Story 8/10
The premise was simple enough; young introverted artistic girl with a tragic past moves to the countryside to improve her asthma. Through the events of the movie, she becomes more open and happier. Overall just a predictable story of personal growth, so nothing special.
My main problem (major spoilers in the next sentences!!) is how ghibli handled the relationship between Anne and Marnie. It was portrayed in such a way it was obvious Marnie was a ghost, but even so their relationship seemed very loving and it was cute; I was loving the innocence of their dynamic and the gay representation. But then ghibli completely back pedaled throwing out that Marnie is actually her grandmother, this is essentially the writer's way of say "Sike, no homo".
Art 9/10
Ghibli's art is impressive as always. Considering this is a newer work of Ghibli, I was thankful it wasn't CGI (because Ronja the Robber's Daughter had so much potential, I just couldn't stand to look at it from how awkward the visual were). The main issue is the same will all of their work, the backgrounds being too detailed in contrast with their characters.
The scenery is so beautiful, that it makes the animation of the human figures worse in comparison.
Sound 7/10
Ghibli is always very minimalist to give the atmosphere a more realistic feel. It wasn't noticeably good or bad, just average.
Character 7/10
From how the characters were presented, the ending was fairly obvious. Marnie's behavior revealed too much plot wise but stayed true to the character she was meant to be.
Anne's emotional distress over her aunt receiving money for her care was a very realistic trouble to be weighing on her, though her sudden emotional transformation was endearing.
Enjoyment 7/10
I watched this with a friend and honestly, the ending of a movie has to be great seeing as its the last thing you watch, ergo the first thing you remember. The cliched conclusion with the no homo tacked on plot piece left the two of us angered. Even if you ignore something as major as that, you can't have much fun watching anything if everything is predictable.
Overall 8/10
Even though the plot is lacking and cliched, I can't rate lower than 8 simply because it's so visually pleasing (and I'm a sucker for good nature shots). Worth a watch but if you care about a cute innocent lesbian couple, I suggest watching something else.
