When Marnie Was There (2014)

I make a point to watch more than half the Academy Best Animated Feature nominees in any given year. I had seen two from 2015 already and may add Boy & the World, but Anomalisa sounds disturbing. Coming on the heels of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and The Wind Rises, WMWT marks the first time that Studio Ghibli got three back-to-back nominations, tho still no Oscar since Spirited Away.

The setting appears to be '60s Japan. Twelve-year-old Anna starts the movie as a self-loathing loner, stressed enough to compound her asthma. Her foster parents send her on a wellness trip to the country home of...let's call them her aunt and uncle. At first she's still depressed, but she takes interest in a reportedly abandoned mansion that somehow seems familiar -- and meets a same-age girl living there, eager to take a break from an oppressive home life. The two form a strong if secret bond in no time, but something seems off about Marnie's appearances and disappearances, as well as Anna's tendency to wake up a ways from where she thought she was. Anna starts to question Marnie's reality, and the plot gets a little more complicated....

I know of very few anime pieces that are neither fantasy nor sci-fi. WMWT feels realistic most of the time but definitely walks the line. In the end, I'm not sure that everything quite makes sense. If not, that's OK; it's simply a relatively credible fairy tale.

That said, please do not get the impression that it's as family-friendly as the other two 2015 nominees I've reviewed. It's a light PG and not too long (103 minutes) but would try the patience of many kids younger than Anna. Also, not every parent would approve of kids seeing a platonic yet decidedly homoromantic relationship, which the Netflix summary didn't mention. And no, I'm not just bringing my own biases as an American man: From what I read, the original Joan G. Robinson novel clearly intended it that way, albeit hedging a little for 1967 success.

If Anna normally swings that way in a not-so-accepting society, it might help to explain the severity of her social and emotional issues. I've always been a gawky introvert in RL, but she leaves me in the dust on that score, panicking at even positive attention from two people at a time. I get the impression that she wouldn't be an outcast if she only gave her peers a chance.

At any rate, WMWT excels on at least two counts where Ghibli typically excels: visual beauty and female characters. In fact, this is one of the most Bechdel test–acing films I've ever seen, with considerably more presence of females than males. Suits me fine.

It also does a great job of engaging the emotions, especially near the end. That alone would make me glad to watch. The gestalt makes it a must-see for many viewers.