Character page for When Marnie Was There.
Beware of massive unmarked spoilers.
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Main Characters
Anna Sasaki
Voiced by: Sara Takatsuki (Japanese), Hailee Steinfeld (English), Karen Vallejo (Latin American Spanish)
The main protagonist.
- Adoption Angst: Anna starts out introvert and pessimistic about being adopted, this may've started after she found out that her adoptive parents are getting paid for having adopted her.
- Alcohol Hic: Happens to her after she gets a cup of wine.
- Boyish Short Hair: Her hair reaches her jawline.
- Can't Hold Her Liquor: The single glass of wine as mentioned above is implied to be enough to get her snockered to the point of passing out afterwards.
- Character Development: Her adventures with Marnie transformed Anna from a sullen, angry person to something more along the lines of a Plucky Girl who begins to open up more.
- Color Motifs: Anna is almost always seen wearing the color blue — representing her earlier depression and later her being at peace with her problems.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Downplayed. Anna mentions her parents and grandmother dying when she was very young, leading to her being put in an orphanage for three years, but she was only an infant when her family died, thus she hardly suffered any emotional trauma. And at age 5, she was Happily Adopted.
- Emotionless Girl: In the beginning, Yoriko comments that Anna used to express herself but is now attempting to suppress her emotions.
- Happily Adopted: At the start of the film, Anna is too pessimistic to see that her adoptive parents love her. A big part of Anna's inner growth is realizing that she has all she needs to be this trope, and accepts Yoriko as her mother by the epilogue.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Calls herself ugly and a parasite.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Subverted. Anna's blue eyes serve as an ever-present reminder of her status as a (self designated) Red-Headed Stepchild.
- Intergenerational Friendship: She and Sayaka (both school age children) form a bond with Toichi (a man in his 50s or 60s).
- Meaningful Appearance: As Anna grows kinder and more open with others, she starts wearing a blue hair clip.
- Nice Girl: While she wasn't mean in the beginning, Anna could be when pushed. Her Character Development has her developing a better personality.
- No Social Skills: Not really good with socializing with people around her age.
- Raised by Grandparents: Anna was raised by her grandmother after the death of her parents. Until her grandmother died. Her grandmother turns out to be Marnie.
- The Resenter: Anna admits that while she knows her parents and grandmother didn't leave her intentionally, she still sometimes feels like she can't forgive them for leaving her. Finding closure for this is heavily implied to be one of the reasons Marnie appears to Anna; in their last major scene together, Marnie pleads for Anna to forgive her for leaving.
- Sailor Fuku: Anna's never shown in one herself but classmates of her's come over wearing them, showing that her school uses sailor fuku.
- The Stoic: Anna has become quiet and unemotional recently, which her mother refers to as her having an "ordinary face".
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the tomboy and Marnie is the girly girl.
- Tomboyish Voice: She has a very deep, monotonous voice, which is fitting for a rather moody tomboy.
- Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Became more of a Plucky Girl by the ending.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Besides becoming more cheerful, Anna also became a nicer individual. One example is her referring to Yoriko as her mother and not adoptive mother.
- Tragic Keepsake: She gets two from her grandmother, Marnie: the blue hairclip and an old picture of Marnie's childhood mansion home.
Marnie (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Voiced by: Kasumi Arimura (child/teenager) and Ryoko Moriyama (adult) (Japanese), Kiernan Shipka (teenager), Taylor Autumn Bertman (child), and Catherine O'Hara (adult) (English), Lourdes Arruti (teenager) and Martha Ravé (adult) (Latin American Spanish), Emmylou Homs (European French)
The mysterious and titular girl Anna befriends.
- Break the Cutie: Behind her happy demeanor, Marnie has been put through a lot.
- Childhood Friends:
- With Kazuhiko.
- It turns out she and Hisako were also this.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Hisako reveals that Marnie married Kazuhiko, her childhood friend.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Where to begin? Her parents were always away and didn't attend to her needs. The governess and maids would abuse her once the parents were gone. The only man Marnie ever loved left her at the silo she was terrified of thanks to the maids for a night, then later, after they were married and had a child, died, and due to the shock of it, she was sent to a sanatorium and sent Emily, her only child, to boarding school for her own good. However, when Emily came back, their relationship was strained, and they never had a chance to reconcile, even before Emily's death. Marnie was left with her only granddaughter, Anna, and tried to take care of her. But Marnie herself died not long afterwards.
