The live-action sequel film adaptation of Aoi Hiiragi’s Whisper of the Heart/Mimi o Sumaseba manga unveiled a new teaser trailer, two teaser visuals, and additional cast members. The opening of the movie was delayed to October 14, previously undefined due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The story is set 10 years after the story of its original manga and the famous anime film adaptation by Studio Ghibli. Now 24, Shizuku has given up her dream of being a novelist but works hard every day to sell books as a children’s book editor at a publishing company. Meanwhile, Seiji is still following his dream abroad, even if the distance between him and Shizuku grows ever larger.
The key visual on the left shows them as adults, while the one on the right shows them as they were in middle school. In the middle, the words “Because there’s someone I want to meet” are inscribed. It was also revealed that Runa Yasuhara will cast the young Shizuku and Tsubasa Nakagawa as young Seiji.
As previously announced Nana Seino takes the role of Shizuku Tsukishima and Tori Matsuzaka as Seiji Amasawa when they grow up.
▍About Whisper of the Heart
Whisper of the Heart/Mimi o Sumaseba is a manga by Aoi Hiiragi. Originally, was published the manga in Shueisha’s shōjo manga magazine Ribon in 1989. Hiiragi published a sequel manga titled Mimi o Sumaseba: Shiawase na Jikan in 1995, and a spinoff manga, titled Baron: The Cat Returns, was released in 2002.
Viz Media published Baron: The Cat Returns in English. That manga-inspired Hiroyuki Morita and Studio Ghibli’s The Cat Returns film in 2002. The original manga inspired an anime film by Yoshifumi Kondō and Studio Ghibli in 1995. The story follows junior high school bookworm Shizuku as she has a chance encounter with a mysterious antique shop, and the boy Seiji Amasawa, the grandson of the shop’s owner.
▍Whisper of the Heart Staff
Director/Screenplay: Yuichiro Hirakawa
Distributors: Sony Pictures Entertainment / Shochiku