Omoide no Marnie

Ah, When Marnie Was There, or Omoide no Marnie, was an absolutely beautiful movie that hopefully will not be the last one produced by the famous Studio Ghibli. I've had the pleasure of being able to attend the first screening outside of Japan in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on the 31st of January 2015. Since there hasn't been a review until now, and the soundtrack has been looping on my headphones for nearly a month, I believe it is time for me to step up and write the first (and my first) review on MyAnimeList. Hopefully, without any kind of spoiler (but, I will correct a ... few details from the synopsis -- don't worry; nothing spoilerish).

STORY 9/10
The story for When Marnie Was There is based on the novel of the same name by Joan G. Robinson. Anna, the lead protagonist, has no friends, suffers from asthma attacks, and has a talent for sketching. She is rather closed off, rarely shows emotions, and is suspected to be depressed. After suffering a severe asthma attack, it is concluded that she should go live in the country for a while, away from the pollution. The pacing of these events is quite fast, but the continuation has an excellent pacing. As you've probably read from the synopsis, she begins to connect with a mysterious girl, Marnie. As you watch, pay attention to the expressions and interactions between the two girls. The interaction, the subtle changes in expression, and the strange occurrences that don't quite make sense make the story. Waiting for the story to unfold without paying attention to this, and without thinking about the plot, will make for a much less enjoyable experience. The pacing is excellent, the story telling is great, and the plot is amazing -- but don't expect an action-packed panty-shot fan-service movie. This is a story about adolescence, friendship, connecting, and mystery; and is just that in its purest form.

ART 9/10
I could sum this up as "typical Studio Ghibli". If you don't know what that means, shame on you. To elaborate, everything from the character expressions, to the environments and the little decorations in the rooms is sublime. The attention for detail is extremely high, you could take a picture of a landscape or indoor room (stuffed with decorations) and get something that looks extremely similar to the environments and art shown in movie. As I mentioned at the story, especially the expressions deserve a lot of praise. A lot of attention and detail went into this, and you can see that the massive amount of experience and hand-drawn scenes delivers.

SOUND 10/10
This should come as no surprise due to my earlier statement of continuously listening to the sound track for almost a month, but the sound is top notch. Like other Ghibli movies, the background music blends perfectly into the atmosphere and complement the mood and environment. At the end of the story, at the credits, once you've experienced the mood and growth of the characters, the ending theme "Fine on the Outside" by Priscilla Ahn begins to play. I cannot begin to describe how perfectly attuned it is to the mood you are in at the end of the ride; it compliments the entire story, and even feels like it is part of the story. If you've listened to it before, the meaning and feeling will change completely. The sound was excellent, and the album by Priscilla Ahn complimenting the movie is filled with great songs. Don't listen to it before you've seen the movie, though, as many of the songs on that album actually tell parts of the story!

OVERALL 10/10
It should come as no surprise, I really, really enjoyed the movie. It is an excellent movie, worthy of being a movie produced by Studio Ghibli, and if the worst thing happens -- an excellent final movie to be produced by them. After a month before reviewing the movie I can draw an honest conclusion; When Marnie Was There is now my favorite Ghibli movie. I hope to see the movie again soon, and hope that you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

This review contains minor spoilers.

Ghibli's final film is not easy to give a finalized opinion on. After thinking about this matter for a long while, I ultimately decide to award an Average grade to it.

If you want me to give a completely spoiler free verdict on whether or not to give this film a watch, I'd say if you're into a slow relaxing film, this may satisfy you. Otherwise you can give this one a pass.

It's funny, the film has a good middle bit and a very strong climax that, regrettably, is weakened by a very weak beginning and a mediocre and redundant ending that ... overstay their welcome. Although, I'll go into that in finer detail as we approach the main review proper.

Now before I begin, as is Ghibli standards, the art quality and the animation is superb and very easy on the eyes. The scenic views and backgrounds are relaxing in their own way and each scene is sufficient in its own when conveying the emotions the scene is bringing to the audience. Unlike most Ghibli films, this film has very minimal (if at all) fantastical elements in it, making for a very grounded, yet, relaxing imagery throughout the entire film.

Now for the story itself. Omoide no Marnie is an adaptation of When Marnie Was There, and for the most part, it does follow the book rather closely, though certain aspects of the book are cut for time purposes. However, personally I felt some parts of the film's beginning should have been shortened in order to speed up the pacing. It takes a good 40 minutes before the Marnie appears onscreen proper, while prior to that, we get a glimpse into Anna's life that seriously overstays its welcome. It should take no more than 15 minutes to convey her situation and predicament to the viewer but the film moves at such a slow pace that one honest gets bored waiting for something to happen.

Speaking of which, Anna, particularly her earlier characterization, felt weak and unsympathetic. Her character honestly bugged me, I get Ghibli wanted to make us feel bad for her, but I honestly don't understand this girl at all. She rejects every possible opportunity to make friends with the extras but yet suddenly develops a bond with Marnie out of nowhere. She neglects to ask important questions despite her doubts on the situation. It's also strange and morbidly amusing that she ends up unconscious in the middle of the night in random places yet nobody raises an alarm or finds anything suspicious with her.

Without spoiling most of it, the middle part of the film is competent and better-paced than the beginning. Hints and foreshadowing on the main plot twist are placed sparingly but are clear enough to spot so that as the climax approaches, the plot twist and change in tone don't come across as brash or sudden. And the climax is done so strikingly well one can actually sympathize and feel bad for Anna.

The relationship between Anna and Marnie, ie the core to the story, is done quite well (aside from their first meeting). It's cute and heart-warming and really has a nice warm and fuzzy feel to it. However, (despite Ghibli claiming otherwise), I still can't see their relationship being anything aside from a (one-sided maybe) romance, particularly after the revelation later in the story.

The ending however is when the whole story goes back to a mess of a slow pace. The story somehow feels the need to explain its plot twist twice to the viewer, that it comes across as unnecessary padding, and the way it explains its plot twist is so unsatisfactory it feels like an exposition dump on the viewer, especially if the viewer previously caught on to the foreshadowing in the previous part. It ends on a fairly mediocre, if predictable manner.

Ultimately the film is very average. It's very relaxing, don't get me wrong, but those wanting more plot may end up disappointed.

5/10

It's still better than Kaguya though.

Studio Ghibli has done it again.
When Marnie Was there (Omoide no Marnie) really blew itself out of the water with its art quality, story line and character development. I created an account on MAL JUST to review this movie. If you're looking for an emotional treat with that sprinkle of mystery, look no further.

Story:

The plot is built so that you're left feeling satisfied and wanting more. As with many Ghibli animations, it does have a sort of realistic underlining to it. It's generally a movie about family and the irreplaceable bond we have with them so it really touches home.

