Wakakusa no Charlotte

*Wakakusa no Charlotte*
Wakakusa no Charlotte
	Screenshot of the main characters
	若草のシャルロット
Genre	Historical drama, romance
Written by	Shun-ichi Yukimoro
Directed by	Eiji Okabe
Music by	Hiromasa Suzuki
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
No. of episodes	30
Production
Producer	Akira Negoro
Production companies	Nippon Animation ; Asahi Broadcasting Corporation
Original release
Network	ANN (ABC, TV Asahi)
Release	29 October 1977 –; 27 May 1978

Wakakusa no Charlotte (若草のシャルロット, lit. Charlotte of the Young Grass) is an anime series produced by Nippon Animation Co. Ltd. It was first aired in Japan between October 29, 1977, and May 27, 1978, and is based on an original story by screenwriter Shun'ichi Yukimuro (as opposed to an existing manga).^[1]

While this series - Nippon Animation's first to target the shōjo audience, followed by Haikara-san ga Tōru - was taken off the air in Japan early due to mediocre ratings, it is a much-loved and well-known series in some European countries, particularly in Italy.

In the Philippines, it was aired by ABS-CBN in 1990s, Yey! in June 2017 and GMA Network in 2000s with some rebroadcasts since then and A2Z Channel, an ABS-CBN blocktime channel in 2021, every weekdays 4 pm (Philippine Standard Time, GMT+8), replacing My Patrasche. It also aired on MBC in South Korea, France on Mangas (TV channel) and La Cinq, Cable Kin in Mexico, America Television in Peru, Super3 in Catalonia and syndication in Italy.

Plot

Charlotte was raised by her father, a former French nobleman, who is now living on a ranch in Quebec, Canada.

Although motherless, Charlotte was a happy girl until her 12th birthday, surrounded by a loving father and many friendly animals. On that day, however, a package arrives from her "mother", who was supposedly dead.

After Charlotte's father dies, this mother comes to live with her. At the same time, Charlotte meets a strange boy. This is only the beginning of many heartbreaking incidents in the little girl's life.^[2]

Cast

Ichirô Murakoshi as André Montburn, father of Charlotte who is the founder of ranch in Quebec, Canada. He died in an accident due to inclement weather while traveling to harbor to meet Charlotte's mother.
Ichirô Nagai as Grampa
Kaoru Kurosu as Cassie
Kazue Komiya as Sammy
Keiko Yokozawa as Charlotte
Kôhei Miyauchi as Count
Osamu Kato as Garcon
Reiko Suzuki as Bella
Rokuro Naya as Knight
Toshiko Shimaki as Becky
Toshiya Ueda as Jean
Yasuo Muramatsu as Gordon
Yoshito Yasuhara as Sandy
Youko Matsuoka as Jim
Yūko Mita as Katie

Also in the cast are Simone, mother of Charlotte; Milan, Knight's wicked sister who also hated Charlotte; Albert, Charlotte's wicked uncle; Marie, an adopted daughter of a French nobleman who has a deep hatred to Charlotte; Uncle Melville, an elder companion of Sandy who is fond of watching stars and was elected as a new captain in Charlotte's hometown; and Louis, a sick nobleman who is Marie's fiancée.

Episode list

Episode	Title	Original airdate
1	It happened one birthday	October 29, 1977
2	I don't need a mother	November 5, 1977
3	Go away, bad dreams!	November 12, 1977
4	Spica, the star shining in my heart	November 19, 1977
5	Papa's alive	November 26, 1977
6	Dream carriage from heaven	December 3, 1977
7	Queen of the farm	December 10, 1977
8	Knight in the snow	December 17, 1977
9	A Christmas letter	December 24, 1977
10	Snow festival to usher in spring	January 7, 1978
11	Messenger from Paris	January 14, 1978
12	Little wings on the Atlantic	January 21, 1978
13	The day I'll meet mother	January 28, 1978
14	I hate aristocrats	February 4, 1978
15	The morning I met mother	February 11, 1978
16	Reunion	February 18, 1978
17	75% happiness	February 25, 1978
18	A little fountain in the blaze	March 4, 1978
19	Goodbye to Paris	March 11, 1978
20	Little farm in the middle of the ocean	March 18, 1978
21	Dear old Andre farm	March 25, 1978
22	The light of papa's farm goes out	April 1, 1978
23	My first camping	April 8, 1978
24	Two battles	April 15, 1978
25	News from Flock	April 22, 1978
26	Marie in the sunset	April 29, 1978
27	Papa's ghost	May 6, 1978
28	Mama becomes mayor	May 13, 1978
29	Parting in the flowered woods	May 20, 1978
30	Beautiful May!!!	May 27, 1978

