Woady Reviews Anime: Whisper of the Heart

Whisper of the Heart is a heart warming coming of age film that fits perfectly in with other Studio Ghibli classics like My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service. This was the first movie to not be directed by Miyazaki or Isao Takahata, unfortunately it would be the only filmed Yoshifumi Kondo directs before dying of an aneurysm three years later. The film is based on a manga of the same name, Mimi o Sumaseb (translated as "if you listen closely") and tells the story of Shizuku Tsukishima .

Shizuku is a fourteen year old girl who only really cares about reading books and writing. One night while checking the checkout cards of the books she has rented, she sees the name Seiji Amasawa written on all of them. Being the curious girl she is, she hopes to find this boy one day and see if their tastes are really similar. She eventually does find the boy Seiji who turns out to be the boy that has been teasing her all along. One day she finds a cat riding the metro and ends up following it to this antique shop where she runs into Seiji again. This time around they actually befriend each and she discovers he is actually a very nice boy. Revisiting the antique shop, Shizuku discovers that Seiji is leaving for Italy for two months, to study to become a master violin-maker. Feeling inspired by his sense of purpose in life she decides to test her own talents. Shizuku settles on working on her writing for the two months Seiji is gone.

Whisper of the Heart was a great film to watch. It's not the best Ghibli film but it's definitely not the worst. Not that Studio Ghibli really has a bad film to it's name, I'd say just weaker films. The animation is crisp and looks beautiful in HD. The hand drawn images are on par with other greats like Castle in the Sky or Spirited Away. The dubbing work is great just like most Studio Ghibli films to date. Brittney Snow and David Gallagher provide great voices to Shizuku and Seiji respectively. For any fans of The Cat Returns, the Baron makes a cameo in this film. In fact this movie takes place after The Cat Returns. The story isn't convoluted or hard to follow like some Ghibli films. It's just a movie about finding our purpose in life and using our talents.