Whisper of The Heart

"When you first become an artist, you’re like that rock. You’re in a raw, unnatural state, with hidden gems inside. You need to dig down deep and find the emeralds tucked away inside you. And that’s just the beginning."

Release Year: 1995
Country: Japan
Genre: Coming-of-age drama (animation)
Director: Yoshifumi Kondo
Screenwriter: Hayao Miyazaki
Cinematography: Atsushi Okui
Music: Yūji Nomi
Editing: Takeshi Seyama

Voice Actors: Yoko Honna, Issei Takahashi, Maiko Kayama


Some people have dreams. Some other don't. Some people always know what they want to be and live to pursue that goal. Some other don't have as much self-assurance and passion, merely going automatically through their routines...without ever listening to what their heart really wants.

As a product of Studio Ghibli, one of the most renowned animation studios worldwide, Whisper of The Heart is rather unusual. For one, it has perhaps the most ordinary setting among the studio's output: instead of being a fantasy with magical creatures like My Neighbor Totoro or Ponyo, Whisper is a more realistic slice-of-life drama revolving around its perfectly normal main character. It is also the first Ghibli film not directed by its two most accomplished directors, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata (although the former did write the screenplay and had some influence on the project), and instead was helmed by their junior, Yoshifumi Kondo. Kondo was expected to be the successor of Miyazaki and Takahata, but sadly he passed away in 1998 at the age of 47. He certainly left his mark with Whisper though, a modest yet very heartfelt little gem.

Based on Aoi Hiiragi's one-volume manga, Mimi wo Sumaseba (If You Listen Closely),the story is focused on a middle-school girl named Shizuku Tsukishima (voiced by Honna). One evening, having finished the latest book she borrowed from the library, Shizuku noticed that the name "Seiji Amasawa" always came up on the check-out cards of all the books she borrowed. After some incidental events, she befriends Seiji (Takahashi), who inspired her with his drive and passion to be a master luthier (someone who crafts and repairs string instruments). Shizuku eventually decided to start pursuing her own aspiration to be a writer.


The relationship between Shizuku and Seiji is not the only significant thing in the movie. There are many details not mentioned in the synopsis above: Shizuku's lyrical rewrite of the classic song, "Country Road, Take Me Home; her accidental visit to an antique shop, where the elderly owner recounts enchanting stories to her; the many glimpses of her family, including an older sister who is getting ready to move out to her own residence; and her best friend's crush on a classmate. The great thing about these details is that they feel like very natural events and conditions, instead of artificial plot devices. They are not there just to contribute to conflict build-up and resolution, but to enrich the character of Shizuku and her surroundings.

While adolescent love may be featured prominently, the movie is far from being unbearably sentimental. Some parts of the script may feel quite silly and childish if taken out of context (a random example: at one point, a character declares to another that he is going to marry her), but Whisper managed to make them work with its extremely sincere presentation. It is childlike and mature at the same time, so full of hope, optimism, and willingness to better oneself. I also believe that the main purpose of the movie is to show a transformation within Shizuku, from a relatively directionless teenager to someone with a dream.


The movie does have a weakness. While most of it takes place in realistic life, there are scenes from Shizuku's imagination where she converses with the antropomorphic cat known as Baron Humbert von Jikkingen, a statue from the antique shop she visits. These fantasy sequences, while may serve to visualize Shizuku's creative process, feel unnecessary and unmemorable to me. It fares better with moments of magical realism though; that is, magical moments that are still grounded in real life, such as how Shizuku discover the antique shop by following a cat that ride the same train as her.


Perhaps the most brilliant thing I found in Whisper is that it lead up to a beginning, not an ending. We don't get to see whether Seiji will really be a master luthier, whether Shizuku will be successful as a writer, and whether they will end up together in the future. The movie ends with both of them at the starting point, and that is the whole point; because no matter of what may happen in the future, it is a wonderful feeling to finally have something that you can aspire to.