History Anime / PonyoOnTheCliffByTheSea

* WomenAreWiser: In contrast to Fujimoto's FantasticRacism towards humans, Granmamare is much more altruistic towards them and is more comfortable with the idea of Ponyo being with Sosuke. And from what we see, she's generally more level-headed than he is.

* ChildrenAreInnocent: Her father wishes she could remain so forever, and later objects to testing Sosuke because he is so innocent.

''Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea'' (''Gake no Ue no Ponyo'', titled ''Ponyo'' in anglophone countries) is a 2008 film by {{anime}} master Creator/HayaoMiyazaki and Creator/StudioGhibli. ''Very'', '''''very''''' loosely based on the Creator/HansChristianAndersen story ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'', the movie follows the adventures of Ponyo, a sort of...[[BuffySpeak goldfishy thing]], and her quest [[BecomeARealBoy to become human]] and be with [[InterspeciesRomance the boy she loves]].

* {{Leitmotif}}: Ponyo, Fujimoto, and Granmamare are accompanied by instrumental renditions of their respective character songs (the film's main theme for Ponyo, "Fujimoto's Theme" for Fujimoto, and "Mother of the Sea" for Granmamare).

* ApparentlyHumanMerfolk: Fujimoto.
** It's specified that he WasOnceAMan but he now breathes underwater and can't survive on the surface without constantly spraying himself with seawater.

* HeroesWantRedheads: A more platonic example, though Ponyo is all Sosuke can think about upon meeting said red-headed fish.

''Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea'' (''Gake no Ue no Ponyo''. Titled ''Ponyo'' in North America) is a 2008 film by {{anime}} master Creator/HayaoMiyazaki and Creator/StudioGhibli. ''Very'', '''''very''''' loosely based on the Creator/HansChristianAndersen story ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'', the movie follows the adventures of Ponyo, a sort of...[[BuffySpeak goldfishy thing]], and her quest [[BecomeARealBoy to become human]] and be with [[InterspeciesRomance the boy she loves]].

* MeaningfulName: Granmamare. Basically means "Great Mother of the Sea" ("Mare" is "sea" in Latin).

* ShapeshiftingLover: Ponyo, who is implied to have a puppy love crush on Sosuke with her telling him she loves him and hugging him, transforms into a human to find him.

''Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea'' (''Gake no Ue no Ponyo'') is a 2008 film by {{anime}} master Creator/HayaoMiyazaki and Creator/StudioGhibli. ''Very'', '''''very''''' loosely based on the Creator/HansChristianAndersen story ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'', the movie follows the adventures of Ponyo, a sort of...[[BuffySpeak goldfishy thing]], and her quest [[BecomeARealBoy to become human]] and be with [[InterspeciesRomance the boy she loves]].

* DangerousDrowsiness: Near the end of the film, the first thing that happens when Ponyo loses her magic is that she becomes drowsy and becomes unable to perform magic to make another candle grow for Sosuke and his boat.

* PrefersGoingBarefoot: Ponyo goes barefoot for nearly the entire film. "Nearly" because the rest of the time she's a fish.

* CatchPhrase:
--> '''Fujimoto:''' This is bad. This is very bad.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Ponyo goes barefoot for nearly the entire film. "Nearly" because the rest of the time she's a fish.
** Sosuke is barefoot for most of the movie, including almost the entire second half of it.

* BoomerangBigot: Fujimoto mentions that he was once a human himself before he aligned with the oceans, making his anti-human endeavors a case of this.

* EvilMakesYouUgly: Subverted. The two somewhat off looking characters are Toki (one of the old woman at the retirement home) and Fujimoto. But the Old woman is just kinda cranky and Fujimoto certainly isn't evil. Just overworked and wanting his daughter back.

* FishOutOfWater: Literally with Ponyo, though she actually adjusts fairly quickly to life on land (besides just being very odd).

* {{Gonk}}:
** Ponyo, particularly in her frog/chicken form, though this crosses over into UglyCute.
** The baby, in a notable aversion of GenericCuteness.

-->'''Lisa:''' Well. That guy was a freak show. But don't ''you'' call people "freak show". We ''never judge people by their looks.'' \\

* LimitedWardrobe: In Fujimoto's room there hangs an identical blue and white striped jacket to the one he is already wearing. However, later in the film he changes to a red and white striped one.

* WeirdnessCensor: Nobody seems overly amazed at any supernatural event that occurs. In fact most of the adults continue to believe that Ponyo is a 'goldfish'. See also UnusuallyUninterestingSight. It's implied (but never outright stated) that humans have a hard time perceiving magic, (the big example is that the fishermen comment on the waves, but not that they are made of watery fish) and that Sousuke never saw the eyes, and other than the one woman, nobody noticed that Ponyo had a human face.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Fujimoto, though his good intentions only extend to life in the ocean. He quickly becomes [[spoiler:a HarmlessVillain because Ponyo accidentally foils his plans to cover the world with a prehistoric ocean and at the end he is only genuinely worried for his daughter and for the planet]].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Ponyo, while still possessed of her potion-boosted fair-folk sea powers blesses an infant child. While her parents help clean up the damage she caused at the end of the movie they never actually reverse it, and the child is never mentioned again. So there is a random kid in town with the blessings of a sea-goddess. Take that Aquaman!