The official website of the live-action adaptation of Whisper Of The Heart released a special video featuring footages from the film along with interview of the lead actors Nana Seino and  Touri Matsuzaka on Aug 26, 2022.

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 was postponed for two years due to COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

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

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

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.

Whisper of the Heart was Kondō’s only film as director before his death in 1998. Studio Ghibli had hoped that Kondō would become the successor to Miyazaki and Isao Takahata.

A spinoff film, The Cat Returns, was released in 2002, which focused on a minor character of the film, the Baron.

Source: Official Website

©︎Aoi Hiiragi/Shueisha ©︎2022 “Whisper of the Heart” Production Committee