Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2014

Studio Ghibli is known not only for its award-winning animation and engaging storytelling, but also its careful selection of pop songs from hit makers such as Yumi Matsutoya. For its upcoming film When Marnie Was There, the studio tapped Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Priscilla Ahn for the job, and the half-Korean musician provided her single “Fine on the Outside.” The track will be the first in English to appear in both the Japanese and international versions of a Ghibli film. Ahn’s acoustic guitar and ethereal vocals suit the look of the film, and the song she wrote while still in high school gels with the teenage alienation found in the source novel by Canadian writer Joan G. Robinson—about a lonely girl who makes a rather mysterious friend. “I feel like this will be a very good film for everyone to see, especially young teens,” Ahn said during a recent “Ask Me Anything” event on Reddit. “But I feel like anyone who’s ever felt alone before can relate to this film.” The singer got to tour the Tokyo studio when animators were putting the finishing touches on the film. “All the backgrounds of the film are painted by hand,” she says. “I know this, because I saw them actually painting them!” When Marnie Was There (Omoide no Marnie) opens nationwide July 19.