Review of Whisper of the Heart
Whisper of the Heart is very different from other Ghibli films, there are no strange creatures or crazy imaginative worlds. It instead takes place in a regular city where a girl named Shizuku, tries to find what her true passion is and the challenges she must face to accomplish her dream. One of the best things about this film is the growth we see from Shizuku. She starts off as just a regular middle school kid, as she studies for exams and casually reads books at the library. This is until she is introduced to a cat who shows her a paththat leads her to an antique shop. Here she falls in love with a boy named Seiji, and sees how the boy is challenging himself to be a master at crafting violins. This inspires Shizuku to find her own path as a writer as she now pursues her calling, leaving behind studying for her upcoming exams to focus on her book titled "Whisper of the Heart". This is a very real problem that all people face, how we challenge ourselves to become better and pursue our what we believe is the right path. Even though it may be tough and scary we push through to follow our own calling from our heart.
Like most Gihbli films this movie has good animation and music, that pushes forward the coming of age story it is telling. The settings in this film also show the viewer Shizuku's development as things change in her home and antique shop as the film progresses, showing that things change as we grow up.
One thing that I didn't like about the film were the relationships. The main relationship between Shizuku and Seiji was important. As it pushed our lead to think about her future. However there is a B plot that happens near the beginning where Shizuku's friend falls in love with a boy who actually likes Shizuku. This never comes back for the rest of the film and kinda felt pointless in the long run. Since they were developing it for the first half an hour of the movie, I thought it would come back and give our lead a huge decision to make between pursuing the one she loves or the one who says loves her. Instead it never gets a conclusion and just got to assume what happens.
Overall I would highly recommend this classic as it really is unique from the rest of what Ghibli has to offer, and tells a very real down to earth story that any can enjoy.