Music

Title	English title	Performer	Description
Wakakusa no Charlotte	Charlotte of the Young Grass	Kumiko Kaori	Opening theme
Mei Furawaa^[3]	Mayflower	Kumiko Kaori	Ending theme

References

^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 44. ISBN 9781476672939.
^ Nippon Animation: Catalogue
^ Anime Lyrics dot Com – Anime – Wakakusa no Charlotte

External links

Charlotte @ Nippon Animation
Charlotte (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
Wakakusa no Charlotte at IMDb
Charlotte @ Animated Divots

[1] Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 44. ISBN 9781476672939.

[2] Nippon Animation: Catalogue

[3] Anime Lyrics dot Com – Anime – Wakakusa no Charlotte

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Nippon Animation television series
1960s	World Masterpiece Theater (1969–1997, 2007–2009)
1970s	Vicky the Viking (1974–1975) Dog of Flanders (1975) Maya the Honey Bee (1975–1976) Arabian Nights: Sinbad's Adventures (1975–1976) Laura, the Prairie Girl (1975–1976) 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother (1976) Piccolino no Bōken (1976–1977) Blocker Gundan 4 Machine Blaster (1976–1977) Little Lulu and Her Little Friends (1976–1977) Dokaben (1976–1979) Rascal the Raccoon (1977) Chōgattai Majutsu Robo Ginguiser (1977) Monarch: The Big Bear of Tallac (1977) Ore wa Teppei (1977–1978) Wakakusa no Charlotte (1977–1978) Angie Girl (1977–1978) Yakyū-kyō no Uta (1977–1979) The Story of Perrine (1978) Future Boy Conan (1978) Highschool Baseball Ninja (1978) Haikara-san ga Tōru (1978–1979) Anne of Green Gables (1979) Bannertail: The Story of Gray Squirrel (1979) The New Adventures of Maya the Bee (1979–1980) Misha the Little Bear (1979–1980)
1980s	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1980) Fisherman Sanpei (1980–1982) The Swiss Family Robinson: Flone of the Mysterious Island (1981) Cuore: An Italian Schoolboy's Journal (1981) Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds (1981–1982) Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow (1982) Story of the Alps: My Annette (1983) Around the World with Willy Fog (1983) Fushigi no Kuni no Alice (1983–1984) Mīmu Iro Iro Yume no Tabi (1983–1985) Katri, Girl of the Meadows (1984) Ruy, the Little Cid (1984) Noozles (1984) Princess Sarah (1985) Bumpety Boo (1985–1986) Uchūsen Sagittarius (1986–1987) The Story of Pollyanna, Girl of Love (1986) Animated Classics of Japanese Literature (1986) Bosco Adventure (1986–1987) Tales of Little Women (1987) Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics (1987–1988) Little Lord Fauntleroy (1988) Dagon in the Land of Weeds (1988) Topo Gigio (1988) New Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics (1988–1989) Yume Miru Topo Gigio (1988) The Adventures of Peter Pan (1989) Jungle Book Shōnen Mowgli (1989–1990)
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2000s	Doki Doki Densetsu Mahōjin Guru Guru (2000) Marcelino Pan y Vino (2000) Cosmic Baton Girl Princess Comet (2001–2002) The Legend of Condor Hero (2001–2008) Beyblade V-Force (2002) Hungry Heart: Wild Striker (2002–2003) Beyblade G-Revolution (2003) Papuwa (2003–2004) Battle B-Daman (2004) Fantastic Children (2004–2005) Battle B-Daman: Fire Spirits! (2005) Crash B-Daman (2006) The Wallflower (2006–2007) Les Misérables: Shōjo Cosette (2007) Zero Duel Masters (2007) Porphy no Nagai Tabi (2008) Antique Bakery (2008) Hyakko (2008) Kon'nichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables (2009)
2020s	Hakushon Daimaō 2020 (2020) Let's Make a Mug Too (2021) Love All Play (2022) Ao no Orchestra (2023)
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