Art:

Studio Ghibli has really stepped ... it up in terms of art; the background is a beautiful watercolour style matched up with the classic hand-drawn animation. Towards the end you could tell they were running out of budget, but never-the-less I would watch the movie just to look at the art again.

Music:

The music was very well suited with the movie, however, nothing really too notable. The ending song really brings you back to the beginning of the movie though and wrapped it up nicely. A real sense of nostalgia :')

Character:

This is the best character development i've seen from Studio Ghibli in a while, it really is nice seeing the MC change and step out of her comfort zone. The back story of Marnie was well summed up at the end if you couldn't piece together the puzzle. The contrast between these two characters and seeing them come together is really heart warming.

I highly recommend this movie, so grab a box of tissues and go watch it!

With Studio Ghibli it's hard to separate the monoliths previous works from it's new ones. Even just last year Isao Takahata released his swan song "Kaguya Hime no Monogatari" which broke ground on an animation level, added narrative depth to a tenth century folk tale, and was certainly Ghibli's most ravishing work since Sen to Chihiro. Yet despite the narrative currently surrounding Studio Ghibli (a subsidiary of Disney no less) going under, Kageyabashi manages to weave an extremely simplistic and rather flat tale similar in pace to his previous effort Arietty.

Although based off of a novel, the story manages to be paced rather poorly and ... often tends to wander into pretentious ground. What starts as an awkward encounter laden with romantic undertones between two girls in the countryside ends up meandering into purely sentimental fog. The "twist" conclusion while not totally overplayed felt exhausting and tired, and the short duration of only 102 minutes flares frequently due to the unfeeling main heroine. Anna's character while understandably young, shows very little development throughout the narrative and instead simply does an about-face right after the conveniently written Hisako simply explains the entire story of Marnie. The mystery of the girl vanishes into thin air along with the girl herself, as Marnie's character too, is highly contradicting. As a child she was frequently bullied and harassed by the maids who took care of her, yet Marnie still holds "a great fondness" for the mansion in which she lived in. The inconsistency of Marnie's character which changes from a mentor-like friend towards Anna into a tormented coward seems all too confusing, and ultimately dissatisfying especially when comparing this films character study to other animated films in the same genre such as Flanders no Inu.

Visually Omoide Marnie displays some of the industries finest hand-drawn work. A great attention to detail can be seen in the creation of the Oiwa's home the animation detail of characters in the background such as the festival sequence or the opening scene in the playground. A few notable good cuts also help elevate the narrative and even provide some interesting take on foreshadowing. An excellent example is a cut from Anna's sketch of Marnie into Anna's face itself in the same position on screen. Other than this though, very few liberties were taken in terms of originality, and the score is by all means simply average.

With that said I must conclude that while Omoide Marnie is a very pretty film, it is not well-paced. The lead characters are irritating and trite, and the conclusion feels rushed and a bit shallow. The ultimate issue is that for a film that does not have much action, there is also not a lot to be said about it. The movie passes through like a haze, leaving little to chew on. For an animated supernatural film it lacks whimsy and it's overt serious tone is simply too ham-handed for how it addresses it's subject matter. It is hard for me to recommend this film therefore only watch if you are very interested in the sasuga animation of Studio Ghibli.

My god, Ghibly, Ghibly, Ghibly, somehow they still got it. When Marnie was there- such a beautiful piece of art.

When Marnie was there is a prime example for what i want to see in anime. It's colorful, tender, passionate and meaningful. A story about family.

The story has a balance amount of fantasy and slice-of-life, it's well writen, deep and beautiful, the characters are nice, typical. The main character got such a huge development in such a short lenght of the movie.

This is an absolute classic coming from Ghibly in a very long time and hopefully wont be the last, i am hungry for more.

Being possibly the last film created by Studio Ghibli, it reflects everything the studio stands for: original storyline, colourful art, beautiful music, quirky characters. When Marnie was there doesn't disappoint or lack any of these things. This particular Studio Ghibli movie was a different sort of 'enjoyment' as it made me feel all these different emotions at the same time, it was something I have never experienced before while watching a movie. The story, art, sound and characters worked together in harmony in order to keep you glued to the screen.

The story is based of a book by Joan G. Robinson of the same title. ... I cannot compare the book and the film together because I haven't read the book but I found the film version extremely moving. There was a feel of tragedy and mystery to the story which is one reason why I enjoyed the movie but what really stood out to me in the story was how original it was; it wasn't just another recycled old story it was unique on its own.

The Art was simple yet alluring. For the whole time that I was watching When Marnie was there I couldn't get over how breathtaking the art and style was. The Art made my heart jump every time which is one of the intriguing feelings I felt while watching When Marnie was there. This is another thing that I enjoyed greatly about the film.

I can only describe the Sound and the Music as delightfully stunning. I often find myself humming the songs from the film and it doesn't look like my habit is going to stop any time soon. The Music is magical and the sound effects realistic giving you a killer combination. The sound in When Marnie was there will hit you in the heart... multiple times.

The Characters are original, fresh and demand you remember them. It's a bummer when the characters in anime or manga start to get boring or less interesting because they are being recycled so much but When Marnie was there gives you new and fantastic characters. At some parts of the movie I tried guessing what the characters will do or say next but I was wrong each time. It was refreshing for the soul to finally see some individualistic characters. Made the film all the more enjoyable.

I won't write what was enjoyable because there are no words to describe how brilliant and excellent When Marnie was there is and can only be enjoyed and understood by experiencing the film yourself. Overall, this film is a masterpiece and gets a tremendous 10.

I guess I'm a real sucker for movies that I relate to quite a bit, cuz Omoide no Marnie is perfect. This is hands down my favorite Studio Ghibli, or just my favorite anime film in general, of all time. It's peaceful, the art is beautiful, and it just holds a special place in my heart. Something about it is just... melancholic. It reminds me of a time when I had a friend I really cherished... She vanished and I never saw her again. This movie reminds me of that fondness and love and magic of finding that one person that makes you blossom. I ... could watch this film and sob for hours afterwards. It's wonderful and heartbreaking and definitely worth the watch. 10/10 <3

Finally I looked another masterpiece work of one of my favorite studios, Ghibli: "Memories of Marnie." I do it once come across, but it did not dare to look or forgotten.
And finally the day has come, and I decided to look at. Initially, and closer to the middle attitude towards the main character was not ambiguous, and by the end completely changed. But the main thing I liked all this grandstanding, landscapes, nature, all drawn to the details. Very colorful, lively and atmospheric. Ghibli as always in his best repertoire. Just as if he is immersed in the anime along with the characters and feel ... the same as they are. Definitely, "Marnie Memories" will not leave anyone indifferent, and will find its audience. So to be sure to review :)

