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zodd0 said: Powerful film, got me emotional. Ghiblis best in recent years. For those who are wondering about the yuri implications: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3398268/faq thanks for this! I guess I can't be that upset about it anymore. I appreciate that they kept the gayness in there, but still... it would be even better if they went all the way with it to make a point that we're not in the 60s anymore. |
"Why is it that the beautiful things are entwined more deeply with death than with life?" ~Kaneki Ken |
| Had a hard time buying into things for too long, mainly because Anna was quite unsympathetic a character, but how it (eventually) developed helped redeem it a lot. Might be better on a rewatch but can't say I enjoyed the whole experience unfortunately... lamentingempath said: zodd0 said: For those who are wondering about the yuri implications: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3398268/faq thanks for this! I guess I can't be that upset about it anymore. I appreciate that they kept the gayness in there, but still... it would be even better if they went all the way with it to make a point that we're not in the 60s anymore. Also this just makes the story all the more awkward when you start considering incest. |
| Watched it today with my mother, and she was surprisingly into it, considering she doesn't really like any type of cartoon. I didn't really get that well why she was mad about the money, I mean there's people in the same situation but that are treated badly anyway. Maybe it's a cultural thing, I don't know. I'm also glad Sayaka wasn't a brat, she gave that impression with her first appearance. But, yeah, it was a cute movie, and I felt happy that Anna could see that she was loved by her adoptive parents and her grandmother at the end. |
| Baby, daijobanai... |
| Beautiful art and animation as can be expected, but I had a hard time feeling empathy for the characters. It was really hard for me to feel for Anna, especially considering she was a pretty huge jerk for the first half of the movie. I'm glad at least that she apologized to that girl at the end. The plot was also a bit weird and completely not what I expected, and I felt only explained half of the mystery. I didn't see the Marnie = grandma twist coming until we were told her story, but I'm still confused as to what Anna was seeing (hallucinations?) and if she was running around by herself and the rowing and stuff? I was a bit disappointed by Anna's character arc and was expecting there to be more to it. The ending wrapped things up nicely at least with her becoming more friendly and accepting of her family. I liked the ED as well, it fit in really well with the feeling. I was surprised from the yuri incest subtext? Sure didn't expect to see that lol. Overall I was a bit disappointed, it was nice to look at but I didn't think the movie was that good ... "fine" seems to perfectly describe how I feel about it :P 6/10 |
| A truly beautiful and emotional movie |
| “I love heroes, but I don't want to be one. Do you even know what a hero is!? For example, you have some meat. Pirates will feast on the meat, but the hero will distribute it among the people! I want to eat the meat!” - Monkey D. Luffy |
| You know, about an hour or so into this film I was ready to bash it nearly entirely. My ending line was gonna be something like how I was glad Miyazaki was coming back so that this wouldn't wind up being the last Ghibli film. But I think it recovered by the end. I still didn't particularly like this movie, and I still consider it weaker than other recent Ghibli fare such as Poppy Hill and Arrietty, but at least from a technical aspect I can appreciate what it tried to do. As it turned out this was actually a movie about mothers and daughters, and two failed relationships helping to mend a third. I can appreciate that, and I liked the reveal of Marnie being Anna's grandmother. I knew she was dead right from the beginning, but I failed to pick that up even though earlier in the movie they did go through the effort to specifically mention Anna's grandmother died in addition to her parents, which was a huge tell in hindsight. Speaking of Anna I can also appreciate that she was a very human character. Prone to fits of self-loathing and lashing out at others. Nothing Mary Sue about her. But did that make me like her? No, if anything for a huge portion of the film after the "fat pig" scene I actually greatly disliked her. That portion of the film in general came across as very boring to me. Everything from that scene until the truth behind Marnie at the end I honestly could have done without. The party scene, the silo scene, etc... Now I acknowledge that it was needed for the plot, but it was just boring to me. And perhaps me thinking Anna was a bitch hurt it because I dwelled on that for awhile after it happened. Keeping in mind of course that she does