When Marnie Was There (film)/Characters
Characters from When Marnie Was There (film) include:
Main Characters
Anna Sasaki (アンナ)
A twelve year old sent to live with her relatives with the clean, countryside air.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Apologises a Lot: Anna at the start of the film constantly apologizes for costing her caregivers money.
- Blush Sticker: She frequently gets these, especially when she's with Marnie.
- Boyish Short Hair: Anna, having less traditionally feminine qualities than Marnie, shorter hair.
- Character Development: Big time. Anna starts off as a self-doubting, insecure, and quiet person, who Apologises a Lot to the people around her for the tiniest things like costing them money to buy a new pencil. She is reclusive, and does not talk much to people. The social interactions that she does have ends quickly, sometimes with the other person being offended. By the end, after her adventures with Marnie, she becomes much more confident, and apologises to the people she has offended, and opens herself up to more people. She also made a friend, Sayaka, as a result of this development.
- Early Teen Hero
- Emotionless Girl: At the start of the film, Anna tends to suppress her emotions, although by the end as a result of Character Development she has grown much more confident and shows emotions.
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Yoriko: It's like she doesn't allow her emotions to show. She used to be more expressive, but these days her face is almost wooden, not happy, not sad, just there. |
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- Foster Kid: After Anna's parents died, rendering her an orphan, her care is transferred to Marnie. When Marnie died of a disease, her care is transferred to Yoriko. Subverted, in the sense that Anna's foster caregivers are nice, although she had a false believe that they were Fostering for Profit, and Anna is treated with love and care.
- Hair Contrast Duo: Anna and Marnie have vastly different hairstyles, both in terms of length and colour. This is reflective of their personalities, with Marnie being the kinder and innocent person, and Anna being an angsty, moody individual with low self esteem. The romance that usually comes with the trope, however, is not used, but the relationship formed as a result of its usage is significant.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Anna does after losing control, calling Noboko a fat pig, and running away.
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Anna: Like just what I am: ugly, stupid, moody, unpleasant. That's why I hate myself. |
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- Innocent Blue Eyes: Anna has them. The colour stands out among the cast of Japanese people, being a rare and exotic colour.
- Nice Girl: Averted at the start, however after some much needed Character Development she opens up to people around her.
- No Social Skills: Anna before her character development is unable to hold a sustained conversation with anyone.
- Parental Abandonment: Happens with Anna, as her biological mother and father died in a car crash. She is instead raised by the caretaker Yoriko, and briefly by Marnie.
- The Quiet One: Anna at the start of the film.
- Raised by Grandparents: Anna is briefly raised by Marnie after her biological parents died. Marnie took Anna in, promising to never let Anna be lonely. Unfortunately, she became ill and died a year after, and Yoriko took over.
- Terrible Artist: Anna calls herself this. Her drawings are anything but terrible, with her sketchbook filled with pencil outlines of playgrounds, the marsh house, and Marnie, all lovingly drawn by Studio Ghibli in stunning detail.
- Took a Level In Kindness: Anna becomes a much kinder person after going through Character Development, apologising for her past actions, saying that she's sorry for calling Noboko a fat pig.
Marnie (マーニー)
A mysterious girl who lives at the nearby marsh house.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Foster Kid: Marnie's parents are kind and loving, often showering her with presents. The maids that foster her when her parents are gone, not so nice.
- Girl of My Dreams: Anna dreams about Marnie before meeting her in real life. The dreams are mysterious, only revealing basic appearance information about Marnie, without giving away what she is like as a person. Interestingly, Anna first meets Marnie at night, and many of their interactions take place during the evening--the exact time for dreaming.
- Hair of Gold: Marnie has blonde hair, and is innocent and sweet towards Anna, demonstrated in how she tries to play with Kazuhiko and helps Anna along. Her heart is gold, shown with how she looks after Anna after Emily died, although by this time her hair has turned gray.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Marnie, in addition to Anna, has them. Used more when Marnie was a kid, because Children Are Innocent.
- Nice Girl: To her granddaughter Anna before her death, telling stories of her early childhood.
- Parental Abandonment: Marnie's parents, when they are at home, throw big and elaborate parties. However, most of the year they leave Marnie alone with the maids at the marsh house, occasionally returning, but never staying for too long.
- Plucky Girl: Marnie, who remains joyful and kind after the abuse from the maids her parents hired, losing his husband, having her daughter hate her, and her daughter and son-in-law killed in a car accident, demonstrated via her interactions while looking after Anna.
- The Pollyanna: She's been through a lot in life, losing many people closest to her, but still looks at the bright side of life, and finds the best.
- Spoiled Sweet: Marnie, living in her parents' mansion, frequently attends glamorous parties hosted there, and gets plays with many toys, but remains nice to her childhood friend Kazuhiko. Her kindness is established in a flashback when she looks after Anna and tells stories to her.
- Walking Spoiler: Her status being Anna's grandmother is a major plot point -- explaining how Anna is able to interact with her -- is only revealed later on in the film.
