Les Misérables: Shoujo Cosette

Les Misérables: Shoujo Cosette was produced by Nippon Animation in 2007 as part of the long-running World Masterpiece Theater series. This adaptation was created to introduce Victor Hugo’s 19th-century epic to a younger audience by centering the narrative on the character of Cosette, rather than the political upheavals of the original novel. The project aimed to preserve the core emotional trajectory of Hugo’s work while adopting a softer, more accessible visual aesthetic characteristic of mid-2000s television animation.

The character designs and visual direction were handled with a focus on blending historical Parisian motifs with a recognizable shoujo style, emphasizing expressive character development. Upon its release, the series was well-received for its gentle, character-driven storytelling, which provided a distinct departure from more gritty or strictly political adaptations of the source material. It remains a notable entry in the studio's history, serving as a late-period addition to the legacy of adapting classic Western literature for Japanese television.