Its no surprise that one of the most beloved and well known shoujo anime of the early or mid seventies was Candy Candy. Ive known of its existence for a while and I even watched some episodes of the original series but stopped due to other obligations and lack of time and subs at the time. But if theres one thing Candy Candys become infamous for its the fact that both creators Kyoko Mizuki and Yumiko Igarashi were engaged in harsh vicious legal battles over royalties and who had true ownership of the show. It didnt help that the mangaka who illustrated the manga Yumiko Igarashi tried to claim the show was her own and that Kyokos was not the original. Her actions and the vicious lawsuits that ensued prevented any and all Candy Candy properties to be licensed anywhere even in its home country Japan to the point where remastered DVDs for not just the main series but for any and all animated properties like movies or OVAs flatout dont exist. The lawsuits even prohibited the production of new merchandise. This is the reason why the show never got licensed in English and despite being loved in other countries like Italy Latin America etc. licensed products havent reached there as well. Such is the case for the odd 90s anime pilot that was advertised as a movie...but it isnt anything more than a reanimated recap that retells 1/4th of the whole story. What is said story about anyway? Candace White aka Candy is a young girl who was dropped off at an orphanage when she was a baby. She grows up into a cheerful energetic tomboyish young girl who is beloved by everyone at Ponys Home though has a tendency to get into scrapes every now and again. One day not long after her best friend Annie got adopted she receives the news that Candy herself is to be adopted by the noble Adley family...and the branch family kids Eliza and Neil Reagan make her life miserable. Luckily she finds solace and friendship with Anthony Brown and the Cornwall brothers Archie and Alistair and strives to never give up hope in the face of adversity. If you ever plan on watching this movie in any capacity just remember that literally the only fansubbed copy of it has very bad encoding quality. Because of the aforementioned lawsuits barring anyone from giving any of Candy Candys anime remasters of any kind the nineties movie looks like it was ripped from a VHS tape. That being said the actual animation itself is a vast improvement from the TV series. The original TV anime came out in 1976 and...the show really shows its age both from the character designs to the shows HannaBarberaesque limited animation. Granted Ive only seen a few episodes of the series so for all I know maybe the shows animation improved over time but I cant say for sure. I can say that the movies animation is pretty good even with the bad encoding quality. The motion is more fluid the actual character designs are true to the original manga but are better adapted to fit the modern nineties era and the backgrounds are more detailed. I will admit though its kinda weird seeing Annie have blonde hair as opposed to the black hair she had in the original TV anime. Ive heard Annies hair was blonde in the manga but I kinda like her black hair from the series better though I can respect the movie for wanting to be more faithful to the manga. The soundtrack is also pretty nice full of mellow harmonicas violins and acoustic guitars that never feel overpowering. Plus the updated theme song is well done and the other insert songs are well sung as well and considering they brought Mitsuko Horie back to sing them this was a good decision on Toeis part. The characters are where things get tricky. This movie is only half an hour long and was intended to be a pilot for a new series but as you can tell that went nowhere. Because of its short length and the fact that it only tells one part of a much larger story the characters wind up coming across as rather bland and onenote as a result. I havent read the manga so I cant comment on whether their characterization is true to the source or not but they pretty much fulfill stock archetypes that have become prominent in most shoujo manga since Candy Candys inception. Candy is the cheerful energetic lead girl Annie is the demure best friend Eliza and Neal are your typical bullies Anthony is the handsome love interest so on and so forth. The first half of the movie consists of Candy dealing with Eliza and Neal and the second half consists of the characters going to a fancy ball so there isnt really much of a plot either. Theres also the fact that the movie deliberately leaves out important events and even characters such as Candys first love interest the fabled Prince of the Hill so leaving those out just makes the Candy Candy movie feel even more halfbaked. Also I hate to say it but by the time the movie was made Minori Matsushimas voice had aged significantly so she sounds a lot more raspy and hoarse here than she did in the show. So with all this in mind what exactly does the 1992 Candy Candy film have to offer? Honestly not much. Its not bad or anything as the animation and soundtrack are a vast improvement over the seventies series but you cant sell a product on just those two things alone. But more than that its really sad to see such a beloved franchise end not with a bang but with a whimper and Im sure the legal battles between Mizuki and Igarashi didnt help matters either. The only way I can really recommend this is if you want to watch some part of Candy Candy but dont want to watch over a hundred episodes. As it is the 1992 Candy Candy movie is...just okay. Nothing great but not bad. Just kinda halfbaked and Candy Candy deserves better. Also rest in peace Minori Matsushima.