eventually apologize, which I liked, and she does have a rough backstory so some leeway should be given to her. But still I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy it. Maybe that conflict within me should itself give the movie some credit just for existing, but I dunno. There were other good things about this film. Sayaka was cool and like all Ghibli films it looked beautiful. And the ending reunion with her foster mother definitely showed character growth and development. Though that final wave of goodbye to Anna from Marnie felt more cheap and emotionally manipulative than touching. FMA handled that kinda stuff better, no tears were flowing from me here. Regardless, all these things should show that as I said, on a purely technical level, this is a good movie. But I care moreso about the personal. And I can't give a movie that I honestly don't really feel like I'll ever wanna watch again, with a large middle section I didn't really care about, a high score. Regardless of technical merits I just can't do it. So I'll give this a 7 out of 10. |
| That there was not the hand of Miyazaki feels in some ways in the film, although there are some themes dear to the latter. The graphic quality is that of the Ghibli studio and the character design is not bad, but the story despite being different from those seen so far in the Ghibli films, does not manage to involve me a lot, especially in the central part of the film. The beginning of the narration was promising, and even the final part, although having elements that know deja vu, is still beautiful; remains, however, that it is not up to the other films of the Studio. The soundtrack is catchy, so is the ending. Too bad that the character of Sayaka only enters the final part, I was very nice. 8/10 |
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| First Studio Ghibli film I have watched and I am in love. This movie just made me smile the whole time. I felt everything. It made my heart warm inside. It is such a beautiful story and I won't mind watching it again. I might as well buy it lol |
TomDay said: i would have given it a 10, and maybe this is just me, but i was getting some serious yuri vibes when anna just met marnie. since i was watching with my sibs (and they of course have no idea about yuri/yaoi) i was so nervous to see a yuri kiss with them (not that'd i'd want to see it alone anyway). i even searched up if there was romance between the two just to make sure. and when she was going to confess she was a foster kid and started her sentence with "I'm..." i actually half expected for her to say "gay." it was that strong for me. it was the dang blushing of anna all the time that did it for me i guess.. Lol, this film was never even meant lesbian, despite all the erroneous expectations of Western anime fans. The entire film is literally permeated by Class S, that is, passionate but platonic love between girls. In reality, most of the "yuri subtext" is the same illusion as yaoi vibes in shows like Saint Seiya and Boku no Hero Academia. |
RobertBobertDec 24, 2018 2:38 PM
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Blackouting said: Had a hard time buying into things for too long, mainly because Anna was quite unsympathetic a character, but how it (eventually) developed helped redeem it a lot. Might be better on a rewatch but can't say I enjoyed the whole experience unfortunately... lamentingempath said: thanks for this! I guess I can't be that upset about it anymore. I appreciate that they kept the gayness in there, but still... it would be even better if they went all the way with it to make a point that we're not in the 60s anymore. Also this just makes the story all the more awkward when you start considering incest. Interesting, but I did not notice any indication of the intentions of the studio or the author of the original novel, that this was a love story overtoned. Only "research in qeer theory" without any independent source. That is, is it a clean, modern interpretation? I even did a short google run, but all they gave me were discussions on forums and geek resources. I am well aware of the fact that in old works qeer relationships were often encrypted as friendships, but this does not automatically mean that any works about intimate friendship are like that. Not to mention that any such interpretations turn this work into a lesbian incest story about the relationship between a grandmother and a girl, rudely stating that the whole message of the work is only "an excuse to hide the lesbians". I re-watching this film several times and did not see anything in it, that one girl could not tell her friend, especially in the context of Japanese culture. As I see, many questions were caused by the word "aishiteru" from Marnie, but firstly, she saw her future husband instead of Marnie, and secondly, I know a lot of anime where mothers or sisters use this word. So, this is not any "intentional code" from Japanese-speaking Ghibli. UPD. And for that matter, this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reFhaZSLCj0&hd=1 explains the story much better and in more detail. |