There likely wasn't many people who didn't feel at least a little apprehensive as legendary director Hayao Miyzaki let loose on the reigns of Studio Ghibli, reigns that he had been steering for so many years. It honestly didn't really matter that Ghibli had other more-than-capable directors such as Isao Takahata, the studio was losing a vastly important factor that had been there since its very conception, and many anime fans were wondering what was next for Ghibli as Miyazaki's last cinematic endeavor: The Wind Rises, played its credits down the screen.
I can't say that Studio Ghibli's latest film: When ... Marnie Was There, quite settles my doubts about the studio's progression into the uncertain future, in fact, the movie is such a ball out of left field that it could signify a change in the common tonal direction for Ghibli, which of course could be unnerving for some. We'll get into that. But I think that at the very least, When Marnie Was There reinforces that Ghibli still has extremely talented people on staff, and not all of that "Ghibli magic" directly came from Miyazaki. Apparently it's a systemic thing for the studio to create delightful movies such as this. Oh, I'm doing that thing where I get way ahead of myself with the points I want to make. Let me take a step back.

Hello people of "The Wired" my name is Quan, may your days be sunny and wonderful, and welcome to a brand new anime review, in fact, my very first review of an anime movie. Today, we take a look at When Marnie Was There, Studio Ghibli's latest film. Let's get started.

When Marnie Was There was released in July 2014, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, a relatively up-and-coming director for Ghibli, as one of the protégés that were being trained up as the studio prepared for Miyazaki's retirement. The only other film directed by Yonebayashi was The Secret World of Arrietty, which I haven't even seen so I can't exactly vouch for, but judging by how great the directing was for When Marnie Was There, I think we can look forward to fantastic works by him in the future. The screenplay was written by Yonebayashi himself, Masashi Andou(who worked almost completely as a key animator and character design up until now), and Keiko Niwa, who has done many different scrips for Ghibl films before, including From Up On Poppy Hill and Tales from Earthsea. Okay, I think that covers everything of importance. Let's get into the story.

Story

12yr-old Anna hasn't had a good life. Her existence is empty. She sketches drawings in her notebook. She goes to school. She returns home. Plagued by severe asthma attacks and a total lack of self-esteem, Anna finds herself bitter and alone, lashing out at the classmates who briefly attempted to befriend her and her step-parents who she currently could not feel more alienated from. Becoming increasingly worried over Anna's mental state and the severity of her asthma attacks, Anna's step-mother Yoriko sends her off from the hustle and bustle of their home of Sapporo to live for the summer in the countryside with her aunt and uncle, hoping that the fresh air and small country town will bring Anna focus and happiness in her chaotic life.


Anna finds little to dampen the burning isolation she feels from other people while living with her aunt and uncle, until she stumbles upon The Marsh House, an enigmatic mansion falling into disrepair, which Anna finds herself inexplicably drawn to. There, Anna meets Marnie, a girl that seems at first to be a polar opposite to Anna, as she takes delight from life and other people, relishing her lavish lifestyle of parties and dancing provided by her rich-as-hell parents. The two girls connect and quickly become unlikely friends(almost too quickly, actually), and seemingly, for the first time in her life, Anna has found a true confidant. But as she starts to learn more about Marnie, Anna quickly begins to wonder if all is quite how Marnie tells it, and whether her new friend is hiding something from her. And of course, it doesn't help that everything about Marnie is mysterious as hell, to the way she seems to appear and disappear in the blink of an eye, or whenever Anna says goodbye to Marnie, Anna wakes up in a strange place without remembering how she got there. As revelations around Marnie's identity slowly begin to come into view, Anna herself must start to question what is truly important to her, as she discovers the little wonders of the people and the world around her that just maybe, could make life worth living.

If that sounded a little heavy to you for a Ghibli film, get used to it, When Marnie Was There is likely one of the most thematically dense films Ghibli have done for awhile, from the very serious arc of depression that our main character goes through, to the surprisingly gripping and intense mystery that surrounds Marnie's whole existence. In that way, the film almost seems more like a supernatural mystery than anything, as it slowly unwinds the setting and characters into one single payoff; very much not the same cloth as the fantasy adventure or romance that Studio Ghibli usually bring to the table. Also just as a side-note, yeah, I'm not sure if I just misunderstood the marketing message of this film prior to release, but going into the film, I was honestly expecting a full-fledged romance between Anna and Marnie that was peppered with supernatural elements(because hell, anime has been depicting lesbian relationships since Sailor Moon all the way back in 1992, a.k.a, before I was even born), but I would encourage you not to approach the film with this mindset if you were. Sure, there might be an argument that the first half is somewhat romantic, but as the supernatural mystery takes over later on, it is revealed that Anna and Marnie's relationship is not like that at all, so much so that I wonder why the first half of the movie seemed to so strongly hint at romantic development. I mean sure, maybe I was just misconceiving the dialouge because I really wanted to see how well Ghibli would handle a lesbian relationship, but when the girls are saying things like "I love you more than any girl I've ever known" to one-another, can you really blame me for thinking it was going that direction?

Anyway, I've spent far too much time on that, so now let's go into the inner-working of the movie itself. As I've already stated, the whole thing plays out more like a supernatural mystery, which spends the first half mostly fleshing out Anna's character, before leaping right into the whole Marnie mystery later on. To get right to it, it surprised me just how well the whole mystery aspect of the film worked, it got me excited and guessing for what was coming next, and left so many great little hints and clues throughout that kept my brain thinking, trying to figure out the big revelation before the film actually revealed it. But mystery isn't all the film has to offer. I mentioned before that When Marnie Was There is much heavier thematically-wise than most other Ghibli films, and this is because it is excellent at depicting the complexity and subtly of human emotion. I'll get more specific when I get to the characters portion of this review, but regardless of their role in the plot, I never felt like any of the actions the characters took, no matter how dramatic they were, weren't always were justified in the context of the plot. To put it simply, the film feels exceedingly human, that's genuine with its actions and messages about life, and for how much of a crazy medium anime can be sometimes, what with the ninja girls, giant robots and talking cats, that's amazingly enlivening. Needless to say, when you pair the engaging mystery of the film and the background of human psychology to drive it, I really was ready to add When Marnie Was There to near the top of the list of my favorite Studio Ghibli films. All it now needed to do it wrap up the mystery concisely and awesomely, and give an emotional pay-off so desperately needed for the characters. ...Yeah, for how much I like this film... here comes the asterisk.