- Dead All Along: Since Marnie is Anna's grandmother, she's actually been dead for quite some time before the film starts.
- Doting Grandparent: Marnie promised her only grandchild, Anna, that she would never leave her alone.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Marnie has beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes, and is quite nice.
- Healthy in Heaven: Exaggerated. Marnie is a perfectly healthy child despite dying as an old woman.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Marnie has bright, blue eyes that represent her friendly and bubbly nature.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Her parents are hardly around and she never had a lot of friends.
- Missing Mom: Deconstructed. After Kazuhiko died, Marnie fell apart, and she was sent to a sanatorium to get better. Their daughter, Emily, was sent to live at a boarding school. However, when the mother and daughter reunite years later, it's not a happy union. Emily felt hurt and betrayed by her mother's missing status for most of her childhood.
- My Greatest Failure: Two.
- Not spending enough time with her daughter, Emily.
- And again when she got My Greatest Second Chance with Anna only to die shortly after, leaving Anna alone in the world. It's strongly implied one of the reasons Marnie appears to Anna is to seek forgiveness for leaving her alone.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Subverted. After Emily's death, Marnie tried her best to give Anna a better childhood than either of them had — only for Marnie herself to die shortly after taking Anna in.
- Nice Girl: Marnie is polite, friendly, and even-tempered.
- Outdated Name: "Marnie" hasn't been a common name since the mid 20th century which is fitting, since she's not actually a modern child.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Her only daughter, Emily, died in an accident shortly before Marnie herself did.
- Posthumous Character: She's actually Dead All Along and has been dead for over a decade by the time of the story.
- Secondary Character Title: Her name is part of the movie's title, but Anna is the real protagonist.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Marnie fell in love with Kazuhiko because he always supported her, especially when her family was torn apart or when she felt lost.
- Stepford Smiler: According to Hisako, while Marnie always appeared glad to show off the expensive clothes and toys provided by her parents' wealth, it was all a front for how lonely she truly was.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Marnie had her father's blonde hair and her mother's facial features.
- Token White: She's the only Caucasian character in the film. It's worth mentioning that the rest of the cast were given Race Lift. There's also her granddaughter Anna, though The Reveal doesn't happen until the very end.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the girly girl and Anna is the tomboy.
- True Blue Femininity: She mainly dresses in blue.
- Truer to the Text: The entire source material was updated from England and USA to Japan and the cast are given Race Lift to accommodate it, with the notable exception of Marnie.
Anna's Relatives
Yoriko Sasaki
Voiced by: Nanako Matsushima (Japanese), Geena Davis (English), Isabel Romo (Latin American Spanish)
Anna's adoptive mother.
- Fostering for Profit: After discovering child support cheques, Anna is afraid that this is the reason Yoriko adopted her. Fortunately, it is not so.
- Good Parents: Yoriko thinks of Anna as nothing less than her own child. The reason she sent Anna away was to treat her asthma, and she frequently sends letters to Anna to check on her well-being.
- Mama Bear: A passive example, but she takes Anna's health and happiness very seriously. The former is why she even sent her daughter to the countryside.
- My Beloved Smother: Downplayed. Yoriko isn't overbearing, only a concerned mother about her daughter's asthma problems and recent change in behavior.
- Nice Girl: She doesn't care about the money she and her husband get for Anna. She only wants what's in her daughter's best interest.
Mr. Sasaki
Voiced by: N/A
Anna's adoptive father and Yoriko's husband.
- Disappeared Dad: Justified. Mr. Sasaki is a part of Anna's life, but doesn't make an appearance in the movie because of he is on a business trip.
- The Ghost: He's mentioned and seen in several family photos, but doesn't make an appearance.
- Good Parents: Like his wife, he deeply cares for their daughter.
- Unnamed Parent: Even Yoriko doesn't mention his name.
Kiyomasa and Setsu Oiwa
Kiyomasa (left) and Setsu (right).
Voiced by: Susumu Terajima and Toshie Negishi (Japanese), John C. Reilly and Grey Griffin (English), Hugo Núñez and Karla Vega (Latin American Spanish)
Anna's adoptive maternal relatives.
- Happily Married: They get along amazingly and have light teasing with each other.
