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Template:Character 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.

Appearances

Ocarina of Time

In Ocarina of Time, Anju's name is not given, she is only refered to as the Cucco Lady by the other characters. She can be found in Kakariko Village, where she raises and tends to her cuccos. Ironically, the Chicken Lady is allergic to cuccos, so she has a hard time taking care of them and keeping them inside the pen.[1] When young Link first meets her, the cuccos will be running around all over the village. As the Chicken Lady cannot do it herself, it is Link's job to round them up and bring them back to their pen. For Link's help, she will reward him with an empty bottle.[2]

When Link returns to Kakariko Village as an adult, he may speak to Anju to begin the Biggoron's Sword quest. She will tell him that she bred a special new breed of Cucco that does not give her an allergic reaction.[3] She gives him an egg which he must carry until it hatches (similar to the one Malon gave him as a child). After the egg hatches, Link must give the new Cucco to Anju. She will then give Link her brother Grog's blue Cucco, Cojiro.

She is confirmed to be the daughter of the Carpenters' Boss, at least in this game. This is confirmed by the fact the man who leaves the Poacher's Saw in the Lost Woods is verbally confirmed to be Mutoh's son, and that Anju calls Grog her brother.[4] Her parallel character in Termina is Anju who runs the Stock Pot Inn in Clock Town.

Majora's Mask

Anju

Anju working at the Stock Pot Inn

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.[5] She is currently engaged to Kafei, Mayor Dotour's son, and they plan to have their wedding on the day of the Carnival of Time; however, certain circumstances have caused Anju to start doubting her fiancé. Although her father, Tortus, has passed away, her mother and grandmother live with her in the inn.[6] 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, in which she plays a key role.

Anju is portrayed as apologizing quite often and appears somewhat nervous. She is not a very good cook and, according to Kafei's diary, tends to leave things until the last minute.[7][8] She also seems to have trouble remembering customers' faces, which can cause her to deliver reservations to the wrong person.[9]

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, Anju and Kafei promised to marry each other on the day of the Carnival of Time, exchanging the masks of the sun and the moon during the event.[10] However, Kafei disappeared with his wedding ceremony mask one month before the wedding due to the fact that, after he was turned into a child by the Skull Kid,[11] 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.[12] 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 her.[13]

Anju's Mother puts ideas into Anju's head that Kafei might have run off with Cremia, the owner of the Romani Ranch, since she needs strength from a partner and business support from Madame Aroma, who is Kafei's mother. If Kafei really had run off with Cremia, she could have had both.[14]

When Link intervenes to help reunite Kafei and Anju, the young hero meets with the inn keeper in the kitchen at her request.[15] She asks of him to deliver a letter to the postbox in her stead, hoping to get a description of her fiancé if Link is to meet with him.[16] Anju is too afraid to do this on her own, so she tells Link to pass on the message that Anju is waiting for him.[17]

Link meets Kafei, who explains his situation, and the young hero promises to hand over Kafei's pendant to Anju, the Pendant of Memories.[18] Once the young inn keeper receives this important item, she will once again believe in Kafei and decide to wait for his return despite her mother's wishes and despite that everyone else will be taking refuge in Romani Ranch.[19]

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 Mask in hand. The two lovers at last reunite and exchange their masks and oaths when Kafei returns from having retrieved the Sun Mask that was stolen from him.[20] In return for witnessing this event, they grant Link the Couple's Mask.[21] 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.[22]

During the ending credits, Anju and Kafei can be seen outside of Clock Town having their wedding ceremony.

The Minish Cap

In The Minish Cap, Link must go and collect Anju's cuccos in a certain time limit. If he does so, Anju 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

Although the other characters in Ocarina of Time refer to her as the "Chicken Lady", she is sometimes called the "Cucco Lady", as her "chickens'" proper name is Cuccos, or Anju by fans.

Gallery

References

  1. "Thank you for finding my Cuccos. I have allergies, so I get goose bumps when I touch them." — Cucco Lady (Ocarina of Time)
  2. "For helping me, I will give this to you. It's fine glass, and should be useful. Please take good care of it!" — Cucco Lady (Majora's Mask)
  3. "I bred a new type of miniature Cucco! I call it the Pocket Cucco! I don't get goose bumps from this baby." — Cucco Lady (Ocarina of Time)
  4. "My brother must have been very lonely..." — Cucco Lady (Ocarina of Time)
  5. "Cremia will take us in. She is your best friend, right?" — Anju's Mother (Majora's Mask)
  6. "Grandmother...I am Anju! Tortus was my dad..." — Anju (Majora's Mask)
  7. "What is Anju, the innkeeper, bad at doing? Cooking" — Keaton (Majora's Mask)
  8. "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)
  9. "My mother is always telling me to remember our customer's faces, but I tend to forget them..." — Anju (Majora's Mask)
  10. "We promised each other when we were children that we'd marry on the day of the Carnival of Time." — Kafei (Majora's Mask)
  11. "I was turned into this by a strange imp wearing a mask..." — Kafei (Majora's Mask)
  12. "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)
  13. "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)
  14. "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)
  15. "Tonight at 11:30, please come to our kitchen. We'll talk then..." — Anju (Majora's Mask)
  16. "Here is my letter. Please put this in a postbox. When this is delivered...When he receives my letter... You should be able to meet him!" — Anju (Majora's Mask)
  17. "Please tell him that Anju is waiting for him. And please, after you've seen him... Tell me how he looked. I'm scared...I...I can't go." — Anju (Majora's Mask)
  18. "This pendant... Give it to Anju." — Kafei (Majora's Mask)
  19. "I have decided to wait for him. I've made my promise... I'm fine with this. I believe him." — Anju (Majora's Mask)
  20. "Let us exchange the promised masks. We have exchanged our oaths and have become a couple." — Anju (Majora's Mask)
  21. >"You are our witnesses. Please accept this mask." — Anju (Majora's Mask)
  22. "Please take refuge. We are fine here. We shall greet the morning... together." — Anju (Majora's Mask)


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