“WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE / 思い出のマーニー”, ORIGINAL JAPANESE DOUBLE-SIDED B1 THEATRICAL ROADSHOW POSTER 2014, Ultra Rare, B1 Size (c. 72.8 x 103cm)
An exceptional original Japanese double-sided B1 theatrical poster for Studio Ghibli’s When Marnie Was There / 思い出のマーニー, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi / 米林宏昌.
Printed for the film’s original 2014 Japanese theatrical roadshow campaign, this elegant B1 design presents Anna and Marnie standing back-to-back at the shoreline, hands gently joined, with the sea, surf, distant green headland and shafts of coastal light behind them. It is one of the most lyrical and restrained Studio Ghibli poster images of the 2010s: quiet, melancholic, beautifully composed, and deeply atmospheric.
This example is especially desirable as a double-sided B1 poster, with the reverse printed in mirror image for illuminated cinema light-box display. Japanese B1 posters are significantly scarcer than the standard B2 format, and double-sided Studio Ghibli B1 sheets are exceptionally difficult to source, particularly in this condition.
The poster carries two important Japanese taglines:
あの入江で、わたしはあなたを待っている。永久に—。
“At that cove, I am waiting for you. Forever.”
あなたのことが大すき。
“I love you dearly.”
A superb home-market Ghibli theatrical sheet: original 2014 Japanese release, double-sided, oversize B1, ultra rare, and presented in excellent condition.
Key Facts
Film: When Marnie Was There / 思い出のマーニー
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi / 米林宏昌
Original novel: Joan G. Robinson / ジョーン・G・ロビンソン
Screenplay: Keiko Niwa / 丹羽圭子, Masashi Ando / 安藤雅司, Hiromasa Yonebayashi / 米林宏昌
Producer: Yoshiaki Nishimura / 西村義明
Music: Takatsugu Muramatsu / 村松崇継
Theme song: Priscilla Ahn — “Fine On The Outside”
Studio: Studio Ghibli / スタジオジブリ
Distributor: Toho / 東宝
Country of origin: Japan
Year: 2014
Japanese release date: 19 July 2014
Format: Original Japanese theatrical roadshow poster
Size: B1 — c. 72.8 × 103 cm / 28.7 × 40.6 in
Printing: Double-sided, reverse printed in mirror image for cinema light-box display
Condition: Excellent
Rarity: Ultra Rare — scarce B1 format, rarer still double-sided
Design Notes
This is one of the most refined theatrical images produced for When Marnie Was There. Rather than presenting the film through spectacle, the design is built around stillness: two figures, the shoreline, the sea, and the emotional space between memory and presence.
Anna and Marnie stand back-to-back in the shallow surf, their hands touching at the centre of the composition. The posture is restrained but intensely expressive — a visual summary of the film’s central themes of loneliness, longing, friendship, identity, and remembrance.
The coastal setting is beautifully rendered: blue-green water, white foam, distant land, soft cloud, and shafts of light breaking through the sky. The image has the quietness of a memory rather than the force of an advertisement, which is precisely what gives it such power at full B1 scale.
The pink Japanese title 思い出のマーニー anchors the lower section, with the English title When Marnie Was There printed beneath in script. The lower border includes the original Japanese theatrical roadshow date line:
7月19日(土)全国ロードショー
“19 July, Saturday — nationwide roadshow.”
Film Context
When Marnie Was There is one of Studio Ghibli’s most delicate late-period works. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, following his earlier Ghibli feature The Secret World of Arrietty, the film adapts Joan G. Robinson’s British children’s novel into a distinctly Japanese coastal drama.
The story follows Anna Sasaki, a lonely young girl sent to the countryside for her health, where she encounters the mysterious Marnie near an old marsh house. The film unfolds as a study of memory, emotional inheritance, family, and the private world of childhood.
Released in Japan in 2014, it became one of Ghibli’s most admired later theatrical features and was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Text and Translation Notes
The poster’s Japanese text is central to its emotional force.
Main title:
思い出のマーニー
When Marnie Was There
Left vertical tagline:
あの入江で、わたしはあなたを待っている。永久に—。
“At that cove, I am waiting for you. Forever.”
Right vertical tagline:
あなたのことが大すき。
“I love you dearly.”
The two taglines work together beautifully: one evokes place and memory; the other, direct emotional attachment. In the context of the image, they give the poster an unusually intimate quality for a theatrical campaign sheet.
Double-Sided Light-Box Format
This poster is double-sided, with the reverse printed in mirror image. This was done so the poster could be displayed in an illuminated cinema light-box, allowing the image to retain depth, colour and tonal strength when lit from behind.
This is an important collector distinction. Many later decorative prints and shop posters are single-sided. A genuine double-sided Japanese B1 theatrical poster is a far more specialised cinema display format and is substantially harder to find.
The reverse printing is clearly visible in the supplied photographs, including the mirrored title, characters, taglines and lower roadshow text.
Condition Report
Excellent condition.
The poster presents beautifully, with strong colour, crisp printing, excellent image clarity, and superb overall display quality. The coastal blues, greens and soft cloud tones remain fresh, while the pink title and black Japanese text retain excellent definition.
The sheet is clean, bright and highly displayable, with no major tears, losses, pinholes or staining. Only very minor signs of handling consistent with an oversize theatrical B1 sheet.
This is the exact poster shown in the photographs.
Authenticity Statement
This is an original 2014 Japanese theatrical B1 poster for When Marnie Was There / 思い出のマーニー.
It is not a modern reproduction, not a later decorative print, and not a contemporary retail poster. It is the genuine theatrical article: Japanese B1 size, double-sided, mirror-image reverse, and produced for cinema display during the film’s original Japanese release campaign.
For Studio Ghibli collectors, original Japanese theatrical paper is the most desirable category, representing the film as it was first promoted in its home market.
A major Studio Ghibli poster rarity: original, double-sided, B1, excellent condition, and one of the most quietly beautiful images from Ghibli’s late theatrical period.