- Nice Guy: Both prove to be open-minded and kind.
- Open-Minded Parent: Though they aren't technically Anna's parents, they are pretty laid back. For example, they aren't seen scolding her for staying out late at night or calling another girl "fat pig", but for the last one they do encourage her to offer an apology.
Residents of the Rural Seaside Town of Kissakibetsu.
Sayaka
Voiced by: Hana Sugisaki (Japanese), Ava Acres (English), Susana Moreno (Latin American Spanish)
A young girl that Anna eventually befriends.
- Affectionate Nickname: In the English dub, her brother calls her "Sherlock".
- Constantly Curious: Wants to know about the Marnie person.
- Girlish Pigtails: Her regular hairstyle.
- Intergenerational Friendship: She and Anna (both school age children) form a bond with Toichi (a man in his 50s or 60s).
- Nice Girl: Sayaka is a well-mannered, young lady.
- Spoiled Sweet: Sayaka comes from a rich family, but is a nice person.
Hisako
Voiced by: Hitomi Kuroki (Japanese), Vanessa L. Williams as an adult and Mila Brener as a child (English), Adriana Casas as an adult and Karla Vega as a child (Latin American Spanish)
A lady often seen painting.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Hisako is only seen a couple of times in the movie. However, she turns out to be an important character when she reveals a lot of information about Marnie, which inadvertently leads to Anna discovering she's Marnie's granddaughter.
- Childhood Friends: It turns out she and Marnie were this.
- Cool Old Lady: Hisako is a friendly lady who paints on a daily basis.
- Nice Girl: Polite all the time.
Toichi
Voiced by: Ken Yasuda (Japanese), Fred Tatasciore (English), Rubén León (Latin American Spanish)
A quiet old man often seen fishing.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Downplayed. He's not actively ostracized, but some of the town folk in his home consider him "weird". The worst kind of treatment he gets is some teasing from brats.
- Cool Old Guy: He takes Anna, and later Sayaka, on boat rides.
- The Ghost: In the past history of Marnie. Hearing Anna and Sayaka mention her name in his presence leads to the only time he speaks in the film. This implies that he was present in the town when Marnie lived in the house and remembers her. Though he doesn't actually appear in any of Marnie's scenes and likely only ever saw Marnie from a distance.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Toichi (a man in his 50s or 60s) forms a bond with both Anna and Sayaka (two school-age girls).
- Nice Guy: He's quiet but a good man.
- The Quiet One: He only has a couple of lines in the entire movie.
Other Characters
Kazuhiko (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Voiced by: N/A (Japanese), James Sie (English)
A young man Marnie is often seen with.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Hisako reveals that he and Marnie, both childhood friends, married each other.
- Disappeared Dad: Kazuhiko died when his and Marnie's daughter, Emily, was just a toddler.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Deconstructed. Kazuhiko's death caused Marnie to go into shock to the point she had to be sent to a sanatorium and send Emily to boarding school to be properly cared for. Which ended up straining the relationship between mother and child.
- Nice Guy: He's not seen a lot, but Kazuhiko proves to be a pure gentleman. Which is why Marnie married him.
- Posthumous Character: He's long dead by the time of the story.
- Satellite Love Interest: No more information, except him being Marnie's husband, is revealed.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears a few times, but he plays a huge role. He turns out to be Marnie's husband. And his death indirectly caused the estrangement between Marnie and Emily, and later Anna being placed in social services.
Emily (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Voiced by: Renge Ishikawa (Japanese), Ashley Johnson (GKids Dub)
A character who has a major impact on the story.
- Break the Cutie: Marnie sending her to boarding school for most of her childhood caused Emily to resent her.
- Missing Mom: She is Anna's biological mother who died in an accident along with her husband.
- Posthumous Character: She's long dead by the time of the story.
- The Runaway: After one last argument with Marnie, she ran away to get married to the father of the baby she was expecting (Anna), all without telling Marnie.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Only appears in the last parts of the movie, but it was her death that caused her daughter, Anna to be eventually placed into Marnie's custody and later an orphanage.
- Together in Death: She and her husband both die on the same road accident.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Implied. When Emily was younger she was apparently happy, but being sent off to boarding school shaped her hatred for her mother.
- Walking Spoiler: Revealing more than her name gives away the entire story.