RobertBobertDec 24, 2018 7:22 PM
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RobertBobert said: Lol, this film was never even meant lesbian, despite all the erroneous expectations of Western anime fans. The entire film is literally permeated by Class S, that is, passionate but platonic love between girls. In reality, most of the "yuri subtext" is the same illusion as yaoi vibes in shows like Saint Seiya and Boku no Hero Academia. lol, thanks for replying to me. i'm disgusted at my highkey homomisic ass, but i won't delete it because i'm not trying to wipe what i was before. i've grown to be a better person and that's what matters. looking at it now it really does look like genuine friendship. not defending myself, but to put into context this was the closest i had ever seen a no. straight relationship and it threw me for a shock. there's still no reason for me to put a point down because of it, of course. |
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TomDay said: RobertBobert said: Lol, this film was never even meant lesbian, despite all the erroneous expectations of Western anime fans. The entire film is literally permeated by Class S, that is, passionate but platonic love between girls. In reality, most of the "yuri subtext" is the same illusion as yaoi vibes in shows like Saint Seiya and Boku no Hero Academia. lol, thanks for replying to me. i'm disgusted at my highkey homomisic ass, but i won't delete it because i'm not trying to wipe what i was before. i've grown to be a better person and that's what matters. looking at it now it really does look like genuine friendship. not defending myself, but to put into context this was the closest i had ever seen a no. straight relationship and it threw me for a shock. there's still no reason for me to put a point down because of it, of course. Nothing, I do not blame you. Just recently, I decided to refresh my memory of this film, and I was horrified by how many people were even willing to support incest to justify "why these girls are lesbians". |
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RobertBobert said: Nothing, I do not blame you. Just recently, I decided to refresh my memory of this film, and I was horrified by how many people were even willing to support incest to justify "why these girls are lesbians". .........wtf. i really don't want to see what society will be in the future, oh my god |
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TomDay said: RobertBobert said: Nothing, I do not blame you. Just recently, I decided to refresh my memory of this film, and I was horrified by how many people were even willing to support incest to justify "why these girls are lesbians". .........wtf. i really don't want to see what society will be in the future, oh my god The main thing is to find yuri or yaoi, the rest is not important. So, I would not be surprised if people consider parody manga like Motto Love Love Sakusen desu to be the canonical parts of the plot, just because there is a joke that increases the subtexts between the characters, and also supports the yuri memes series from fandom. |
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| Just from the opening scene, I've felt a strong emotional connection to Anna. Growing up as an introverted asthmatic who's so socially inept that I was seen as some sort of a problem child was pretty much what I had to deal with in my early childhood and the really tough parts with the self-loathing, doubt, and the intense discomfort from thinking about how much of a burden I am to others definitely came later on. I can even relate to Marnie to an extent because I grew up fairly well off but also had a time where my househelp would just lock me up in the basement so she could watch TV while ignoring me. I can say that this was partly the reason why I was so emotionally invested in the movie but some parts made me realize that I can't recall a movie that made me cry this many times. It was very supernatural and mysterious throughout the movie when the supposedly abandoned mansion suddenly had Marnie and her dreadful company living in it and with Anna waking up somewhere random after every time she meets with her. It's super eerie that she's managed to make a concrete image of her dream girl that's so realistic that she can't even tell whether she's dreaming or not and to experience Marnie's key events in her diary before even getting the chance to read it but they explained the reason why beautifully. Hisako explaining Marnie's real background as a lonely wealthy girl who grew up with neglect, sorrow, and death who tried her best to not let her granddaughter experience what she and her daughter had gone through was tragic. The revelation of all those surreal experiences actually being Anna's repressed memories of Marnie's stories passed on to Anna when she was very little before she passed away was executed gorgeously and made me very emotional. I don't care if it had intense yuri vibes and NTR moments when Marnie left her for Kazuhiko, I loved the movie. It was great to see her become a better and more confident person out of all this! |
