Whisper of the Heart (1995)

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.

Director:

Yoshifumi Kondô

Writers:

Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay), Aoi Hiiragi (comic)

Stars:

Yoko Honna, Issey Takahashi, Takashi Tachibana

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yoko Honna	...	Shizuku Tsukishima (voice) (as Youko Honna)
Issey Takahashi	...	Seiji Amasawa (voice) (as Issei Takahashi)
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)
Satoru Takahashi	...	(voice)
Akiko Sakaguchi	...	(voice)
Hiromi Yasuda	...	(voice)

Storyline

A young Japanese middle school girl finds that all the books she chooses in the library have been previously checked out by the same boy. Later she meets a very infuriating fellow... could it be her "friend" from the library? The boy's grandfather has a violin sales and service shop. The boy wants to be a violin maker like his grandfather.

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Plot Keywords:

studio ghibli | examination | elderly man | mockery | sister sister relationship | 

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Taglines:

Suki na hito ga dekimashita!

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Genres:

Animation | Drama | Family | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Disney's Official Site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

13 December 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Whisper of the Heart

Box Office

Gross USA:

$498,156

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$585,013

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network (NTV), Hakuhodo

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is based on a one volume manga, "Mimi wo Sumaseba" by Aoi Hiiragi.

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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).

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Quotes

[sees Shizuku asleep]
Yasunari Tsukishima: Look at her, my little warrior.

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Crazy Credits

In the credit, we can also see Shizuku and Seiji riding on a bicycle.

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Connections

Referenced in Amélie (2001)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Ghibli cannot be stopped!

A very moving animé film from Studio Ghibli, as good as anything either Miyazaki or Takahata have made. It's a very simple and down-to-earth movie about a young teenage girl who is experiencing her first love, as well as doubts about her future. Whisper understands its characters as few films do, and I became quite intimate with our heroine, Shizuku. It also has a sense of mood unmatched by any other film I can think of set in everyday life. The way it feels to live in a cramped apartment, the emotions of the first day of school, and the way the sky looks after it has rained – so many generic memories of my life brought right to the forefront, as if they were the only moments that mattered. The film enveloped me so completely, I could smell the odor of the antique shop. The music is so wonderful, the score by Yuji Nomi. And I never could have imagined that John Denver's song `Country Roads' would make me weep. Well, it was in Japanese, but still. It's frightening. Each Ghibli film I see makes me think that the next one cannot possibly match it, yet each film inevitably does. 10/10.