Whisper of the Heart

 Taking part in the "Wonderful Wordsmiths" intrest stack challenge on MAL for this summer, this Studio Ghibli movie was on the list to watch, so I sat down, turned on Netflix, and completed my Ghibli movies watched a bit more.

 

 

And there is always that sweet nostalgia to these films animation style, not to mention the Country Roads opening song...

 

Shizuku is a 14-year old student at Mukaihara Junior High School, where she is best friends with Yuko Harada.  Living in Tokyo with her parents and older sister Shiho, and loves to write creativetly.  One evening as she is looking through the check-out cards of her library books, she notices they all have been read by someone named Seiji Amasawa.

 

During the next days, she encounters a boy that teases her about "Concrete Roads", a set of original lyrics she had created on the tunes of Take me home, country road.  When she follows a stray cat riding the train, it leads her to an antique shop run by Shiro Nishi, where she sees a cat statue of "The Baron".

 

 

 She later encounters the boy again in the shop, where he shows her the workshop that he is attending to learn and make violins.  He agrees to play for her, but only if she sings her lyrics.  He is revealed to be Seiji, Nishi's granson, and they befriend each other.  he admits he admires her talent and he had been checking out books in the hopes she would notice him.  A few days later, he is leaving for Italy to a two-month study with a master violinmaker.  Inspired by him pursuing his dream, she asks Nishi if she can write a story featuring The Baron, to which he consents as long as he is allowed to read the story as the first one.

She concocts a lovestory with herself the protagonist, The Baron as the hero looking for his love Louise, and the cat from the train.  But as a result, her school grades start dropping as she looses herself in her writing.  When the story is finished, Nishi reads and approves, and he tells her the true story behind The Baron, which is based on his own past and first love, and how they got seperated during the second world war.

Deciding to learn more about writing, she resumes studying to get into High School just as Seiji returns from his trip.  They ride his bike to a lookout, and Seiji professes his love for her, proposing they should marry in the future which she happily accepts...

A typical Ghibli feel good movie, this is something that did lighten my heart on a serious private matter, which I won`t be blogging about though.  So if you ever feel full of sadness and pain of loss, check out this innocent movie and feel a bit refreshed!