The official Facebook page for Studio Ponoc and Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s Mary and the Witch’s Flower (Mary to Majo no Hana) anime film announced on Friday that Hana Sugisaki (When Marnie Was There, live-action Blade of the Immortal) will play the lead character Mary.
Yonebayashi previously stated that he wanted his next film to be the “opposite” of When Marnie Was There.
Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who directed Studio Ghibli’s Arrietty and When Marnie Was There, is directing Mary and the Witch’s Flower, and is also penning the script for the film alongside Riko Sakaguchi, who wrote the screenplay for Isao Takahata’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
The staff page on the film’s website further notes that many former staff from Studio Ghibli have joined Ponoc in the film’s production.