History Anime / WhisperOfTheHeart

-->-- '''Shirou Nishi.'''

* AnAesop: Following your dream is more important than following convention (Seiji) but sometimes the best way to follow your dream ''is'' by following convention (Shizuku).

* CopycatCover: The [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDg0MWNmNjktMGEwZC00ZDlmLWI1MTUtMDBmNjQzMWM2NjBjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTMxODk2OTU@._V1_.jpg theatrical poster]] is a [[https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0057/3728/3618/products/Kikisdeliveryservice_500x.jpg?v=1620238431 copycat]] of Ghibli's own ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService''.

* CopycatCover: The [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDg0MWNmNjktMGEwZC00ZDlmLWI1MTUtMDBmNjQzMWM2NjBjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTMxODk2OTU@._V1_.jpg theatrical poster]] is a copycat of Ghibli's own ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService''.

* AdaptationDistillation: The original manga had both Tsukishima sisters in romantic relationships with two Amasawa brothers.

* AnAesop: Following your dream is more important than following convention (Seiji) but sometimes the best way to follow your dream ''is'' by following convention. (Shizuku)

* CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds: Harada and Sugimura can be seen walking together over the credits.

* CoolBigSis: Averted; Shizuku's college-aged sister Shiho obviously cares about her little sister, but she's very, ''very'' bossy.

* CuteBookworm: Why, the main couple.

* FriendsRentControl: A rare aversion, the apartment Shizuku lives in is cramped and cluttered with Shizuku sharing bunk beds with her twenty-something sister for most of the movie
* GhibliHills: Aversion - the story is deliberately linked to Tokyo: in fact, it's set in the very same Tama New Town development the forest creatures tried to halt in ''Anime/PomPoko''. Shizuku even acknowledges this by writing a parody of "Country Road" called "Concrete Road".
* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: Shizuku on the subject of Seiji.
* HeroicBSOD: Shizuku goes through a ''major'' one when she realizes that Sugimura has a crush on her.

* LivingInAFurnitureStore: A rare animated aversion, the Tsukishimas' apartment is extremely cluttered.

* LoveLetterLunacy: Played for tears in an important subplot.
* MissingMom: A very mild case; Shizuku's mother is present, just distracted.

* PluckyGirl: Shizuku, of course.

* ShoutOut: [[Anime/KikisDeliveryService Jiji]] and [[Anime/MyNeighborTotoro Totoro]] can both be seen, on the shelves in the fantasy dollmaker's shop, and Shizuku has a witch ornament hanging from her bookshelf (though it doesn't look like Kiki). The grandfather clock in Mr. Nishi's shop, has Anime/PorcoRosso emblazoned on the dial.

* SlapSlapKiss: Shizuku and Seiji.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: InUniverse;

* SceneryPorn: UpToEleven, even as the girls lament the loss of GhibliHills.

** Downplayed with one of the [[https://animeluxembourg.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/whiscov.jpg?w=605&h=865 Japanese release posters]] (which is also used for [=GKIDS=]' and Studio Canal's rereleases). The poster promimently features Shizuku and the Baron in the front of a fantastical setting, which can give off the impression that the film is a fantasy adventure movie ala many of Ghibli's works. While the film does feature the scene seen in the poster, it's nowhere near as prominent as the poster makes it out to be and it, alongside the other scenes featuring her and the Baron in a similar fashion are just FantasySequence[=s=] of Shizuku, with the film actually being a SliceOfLife romance taking place in the real world.

** In the opening, Shizuku can be seen exiting a FamilyMart, a convenience store chain in Japan, China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Subplots include the trials of junior high romance for Shizuku's friends and Shizuku's efforts to translate Music/JohnDenver's signature song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" into a Japanese version for her school's chorus club. The movie is bookended by Olivia Newton-John's 1973 cover version (which was a big hit in Japan) and the film's Japanese version, sung by Honna.