When it comes to sticking the landing, I feel When Marnie Was There was unable, but my reasoning is a little complicated, so bear with me. I watched this film with my whole family, because you know, that's really the only way to watch a Ghibli film, and I think the possible answers to the mystery that we came up with while watching were way better than the answer the film actually had in store. Okay, so don't get me wrong, the final revelation makes complete sense, mostly, if you're paying attention, but that's not my problem with it. I'll get a little more into this at the end of this review, but with the build-up it was having, I can't help but feel that When Marnie Was There sort of played it safe at the end there. Because... let's see... how to word it. The film ended in a way that if you have seen any Studio Ghibli film, you can probably guess the way the film handles its very final scenes. But... it didn't need to.

Characters

The only characters that really matter here are Marnie and Anna, so I'll just quickly gloss over the supporting cast. The supporting cast, that is mostly made up of Anna's estranged family and classmates, aren't important in terms of their characterization as much as they are important to develop the main cast. They exist only to show the changing mind-set of the film's leads, rarely having any particularly interesting traits or development of their own. Which is fine I guess, but judging from the moral that the film decides to wave in the air at the end, a stronger supporting cast really would have helped reinforced it. But When Marnie Was There really doesn't have it, in fact, only one other character really matters besides the main duo in the film's second and third acts, and before you ask, that character is just another tool for Anna's development.

Next is Marnie, the mysterious resident of The Marsh House. Lively and enthusiastic, Marnie is the one to initial pull Anna out of her shell of self-deprecation, which honestly, when you look at the film's thematic stitching, is sort of a brilliant move. Without spoiling too much, Marnie for the most part represents an opposite mind-set to the same situation, and as that trait mostly takes up her screen-time and thus is fleshed out, playing partly into Anna's development, the inherent tragedy of her character really doesn't seem that forced or melodramatic. Ultimately, I don't think Marnie is quite as good a character as our other main heroine, but she still is one of the more interesting characters to come out of Ghibli films recently, whose main characters' one-dimensional viewpoints could be rather taxing sometimes.

Now, it's time to talk about Anna, and holy Haruhi Suzumiya director Yonebayashi, thank you for Anna, who is possibly the best part of this entire movie. I always have pushed that anime needs more asshole protagonists in general, because I love me some asshole protagonists. Now, most people hate asshole protagonists because they're assholes, but in a medium where "pure waifu" female leads are too common, whenever I see a female protagonist that doesn't have an innocent personality, archetypal qualities, or eyes that are the approximate size of dinner plates, I find it exceedingly refreshing. Anna completely owns the first half of the movie(before the mystery takes primary focus that is), her character capturing perfectly the actions of a lost, bitter girl who doesn't know what to do or what she wants. A lesser movie would make Anna a really hard character to like, however, her characterization is so freakin' on point that it becomes impossible to dislike her just on the account of how well written she is. From her mannerisms, to her inner monologues, to the actions that lack them, you begin to understand that no matter how much the classmates that Anna has lashed out at dislike her, she dislikes herself more, and after that becomes apparent, it becomes hard not to cheer for her as she struggles to find her own answer. Besides from maybe a few others, Anna is by far my favorite Ghibli protagonist, and it was the desire to see how her character would play out that kept me going as the plot slowly started to move towards something I really hoped it would avoid.

Animation & Sound

Sweet Yuki Nagato in an Evangelion, I honestly thought I had seen the peak of Ghibli animation when I saw The Wind Rises for the first time, but low and behold, Ghibli animators find a way to push what I think they are capable of. This is probably the most impressed I've been with an anime's artwork since Nagi no Asukara(which I'm still amazed by how great it looked since it was a 26-episode show), and for good reason. Everything is at its absolute best, from the moving parts to the amount of expression shown by the character models, but without a doubt, what really shines is the absolutely beautiful backgrounds. I lost count how many times I simply wanted to pause the movie, take a screenshot of whatever background was on the screen and hang it up in my bedroom; it really looks that good most of the time, with astonishing detail and vividness of colors that really punctuate the setting and giving it more personality, which is nice, because all things considered, the art-style really does nothing more than provide ambiance instead of thematic clues most of the time. But that's a nit-pick if I've ever said one. That was really me grasping for straws, the animation is honestly nearly perfect.

As with most Ghibli films, the soundtrack of When Marnie Was There is one mostly for atmosphere with one exception. This time around the music was composed by Takatsugu Muramatsu, who honestly has really done nothing worth mentioning, and it shows. Nothing really stands out honestly, the OST is mostly made of slow instrumental pieces that help the relaxed and peaceful atmosphere. I'd say it's just kind of okay, if it wasn't for one specific song that plays during the end of the movie: Fine On The Outside by artist Priscilla Ahn. It's rare for a song to encapsulate the piece of media it belongs to, and even rarer for it to do it well, and even rarer for it to be as emotionally potent as this. Maybe it has something to do with how the entire song is in English and I can understand everything that's being said, but I really find this song simple, yet very emotionally heavy with its delivery... much like the film itself.

Verdict

I really don't know what to think sometimes about When Marnie Was There. Normally, something like this would be one of favorite Ghibli movies, but the strange circumstances of its story honestly leave me at a loss of which 1-digit number I should attach to it at the end of this review. This is one of the few times where I've really doubted whether a rating system is even necessary for reviewing anime, because this is a rare occasion where my expectations of what the film should have done right stray from what the movie actually did right. And that's a weird position to be in, especially when I need to attach a number to it.

The film is undoubtedly strong, but I find myself thinking about how much better it could have been. I acknowledge that it's good, but here I'm stuck wondering about how easily it could have been great. And I don't know what to think. Maybe the problem here is my expectations. Maybe it was wrong of me to expect that the film would play out differently than every other film Ghibli have been producing for decades. Maybe... a lot of things. But this is my experience after all, and as muddled and confused as it may be, it's still my own. I fully expect my opinion on this film to be wavering from time to time down my anime career, but I think this is something I can safely say. Despite all the strengths the film does have, and despite the way it is able to wrap up all questions relatively competently, it also showed me a hint of something else. A different kind of Ghibli film, that could still emulate the feelings that these films usually do while still being exciting, complex, and hell, maybe even profound. I didn't get that. I got a quality movie, but I didn't get that. I got intrigue, but not true immersion. I got great characters, but not a substantial moral to tie their arcs together. To wrap this up, while I got a good movie... I suppose I just expected a little more.

Final Verdict: 7.5/10

P.S: Though then again... that doll.



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Hm, I suppose I should preface this review by saying it's how the film made me feel. If you're looking for a review that tells you whether or not you should watch it maybe this isn't it.

It doesn't surprise me that When Marnie Was There was based on a novel. Watching the film almost makes you feel like you're under the covers of some big Victorian-style room as you flip through the pages of an old leather novel, and are transported to another world.

