Granmamare

Granmamare (Okaasan) is the mother of Ponyo and the wife of Fujimoto in Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.

In the Film
Granmamare greets Fujimoto in his vessel and later in the movie she passes Koichi and his sailors underneath their ship, illuminating the sea and causing their engine to come back to life.

She narrated part of the movie that talked about Ponyo becoming human forever, and she meets Lisa under the water for a long time, along with the retirement home underneath a protective air bubble. Her presence seems to revitalize the old women so they can run again.

Relationships

 * Ponyo, her eldest daughter. She is very understanding of her, and allows her to give up her magical abilities to become human.
 * Ponyo's Sisters, her younger daughters. She is very loving towards them, and is seen collecting and kissing them during the end of the movie.
 * Fujimoto, her husband. Granmamare is patient and unwaveringly kind to him, even when he expects she will scold him for how he has raised Ponyo, or his control of the sea life.

Appearance
Granmamare is enormous, possibly as big, if not bigger than a Blue Whale. She is able to change shape and size, and also appears to glow with a warm, golden light. This light possibly may be magically produced, or created by luminescent plankton. She resembles a very beautiful woman with impossibly long red hair, brown eyes, and a kindly face. The cyan robe she wears seems to merge with the sea when she swims, and it is unknown if she has feet, or simply floats freely when she stands.

Trivia

 * Granmamare is inspired by the concept of Fairy Godmothers from Western faerie tales.
 * Her favourite era is the Devonian, because of the diversity and population of sea life.