In 2013, Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli’s wizard-in-chief, announced his retirement after the release of “The Wind Rises” — and six months later, his co-founder, Isao Takahata, did the same, following the completion of “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.”

    The studio’s third and final final film is directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, a relatively young disciple* of Miyazaki’s.

    “When Marnie Was There” is only his second feature as director. It’s based on a novel of the same name by the English author Joan G. Robinson, one of Miyazaki’s favorite children’s books.

    It begins with a young girl in a new place. Anna, a timid* 12-year-old, is sent by her foster* parents to the seaside for the summer, in the hope that the clear air and fresh surroundings might ease her asthma* and make her more outgoing.

    On her arrival, Anna sees an old house on the far side of a stretch of marshland*: Its stone walls and steep roof mark it out as European and therefore out of place, as if it had jumped out of a fairy tale and into the real world. But it seems strangely familiar, and Anna goes across the marsh to investigate — where, through a window, she sees a blonde girl of about her age.

    This is Marnie. In many ways she’s Anna’s opposite: warm, confident and expressive, though the two share the same blue eyes and ambivalent* feelings about their parents. Anna’s died when she was very young, while Marnie’s busy with parties, leaving their daughter’s upbringing* to their cruel staff.

    They strike up a friendship that quickly blooms into something like a chaste* but passionate romance. Each girl’s sorrows somehow make sense of the other’s, and every evening, Anna follows the siren* call of the strange house across the marsh. While it’s clear Marnie is not of this world, she’s not wholly imaginary either.

    That’s what Ghibli’s films have always done — they sweep over you like summer showers, and leave the world seeming brighter and refreshed.(SD-Agencies)