I don't mean Marnie is fantasy, it seems like in all of Studio Ghibli's works they have the ability to transport you ... to another world that's identical to our own but has one thing mixed in, magic. Then the more I watch their films the more I realise it's not that magic doesn't exist in our world, it's that through all the boring things we stress over in our lives we blind ourselves to it. Watching When Marnie Was There reminds me of the beautiful magic that is life. Every frame, every interaction, every moment of this film was a treat. This film is a breath of fresh air, like a fairy tale. Ghibli films border the realm of dark and childlike wonderment like no other films I have watched.

When Marnie Was There gives new meaning to the phrase "A moving painting". So yeah I loved it, thank you to the people who told this story, it has helped me see just a little bit more of this thing called 'magic'.

„When Marnie was there“is the latest movie from studio Ghibli. I think this movie deserves more attention, which is part of the reason I wrote this review about it. The movie is a lovely character story which is watchable just for its stunning visuals (it’s from Ghibli after all).

The story revolves around a young girl called Anna, who moves away from town to the more relaxing countryside, because she got it recommended from her doctor after having anxiety attacks. The movie is basically showing Annas experiences in this new environment, the things she does and especially the people she meets. She becomes friend with ... a girl her age there which she spends a lot of time with. Since the main protagonist, Anna has a personality that is very isolating to her surrounding and she seem to have even psychological issues and blackouts the whole setting is open for a lot of speculations. It’s a mystery anime with an interesting main protagonist and I spend the whole movie coming up with ideas what is the real and what is not, and what is the reason behind all this. It was a very nice experience and if you like psychological anime I can only recommend it to you. And even if not, this movie can still be enjoyed as a nice calm very beautifully designed movie.

From the characters, I have already mentioned everything that is important. You have a main female lead with personality issues, which are made very realistically and I found her character to be quite interesting. All the other characters really aren’t focused besides Marnie, the mysterious girl she meets, which I won’t go into any detail since that would be spoiler.

Artstlye and soundtrack where admirable, as usual for Ghibli. It should be self-explanatory that Ghibli is the studio which creates the best looking anime, in terms of quality. The soundtrack was fitting and created the right atmosphere. There was also a very nice song by Pricilla Ahn called “fine on the outside” played at the end of the movie. Which was very touching and which is probably the only track of the movie you will remember. The voiceacing was great for the main character as well.

Overall I can only say that this movie is worth watching. It’s a unique film, especially for Ghibli and in my opinion one of the best Ghibli movies at all. It looks beautiful which alone is a reason to watch it and has an interesting calm character story which can be quit psychological some times.

this is my first review .... I really love the movie as spectated from the studio
when we speak about anna is simple realistic teenage ..wish had the normal fear of on love and afraid and that what make me a touched to it with progress of her relationship with marnie we see how she outstanding the struggle that she was suffering

as for marnie at the began I didn’t like so much I thought she was evil lol
anyway then when they began to show the background story it get different

I was going to write more but I`m afraid I write some spoiler or ... anything

When Marnie Was There : Ghibli Gibberish or Ghibli Awesome?

If you rather watch the video version of this review click this link --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfyzYW3LtJA

When Marnie was there is a Ghibli movie from the year 2014. This review will not be completely spoiler free but I'll do my best to keep the spoilers as few as possible and I will not reveal the ending obviously. I will review this movie for the movie it is as if there are no other Ghibli movies to exist because I don't think it's fair to be comparing it to other works. Now let's get to it!

Animation.
I'm in all honesty ... not sure where to start with this review so I'll just start with the animation. At the very beginning of the movie I already noticed that everything is moving. The background characters are moving and throughout the whole movie we get to see birds or butterflies or any kind of animal or sidecharacter in the background moving without it being bad awkward looking CG. This sells the show to you as they make you believe the characters on screen are living beings, not just the main character but every single character has their own life and is doing their own thing. It isn't done in an extend that it would distract you from what's going on but just enough to add to the natural feeling of this movie. I should also add that the movement is very fluent and realistic as in the blinking of the eyes being slow and natural and the wooshing of the hair in the wind feels like it's actual hair that you could comb through with your hands. This also applies to the water. It is animated in a way you feel like you can take a cup of it with your hands and drink it. When Anna, the main character, is in a boat and bumps into the shore it doesn't look comedic having her boom fall of and splash water everywhere. The way the boat moves from left to right and back is like it actually would in real life. This also makes it seem like gravity applies to the objects and characters in this anime. All of this makes it feel like a real world. To add to that the characters proportions are all like real human proportion bodywise and also their faces not having eyes the size of coconuts and noses the size of a bacteria. Even the shadows are overly realistic especially when you look at the scene when Anna is walking under a tree and you can see sunlight on her from the gaps between the leaves of the tree but the shadow from the tree and leaves itself. All of these little details make one masterpiece of artwork. The close attention they paid to details in the background is admirable as well as you can see things like peonies in a vase in the background that if you would zoom in on that and print it out would be good enough to be a painting on the wall. And these peonies don't even return they're in there for so short yet there's so much love that went into making them look so beautiful. Literally the only bad thing I have to say about the animation is the way they expressed the clothes. Which is not bad by far it looks more than just okay but in comparison it didn't look as good as the rest did. There's a word in my mother's tongue that is called: stofuitdrukking. It is a technical word used for drawings that have an object with a sort of texture like clothing and it basically means the way the fabric is expressed or the way the texture is put into a drawing. What I'm trying to say here is that I would've loved to see that done in a more impressive way like they've handled the rest but I'm just nitpicking here. The animation is overall gorgeous.

Characters.
When you read a book and it says: there I walked in the dark to this creepy looking house with a creepy looking garden you will most likely not be spooked by it. If a book however tells you and describes to you what the house looks like and the garden in a creepy manner they don't have to tell you it's creepy you will know it's creepy because this way your imagination has more of an image and form of what it looks like. This pretty much goes for everything in stories. If you're told someone is a sweet character it doesn't really feel that way unless you have a reason to believe that. In the movie When Marnie was there we get shown that Anna, who is as I mentioned before the main character, is an introvert and kind of a loner way before the show tells us she is. In the very first scene they already get the message across loud and clearly by having kids playing around and having Anna sit on a bench and drawing a fantasy world. This tells us she has to make up her own world and finds relief in drawing. This isn't too subtle but not too blunt either. In the hospital when children come visit Anna's mother asks them if they can get along with Anna and the awkward reaction tells us she's not very liked and if anything is being bullied. Another thing made clear to us without having to explain too much is that Anna's foster mother is very caring of her and loves her very much. When Anna leaves for the summer because her asthma is bad and she needs some fresh air her mother gets very dramatically sad for her leaving while Anna herself is thinking “Such an annoying goat”. The fact she finds it annoying probably means it's not the first time her mother has ever been this dramatic and probably holds her very dear. Then we get to see the people she will be staying with in the summer and we also get their personalities laid out before us from the get go. When they pick her up from the train station their car is packed with unnecessary stuff and Anna barely has any place to even sit and they laugh making us think they don't take everything so seriously and they're a place to feel warm and home like you're immediately part of them. The children in this anime are also a lot like real children since they make comments without thinking it through. Like when Toichi is just sitting near the water and he's known for not saying much. The children make mean comments about and laugh because of him not saying anything which is so typical for children. Most of them have not seen a lot from this world and they don't understand if someone is different from the norm so it's only normal they would react in a mean way toward someone they don't accept as being normal. Then the only character I want to also give a mention since she's a key person in the plot her being in the title and all, Marnie which brings me to my next point.

