Whisper of the Heart is an animated romance film released by Studio Ghibli in 1995. It tells the story of Shizuku Tsukishima, a girl who loves to read. Instead of thinking about her future, she gets lost in thrilling (and emotional) stories. Shizuku hopes to read twenty books over the summer. However, her goals are in question when she finds that someone has read these books before her as each check-out card branded the name Seiji Amisawa.
Through much investigation, Shizuku discovers that the quick reader attends her school. Turns out he’s quite a jerk. When Shizuku confronts Seiji, he proceeded to embarrass her. After that, she tried to avoid him at all costs.
One day as she was walking home, she stumbled upon a cat. Curious, she follows it to an old shop and it is magnificent. The shop is filled with plants, flowers and a grandfather clock from a fairytale. She stops to see sculpture of a cat. Shizuku couldn’t look away from its gem-like eyes. The shopkeeper named Shirou appears. He says the cat's name is "The Baron." She asks what the Baron’s story is, but the man doesn’t remember. As a parting gift, he shows her an uncarved gem that glows in the light.
Amazed by the place, she returns days later and finds Seiji walking there as well. Reluctantly, she follows him to the shop. They walk together through a room she’s never seen before. Inside are beautiful, hand-crafted violins. Seiji then shows her one that he made.
Inspired by the events, Shizuku believes that she could write a story for the Baron. A spark of inspiration can occur within any artist. Someone else's work has the power to unlock their creativity. This feeling can take you anywhere. Once Shizuku believed that she could write, she created a whole universe with words. Her universe include a floating cities and a talking cat by the name of Baron. She dreams of the Baron taking her to the places of her fantasies and later writes about the adventures they had.
In her process, Shizuku does one of the most brave things an artist can do: share their work. She presents the idea to Shirou, promising he’ll be the first to read it. The possibility of finishing this book is slowly feeling achievable to her.
While she’s making progress writing, Shizuku forgets about everything else. All she can ever think about is how to continue her story. Her family grows concerned over her obsession once her grades start to drop, but Shizuku didn’t seem worried at all. Her book was nearly coming to an end.
After writing for so long. it would be natural to lose your spark. And for some strange reason, Shizuku loses the energy she once had. Her life becomes dull, going from one day to the next without writing. She feels empty realizing that she isn’t doing remarkable things in her life like Seiji is. She’s lost in a dark tunnel. No matter which way she turns or the choices she makes, she’ll never be enough.
Though all hope seemed lost, the cavern started to shine. Dim but colorful gems lead Shizuku through the maze. She follows her a stone that glows brighter than the rest. It seemed to resembled the stone Shirou had shown her. Shizuku picks up her spark and held it close. At that moment, she regained the passion to write again.
If you found anything in this synopsis interesting or relatable, this movie is for you! Even if you didn’t, you should still give it a watch. Whisper of the Heart is a comedic yet heartwarming film that tells us why humans dare to love and create.
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