Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3420 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-04-10
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Formats: Animated, PAL
• Original language: Japanese, English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 111 minutes

Synopsis
A schoolgirl follows a cat and this chance encounter leads her on some exciting adventures beyond her wildest dreams.

Customer Reviews

Gentle, Beautiful, Whisper that gets its message out.
Studio Ghibli has built quite a reputation over the years as being one of the foremost delivers of Anime. Even in small Denmark Ghibli's movies have succeeded in entertaining the audience and now anime/manga is not as alien as it once was. Globalization has taken its turns and thank god for that. Ghibli has delivered yet another sweet and enjoyable movie that is far from the and maybe even above the average Hollywood movie. Whisper of the heart tells the story of the female protagonist Shizuku who studies at junior high school and reads a lot of books, which she borrows from the school library. After a while she recognizes that the same person has borrowed the same books, she borrows before her, and she intends to find out who this person is. After a while she meets with the person and they eventually bond with each other. The movie brings up a lot of existential questions and how one's future should be. Shizuku is confused and have not quite figured out what she wants to become in the future, while Seiji, the mystical male protagonist who Shizuku found out was the one who borrowed the books right before her, has planned his future out carefully. This makes Shizuku despairing and she tries to canalize her journey of self discovery by writing a book. All these themes are spiced up with the the story of the developing bond between Shizuku and Seiji. Everything in the movie is very well planned out and the musical score really supports the respective moods of the scenes very nice. It is not justifiable to compare the different Ghibli movies with each other as they are all quite special in their own way, but one might still say that while the movie is not aestheticly and grandiosly beautiful like Miyazaki's: Howl's Moving Castle, etc. it is still a very pretty movie to look at and the detail of every picture is still able to amaze the observer. The picture style also creates a more down to earth atmosphere as opposed to the above-mentioned grandiosity of some of the more known movies.
This as well as other Ghibli movies is not to be missed since it is a good diversion to all the Hollywood films we know so well.
Another last noteworthy remark is that Whisper of the Heart very well illustrates today's Post Modern Society, because it shows how hard it is for people to find their own identity. At one hand freedom has never been so widespread due to globalization and other factors, which makes it easy to become almost any kind of person one wants to be, but as with many other things this comes with some side-effects in the form of identity problems etc. Which the movie tries to tell us. Namely, that no matter what life has in store for us, everything is gonna be allright after all, no matter how cliche that may sound.

Possibly one of the best ghibli films
I really enjoyed this film, despite having expected it to not live up to the standards of the other ghibli films. It is a heart warming story for all ages. A true classic. Would recommend.

Whisper of the Heart
This film has the same amazing landscapes and detail as all of the other Ghibli but seems to lack a storyline. The characters are exellent and likeable and although it is interesting nothing ever seems to happen. However, is still a great film.
By Nicole, age 15.