Friendship.
Before I'll dive into Marnie I'll give you some background about Anna and her relationship with others and the world. Anna has asthma and she doesn't have her biological parents anymore. She has a hard time making friends as it is hard for her to trust people. She feels as though even her foster mother has been betraying her and no one truly loves her. This gives her a reason for her to despise herself. This is different from a lot of anime characters I've witnessed in the past. Like mostly male main characters have a tendency to be loners or depressed but there's hardly ever a good reason for them to act this way. Mind I'm mostly referring to light novel adaptations. This makes the characters whiny, superficial and artificial. But with Anna we get to see right away why she acts the way she does and why she created distance between her and other people. It kind of reminded me of Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion in a way and the Hedgehog Dilemma discussed in NGE as you have to choose to either get close to people and get hurt by their spikes or remain distant from everyone around you isolating yourself. Because Anna chooses to remain distant from other people she tends to be rude and antisocial towards people reaching out to her. And we can't blame her for that. Even in real life it's so hard to trust people because every time you put your trust in people they will betray you and every person you ever loved will break your heart at least once. When you ask people what true friendship means they are prone to say stuff like being able to fully trust someone and always being there for each other. If that is the meaning of friendship you will know how rare friendships can be found. There will be people in your life telling you over and over again how important you are to them but they won't stay, there will be people telling you they love you but their love will fade, there will be people you spend time with thinking it's the best time of your life and you will be friends forever but years later you'll be looking back at those times as if they were a snap of the fingers and it never really mattered at all. What I'm trying to say is that friendship means pain and trust does not come easy especially with a background like Anna's. People often confuse having friends as it may look on the oustide as not being lonely. So when someone appears to be shy and doesn't have any friends they tend to think if they'll just get some friends they'll be okay and they won't be lonely anymore but that's far from true. Having friends that don't understand you will only make you feel more different from the rest of the world and make you feel like an alien. And if you do find someone who seems to listen to you who is to say they'll always be there to listen and won't just go away taking your secrets and innermost thoughts with them? Anna hasn't had any proof yet that people can be trusted so of course she would be on the defense for any new person to try to get a place in her life. But then she meets Marnie and that changes everything. Marnie is different just like Anna. They're not alike but they understand each other. They're both alienated from the rest of the world around them. Marnie shows Anna what friendship is like by letting her talk and talking about her own life creating a bond and never judging the other for the person they are. We can see how new Anna is to having friends by the petty jealousy she experiences when Marnie dances with a boy at a party. Marnie is social and much more lively than Anna and she helps Anna to get more out of her shell. Anna makes so much progress by simply being with her. She does however seem to have some mental condition where she keeps forgetting important things and spaces out. I will not get too much into it because I would be spoiling the best part but when illusions are shattered sometimes that makes it easier to see the truth and maybe it makes you able to let go of the past and become a happier person. In the ending everything ties together and it's a brilliant ending to a brilliant anime movie.

Conclusion.
If you can't already tell I absolutely love this movie and I have come to the conclusion this movie is awesome c:

[8.0/10]
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Exploring deeper themes in films made for kids has become very popular, especially recently where even American animation has began exploring more mature elements. However, for as much great stuff that comes out of Hollywood every year, kids... or family films, have never really been highlights for me. Mainly because they always strike me as the "safest" way to explore something that's more mature.

Zootopia was pretty great, however, it's exploration of racial tensions and everything involving them, while more mature than what i'd expect from a kids movie, is still fairly basic and over-simplified. Inside Out, for how pretty it is, never really ... expresses emotion as well as some of its biggest fans seem to say.

So this is where Ghibli succeeds above everything else. Movies are are distinctly family-oriented, yet never really shy away from motifs and themes that are fascinating, deep, and true. Nothing ever really feels simplified for kids in Ghibli films, and that's what truly makes me love the studio so much. So this film is no exception. Although not directed by the incredible Miyazaki, director Yonebayashi Hiromasa still competently adapts and directs the jaw-droppingly beautiful visuals in When Marnie Was There.

Although his directing may feel a bit generic for some of the emotions being expressed in this film, it's all still solidly made and never took me out of the scenes. However, when you are left looking at a scenic shot you can't help but feel disappointed that the director never really took huge liberties when creating some interesting shots cinematic-ally.

That being said, When Marnie Was There was a powerful experience plagued with a few pacing issues earlier on in the story but succeeds in delivering a mature and tear-jerking story.

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[ART/SOUND]

When Marnie Was There is a ghibli film.

Enough said. This film is beautifully crafted from an animation standpoint. There is incredible movement, scenery, and music throughout the film. Character designs were not only expressive, but unique stylistically. A more realistic approach was taken for these characters, so their movements felt incredibly natural and believable. The disconnect between film like this and the television industry in Japan is almost comical.

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[STORY/CHARACTER]

The bulk of this movies storytelling is through dialogue and character progression... "duh", right? There are a few distinct Ghibli films that are incredible at telling a story through visuals rather than dialogue, which fosters a really unique experience while watching their films. While When Marnie Was There doesn't do this, the dialogue and exposition is generally kept brief and interesting, for the most part.

The story follows a tomboyish, extremely introverted girl named Anna who travels to a beautiful countryside due to the clean air there, trying to cure her asthma. There's an incredibly mysterious vibe that permeates throughout this quiet, pretty world. She meets this blond girl who seems to live in the past, and they proceed to adventure and bond together. Throughout their time with each other they discover interesting facts about their lives.

The story slowly, occasionally too slowly, unravels and you discover a truly well-developed twist that seemed to overstay its welcome just a little bit. However, even if the ending does last a bit longer than it should've, it's still very powerful and affected me.

The ability to convey powerful emotions but not resorting to melodrama is incredibly impressive. These kids retain their childishness while still being able to show their emotions in a way that every age can understand. I found myself relating to both Marnie and Anna in two completely different ways, which creates their quasi-romance all the more interesting to me.

The secondary characters, while not overly developed, still managed to harbor some interesting sides to them. Especially the two adults taking care of Anna during her stay over the summer. Their short pieces of dialogue had some very telling information about their past that made them more like-able.

