Mei Kusakabe

Mei to Totoro "Gimme my pink dress!" "Wait"

Mei's first line on the movie

Mei Kusakabe (Kusakabe Mei) is one of the protagonists of My Neighbor Totoro. She is the 4-year-old sister of Satsuki in &#x20;no&#x20;Totoro My Neighbor Totoro. She is incredibly lively and active, as well as extremely curious.

In the movie
Mei Kusakabe, sister of Satsuki Kusakabe and daughter of Tatsuo Kusakabe and Yasuko Kusakabe was born in Tokyo in May 9, 1954.

Mei is described best as a "ball of energy" by Granny. She is extremely quick and all over the place. Her personality is bubbly and sweet, but also sometimes whiny. She is the first to meet Totoro and does so by falling down a hole in a tree root after following smaller Totoros excitedly. Mei isn't the least bit scared of the new creature she found even when it opens its huge mouth to yawn. Instead she just opens her mouth back. Mei does have a caring side and decides to go to the hospital with the sweet corn she picked from Granny's garden. However, she ends up getting lost on the way and gets very upset.

In the prequel movie: The Kusakabe's Sister (fake private)
In the other prequel movie, like The Hobbit, Richard Outten's first animated feature begins for Spring 1974. Mei Kusakabe growns up at seven year old. She has dark brown hair usually seen brown eyes. At the end of the film, three years earlier, a four year old small girl at moving day with Satsuki Kusakabe at the Dad's truck from the order of Tonari no Totoro film. Actually, it just referenced Casper the Friendly Ghost or Snow White from the first animated classic from Walt Disney.

Mei and the Kittenbus
Mei encounters the Kittenbus upon running from her house. She watches the wind and then eats a Japanese candy. She then begins spinning, but soon is chased by a gust of wind. She goes inside her house and thus begins chasing the kittenbus.

Characteristics
Mei Kusakabe is a pudgy, small, slender four year old girl. She has light brown hair, usually seen in pigtails and brown eyes. She wears a white, puffy sleeved, blouse with a cute, summer pink puffy sleeved dress, as well as yellow shoes and white panties-she also carries a yellow bag. She also wears a pink and white straw hat. At the end of the film, she wears a light pink dress. Mei also wears a yellow night-dress at night.

Personality
Mei's personality is bright, sweet, and innocent. She is also somewhat rowdy and a bit immature, but she is still caring. Also like other children, she is extremely curious, following the smaller Totoros as soon as she sees them, as well as trying to get the Soot Sprites to come out of hiding. Upon finding Totoro, she is not the least bit afraid, only laughing happily and answering Totoro's roars and falling asleep on his stomach. She loves playing with her sister and is very eager to explore the house and its surroundings. In the Disney dub, Granny describes her as, "a little ball of energy" as she is racing around the house. She also cares deeply about her family, and becomes sad when she hears her mother still has to stay in the hospital. This emotion causes Mei to start crying, after Satsuki angrily snaps at her for protesting against their mother's homecoming being delayed. At the end of the story, Mei, along with her sister, is overjoyed when her mother returns home.

Behind the Voices
Mei Kusakabe is voiced by Chika Sakamoto in Japanese, Cheryl Chase in Streamline dub and later, Elle Fanning in Disney.

​Alignment
Mei is a cute little girl who always wears pink dresses.

Satsuki Kusakabe
Mei has an elder sister named Satsuki who is an eleven-year-old girl that is in the 4th grade. Mei loves her sister greatly and appreciates her taking care of her. She depends on her for many things and constantly needs her comfort. She doesn't appreciate being teased by Satsuki. She doesn't have very good self control, which caused her to angrily complain to Satsuki about her mother not coming home. Satsuki's reaction only caused her to get more flustered and upset. Mei might look at Satsuki as a missing mother figure in her life due to her mother being hospitalized.

Mei has a father working as a Professor of Archaeology in Tokyo University.
 * Tatsuo Kusakabe (father)

Mei has a mother laying in the hospital with Tuberculousis and also a cold (although this is not known for certain, it is implied by other sources).
 * Yasuko Kusakabe (mother)
 * Granny (aunt)
 * Michiko (friend)
 * Totoro (animal friend)
 * Kittenbus (animal friend)

Trivia

 * Mei's name originates from a phonetic reading of English "May." Her sister's name, "Satsuki," also means May in archaic Japanese.



Mei Kusakabe