History Anime / WhenMarnieWasThere

* NewParentNomenclatureProblem: Anna calls her foster mother "auntie". A CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming ensues towards the end when she suddenly addresses her with "mother".

* EndOfAnAge: Due to Studio Ghibli's restructuring, this is the last Ghibli film to feature Hiromasa Yonebayashi as director and Yoshiaki Nishimura as producer.

* GrandFinale: This was the last Ghibli film made before the studio's restructuring, the last to feature Hiromasa Yonebayashi as director and Yoshiaki Nishimura as producer before leaving to form Studio Ponoc, and the last film with animator Makiko Futaki before her passing three years after the film's release.

* GrandFinale: This was the last Ghibli film made before the studio's restructuring, the last to feature Hiromasa Yonebayashi as director and Yoshiaki Nishimura as producer, the last film with animator Makiko Futaki before her passing three years after the film's release, and the last film before Toshio Suzuki retired.

* EndOfAnAge: This was the last Ghibli film made before the studio's restructuring, the last to feature Hiromasa Yonebayashi as director and Yoshiaki Nishimura as producer, the last film with animator Makiko Futaki before her passing three years after the film's release, and the last film before Toshio Suzuki retired.

The film was nominated for the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedFeature in 2016. It became Yonebayashi and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura's SwanSong for Ghibli before its restructuring.

The film was nominated for the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedFeature in 2016. It became the fifth Studio Ghibli film to achieve such an honor. However, this film and ''Anime/TheTaleOfThePrincessKaguya'' became a temporary CreatorKiller for Studio Ghibli until ''WesternAnimation/TheRedTurtle'' in 2016 and it was Yonebayashi and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura's SwanSong for Ghibli.

* EndOfAnAge: This was the last Ghibli film made before the studio's restructuring, the last with Hiromasa Yonebayashi as director and Yoshiaki Nishimura as producer, and the last film produced before Toshio Suzuki's retirement.

* EndOfAnAge: This was the last Ghibli film made before the studio's restructuring, the last one to feature Hiromasa Yonebayashi as director, and the last with Yoshiaki Nishimura as producer.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Unless Anna's father was also Caucasian, it's almost impossible for Anna to have blue eyes.

* {{Mukokuseki}}: Subverted [[spoiler:Anna's blue eyes attract notice and are an important clue to her heritage]].

* TheReveal: ''Three'' over the course of the film, all regarding Marnie's true identity.

** Marnie's features are even more unlikely. Her father is a blond, blue-eyed "foreigner" of some kind but her mother appears to be a standard Japanese beauty (black hair and dark eyes.) Needless to say, the odds that their child would be a blond, blue-eyed girl are remote to the point of being practically impossible.

* GildedCage: Marnie lives in a luxurious mansion with wealthy parents, but her governess is abusive and the maids bully her. [[spoiler:Hisako]] explicitly says that Marnie was neglected.

* BaitAndSwitchLesbians: The beginning of the movie is virtually ''dripping'' with romantic tension between the two main characters, which led many viewers to believe that this would lead to a payoff by the end. [[spoiler: Marnie is Anna's grandmother. As girl she had feelings for Kazuhiko, a boy whom she later marries. Marnie was effectively viewing Anna as a stand-in for Kazuhiko all along.]]

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: "[[TearJerker I love you, Marnie! And I won't ever forget you!]]"

* ArtisticLicense-Biology: Unless Anna's father was also Caucasian, it's almost impossible for Anna to have blue eyes.

* ArtisticLicense-Biology: Unless Anna's father was also Caucasian, the chances of her having blue eyes is almost impossible.

* ArtisticLicense-Biology: Unless Marnie's father was also Caucasian, the chances of her having blue eyes is almost impossible

!!This film provides examples of:

* AmbiguousDisorder: Anna is frequently noted to act oddly for a child or focus on strange things. As the book begins, she book acts detached from other people, enjoys spending time alone, has little time for the family she lives with, and sends postcards to her guardian that are only a few sentences long. She views the world as being a circle with people on the "inside" and on the "outside", believing herself to be on the outside and separate from everyone else. At one point, she goes into a fury over an insult which everyone, even the narrator, considers to be silly. She also doesn't seem to have many friends, but the people she does meet and bond with (Marnie [[spoiler:and, later, the family that moves into her house]]) she's able to form very close ties to. Some of her behavior can be attributed to her [[spoiler:fearing that her foster mother is only keeping her for the money]], but her reaction to that still comes across as unusual for an upset child.

* FriendlessBackground: Being an overly introvert and quirky girl, Anna has no no friends at home.

* GhostlyGoals: [[spoiler: Marnie wants to spend time with Anna, who is truly her granddaughter, and help her grow beyond her abandonment issues.]]

-->'''Anna''': [[spoiler:Marnie is...someone I made up. An imaginary girl, only in my mind.]]

* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler: Marnie is Anna's grandmother. Kazuhiko is therefore her grandfather and Marnie's mother and father are Anna's are, therefore great-grandparents.]]
* LoveLetterLunacy: [[spoiler: Parental love version: Anna's isolation and disillusionment began when she found a hidden letter to her foster mother that rocked her whole world.]]

* MeaningfulEcho: [[spoiler: On the boat Sayaka's wants the diary to be her and Anna's secret which echoes the scene earlier at the same place where Marnie asked to keep her relationship with Anna a secret. The connection is that Marnie's diary brought Anna and Sayaka together as friends.]]

* {{Mukokuseki}}: Subverted [[spoiler: Anna's blue eyes attract notice and are an important clue to her heritage]].

-->'''Anna''': My real parents died when I was little. My grandmother, too. I know they didn't die on purpose, but... sometimes I feel like... I can't forgive them... for leaving me all alone.

** Anna is this around everyone, hiding her feelings unless provoked because she knows that she has a good life and thus she shouldn't complain. The few times that the facade breaks is heartbreaking, like when she tells Marnie that [[spoiler:she found out her foster parents were being paid to look after her, but they use it to take care of her, and she hates that it was being kept a secret.]]

* TroubledFetalPosition:
** Marnie when two maids tried to drag her to the silo, and later on when she's trapped in there due to her own fear.

** [[spoiler: Sayaka's "Are you Marnie?"]]

The film was nominated for the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedFeature in 2016. It became the fifth Studio Ghibli film to achieve such an honor. However, this film and ''Anime/TheTaleOfThePrincessKaguya'' became a temporary CreatorKiller for Studio Ghibli until ''The Red Turtle'' in 2016 and it was Yonebayashi and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura's SwanSong for Ghibli.

* MsExposition: Hisako, blantly so. Her story fills in many of the gaps by the end of the movie.

The film was nominated for the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedFeature in 2016. It became the fifth Studio Ghibli film to achieve such an honor. However, this film and ''Anime/TheTaleOfPrincessKaguya'' became a temporary CreatorKiller for Studio Ghibli until ''The Red Turtle'' in 2016 and it was Yonebayashi and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura's SwanSong for Ghibli.

The film was nominated for the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedFeature in 2016. It became the fifth Studio Ghibli film to achieve such an honor. However, this film and ''Anime/TheTaleOfPrincessKaguya'' became a temporary CreatorKiller for Studio Ghibli until ''The Red Turtle'' in 2016 and it was Yonebayashi and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura's swan song for Ghibli.

The film was nominated for the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedFeature in 2016. It became the fifth Studio Ghibli film to achieve such an honor.