Omoide no Marnie

Suffering from frequent asthma attacks, young Anna Sasaki is quiet, unsociable, and isolated from her peers, causing her foster parent endless worry. Upon recommendation by the doctor, Anna is sent to the countryside, in hope that the cleaner air and more relaxing lifestyle will improve her health and help clear her mind. Engaging in her passion for sketching, Anna spends her summer days living with her aunt and uncle in a small town near the sea.

One day while wandering outside, Anna discovers an abandoned mansion known as the Marsh House. However, she soon finds that the residence isn't as vacant as it appears to be, running into a mysterious girl named Marnie. Marnie's bubbly demeanor slowly begins to draw Anna out of her shell as she returns night after night to meet with her new friend. But it seems there is more to the strange girl than meets the eye—as her time in the town nears its end, Anna begins to discover the truth behind the walls of the Marsh House.

Omoide no Marnie tells the touching story of a young girl's journey through self-discovery and friendship, and the summer that she will remember for the rest of her life.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Marnie Main

Arimura, Kasumi Japanese

Sasaki, Anna Main

Takatsuki, Sara Japanese

Toichi Supporting

Yasuda, Ken Japanese

Hisako Supporting

Kuroki, Hitomi Japanese

Ooiwa, Setsu Supporting

Negishi, Toshie Japanese

Emily Supporting

Ishiyama, Renge Japanese

Miyoko Supporting

Shiraishi, Haruka Japanese

Sasaki, Yoriko Supporting

Matsushima, Nanako Japanese

Sayaka Supporting

Sugisaki, Hana Japanese

Ooiwa, Kiyomasa Supporting

Terajima, Susumu Japanese

Nishimura, Yoshiaki Producer

Yonebayashi, Hiromasa Director, Script

Kasamatsu, Kouji Sound Director

Nakazawa, Shintarou Episode Director

Reviews

Jun 30, 2024

elisafake

Recommended

This is without a doubt my favorite Studio Ghibli film, it managed to capture every minute of it, it's simply incredible, every detail is perfect.
The story of the film tells us about the life of Anna, a girl from the big city who goes to live in the countryside. When she arrives, she sees an abandoned mansion and decides to explore and ends up making an incredible friendship. Its art is wonderful, as expected from Studio Ghibli films, with settings looking like beautiful paintings creating a slight contrast with the characters, its soundtrack is composed of classical music, perfectly matching the interpretation that the film ... tries to give us. Regarding the development of the characters, it is a good development, it tells us about the characters' lives without giving us spoilers.
It's a relaxing and comforting anime, I recommend you watch it both for the story and the animation, it's so detailed that the plot twist is something you wouldn't expect, I was perplexed when they revealed it, I'd love to comment but I'm not one to give spoilers.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Nov 26, 2021

hbaby1093

Mixed Feelings

*SPOILERS*

Alike so many others, I have a place in my heart for Studio Ghibli and their whimsical tales and wondrous animation. Rarely do I find myself disliking the work they put out, if ever. But...this movie was a first.

Protagonist: Anna. To some extent, I understand that she was going through an unhealthy mental state. I understand that she's a preteen. We were all moody when we were that age, we all had irrational behavior and outbursts, too. And yet, I couldn't entirely relate to her. She actually annoyed me a lot of the time, especially when it came to her actions toward the girls ... that tried to befriend her (or used to be her friends).

To dig deeper - we get a scene where she doesn't want to hang around her old friends, we get a scene where she doesn't want new friends, but then she meets Marnie - AND SUDDENLY - this beautiful blonde girl she's totally fine with! And not just with being friends, but spending every waking second together when it seemed pretty evident before that she only wanted to be alone.

I mean...seriously?!? That contradicted Anna's character! It would be one thing if it took Marnie some coaxing to get Anna to open up to her, BUT NO. It was instant! This irked me to no end. Not consistent with her behavior at all!

As for the other characters, there's not much to address. Likable enough, but also not enough character development or interactions to comment on.

Plot: Firstly and most importantly - Anna loved Marnie, and not platonically. And the way this was handled from start to finish was a significant letdown.

During their time together, Anna and Marnie were finding excuses to touch one another, were immediately infatuated upon meeting, and even proclaimed their love multiple times. At one point, Anna even gets jealous when Marnie is dancing with another boy, which then leads to the two of them dancing! How could anyone call this platonic?

And I enjoyed this direction! I was hoping it would continue and I would get the satisfaction of a kiss or something, but THEN...THEN they come out with this bullshit reveal that Marnie is Anna's grandmother. I'm sorry, what! That made their entire "friendship" give me the ick, which was very devastating. Either commit to the love story they so obviously were leading them toward or cut out the scenes that were very clearly not "just friends."

Second, Anna admits that she was upset at her Foster Mother for getting money from the state because it means to her that she only took Anna in for the money. What?!!? I don't think any teen/child would ever come to that conclusion on their own—especially one that's not from a wealthy background. Most kids in families who struggle would see extra money as a good thing. This concept was such a reach and not dramatic enough as a valid point of conflict between the characters.

Third, so much confusion with the world-building. In Spirited Away, you know that you've entered or left the spirit world when you pass the station. But in this, there was no clear understanding of how and why Marnie and Anna could see each other. There are all these little details they put in like Anna passing out, or disappearing, or forgetting a memory - and yet - nothing gets answered or resolved in that regard.


Animation: Beautiful, as always. But not my favorite, and not their best.


I wouldn't watch this expecting a lot, but if you're a fan of Studio Ghibli and want to watch it for that reason, then you should!

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 15, 2024

MaiDeNaBysS

Not Recommended

Send this poor, mentally ill/schizophrenic child to a non-quack doctor. That was genuinely what I was thinking for much of the movie, all the more by the end of it.

This movie barely goes anywhere and is almost completely SoL filler aside from a single exposition dump dialogue scene. The plot, beyond irrelevant specifics, is extremely predictable and boring, relying on unearned heartstring pulling. No justice for boat guy's irrelevance to the movie. No point to random fat-shamed character. No point to random exposition dump art-lady. The plot of this movie is summarized in one minute of exposition dialogue and spends the entire rest of the ... movie insincerely baiting a shallow romance while tipping its hand on a pointless mystery that is hard to care about as they present it in the most excessively saccharine way.

Edited to conform to community standards.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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