When Marnie Was There

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 thatoverstay 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 steppedit 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 andoften 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.