Young book-worm Shizuki Tsukishima spends her last summer vacation before high school reading and translating foreign music into Japanese. She notices that the name Seiji appears on every book she borrows from the library. Through a magical encounter with a mysterious cat, she ends up meeting and falling in love with Seiji – who dreams of becoming a famous violinmaker in Italy, while Shizuki aspires to become a writer. As their life goals pull them in different directions, the young lovers are determined to remain true to their feelings for one another. Whisper of the Heart was the first and only feature by Hayao Miyazaki’s protégé Yoshifumi Kondo before his sudden death at the young age of 47. An emotional and heartfelt story about finding one’s passion in life, the film was a critical and commercial success that spawned a spin-off based on the magical cat called The Cat Returns. This film is appropriate for ages 10+