def do_chars_exist_in_db(conn, mal_id: int) -> bool:
    """
    Args:
        conn ([type]): database connection
        mal_id (int): myanimelist id

    Returns:
        bool: returns true if there are character records for anime id
    """
    with conn:
        with conn.cursor() as cursor:
            query = """select exists(select 1 from anime_characters where id=(%s))"""
            cursor.execute(query, (mal_id,))
            res = cursor.fetchall()
            return res[0][0]