Review of Whisper of the Heart

The mid-90s brought a plethora of anime and the increase in studios and production is no surprise. Studio Ghibli is no exception to some expansion is some aspects. Thus brings a sweet slice of life film by the first Ghibli director not named Miyazaki or Isao Takahata. The director of Whisper of the Heart was Yoshifumi Kondou. He was set to actually be the successor in Studio Ghibli until his untimely death in 1998. Our story focuses around an adorable hard working bookworm by the name of Shizuku. One day she notices a name, Seiji Amasawa, in all of the books she checks out and searchesfor the mystery person. One day, she follows a funny cat on a train that eventually leads her to an antique shop. As fate would have it, the person running the shop is the grandfather of Seiji. When the two finally meet, they begin a heartwarming adventure to pursue their own dreams, be it a professional violin maker or a writer.

As a slice of life, this anime hits all of the right marks. Motivation to pursuing ones dream is fantastically done and makes the viewer realize that sacrifices and some risk must be made in life in order to reach a goal. It takes the viewer into their world and the realization of what drives another is amazing being it what your brain knows and how long it takes for the heart to catch up.

Being it is Studio Ghibli, everything is done right from the animation to the writing, so it should not come as any shock. Now, the story is a bit on the slow side and there are some scenes that do seem fairly out of place. The best example of this is the fantasy world scene as the antique owner tells a story about a cat figure. This particular scene is one of the main motivators in the story but seems slightly out of place. A strange happening overall, but not so poorly done to throw off even a casual viewer. Whisper of the Heart is a very enjoyable anime film and should not be missed.