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| The first time I heard about this film, it was on a post where people thought it was gonna be the first gay ghibli movie. The second time, I came across a review for it and they angrily spoiled the plot twist. and now that I finally watched it myself... yeah, it definitely has a taste of queerbaiting to it. good ED tho. |
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| Was very slow for half the length but the part where Anna talked out with Marnie, Sayaka scenes and esp. once the ultimate reveal happened, it became really solid. I got teary-eyed multiple times from then on. Good movie with a very good ending. |
OrangeCloudsMar 3, 2019 11:42 PM
| This is such a beautiful movie... I really loved it. |
| had it on my list for a while but finally watched it for a bonus card haha a very childish, fun and cute adventure with a lot of mystery involved, about a girl who leaves the city to go live for some time on a village where the air is healthier , and there she finds friends and goes on adventures =D while it was almost 2 hours (nowadays i rarely watch anything for more than 20 minutes), i have to say it was a very nice/worthy way to pass time, thanks for the "Crown Royal" club for recommending to me watch it <3 |
favorite "new girls" from summer <3 ... click sig for older seasons and more possible picks (rip all the other choices) |
| Yeah that was a decent movie, 7/10, i've seen better ghiblis but it still remains a good one |
| Signature removed. Please have a positive iq. |
Another_ZHODY said: The first time I heard about this film, it was on a post where people thought it was gonna be the first gay ghibli movie. The second time, I came across a review for it and they angrily spoiled the plot twist. and now that I finally watched it myself... yeah, it definitely has a taste of queerbaiting to it. good ED tho. Someday, Western viewers will stop complaining that anime about important emotional connections do not live up to their expectations about gay content, but that's another story. |
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| By far my fav Ghibili movie after Howl Moving castle those are special but this one was phenomenal 9/10. FMmatron said: Kudos for her, I can't even hold my tears even when writing this now.Today this movie was broadcasted on TV and my mother told me about it, so I decided spontaneous to watch it together with her. We both enjoyed it and my mom even teared up a little bit. The story was good and the art really gorgeous. 7/10. |
| Well done. Excellent story and characters, a clever reveal. Superlative animation. |
| Signature removed. Please follow the signature rules, as defined in the Site & Forum Guidelines. |
| 3rd movie of my Ghibli marathon , neat designs, fluid animation , really really good musics and OST's. The movie was good but it wasn't my type of movies I don't really like when childrens are the MC's : 7.5/10 |
 yikes |
| Well, gotta admit that was a very creative way to sink my Anna x Marnie ship lol. Now seriously, it was a rather standard movie overall. It wasn't boring but it wasn't that engaging either. If anything, the plot twist regarding who Marnie was was what actually caught my full interest in the end. Regarding cast, I liked Anna's awkward persona and I found the interactions she had with Marnie to be rather sweet, charming and especially heartfelt during some parts of the movie. Supporting cast was also really nice with the Ooiwas and particularly, Sayaka's character being some really strong additions. Now, as for what Marnie was, I will go with the idea of her being indeed a "ghost/spirit" but one guided by Anna's subconscious memories related to the stories her grandma used to tell her. After all, Marnie physically interacted with Anna at some points in the movie such as leaving the boat to her in their first meeting; when she prevented Anna from crashing into the Marsh House's dock; when she taught her how to use the two oars boat or when Marnie "jumped" from the cliff taking into account that Anna had no motive to "imagine/dream" such thing. And not to mention also that the scene with Marnie begging Anna for forgiveness really gave me the impression of her being an spirit wanting to come to terms with past regrets in order to finally move on. Aspect that gained much more sense after the revelation about Marnie being actually Anna's grandmother. Honestly, the whole deal with Marnie was rather ambiguous if you ask me but personally, I prefer to think there was an actual spirit there instead of assuming it was all just a product of Anna's considerably damaged state of mind. On a side note, I also thought about the possibility of the girls living in separate timelines. Being able to interact with each other but with a few years of separation between said timelines. Something like what happened in "Kimi no Na wa." but unfortunately, the movie didn't give me enough proofs to support this theory. The deal surrounding the mention of the "flower girl" in Marnie's diary left me feeling quite puzzled tho. 6/10 - Again, not a bad movie in the slightest but unfortunately, I didn't feel as invested as I would have hoped. |