Subplots include the trials of junior high romance for Shizuku's friends and Shizuku's efforts to translate Music/JohnDenver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" into a Japanese version for her school's chorus club. The movie is bookended by Olivia Newton-John's 1973 cover version (which was a big hit in Japan) and the film's Japanese version, sung by Honna.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/whisperoftheheart_poster.jpg]]

''Whisper of the Heart'' is a 1995 Creator/StudioGhibli film, originally titled ''Mimi o Sumaseba'' (耳をすませば　 -- "If You Listen Closely") and based on a manga written by Aoi Hiiragi and serialized in Shueisha's ''Magazine/{{Ribon}} Original'' magazine in 1989. It was directed by Yoshifumi Kondo and written by Creator/HayaoMiyazaki, to whom Kondo was propped up as a potential successor. Released on July 15, 1995, it was Kondo's sole directorial work: he passed away nearly three years later of a brain aneurysm brought about by overwork.

Book-loving junior high school student Shizuku Tsukishima (Creator/YokoHonna) notices someone named Seiji Amasawa (Issei Takahashi) has previously checked out all of her library books. While she's intrigued by the notion of a boy who shares her tastes in literature she's got to get cracking if she wants to achieve her goal of reading 30 books over summer vacation. So she sets out for school to meet a friend and chivy a teacher into letting her borrow yet another book from the library. Still, Shizuku can't help wondering just who Seiji Amasawa might be. Hopefully he isn't anything like that annoying boy who poked fun at her song lyrics.

''Whisper of the Heart'' is a 1995 Creator/StudioGhibli film, originally titled ''Mimi o Sumaseba'' (耳をすませば　 -- "If You Listen Closely") and based on a manga written by Aoi Hiiragi and serialized in Shueisha's ''Ribon Original'' magazine in 1989. It was directed by Yoshifumi Kondo and written by Creator/HayaoMiyazaki, to whom Kondo was propped up as a potential successor. Released on July 15, 1995, it was Kondo's sole directorial work: he passed away nearly three years later of a brain aneurysm brought about by overwork.

* {{Aesop}}: Following your dream is more important than following convention (Seiji) but sometimes the best way to follow your dream ''is'' by following convention. (Shizuku)

** Downplayed with one of the [[https://animeluxembourg.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/whiscov.jpg?w=605&h=865 Japanese release posters]] (which is also used for [=GKIDS=]' and Studio Canel's rereleases). The poster promimently features Shizuku and the Baron in the front of a fantastical setting, which can give off the impression that the film is a fantasy adventure movie ala many of Ghibli's works. While the film does feature the scene seen in the poster, it's nowhere near as prominent as the poster makes it out to be and it, alongside the other scenes featuring her and the Baron in a similar fashion are just FantasySequence[=s=] of Shizuku, with the film actually being a SliceOfLife romance taking place in the real world.
* CoverVersionEnding: Creator/YokoHonna's rendition of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is played over the ending credits.

* NeverTrustATrailer: Much of the trailers and cover Art are taken from a short fantasy sequence illustrating Shizuku's story. Possibly an attempt to make this movie seem like the other fantasy films from Ghibli.

* SliceOfLife

''Whisper of the Heart'' is a 1995 Creator/StudioGhibli film, originally titled ''Mimi o Sumaseba'' (耳をすませば　 -- "If You Listen Closely") and based on a manga written by Aoi Hiiragi and serialized in ''Ribon Original'' magazine. It was directed by Yoshifumi Kondo and written by Creator/HayaoMiyazaki, to whom Kondo was propped up as a potential successor. Released on July 15, 1995, it was Kondo's sole directorial work: he passed away nearly three years later of a brain aneurysm brought about by overwork.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: An InUniverse example. Shizuku struggles with her translation of "Country Road" -- she is a city girl, after all -- and her first attempt, comes out as a storm of clichés. Her "Concrete Road" parody, on the other hand -- ''"Western Tokyo, Mount Tama..."'' is spot on, and very funny. Her final version ditches the whole going back to the country motif, and is instead about choosing one's road in life.