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[CONCLUSION]

In conclusion, this film left me impressed with the maturity in which it conveyed a child's emotion without losing touch with the child it's telling the story about. This alone is enough to warrant praise, however, the visuals were consistently jaw-dropping with some scenic imagery that really stuck with me once the credits rolled.

The characters were all developed well enough to not only interest me, but make me attached to the resolution of the story. Talking about the resolution, there was an obvious bittersweet ending that had the characters separate, but also stay more connected than they were before. It was a beautiful way to end a beautiful story.

I don't have much to say about When Marnie Was There. Ghibli, as per usual, delivers an emotionally resonant and exquisite coming-of-age story. I recommend it!

When Marnie Was There is a beautiful film about what it’s like to feel alone. After learning that this may be Studio Ghibli’s last film, I was saddened as they have made some amazing films, and When Marnie Was There is one of their best films.

Anna's character development is brilliant. This film has one of the best character developments I’ve seen in any movie. Anna starts out very shy, doesn't have any friends, and yet she doesn't make any attempt to be more social. She's just accepted she's forever on the "outside", until she meets Marnie and realises the importance of friendship, and that she ... isn’t actually alone. It was great to see Anna becoming more open and friendly over time. It makes her relatable showing her struggles of socialising as a teenager and ultimately makes us the viewer care about her.

This is very slow paced, yet it always manages to keep the viewer's interest. The first forty minutes of the film focuses on Anna, and her struggles of just trying to fit in with other kids her age, and struggling with her identity as a foster child. A lot of this time is focused on how much Anna hates herself,, even in the first scene at school she states just how much she hates herself, while watching everyone inside some social group, while she remains outside.

After Anna meets Marnie the film picks up the pace, which leads to an exciting climax. There are many scenes where Marnie and Anna are doing seemingly uneventful things, like picking mushrooms or just talking on a boat. Over time they get closer we get to learn about their personal struggles. And we realise that what we first think of people isn’t always true. When the climax occurs, we realise just how much Anna and Marnie care about each other.

The animation is fantastic. Everything is really detailed, especially during the outside scenes, like the sea during nighttime, and even the character’s facial expressions are very clear here and it’s easy to see how they are feeling.

This film isn’t without it’s flaws, although they are minor. It’s arguable whether it’s believable that Anna and Marnie became such close friends in such a short time, and it may have been nice to see them spend more time together. This movie is slow paced, especially the first 40 minutes, although it kept my interest, the slow pacing may not suit all viewers.

This is a fantastic film which follows a lonely young girl who realises that she’s not alone. If this is Studio Ghibli’s last film, they certainly ended with one of their best.

Constructive feedback is appreciated :)

Here again, Ghibli has confiscated another piece of my heart with their artistic piece. Omoide no Marnie is neither a complex mind blowing story nor a brand new concept, yet it’s something that touch everyone heart and fill them with warmth, love and nostalgic feelings. Aside from its simplicity and humble presentation, Omoide no Marnie proved itself as an everlasting shining star.

When I wrote this review I questioned myself, what made me feel so emotional? To my surprise, I hardly find an answer. It seems like the movie itself is a flowing emotion in a concrete form that I subconsciously immersed in it. Such a ... piece of art which beautifully convey abstract concepts is indeed what we called masterpiece.

The main characters are surely the strong point of this movie. Ghibli carefully crafted them with seemingly slow pace, yet perfectly appropriate to build up the foundation. Then Ghibli put events on an already solid foundation and execute it, almost flawlessly. Here, you feel no longer like an observer, but the characters themselves. You love them, you feel empathy, and you’re part of them, just like a family.

And just like any Ghibli’s movies, the sceneries and soundtracks mixed well and flow dynamically to enhance the overall experience. I could vividly perceive the relaxing environment, far from the busy days I always on; each soundtrack is also placed just at the right moment to amplify the emotion. These qualities always put me in awe every time I watched any Ghbli’s movies.

I tip my hat for Ghibli and desperately hope there will be another great movie from them.
Score : 10/10

There may not be a more self destructive behavioral disorder than social anxiety. Humankind is not meant to be solitary creatures; we are wired to desire love and companionship from others, making it counterproductive to have a condition that creates an intense sensation of fear in social situations and can cause one to lash out against those who try to enter your comfort zone.

Never have I seen an anime capture the frustration of, and eventual triumph over, social anxiety better than When Marnie Was There - accurately portraying the difficulties of trusting in others, the struggles of finding a place to belong, and how ... a journey of self discovery can form a path to a life of comfort and happiness.

"Ugly, Stupid, Moody, Unpleasant" - this is how the beautiful, intelligent, sincere and kind heroine Anna Sasaki views herself. She is a skilled sketch artist - able to re-imagine what lie before her eyes with impressive clarity, yet rejects all compliments and instead poses that she needs much more work to be worthy of praise. Anna's lack of self confidence is a bi-product of being a foster child, having lost her parents at an infantile age and feeling as though she's a stranger in her own home. While Anna's plight is understandable - any child under her circumstances would feel maligned and question their importance in the world - she is woefully incorrect that no one cares for her. She may not be living with her real parents, but her foster home loves her all the same, and there are children her age that wish to befriend her if she'd relax her standoffish personality. Anna's reluctance to open up to others reflects many other cases of anxiety where insecurities cloud our better judgement as we deny ourselves the chance to improve our lives for the better. It is only by learning how to trust in others that she is able to accept herself and gain the confidence to build healthy relationships. If Anna sounds at all like yourself, whether now or in a past life, then this movie is likely to move you to tears. It certainly did for me.

The trigger for Anna's character's progression is Marnie; daughter of a wealthy family and aesthetically the very opposite of Anna - having long blonde hair, wearing elegant gowns, and being sociable with others. Yet despite their differences, they relate strongly in the desire to find companionship and form a close bond with one another over the course of the film. Their relationship is the building block for the entire story, and proves to be significant in more ways that the viewer may initially realize. Every person struggling with anxiety needs a Marnie in their lives.

This movie is no exception to Ghibili's reputation of high quality production and painstaking detail. I took roughly 100 screenshots of the photorealisitc backgrounds that lay perfectly in the backdrop of every scene. Sure, I am a lunatic when it comes to anime screenshots, but anyone should be able to appreciate the care and attention to detail that went into developing this movie. There's a particular point in the story that stands out most to me where a character is fixing a plate of food for herself. She briefly loses grip of a tomato and then captures it back. In that period of time her voice stresses that brief struggle of capturing food, going from a straining, more nasally tone and back to normal. This is a very minor detail that no one would notice if it was not included, but was because the staff cared to do so. This is the standard of Studio Ghibili.

