Anita Planert

Anita Planert
Biography
Full Name:	Anita Planert
Other Names:	Little Bear (social media)
Gender:	Female
Status:	Alive
Affiliations:	Krysta Planert (mother) Anita's brother (brother) Maya Hindenburg (friend) Amelie (friend)
Behind The Scenes
Debut:	Silent Hill: The Short Message
Actor:	Fadile Waked
Voice Actor:	Jeannie Tirado

“

Seeking a connection with others is a sign of weakness... It's running away. The strongest animals don't form groups; they act alone, and need only themselves to survive. Those who betray themselves to fit into a group are pathetic... There's no beauty in living like that. I want to be strong on my own, without a group. If there were only someone who would understand that... —Anita's beginning monologue

”

Anita Planert is the protagonist of Silent Hill: The Short Message.

History

Childhood

Anita and her brother are raised by their single mother Krysta and resided in Kettenstadt, Germany. Initially, Anita is loving towards her mother and strives to make her happy by often doodling their family. Sometime after, Krysta tries to rebuild their family by introducing a father figure into their life, but Anita and her brother constantly rejected his warm advances. The constant rejection led to Anita and her brother being subjected to harsher punishments that forcefully encourage them to appreciate the man. However, Krysta's partner eventually distanced himself from the family, which further exasperated Krysta's abuse towards her children. Anita is constantly belittled by her mother and often refers to her as a curse left behind by her grandmother. Additionally, Krysta would often leave her children in the increasingly pigsty environment and forbade them from going outside. As time goes on, Anita and her brother would often be left in the closet for days on end until a neighbour notified Child Welfare Center of the abuse the children were facing. Following this, Krysta locks both of her kids in the closet for over half a day. This culminated in the death of Anita's brother, and Krysta tried to hide the body in the fridge. Eventually, Anita escapes from her home and flees to a neighbor's home, where she reports her mother to the police. After her mother is charged for her crimes, Anita ends up in Child Welfare Center's custody. The abuse is how Anita's self-loathing tendencies come to rise.

Kettendstadt High School

Sometime afterwards, Anita is enrolled in the town's local high school where she meets Maya Hindenburg and Amelie. The three girls hang out together, and Anita starts to recognize Maya's natural artistic talent with her style of using cherry blossoms as a medium to convey "girls' hidden sides and their struggles". Maya's talent gets quickly recognized by the Internet, and Anita starts to become envious and seeks validation and recognition by trying to be as online-famous as Maya through her own art, but only receives online harassment. Over time, Anita quickly notices how Maya developed a close friendship with Amelie and becomes jealous of their closeness, feeling overlooked and fearing that she will be left alone. As Maya is continuously bullied by her peers due to her ethnicity and Kettendstadt's downfall associated with a Japanese witch, she left a letter addressed to Amelie for help hidden inside a book. Anita quickly seizes the book and Maya's letter, which she withheld from Amelie in an attempt to cut off their close relationship. Without comfort, never hearing back from Amelie was likely Maya's final straw, and she committed suicide by jumping off from the Villa's roof. Anita is quickly overtaken by guilt and repressed her memories associated with the events. In addition, Anita frequently takes antidepressants and doesn't intend to leave for college as she does not believe she has any specialty.

Silent Hill: The Short Message

The First Loop

Six months later, Anita comes by the Villa, which is enveloped in fog and where Maya invited her over texts, intending to show her something. Suddenly, Anita awakens inside the apartment complex and explores the rundown building in search of Maya. On the way, Anita finds various works by Maya and recalls bits and pieces of her memories. Along the way, Anita is regularly contacted by her friend Amelie, who frequently checks up on her. Sometime after, Anita finds herself chased by a creature covered in blooming cherry blossoms throughout the building. After Anita loses the creature, Maya texts of her current location being the studio. Despite attempting to contact Maya for her safety and reassurance, she receives no other responses. Arriving at the studio, Anita searches for Maya, but to no avail. Soon after, Anita receives a call from Amelie, who inadvertently tells her that Maya had committed suicide months ago. Anita is shocked that she would forget something so important and wonders who has been texting her using Maya's name. Now, Maya texts Anita and asks her to "find it", though she herself does not know what is needed to be found. Chased by Sakura Head again, Anita winds up at the Villa's rooftop and discovers Maya's final art piece. Envious of the amount of attention and followers Maya gained, Anita feels that no one will recognise her nor her art skills and jumps from the apartment's rooftop.

The Second Loop

However, instead of dying, Anita finds herself back inside the Villa. She receives texts from Maya, telling her that neither of them can leave until Anita finds "it". She is forced to explore the complex again, which is now in a dilapidated state with Maya's artwork vandalized. Anita looks at Maya's art posts and sees some of the hateful comments left behind and suspects them to be the culprits. Once again, Anita is contacted by Amelie through similar messages as before, and she decides to question her on the topic of Maya's suicide; Amelie reveals that Maya displayed no odd behaviour before her suicide and feels guilty in not preventing her death. Continuing on, Anita finds herself at the town's local high school, where she is tormented by visions of Maya relentlessly bullied by her peers. Back at the Villa, Anita is chased by Sakura Head once more and winds up back at Maya's studio, where she encounters an artwork of Maya's she had never seen before, one depicting Amelie. Moving forward, Anita finds herself in the school's library, where she recalls the book and the letter as well as her actions and involvement in Maya's suicide. Relentlessly chased by Sakura Head again, Anita's journey ends back at the Villa's rooftop where she calls Amelie to confess her actions and guilt in pushing Maya to her fate. Anita jumps off the roof for a second time.