SouthRzVaSep 13, 2020 12:02 AM
| This was honestly a good film, It's pretty sad that Ghibli hasn't really been that active since this came out but I hope it's for the best of the Studio. I liked the whole mystery and its slow revealing, Marnie character was also animated so beautifully. I wan't to give this film a little bit more but it just doesn't have such unique Ghibli magic like films that came before it, so I will settle with 7.9/10 |
| I didn't really get too into this film. Anna as a driving character didn't work too well for me. She seemed to be introspective and introverted, but she was also written as confusing willfulness and independence for just being rude to everyone around her. While she had a traumatic childhood, acting confrontational and distrustful towards everyone in the village she was in seemed off. Despite the best efforts of her relatives, it wasn't until meeting Marnie did she actually start to change, and it was really sudden as well. Her boyish demeanor seemed to also turn feminine as the film went on, which was weird. I'm not exactly sure what the film was trying to imply, as least with regards to how it wanted Anna to mature. I'd actually like to see a film about just Marnie's story, where, starting from childhood, she'd grow up in a broken household, move out, get married, have a family, lose the family, and regain it again in her old age. For the moment, it just feels like another Ghibli film glorifying the rural lifestyle and disapproving of youngsters disrespecting aged people and places. Honestly, why did those kids go out of their way to insult the old man? What kind of kid torments an old fisherman? It felt like this film was trying to make statements regarding society throughout, but without the dedication to really commit to their creed. They'd just stop halfway before making a point, leaving a hanging snide passive aggressively. |
ShockedMay 27, 3:04 PM
| I actally really loved this one. Anne was some of the times hard to take (how many times can a single person FALL just like that) but I really had shivers watching it |
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| Bruh this movie broke me like I was having a melt down after it ended wtf |
You are not a flower of hell.  |
| Very pretty. And I liked how everything was nicely developed, revealed and therefore enlightening what was happening. It was beautiful. Ez 9/10 |
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| At first, I had a hard time with the relationship with Marnie and Anna. I didn't like the secrecy between Marnie and Anna and was thinking the friendship was highly toxic and they were enabling each other. The last 15 minutes took a twist and was rather emotional and tied all the loose ends together. I'm happy for Anna's transformation, pretty good but miss the more scenic and beautiful art generally produced from Ghibli! |
| This film was kind of had a boring start. I pretty much was going to be critical about it, but then the ending hit me really hard. I teared up a bit (which was really unexpected for me) That was a really solid ending. It so unfair...sigh...If that's not good , I don't know what is..... Overall 8/10 , I loved it. |
AdampkFeb 18, 2021 6:50 AM
  Click for a anime mashup! Still not gone bandwagon u, keep crying. Here u are welcome to CRINGE at my EXISTENCE |
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| I don't know what exactly made me think earlier that wasn't a Ghibli movie but when I found Ghibli logo in the movie intro, I couldn't contain my emotions. It threatened to spill out every second until I did cry and cry at the end. |
If you are going to disagree with me, don't bother talking to me. I will seriously hurt you! |
| Lovely movie. Perfect paced and well-balanced story. A not-so-familiar Studio Ghibli gem. The animation was superb and different from their usual style. The story was really nice build-up with Marine and Anna's interactions and near the end revealing the big mystery about Marine. I would never guess she was Anna's grandmother. I am glad they didn't end it with an unresolved end which leaves the viewer with many unanswered questions. It was really nice to see that not only was Anna able to be happy in that small country town but also got friends. Cool that imaginary Marine (in Anna's head) was able to bring Anna and the glasses girl together and connect their friendship in a nice charming way. The only part I found a little weak was how Marine made her daughter go to boarding school so she could recover from her husband's death. I agree it may have been devastating for her, but it's hard buying that argument. I find it a bit on thin ice. Nonetheless, it was a great movie about friendship in a mysterious way. I bet that also works in mysterious ways. xD. A movie I would totally recommend it. A solid 8/9 or 5/5. |
