Merlai Anne
Merlai Anne (マーライ・アン, Mārai An)[1][a] is a tertiary ally featured in the third part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Stardust Crusaders.
After being saved by Jotaro Kujo, she accompanies the Joestar Group as they head to Singapore. She somehow follows them from there to Pakistan and witnesses various Stand battles along the way.
Appearance
Merlai Anne is a young girl of average height and thin to medium build with a small, slightly upturned nose, and light freckles. She has long dark hair with bangs on each side.
She commonly wears baggy overalls on top of a light shirt. Anne first appears disguised as a boy with her hair tied up and covered with a cap. She carries a small knife with her. After her identity as a girl is revealed, she stops wearing her cap while she is with the Joestar Group but continues to wear it when she hitchhikes alone.
Color Schemes
Personality
Upon meeting the Joestar Group, Merlai Anne behaves like a temperamental and irreverent brat. She confidently challenges all five of them with only her small knife and a crazed attitude.[2]
Anne is rather brave for her size, but reckless; she ran away from home to travel the world and often finds herself in dangerous predicaments. At one point she decides to swim from a boat to a shore barely visible over the horizon.[3] This bravado doesn't prepare her for the Stands she meets. As foretold by Jotaro, Anne's presence drags the Joestar Group down, and they often risk their lives trying to save her.
Anne fancies herself a beautiful girl. When she tags along with Jotaro and his friends, she tries to catch their attention by commenting on her growth, to everyone's disinterest. She eventually develops a crush on Jotaro, obsessed with his looks and attitude.
History
Background
Merlai Anne wanted to travel the world, believing that posing as a boy would make it easier. She believed that once she had grown enough she would need to start wearing a bra, making it difficult to pose as a guy at that point. Shortly before the events of Stardust Crusaders, she runs away from home, believing that the age she is now is the best to travel and that she "has nothing better to do."
Stardust Crusaders (1988)
Merlai Anne first appears as a stowaway on the cruise ship that the Imposter Captain Tennille had abducted. Posing as a boy, she is found by one of the sailors who threatens to turn her to police when they reach shore. She then lies, saying she is going to Singapore to meet her father. She realizes that she was going to be imprisoned and jumps off the ship in an attempt to swim to shore by herself and remain safe. When close to being attacked by a shark (later killed by Dark Blue Moon) she is begrudgingly saved by Jotaro Kujo. It is then that her identity as a girl is revealed and she threatens to cut one of the crew members when the Joestar Group suspects her for a Stand user.
She is then taken hostage by the Imposter Captain Tennille when his real identity is revealed but is saved by Noriaki Kakyoin when Jotaro fails to do so and gets dragged into the water. She starts to develop a crush towards Jotaro and his attitude, thinking he is cool.
During the battle, the ship is destroyed and she accompanies the group into Forever's Stand-bound ship, Strength. Forever, acting like a human being lusts for Anne and corners her in the middle of her shower soon after brutally killing all the sailors. She is saved by Jotaro again and watches their battle.
When the group reaches Singapore, the girl refuses to separate from them, saying she will meet her father in 5 days. Under protests at first, they agree to let her accompany them until her father arrives because she was too poor to live on her own. Later on, Rubber Soul poses as Kakyoin and approaches Jotaro and Anne; she eventually notices his strange behavior. Rubber Soul's real identity is revealed and he is defeated soon after.
On their way to India they leave her behind in Singapore to meet her father, but Jean Pierre Polnareff comes to the conclusion that it was a lie and she is probably an orphan. He then claims that it feels lonely without her presence. She is revealed, however, to have sneaked on the train and is following them again.
The group encounters Anne moments before ZZ's attack, asking them for a ride in the middle of the street. It is then that she admits to having run away from her parents in Hong Kong, though the group is more concerned about dropping her off and do not listen. Despite stern warnings from Joseph Joestar about their journey and how she is only going to slow them down, she tags along with the team and tries to bribe them with stolen porn pictures.
In the midst of ZZ's attack, Anne ends up tripping while running with the others. Instead of getting up and running, she stays on the floor and screams for help, at which Jotaro complies to do so, but not before scolding her for her attitude. The group eventually tells Anne they are going to give her money, plane tickets and send her back to Hong Kong as soon as possible. In the anime, it is shown that despite her protests, she is convinced by Joseph to stop running away and return to Hong Kong while explaining Holy Kujo's situation. She immediately does so, but not before cheering for Jotaro to save his mother's life.
