Whisper of the Heart

Can an animated movie make you feel things? Can it conjur up emotions from the viewers? Not all can of course, but if you look to Japan and to movies like the one on hand here, the answer is yes. Generally speaking anything that came out of Studio Ghibli can be considered high quality. And I speak past tense, because it does unfortunately not exist anymore.

But they put out so many movies, you will have a good time (re)visiting them. This is one of them, with unlikely two leads ... well unlikely at first to actually be together. It feels so real relationship wise, it really gets to you. Even following the cat, is something you may or should be able to connect with curious wise. A very good movie, with colorful characters - no pun intended.

Fabulous. Extremely fantastic. I love the innocence in it, the love, and the friendship. You can feel all that just by watching Whisper, and the music! I've always loved Country Road by J.Denver, and after watching this movie, I like it even more. I actually fell in love with the characters, and felt like being in love again. The vibe is there, no doubt. The atmosphere, the artwork, it is fantastic. We don't really need a high-tech animation to make a successful one. Simple artwork like Studio Ghibli's is just wonderful for me. I'm not going to spoil anything, since most of you probably have watched it. Those who haven't, please do so! I'm going to watch it again and again! My sincerest opinion, it is a must see! 10/10 from me!

I was blown away by Whisper of the Heart. It is perhaps slow and simple, but it is also charming and poignant with great characters especially. The animation as always is wonderful, the stunning backgrounds and colours especially look absolutely amazing. And the visual effects are great too and do a great job of enhancing the story. The music is gorgeous and never feels obtrusive, and the song is absolutely lovely. The script is memorable too, while the simple yet very rich story still manages to touch me, as do the beautiful, subtle messaging and great characters here. Shizuku and Seiji are both likable characters with real warmth to them. The voice acting is excellent from all involved, especially Cary Elwes who is perfect as the charming handsome Baron. All in all, stunning and one of my favourites. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I have never seen such a touching love story between two young people, driving each other to achieve their aim in life by doing self-discovery. What makes me realize is we don't have to know someone in real life to push ourselves to achieve something. They can be far away from us or a stranger to be our role model in life.

This story can occur in reality and who knows? The story line is simple but very interesting. It also makes you think whether you have such an inspiration in life, whether our partner give us an inspiration in doing what we want in life or just live another day.

All in all, this love story inspires me and it will be one of my favorite anime at all times.

This was on the TCM channel late one night, and I discovered it by accident, having just turned on the TV, which often helps me get to sleep. I didn't expect an anime movie to be this involving, but I stayed up for what turned out to be a very pleasant movie.

The story tells of a young girl named Shizuku who enjoys reading, and has a desire to write stories herself. She notices that many of the books she has checked out of the library show the same name of a boy who has checked out all these books. She becomes curious who this person with similar tastes to her own is.

It turns out to be a boy from her school; they meet, and almost like an old MGM musical, initially have friction, but it's obvious they are warming up to each other. The scene where they sing "Country Roads" together is charming and joyous. Their budding "first love" romance is sweet, but beyond that, has an extra dimension, in that they inspire one another to utilize their talents to pursue their dreams and ambitions.

The animation is exquisite; the backgrounds resemble paintings, almost looking like real places, not animated pictures. There's even quite a bit of attention to create a three-dimensional world.

Good, uplifting movie, with a lot of heart and optimism. Well written, and you can't help but love these appealing characters, and root for them that a happy ending comes their way.