Side Characters
Sayaka (彩香)
An enthusiastic girl who befriends Anna and helps her look for Marnie.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Constantly Curious: Sayaka wants to find out who Marnie was after finding Marnie's diary within her room. When Anna first shows up outside the mansion, she asks Anna who "Marnie" was, and believes that she is Marnie.
- Genki Girl: Downplayed. Sayaka is enthusiastic and energetic, but can remain composed in serious situations. She is passionate about uncovering the secret of Marnie, but can compose herself to help Anna. When she first meets Anna, she runs into her mansion, and yells "come on" believing that Anna has hints about who Marnie was.
- Girlish Pigtails: Her hairstyle.
- Nice Girl: Sayaka to Anna, even sending her brother to look for her in the rain.
- Spoiled Sweet: Marnie's mansion now belongs to Sayaka's family, so she can clearly live a glamorous lifestyle. Sayaka remains sweet person, established via her interactions with Anna while trying to help her discover who Marnie really is.
Nobuko Kadoya (サンドラ)
A girl who Anna attends the Tanabata festival with.
Adults
Yoriko Sasaki (佐々木 頼子)
Anna's foster mum.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Good Parents: She is a nice parent towards Anna, caring and being concerned for her health. Event though Anna is not her biological daughter, she acts like the child is.
- Nice Girl: Yoriko is a caring foster parent, supportive of Anna as she shuts off her emotions, and sending her away to the countryside air. Yoriko tries to do what's best for Anna. Anna thinks that she is Fostering for Profit, but she is foresting because she genuinely cares about Anna's wellbeing.
Kiyomasa (大岩 清正) and Setsu Oiwa (大岩 セツ)
Anna's caretakers in the countryside, who she lives with throughout the course of the film.
Tropes exhibited by these characters include:
- Good Parents: Just like Yoriko, they are nice and kind towards Anna. Nobuko's parents criticised them for poor parenting as Anna called Nobuko a "fat pig", but they are still competent and caring.
- Nice Guy: They both prove to be kind and patient towards Anna, despite her stoic demeanour and occasional bad behaviour.
- Open-Minded Parent: They both listen to what Anna has to say. When Anna calls Nobuko a "fat pig", they never punish her, instead asking her to come inside their house once they found Anna hiding. Over dinner, they did mention that calling her a "fat pig" is a bit much, although they never scolded or grounded her.
Hisako (久子)
A painter who loves drawing the nearby marsh house.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Childhood Friends: With Marnie.
- Cool Old Lady: She is quite friendly and supportive towards both Sayaka and Anna. She invites Anna to paint with her the next time she comes over.
- Mr. Exposition: Ms. Exposition, in this case, as she explains Marnie's backstory.
- Nice Girl: By now, you probably get that every single girl in this film is nice.
Toichi (ワンタメニー・ウェスト)
A stoic fisherman who often takes Anna on his boat.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Cool Old Guy: Despite appearing unfriendly and solemnly speaking, he is quite a chill and friendly person once Anna gets to know him better.
- Intergenerational Friendship: With the school aged Anna and Sayaka.
- The Quiet One: He sporadically speaks, to the point where the children around him tease each other about how he never opens his mouth. He only speaks once in the film, remarking about Marnie, trapped behind the window in the marsh house.
Flashback Characters
Kazuhiko (和彦)
Marnie's childhood friend who she marries.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Childhood Friend Romance: He marries his childhood friend Marnie.
- Satellite Character: Kazuhiko is only described in flashbacks and by Hisako's Info Dump. He gets a minuscule amount of screen time when compared with other characters in the film. However, he plays a huge role in the story through his interactions with Marnie.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Although Kazuhiko didn't have much of an impact on Anna and Sayaka, he did have a massive impact on Marnie, serving as a companion throughout her life. When he died of an illness, Marnie sent her daughter Emily to boarding school, causing a rift between her and Emily. This eventually led to Marnie adopting Emily's daughter Anna, starting the events of the film.
Emily
Marnie's child.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Break the Cutie: Her mum sent her away to boarding school, making her into an independent person who starts to dislike her mother. When Marnie goes to collect her, she pushes right past Marnie. Later, she elopes with her boyfriend, and died in a motorcycle crash.
- Missing Mum: Marnie was devastated after Kazuhiko's death, and sent her away.
- Off to Boarding School: She is sent there due to Marnie's shock of losing her husband.
- Satellite Character: Her role as a character mostly relates to how she interacts with Marnie, as well as her relationship with Anna. The film simply does not have enough time to develop Emily, and developing her personality would cause the film to drag right in the middle of an emotional Info Dump.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She dies long before the film starts, but is still a significant character, influencing Anna's story.
- The Runaway: She rejected Marnie as her mother, and eloped with her boyfriend before having Anna as a child.
- Walking Spoiler: Notice how many spoiler tags are here in this section? Despite dying before the story takes place, she plays a huge role in the backstory of the film. To reveal anything other than her name would ruin a huge part of Marnie and Anna's character arcs.
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