The Belief in Oneself Could Be the Key
A Hayao Miyazaki Roleplay



Chihiro / Danyelle Duvall | Kiki / Chiyo Takahashi


Sophie / | Ponyo /

Hayao Miyazaki. Known to most as the animation genius of our time, he is a man whose talent can never be matched. His characters come to life on the screen, filling us with hope and teaching us lessons each and every time we watch them, causing us to fall more in love with each character as the years pass. Have you ever wondered what these characters would be like in our own world, if they lived and breathed as we did?

In a world not so different from our own, the characters of Hayao Miyazaki’s beautifully realistic worlds are living normal, modern-day lives--they go to work, they have dates, and they all attend a prestigious boarding school called Ramses Preparatory School. Under the watchful eye of the Headmistress, Suzanne Lauren, they go about their lives as students, studying, professors, teaching, socializing... but there's something just a bit... off at the boarding school. The students and staff of Ramses Preparatory School seem to be under a curse, one bestowed upon them by none other than the Headmistress Suzanne Lauren.

Each student and staff member has been bestowed with their own personal curse. For the female students, it is that they have forgotten their true selves. The character they are within the Miyazaki films has been long forgotten, and replaced with a life that is very different from their film counterparts. While they look the same, sound the same, and sometimes act the same, they are not the same people.

For the male students, the curse is that they know their true selves, but cannot speak a word of it to anyone, not even the other male students at the boarding school. Trapped within their modern-world bodies, the male students strive to communicate through hints their true identities, and they strive to help the female students regain their memories themselves.

In regards to the staff, the dear Headmistress had a special curse in mind. Amongst the staff are comrades of our beloved students, people who they befriended and had cherished moments with in their respective worlds. Other staff members are those who worked against these students and tried their best to foil their plans, now in league with the Headmistress. Those in league with the Headmistress have no curse placed upon them, but are in fact working with the Headmistress to ensure her plan succeeds. What the full extent of the plan is, no one but the Headmistress herself knows. However, those staff who are against the Headmistress are secretly plotting to take over and rid the students of their curse.

Unfortunately, they are placed with a curse of their own. These staff members are cursed to roam the halls with their memories free but their bodies are imprisoned. Under no control of their own, these staff members are cruel to the students from their film lives, whom they grew to cherish and love. The extent of their cruelty, is to the extent of their love for each character. Luckily for the staff, this cruelty only lasts during the day. But at night, another cruelty sets in: the realization of how the curse has made them act. This, is their fate. Still, it is also their fuel to fight back.

Fortunately, the Headmistress couldn't foresee one thing: that the students' souls would be so strong, so forceful. Forceful enough that they could seep into the cracks in the Suzanne's spell, showing memories in the form of incomprehensible dreams. Each student can feel and see sporadic moments of their lives flashing in their dreams, but they can never make any sense of them. When they try, the curse hits them and tries to rip the memories away. Fighting to find out what these dreams mean, the students band together and try to uncover the secrets of Ramses Preparatory School.

Will our beloved characters figure out a way to make sense of these irrational dreams? Will they find a way to break the curse and be reunited with their loved ones and lost memories? Only time will tell if they believe in themselves enough to unlock the door to their memories.

"Mister Markl? Are you in?"

A pause. A clack-click.

"Enter."

"Good afternoon, Mister Markl!"

"Ah, Miss Evermae. How nice to see you in our shop again. What will it be this time?"

"I just need some more of that particular tonic for my sister... It does wonders for her throat that nothing else can help."

"Please wait here while I prepare it."

"Good afternoon, Miss Evermae."

"Miss Mary! You are here to buy something, as well, I presume?"

"Yes, I am. Is Mister Markl here?"

"He just went to the back for my purchase... Tonic for my sister, you know."

"How is she doing by the way? I heard that cough was terrible."

"Doing much better, thank you so much for inquiring..."

Meanwhile, in the back of the store, Markl was bustling about gathering various ingredients. "Calcifer, bend over! I need to heat this one spell for a few minutes. And hurry up, that woman is waiting."