Another dark and haunting episode for this series. At this point, I’m really doubting how to exactly rate this series in the end: the Marysville arc was very annoying to sit through and contained lots and lots of stereotypes, and yet the Thomas Family was very well developed, and the Hammond-family also is promising to be a very engaging family for Anne to get caught up in. This series is definitely the worst of the new generation of WMTs, but how much worse than Porfy is it?
But yeah, the original Akage no Anne already hinted at it: raising large families is hard, and the Hammond family at this point just shows how hard this is when you have a dysfunctional family. The father seems like he has the financial resources to take care of his kids, but he has heart problems that prevent him from helping his wife when he returns home. His wife right now was in the middle of her pregnancy, so there was nobody who could keep the children in check this episode. It’s a very real problem that I’m sure a lot of families had back in the days in which this series took place.
This episode also introduces a new character, Miss Hagaty, who is the local medical specialist and helps the mother through her birth in this episode (I’ve got to look up their names some day), and she really strikes me as a very strong character with a lot of experience in these matters.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
I totally agree with you. This episode WAS awesome, but it made my heart sag, namely because…
1. Of what Anne has to go through (I would NOT be able to tolerate raising 8 kids and having to deal with their brattiness) and having to watch her cry and suffer like that.
2. Mrs. Hammond’s attitude towards Anne. She was MUCH nicer and way more appreciative in the novel! In here she practically calls Anne a red-headed pitiful wretch!!
I mean, poor Anne’s practically a slave, which is why this episode oddly enough gave me vibes from one show: 07-Ghost. Anne’s situation isn’t NEARLY as bad as Teito’s, but…my God! it’s the reason why I stopped reading the manga for it (but I still love it and wish to own all the volumes. I wish I could order online so I could get Chuang Yi’s versions!). The only other anime that gave me 07-Ghost vibes was Tales of Symphonia.