide whether they should remain or move back to their ancestral land in Alaska. Cadogan Master vampire, Ethan Sullivan, has offered Gabriel Kenne, the Apex (alpha leader) of the North American Pack, his very special bodyguard, Merit, to protect him during this significant event. Although tensions are high between the shapeshifters and vampires, the two groups ultimately desire peace and alliances.

Merit accepts this important missions even if she lives to regret it. Someone is trying to assassinate the Apex. It is her duty to investigate and track down the culprit -- even if guns are flying. Meanwhile, another Master vampire, an old love whom Ethan created prior to turning Merit, makes a surprise visit to Cadogan House. Moments of jealousy and shame frustrate Merit. Can Ethan and Merit settle their romantic feelings for each other even when their positions come first?

This series continues to become more thrilling. The last half of the novel was excellent. Niell knows how to merge different subplots smoothly into one impeccable ending. I am starting to like Merit (hint: her real name is revealed!) as a protagonist because she is smart, funny, loyal, sexy and, more importantly, badass. This novel officially proves why she is the Sentinel of Cadogan House. I cannot wait to read more adventures about katana-swinging Merit and Chicago's supernatural world.

Stay tuned for the next novel in the Chicagoland Vampires series, Hard Bitten.