This movie comes highly recommended not only for anyone who can relate to the struggle of social anxiety, but also can appreciate a well constructed coming of age story. There are few out there that can match the realism, character development and aesthetic beauty of When Marnie Was There.

Ok first off let me start by saying that im not very good at writing reviews, ive only done it a few times.

Ok to get started at the beggining i found it hard to watch it started really slow but was something i had saw that caught my eye to watch. Omoide no Marnie is an anime about a girl that isnt enjoying her life anymore and ultimately hates herself. Shes a foster child and she thinks her parents only take care of her for the money they recieve. She has asthma and sometimes blacks out the doctor reccomends her mother to send her to ... live with family to help her with her breathing and to cheer her up. this is where it starts, this movie will show you the loving of family and the beauty of everything around you also the mysterious
parts.

The art in this movie is very well done for how the movie is set and the story and just the all around feel you got, i even got chills while watching at certain points which is always good in my opinion.

If you havent given this a watch get ready for a heartfelt movie that will definetly hit you in the feels, i recommend this to anyone who wants to have a chilling yet hearfelt look on life feel.

Sincerely, Self Supporting

This review contains *SPOILERS*.
Watched in Sub/Dub: Sub

Story: 8/10
Struggling with self esteem and asthma, 12-year-old Anna Sasaki is sent to stay at her Aunt’s house over the summer in a rural town. On the outskirts of town, across a marsh, she discovers a seemingly abandoned mansion that she feels drawn to. One night, Anna finds an unfamiliar boat waiting for her. She rows across the marsh towards the mansion to come across Marnie, a girl her age. The two quickly fall into a close friendship and share stories with each other about their struggles. There’s an emphasis on keeping quiet about their friendship and they’re not ... afraid to say “I love you” or dance in the moonlight together either. However, it’s all too clear to Anna that Marnie isn’t truly there with her. She struggles to keep the connection between Marnie and herself strong. When a new family moves into the mansion, Anna meets Sayaka who tells Anna that she’s found Marnie’s diary. Surprised to find out Marnie was in fact, a real person, Anna searches to seek Marnie’s truth. Ultimately, Marnie turns out to be Anna’s biological grandmother, who Anna was raised by for one or two years. Anna had created the image of Marnie through her childhood doll (who’s pointedly shown throughout the movie) and had enriched her character through the stories her grandmother told her. Anna leaves the town with feelings of confidence and acceptance.
Overall, I think When Marnie Was There is pretty excellently written. There’s not really any plot holes and the ending is satisfying as they show all of the characters one last time as Anna leaves at the end of the summer. My biggest issue with the plot is the queerbaiting. There are a lot of romantic overtones to Anna and Marnies relationship, that are then played off as sentimental when it’s revealed that Marnie is her grandmother. I can’t say whether or not the queerbaiting was truly intentional but I legitimately felt like Anna and Marnie had more chemistry than nearly every other Studio Ghibli couple before the big reveal.

Art: 8/10
In keeping with the standard Studio Ghibli style. Pretty, but not mind-blowing.

Sound/Soundtrack: 8/10
Pleasant music though not particularly striking by any means.

Character: 9/10
The characters in When Marnie Was There are well-written. Anna was far more relatable to me than most Ghibli characters. She feels much more “real” than most over dramatic main characters. Marnie is appropriately written as if she's a doll, she seems so perfect and vacant at the same time. The side characters are all sweet and have prominent personalities rather than caricatures.

Enjoyment: 8/10
I enjoyed watching most of When Marnie Was There, but I felt cheated after it was revealed that Marnie was her grandmother.

Overall: 8/10
Solid plot, good characters, generally attention-keeping and not too long, I believe When Marnie Was There is a quality film from Studio Ghibli. It’s certainly not earth-shattering or a “must see” but it definitely has merit.

I've talked about Studio Ghibli's output a lot. In doing so I've covered the good, the mediocre & the Tales from Earthsea. This week, we're covering their latest film based off of an English children's novel. 

Story:

Sasaki Anna is dealing with a lot. She suffers from social anxiety, self loathing and asthma. Plus her parents died without leaving her a mansion, butler and the money to study every conceivable martial art. Her adopted mother decides to send her to a more rural area for a while, hoping it will be good for her asthma. Once there, Anna finds herself drawn to an old, abandoned mansion. Strangely, ... the mansion seems to come alive during high tide and it's there that Anna meets Marnie, a blonde, blue-eyed girl who makes Anna promise not to mention her to anyone. 

The only real issue I have with the narrative is that the climax is a bit abrupt in terms of how it's resolved. One moment Anna is actually mad at Marnie and in the next she's completely okay. 

There are a lot of positive aspects to the story. The pacing is largely well done. The subtle build up before Marnie shows up, the way Marnie and Anna build their friendship, that's all great stuff. The whole theme surrounding mental health and Anna's issues is well handled. You see a gradual improvement spurred on by her interactions with Marnie and it's pretty heart warming. I'll also credit them for foreshadowing the twist well. It might be obvious for those of us who are older, but it's perfect for the target audience. 

Characters:

A big part of why the film works so well is that the characters are well written. Anna is highly sympathetic based on what she's going through but she can also be quite nasty and lash out at others. Marnie is, similarly, a largely sympathetic character but we do get to see her mischievous side and her flaws. Even a character like Toichi who barely speaks has enough of a fleshed out personality to give him a good degree of verisimilitude. The interactions betwixt our leads are very well done and Anna gets some strong dynamics with some other characters as well. 

Art:

The artwork and animation are exactly what you'd expect from Ghibli. Well designed characters, fantastic backgrounds, strong details throughout and smooth movements. Ghibli's dynamic style is still fully intact and I think that's great.

Sound:

The performances are quite good. Especially from our leads, Takatsuki Sara & Arimura Kasumi. The soundtrack work was done by Muramatsu Takatsugu, who also worked on music for Mary to Majo no Hana. Like with that film, he does a solid job here. The music is well suited to Ghibli's aesthetic. 

Ho-yay:

There really isn't any. While Anna & Marnie do forge a strong bond, they come across more like friends who have gotten close to the point of being almost familial. If there were a term for old friends who've just met, I'd use that to describe their relationship dynamic. 

Areas of Improvement:

A little longer of a climax. I'd give Marnie and Anna more of a conversation at this point. I think it would strengthen the film and make the whole thing ring truer. 
Give Anna's adoptive father something. We know she has an adopted dad since he's mentioned, but we never really see him. It might be nice to at least have him see her off with his wife or anything. 
It would be nice to see more of a reaction from Anna when the final revelation happens. 

Final Thoughts: 

Omoide no Marnie is an excellent film. It may not stand with the very best of Ghibli's output, but it's pretty close. I'll give it an enthusiastic 9/10.