Chapters / Episodes
Manga Appearances- Chapter 127: Dark Blue Moon, Part 1
- Chapter 128: Dark Blue Moon, Part 2
- Chapter 129: Dark Blue Moon, Part 3
- Chapter 130: Strength, Part 1
- Chapter 131: Strength, Part 2
- Chapter 132: Strength, Part 3
- Chapter 133: Devil, Part 1
- Chapter 136: Yellow Temperance, Part 1
- Chapter 137: Yellow Temperance, Part 2
- Chapter 138: Yellow Temperance, Part 3
- Chapter 139: Yellow Temperance, Part 4
- Chapter 150: Wheel of Fortune, Part 1
- Chapter 151: Wheel of Fortune, Part 2
- Chapter 152: Wheel of Fortune, Part 3
- Chapter 153: Wheel of Fortune, Part 4
- Chapter 154: Justice, Part 1
Anime Appearances- Stardust Crusaders Episode 6: Dark Blue Moon
- Stardust Crusaders Episode 7: Strength
- Stardust Crusaders Episode 8: Devil
- Stardust Crusaders Episode 9: Yellow Temperance
- Stardust Crusaders Episode 13: Wheel of Fortune
- Stardust Crusaders Episode 14: Justice, Part 1
- Stardust Crusaders Episode 24: High Priestess, Part 2 (Flashback)
- Stardust Crusaders Episode 39: The Gatekeeper of Hell, Pet Shop, Part 2 (Flashback)
Quotes
Quotes- “What's your problem? Staring at me like that... I don't know what's going on or what you want from me, but if it's a fight you want... then you've got one! Come on! Let's go! One on one! Any one of you! I'll take you all on!”—Chapter 128: Dark Blue Moon, Part 2
- “What's a "DIO"? Some kinda motorcycle? My demon blade here wants to slurp the blood of its 340th victim!”—Chapter 128: Dark Blue Moon, Part 2
- “Look, want some porn? It's Indian porn! I stole these from a gift shop. You like sexy pictures, right?”—Chapter 150: Wheel of Fortune, Part 1
- “I'm a girl, you know? Pretty soon I'll wear a bra and take care of my nails. Most guys like that sort of thing. But when I reach that age, traveling around the world won't be the same. I gotta do this while I'm still young, you know?”—Chapter 150: Wheel of Fortune, Part 1
Creation and Development
Araki had written Anne because he liked the idea of having a girl with Jotaro's group, but due to it being difficult to involve her in life-or-death situations during the era when Stardust Crusaders was releasing, he had to change the group back to being all men. He also states that he could have had Anne develop a Stand if she stayed with them, as even the smallest person can have a powerful Stand.[4]
Anne's real name was initially unknown. She is referred to as an unnamed "runaway girl" in JoJo 6251, and as a "bad girl" in the drama CD adaptation. David Production producer Hisataka Kasama asked Araki if he could name the runaway girl, as he thought it was odd that she didn't have a name despite hanging out with the Joestar group for some time. Araki named her Merlai Anne as a pun on Singapore's official mascot, the Merlion. However, only her given name was used officially in the anime and related media.[1]
Video Games
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (PS1)
In Super Story Mode Runaway Girl appears as a minor character introduced on Tennille's ship. She briefly accompanies the Joestar Group, appearing during the battle with Forever and quietly disappearing after the group defeats Wheel of Fortune.
JoJo's Pitter-Patter Pop! (Android/iOS)
家出少女がついてくる旅 ver.
Cooldown: 85
Cooldown: 85
Cooldown: 75
Cooldown: 75
Cooldown: 65
Date: November 27, 2020 - September 2, 2021
Gallery
First appearance
Calling Jotaro a pervert for touching her chest
Challenging the Crusaders with a knife
Dark Blue Moon holding Anne as a hostage
Anne disguised as a boy
Crushing on Jotaro
Anne caught by a sailor
Anne threatens the crusaders
Dark Blue Moon holding her as a hostage
Anne hitchhiking
Anne is smitten by Jotaro's 'cool' nature
Anne is shocked by Jotaro being set on fire by Wheel of Fortune
Anne says farewell to Jotaro on a plane sending her home
Anime Reference sheet: body
Anime Reference sheet: head
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Icon
Stand-up Icon
Idle
Greeting
Laughing
Shocked
Charging to Attack
Attacking
Win Pose
![[EX] Traveling with Runaway Girl](https://static.jojowiki.com/images/thumb/b/b4/latest/20201127075600/PPPStickerJotaroAnneEX.png/225px-PPPStickerJotaroAnneEX.png)
[EX] Traveling with Runaway Girl
JoJo's Bizarre Mini Figure Another Color
Adventure Battle Card; Dark Blue Moon
South China Sea
Runaway Girl
Crusade; Dark Blue Moon
Anne
Notes
- ↑ This character's name is written with the family name first.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 JOESTAR The Inherited Soul Pamphlet
- ↑ Chapter 128: Dark Blue Moon, Part 2
- ↑ Chapter 127: Dark Blue Moon, Part 1
- ↑ Billboard Japan (August 2021)
