Japan Synopsis
耳をすませば
“I found someone I like.”
Shizuku lives a simple life, dominated by her love for stories and writing. One day she notices that all the library books she has have been previously checked out by the same person: 'Seiji Amasawa'.
Audience Engagement
1,738 audience reviews — more than 98% of Japan films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 92th percentile among Japan films.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Whisper of the Heart. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
2 sharedA Whisker Away
★ 7.9 · Japan
2 sharedRoad to Ninja: Naruto the Movie
★ 7.6 · Japan
2 sharedKiki's Delivery Service
★ 7.8 · Japan
2 sharedThe Boy and the Heron
★ 8.1 · Japan
2 sharedThe Wind Rises
★ 7.8 · Japan
2 sharedRanma ½: The Movie 3 — The Super Non-Discriminatory Showdown: Team Ranma vs. the Legendary Phoenix
★ 7.7 · Japan
Other Titles From Studio Ghibli
Animation + Drama in Japan
730 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Animation and Drama genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Whisper of the Heart itself).
The 1994–1996 Japan Window
Among 143 Japan films we catalog from this window, Whisper of the Heart places #17 — near the top of its class.
The 1990s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1990s in Japan, 447 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Whisper of the Heart premiered alongside 59 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 59 other Japan films in 1995.
The 1019th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Whisper of the Heart, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- violin · 4
- cartoon cat · 4
- violin maker · 1
- grade · 1
- dream · 18
- high school student · 18
- italy · 7
- library · 6
- writing · 6
- education · 6
- anime · 711
- love · 123
- train · 35
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #635 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (86th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +1.0 points above the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Animation productions specifically: #533 of 2,532 (top 21%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Studio Ghibli, Nippon Television Network Corporation, Tokuma Shoten, Hakuhodo |
| Runtime | 1h 51m |
| Release Date | July 15, 1995 |
| IMDb | tt0113824 |