The world-renowned Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli has released the first trailer for their upcoming live-action sequel to Whisper of the Heart. The trailer is the first look that viewers have had of the film and has piqued the curiosity of fans around the globe who have been waiting to see what the movie will be like.
Whisper of the Heart, written by famed director Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Yoshifumi Kondo, was originally released in 1995 as an animated feature film. The original movie tells the story of two young people, Shizuku Tsukishima and Seiji Amasawa, who meet, fall in love, and decide to be together even though they know that their future careers will likely take them in different directions. This sequel will be live-action, another step in a new direction for Studio Ghibli.
The live-action sequel to Whisper of the Heart was first announced back in 2020, but there had been no trailers released until this week. According to the 30-second trailer, the story will take place 10 years after the original movie's conclusion. Seiji and Shizuku, played by Tori Matsuzaka and Nana Seino, are young adults that have been staying in touch by romantic handwritten letters. The two never gave up on their ambitions to become a violin maker and a writer respectively, and it seems to have kept them far away from one another for some time.
There isn't a lot of solid information available yet about the Whisper of the Heart sequel, but this trailer at least gives something to speculate on. When Shizuku gets a letter from Seiji in the trailer, she states, "It's been a long time," which makes us think they are not staying in touch very often. However, it does not seem to have hurt their relationship, as the same sunrise promise that occurs at the end of the anime to see one another again is in the trailer.
With so little information, it's hard to imagine what exactly to expect from a sequel to Whisper of the Heart. There has never been a live-action remake or sequel to a Studio Ghibli film before, either, which gives us even less to work with. Studio Ghibli has a history of telling sad stories (watch Grave of the Fireflies or The Wind Rises, for instance), so whether this film will have a happy ending for Shizuku and Seiji remains to be seen.
The original Whisper of the Heart was the highest-grossing domestic film in the Japanese box office in 1995, and had high reviews. Anime films that become live-action are not always well-received, though, so only time will tell how the sequel will fare. Regardless, Studio Ghibli fans can be excited to have something entirely new coming out this year just weeks before the Studio Ghibli theme park opens - and can rest assured that the beloved character of the Baron (who has his own spin-off film, The Cat Returns), has his own moment to shine in the trailer.
Whisper of the Heart's live-action sequel will release in Japan on October 14th, 2022.
Source: YouTube