Whisper of the Heart
Movie, 1995, The '90s, Set in Tokyo suburbs
Whisper of the Heart is #10 of 25 in release order and #10 of 25 in chronological order in the Studio Ghibli.
The story
Shizuku lives a simple life, dominated by her love for stories and writing. One day she notices that all the library books she has have been previously checked out by the same person: "Seiji Amasawa."
Whisper of the Heart recap
Whisper of the Heart (1995) follows Shizuku Tsukishima, a bookish girl who sees one name, Seiji Amasawa, on the library cards of every book she borrows. Yoshifumi Kondō directed his only feature from a Hayao Miyazaki script, adapted from Aoi Hiiragi's manga. Shizuku (Yōko Honna) is writing new Japanese lyrics to "Take Me Home, Country Roads" when a boy teases her about them. Following a cat off a train, she finds an antique shop and a cat figurine called the Baron, owned by the elderly Shirō Nishi (Keiju Kobayashi). The teasing boy is Nishi's grandson Seiji (Issei Takahashi), the reader on the library cards, who is training to make violins in Italy. Inspired by his ambition, Shizuku decides to test her own talent by writing a story starring the Baron in two months, while her grades fall.
Whisper of the Heart ending explained
Whisper of the Heart ends with Nishi reading Shizuku's finished story and telling her it is raw but real; she sobs with relief, and he tells her how he lost the Baron's partner and the woman he loved in the war. Seiji returns early from Cremona, takes her by bicycle to watch the sunrise, and asks her to marry him one day. The Baron later gets his own spin-off, The Cat Returns (2002).
Post-credits scenes
No. Whisper of the Heart has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Whisper of the Heart
Whisper of the Heart is streaming on HBO Max in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.8/10, Rotten Tomatoes 96%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Pom Poko, before Princess Mononoke.
- Chronological order: after Pom Poko, before Princess Mononoke.
Cast
- Yoko Honna as Shizuku Tsukishima (voice)
- Issey Takahashi as Seiji Amasawa (voice)
- Takashi Tachibana as Seiya Tsukishima (voice)
- Shigeru Muroi as Asako Tsukishima (voice)
- Minami Takayama as Teacher Kosaka (voice)
- Mayumi Izuka as Kinuyo (voice)
- Yorie Yamashita as Shiho Tsukishima (voice)
- Keiju Kobayashi as Shiro Nishi (voice)
- Naohisa Inoue as Tall Friend of Mr. Nishi (voice)
- Shigeru Tsuyuguchi as The Baron (voice)
- Toshio Suzuki as (voice)
- Maiko Kayama as Yuko Harada (voice)
Directed by Yoshifumi Kondo.