Anju (アンジュ, Anju) is a young woman who is most often depicted as a cucco keeper. She has appeared in three games, but her most significant role is in Majora's Mask, the only game where she is not a cucco keeper.
Ocarina of Time
In her Ocarina of Time counterpart, Anju appears as the Cucco Lady who lives in Kakariko Village, where she raises and tends to her chickens. Strangely enough, she is allergic to Cuccos, so she has a hard time taking care of them and keeping them inside the pen.
Majora's Mask
In Majora's Mask, Anju is the inn keeper at the Stock Pot Inn and the best friend of Cremia, the owner of Romani Ranch.[1] Although her father, Tortus, has passed away, her mother and grandmother live with her in the inn.[2] She is one of twenty characters in the game with an entry in the Bombers' Notebook, and nearly all of her entries are related to the "reuniting Kafei and Anju" sidequest, which she plays a key role in.
Anju is portrayed as apologizing quite often and appears somewhat nervous. She does not appear to be a very good cook and, according to Kafei's diary, tends to leave things until the last minute.[3] She also seems to have trouble remembering customers' faces, which can cause her to deliver reservations to the wrong person.[4]
Because of her involvement in the largest sidequest in the game, Anju is one of the most developed non-playable characters in the game. If Link hangs out around the Stock Pot Inn for an entire three day cycle, he can quickly learn a lot about Anju and her personality.
Reuniting Kafei and Anju
The Anju and Kafei sidequest is the only sidequest in the Bombers' Notebook that takes an entire 3-day cycle. When they were children, the two lovers had promised each other to marry on the day of the Carnival of Time, exchanging the masks of the sun and the moon during the event[5]; however, Kafei disappeared with his wedding ceremony mask one month before the event due to the fact that, after he was turned into a child by the Skull Kid[6], his Sun Mask was stolen by Sakon as he was on his way to see the Great Fairy in North Clock Town about his desperate situation.[7] Despite Kafei's terrible fate, Anju does not know what has become of him or why he disappeared. She is afraid to meet his fiance and hear the reason as to why he escaped, for she fears his disappearance might have been caused by Anju.[8]
Anju's Mother puts ideas into Anju's head that Kafei might have run off with Cremia since she needs strength from a partner and business support from Madame Aroma, who is Kafei's mother. If Kafei really did run off with Cremia, she could have both.[9]
When Link intervenes to help reunite Kafei and Anju, the young hero hands over Kafei's pendant to Anju, the Pendant of Memories. Once the young inn keeper receives this important item, she will once again believe in Kafei and decide to wait for his return despite that everyone else will be taking refuge in Romani Ranch.[10]
On the night of the Final Day, with just a few hours left until the moon falls, Anju is desperately waiting for Kafei in her room with the Moon's Mask. The two lovers at last reunite and exchange their masks and oaths when Kafei returns from having retrieved the Sun's Mask that was stolen from him.[11] Even though the moon is just hours from destroying Termina, they urge Link to take refuge, for they will stay and greet the morning together.[12]
During the ending credits, Anju and Kafei can be seen outside of Clock Town having their wedding ceremony.
Moon Mask
See Couple's Mask for information on this mask.
The Minish Cap
In The Minish Cap, Link must go and collect her cuccos in a certain time limit. If he does so, she will give him Rupees and Mysterious Shells or Kinstone pieces. The next time Link talks to her, Anju will either heighten the number of cuccos needed, or time limit will change (or both). Upon the return of all of her cuccos, she will give Link a Heart Piece, and if the task is refused, she will be rather disappointed. In The Minish Cap Manga, Link tries to look up her skirt as a minish, but instead nearly gets stepped on.
Trivia
- In Ocarina of Time, Anju did not have a name, she was only known as the Cucco Lady.
References
- ↑ "Cremia will take us in. She is your best friend, right?" — Anju's Mother (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "Grandmother...I am Anju! Tortus was my dad..." — Anju (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "It might be early, but I finished my wedding mask. I wonder if Anju has made hers? She tends to do things at the last minute, so probably not." — Kafei (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "My mother is always telling me to remember our customer's faces, but I tend to forget them..." — Anju (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "We promised each other when we were children that we'd marry on the day of the Carnival of Time." — Kafei (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "I was turned into this by a strange imp wearing a mask..." — Kafei (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "When I was turned into this, I went to see the Great Fairy in the shrine near the North Gate... But on the way, my precious mask--a wedding ceremony mask--was stolen from me by some prancing man with a grinning face!" — Kafei (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "I'm...actually...afraid to meet him...and to hear the reason why he wanted to disappear... It might be because of... me..." — Anju (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "Besides, think about Cremia. She needs strength from a partner and business support from Madame Aroma. If Kafei really has run off with Cremia, she'll get both." — Anju's Mother (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "I have decided to wait for him. I've made my promise... I'm fine with this. I believe him." — Anju (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "Let us exchange the promised masks. We have exchanged our oaths and have become a couple." — Anju (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "Please take refuge. We are fine here. We shall greet the morning... together." — Anju (Majora's Mask)