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Nakamura_Kumiko said: My dad watched this with me last night, and he doesn't generally like Anime but he decided to watch it with me because it was my birthday. He and I really enjoyed it, my only complaint was the Anna was slow at realizing the obvious. Great deduction, but I wouldn't put a spoiler tag on it. It's hardly any spoiler in your comment. :P |
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| very warm feelings |
| Did I cry ? Yes I did. Was it expected ? No it wasn't. Yet I did. Why did this story particularly touched me compared to all the other Ghibli movies I've seen ? Many reasons. First, I got attached to almost all the characters. That's surprising because generally, I just don't manage to care much about Ghibli characters, but here I just wanted to give everyone a hug. Anna was such a relatable and touching character (which is a big reason why I loved this movie, I could see parts of me in her and that really helped me sympathize with her), her aunt and uncle were super sweet (and I was so afraid they'd be mean, I'm glad the movie took another route), Sayaka was adorable, same for Hisako, the taciturn fisherman was very endearing, and Marnie... Oh didn't this poor girl shatter my heart into pieces. She made me cry. I really didn't expect to get this attached to her considering she initially seemed to be a simple illusion working as a plot device but actually she was so much more than that. The twist, after a while, was rather predictable, I guessed it right when they showed the old woman singing Marnie's song to the baby (and already had my doubts when it was mentionned that Anna's eyes are as blue as a foreigner's), so I was pretty surprised that it took so long for Anna to understand it. Actually, I thought she got it once Hisako ended her story. But in a way, I can understand that she didn't immediately get it, that's something pretty hard to believe after all. But wow, that twist made Anna's and Marnie's friendship all the more heartwarming, and really showed how much Marnie cared about her. Despite being so ill, she never stopped loving her. She didn't abandon her. And seeing all the people Anna made friend with, as well as her accepting her mom's love, was so sweet. Now I'm still curious to know how Anna ever came to interact with the young Marnie, but at the same time I'm glad they left it a mystery. It isn't necessary to know everything that happened. Was she a ghost ? Was it all in Anna's head ? Hard to say. But what is sure is that even after her death, she provided happiness to Anna, through making her meet people she needed and embrace those she already had, and through making her see that her life is really not that bad. With that said this movie isn't flawless, but it didn't bother me. I give it an 8/10 ! It might even be my favorite Ghibli movie, along with Princess Mononoke. |
FafetteSep 5, 2021 4:54 PM
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| the first 40 minutes or so didn't really attract my attention, it was boring and i thought i wouldn't like anna. i mean what kind of kid is that? i wouldn't hang out with her either if given the opportunity to. why does she have blue eyes, brown hair, etc. but everything after that went uphill, and for a movie with a run-time of less than two hours, it sure felt like an eternity. in a certainly good way. i went from stoic to tears and goosebumps every 20 minute interval. for some reason, the concept of past-lived "ghosts" or "spirits" that interact and are only seen by the mc is one that creates such a unique sense of bittersweet folly. this is also why i'm never enthusiastic to see it, as it bestows me a healthy dose of depression. i am surprised though that marnie turned out to be her grandmother. guess it was just friendship. it is a more powerful film than i gave it credit for at the start, going in an unexpected direction once they revealed marnie's life after leaving the mansion. i thought it would go the "and after that day, i never met her again." route. it's simultaneously a sad and happy movie with closure. you see how anna's outlook on life and demeanor has shifted for the better. can't help but smile at that, can you. |
| Good and emotional movie. |
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Jrjeyrghf said: How I see episodes |
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| Beautiful and touching with a fantastic reveal. So full of heart. |
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