Audiences familiar with the films of the Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli may be surprised to find no witches, forest spirits, wolf-goddesses or dragons in its latest production. “From Up on Poppy Hill” follows a more reality-based narrative — a budding romance between high school students, Umi (voiced by Sarah Bolger in the English-language version) and Shun (Anton Yelchin) — reflecting a place and time in Japanese history: the port city of Yokohama in 1963, as preparations for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo are under way.

“Poppy Hill” is the second feature directed by Goro Miyazaki, the son of the Studio Ghibli co-founder and filmmakerHayao Miyazaki. And it is their most creative collaboration. The elder Mr. Miyazaki, with Keiko Niwa, adapted the screenplay from a 1980 graphic novel.

Despite a story steeped in reality, the younger Mr. Miyazaki aimed to create a Yokohama outside of photorealism. “Initially I researched it quite a bit, intending to be very faithful to the historical details of the time,” he said by phone from Los Angeles. “But I came to realize that simply re-enacting something of the time may seem real enough but may not necessarily be beautiful.” He decided instead to show the locations as his characters see them: shimmering and bustling with life.