When Marnie Was There

A closer look at the story

Anna is a withdrawn girl who shares her feelings with no one. Because of an illness, she is sent to spend the summer in a quiet seaside village in Hokkaido. Convinced that she is outside the "magic circle" that most people belong to, Anna keeps her contact with others to a minimum and shows everyone only her "ordinary face". She believes nobody could ever accept her as she is. An old, abandoned mansion across the marsh, however, catches Anna's attention. Marnie, the girl she meets there, proves her wrong. The two quickly bond and become close friends. Yet the more Anna feels the warmth of this friendship, the more curious she grows about Marnie's past, and it is not even clear whether Marnie is real at all. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and adapted from Joan G. Robinson's novel, this 103-minute 2014 animated drama features the voices of Sara Takatsuki and Kasumi Arimura.