Whisper of the Heart

Original title: Mimi wo sumaseba

1995
G
1h 51m

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

77K

YOUR RATING

A love story between a girl who loves reading books, and a boy who has previously checked out all of the library books she chooses.

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Anime Coming-of-Age Hand-Drawn Animation Iyashikei Slice of Life Teen Drama Teen Romance Animation Drama Family

A love story between a girl who loves reading books, and a boy who has previously checked out all of the library books she chooses.A love story between a girl who loves reading books, and a boy who has previously checked out all of the library books she chooses.A love story between a girl who loves reading books, and a boy who has previously checked out all of the library books she chooses.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

77K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Shizuku Tsukishima
(voice)
(as Youko Honna)

Issei Takahashi

Seiji Amasawa
(voice)

Takashi Tachibana

Seiya Tsukishima
(voice)

Shigeru Muroi

Asako Tsukishima
(voice)

Shigeru Tsuyuguchi

The Baron
(voice)

Keiju Kobayashi

Shiro Nishi
(voice)

Yorie Yamashita

Shiho Tsukishima
(voice)

Maiko Kayama

Yuko Harada
(voice)

Yoshimi Nakajima

Sugimura
(voice)

Minami Takayama

Kosaka-sensei
(voice)

Mayumi Izuka

Kinuyo
(voice)
(as Mayumi Iizuka)

Mai Chiba

Nao
(voice)

Tall Friend of Mr. Nishi
(voice)

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
This marked the first use by Studio Ghibli of digital composition, meaning that elements of a scene were composed using a computer. In this case, it's the flying scene with Baron within Shizuku's story. The scene contains many independent elements, including the minor "planets" and Shizuku's characters. Although all these elements were animated by traditional means, they were combined using computer technology.

Goofs
It is not clear whether this is a mistake or a hint that the Baron is alive, but in every scene that the Baron is shown, he looks different than the time before (position of hands, cane and hat).

Quotes
Shizuku: I'm no man's burden! I want to be of use!

Crazy credits
During the credits we see people walk by the bridge. The "stray" cat (the one with many names) walks by the bridge as well. Also the young students who had struggled with unrequited love, named Sugimura and Yuko in the American version, meet on the bridge and appear to begin a dating relationship.

Connections
Featured in The Cat Returns (2002)

Soundtracks
Take Me Home, Country Roads
Written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver
Performed by Olivia Newton-John

User reviews207

Review

Featured review

10/10

I don't know what to say...

I was blown away by Whisper of the Heart. It is perhaps slow and simple, but it is also charming and poignant with great characters especially. The animation as always is wonderful, the stunning backgrounds and colours especially look absolutely amazing. And the visual effects are great too and do a great job of enhancing the story. The music is gorgeous and never feels obtrusive, and the song is absolutely lovely. The script is memorable too, while the simple yet very rich story still manages to touch me, as do the beautiful, subtle messaging and great characters here. Shizuku and Seiji are both likable characters with real warmth to them. The voice acting is excellent from all involved, especially Cary Elwes who is perfect as the charming handsome Baron. All in all, stunning and one of my favourites. 10/10 Bethany Cox