The Third Loop

Once again, Anita finds herself back in the Villa, which is further deteriorated. She ends up in her old family home where she recollects her traumatic experience at the hands of her mother. Following this, Anita is transported to the Otherworld, where she is being aggressively hunted down by Sakura Head. Afterwards, Anita arrives back at Maya's studio, and it is here that she discovers that Maya was planning to make an artwork depicting Anita as well, realizing that Maya had not been ignoring her. Finally, Anita is back on the roof and calls Amelie to apologize to her for not realizing how much both she and Maya valued their friendship with her; she plans to atone for her sins by jumping off the roof. Just before she commits, Amelie invites her to a shopping spree where she plans for both of them to talk about their issues. This gesture stops Anita at the last second, which dispels the fog surrounding the Villa, returning her back to reality. Sometime later, a social media post by Amelie indicates that both of them have left Kettenstadt for college to start their new lives.

Behind the scenes

In 2022, screenshots from a playable teaser leaked under the title Sakura. It was reportedly scheduled for release in October 2021, but pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Silent Hill: The Short Message was officially rated in South Korea in September 2022. In October 2022, Konami began hiring for upcoming Silent Hill projects, including an unannounced in-house game. In December 2022, The Short Message was rated in Taiwan, with an official synopsis that read:

Anita came to an abandoned apartment in order to meet her friend Maya, and somehow woke up to find herself trapped in it. She must escape her own fears and the monsters lurking in the corridors, discover the truth behind the events she's trapped in, and try to escape before her own trauma consumes her will to survive.

Quotes

• "Everyone's losing their futures... That's all adults are: a slave to the system."
• "Wow. So this place didn't always suck. Our parents dreamed of this...?"
• "I'm trapped... I've always been trapped..."
• "How could I ever be proud of myself...?"
• "Antidepressants... I've taken enough medication..."
• "There's no way out..."
• "Maya died, but her art lives on..."
• "No one is ever going to notice me..."
• "This is where... Maya jumped from... Maybe I can be like her..."
• "Some people really have nothing better to do..." (in response to seeing bullying in the comments of Maya's artwork online)
• "You're so good to me... but you're leaving me behind..." (regarding Amelie)
• "Tarot cards... No point predicting my future..."
• "Too hard on myself, huh...? Amelie's the only one who thinks that..."
• "Maya's not a freak... She's my friend..."
• "Maya only ever cared about Amelie... She didn't see me... I was invisible to her..."
• "Maya, you have everything. You're way more talented than me. So, why...? Why take Amelie from me...? You acted like I wasn't even there... Amelie is MY friend... She's MINE!"
• "How was I supposed to know she'd actually kill herself?!"
• "I'm so sorry, Amelie... Maya died because I killed her!"
• "My mom was right... I should never have been born!"
• "Even if I die, this doesn't end...?! How many times do I have to go through this...?" (upon awakening into another cycle of the Villa)
• "I'm a curse... You always said you'd be better off without me..." (regarding her mother)
• "You're wrong, Mom. I am your daughter. And just like you... I'm cursed..."
• "Am I... going to be alone forever...?"
• "Please, end this. Just let me die..."
• "You actually noticed me... I never thought you would..." (regarding Maya when Anita discovers she too was an art subject of hers)
• "I thought I was invisible, that I didn't matter. No matter what anyone said, I didn't listen... But you and Maya... both of you DID see me. I should've figured that out sooner... Thank you, Amelie... You were always there for me... I'm going to go apologize to Maya now..."
• "Seeking a connection with others is a sign of weakness... It's running away. The strongest animals don't form groups; they act alone, and need only themselves to survive. Those who betray themselves to fit into a group are pathetic... There's no beauty in living like that. But... I don't really mind. I just want someone to understand me... For those I love, and for those who love me... I want to keep moving forward... and never look back..." (closing monologue)

Gallery

Early development

Anita's concept art.

Anita's early 3D model.

Anita's face with paper notes.

The Short Message

Anita in the trailer.

Anita holding her smartphone.

Little Bear profile in social media.

References

v · e · d Silent Hill: The Short Message
Characters
Major Characters
Anita Planert - Maya Hindenburg
Other Characters
Amelie - Krysta Planert
Monsters
Sakura Head
Locations
The Villa - Kettenstadt
Terms
Flashlight - Radio - Real World - Fog World - The Silent Hill Phenomenon - The Witch of the Far East - Otherworld - Monster - Robbie the Rabbit
Archives
Memos - Puzzles - Soundtrack