Youth and Ambition in Whisper of the Heart
Studio Ghibli’s Whisper of the Heart is a coming-of-age story following Shizuku and Seiji, two budding artists finishing middle school in Tokyo. The movie explores their relationship and ambitions for artistic greatness set against beautiful scenes of summer and kaleidoscopic daydreams. As the pair earnestly work toward their goals, sometimes to their own detriment, they confront the reality of their youth as both an obstacle and a gift.
Seiji dreams of being a master luthier and spends his free time carving violins in the basement of his grandfather’s shop. When he has the opportunity to go to Cremona, Italy to train under an expert, he jumps at it. He is willing to sacrifice a high school education for his dream, telling Shizuku, “I know what I want to do, but I don’t know if I’ll get to do it. I fight with my parents about it every day.” In fact, he even tells Shizuku that after returning for their graduation ceremony, he plans to go back to Cremona for ten years. Seiji is so fixated on his goals that he is set on skipping a vital part of adolescence in order to pursue them. Despite his age, his plan to be a world-class violin maker is all that matters to him, and he is determined not to let his age stop him.
Inspired by Seiji’s determination, Shizuku decides to write a book. As she becomes more and more invested, her ambition takes a toll. She starts staying up all night, failing to do her chores, slacking off on her studying, and eating less. Her drive to succeed becomes tangled in her self-worth, prompting her to say, “I promised myself I’d achieve this certain goal, or I’m not good enough.” She soon sits down with her parents and says she may skip high school so she can continue pursuing her writing. In this way, her fixation on being both successful and as "accomplished" as Seiji becomes damaging to various aspects of her life. While her classmates prepare for entrance exams, Shizuku focuses only on finishing her book.
Eventually, both are told they have promise as artists, but they are not yet great. After Shizuku’s initial distress, the two seem to be content with this outcome and choose to go to high school. At first this feels counterintuitive, given their passion throughout the film, but it reveals an underlying desire to remain carefree kids.
Whisper of the Heart shows how youth, something Shizuku and Seiji see as an obstacle, is a gift that should be embraced. At the beginning of the movie, Shizuku’s carefree lifestyle as a student on summer break is continually contrasted with the adults around her. Crowds of adults commute to work, her parents complain about work, and her sister lists the many chores she has to complete. Meanwhile, Shizuku reads books, hangs out with her friends, and watches blimps drift across the sky, even when she is running late. However, once her focus on her writing appears, this lighthearted attitude disappears.
While reading books as research for her story, Shizuku comes across an image of a prisoner locked in a cell making a violin, sadly looking away from the instrument and up into light. This image reflects the trap Seiji and Shizuku create for themselves, limiting themselves by dedicating everything to their art so early. They do not leave room for themselves to be kids, viewing their youth as simply an obstacle to their goals and planning to skip high school for the sake of their art.
Whisper of the Heart stands out as a coming-of-age story, with its exploration of young and ambitious creatives making it stand out among its peers. Growing up, many people have dreams that seem enormous, dreams that youth seems to hold them back from. Shizuku and Seiji’s story shows us that embracing our youth is important, and the immense pressure we put on ourselves is often unnecessary. Whisper of the Heart is a reminder that the world around us and the relationships we form are beautiful, and we don’t have to prove we’re “good enough” to live meaningful lives.