The official website and Twitter account for the upcoming Mimi wo Sumaseba (Whisper of the Heart) live-action film has released two new teaser visuals and a few production images on May 27, 2022.

The first visual shows the two protagonists – Shizuku Tsukishima and Seiji Amasawa, as junior high school students riding bicycles on a riverbank, and the second one depicts them standing in the same place again, facing each other after 10 years.

清野菜名×松坂桃李「耳をすませば」ビジュアルと場面写真が解禁、原作者も期待寄せるhttps://t.co/q4pDThYK5E#耳をすませば #清野菜名 #松坂桃李 #柊あおい pic.twitter.com/9a7ZGMbnpp

— 映画ナタリー (@eiga_natalie) May 26, 2022

Nana Seino plays adult Shizuku and Touri Matsuzaka plays adult Seiji in the film, while Rina Yasuhara and Tsubasa Nakagawa play Shizuku and Seiji respectively in junior high days.

The romantic coming-of-age live-action film will feature the theme song “Tsubasa o Kudasai”.

The film will be shown in two parts “Ano koro (past)” based on original author Aoi Hiiragi‘s manga, and the original part “Junen-go (present)” set ten years after that.

In commemoration to the announcement, Hiiragi commented that, “It has been 33 years since I drew ‘Whisper of the Heart’ and 27 years since it was made into an animated film. Hearing the passionate thoughts of the staff who grew up watching the film, I was intrigued by the new approach of ‘a story 10 years later’. Now that a new live-action film has been created, I wonder about the characters who are walking completely out of the original creator’s hands. However, it is because I am their parent that I am excited and thrilled to see what kind of world they will show me. The world has become darker due to the unexpected pandemic, but I hope this film will brighten the world, if only a little.”

A teaser trailer was previously released to announce the live-action decision.

The film is directed by Yuichiro Hirakawa and it will be distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Shochiku.

Whisper of the Heart live-action film is set to release in theatres in Japan on Oct 14, 2022. It was originally scheduled to be released in Japan on Sep 18, 2020, but has been postponed for two years due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whisper of the Heart is a 1995 Japanese animated musical coming-of-age romantic drama film directed by Yoshifumi Kondō and written by Hayao Miyazaki based on the 1989 manga of the same name by Aoi Hiiragi.

It was animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, and Hakuhodo. The film stars Yoko Honna, Issei Takahashi, Takashi Tachibana, Shigeru Muroi, Shigeru Tsuyuguchi and Keiju Kobayashi.

Source: Whisper of the Heart live-action film official website