After 5 years of waiting for the chance, I finally saw Whisper of the Heart. There's no other word for it than charming. It's a simple story about a young boy and girl who fall in love while exploring their separate passions. The movie does get slow, but the charm more than makes up for it. And, yes... it's corny. But I'm pretty sure they knew that when they made it haha. Highly recommended movie in the Studio Ghibli catalogue, even though it's not from Miyazaki. If you like Japanese animation it's a must.

note: this is a more realistic movie than you're used to seeing from Ghibli. It has the heart the studio's fans know and love, but much of the fantasy here stems from the protagonist's imagination rather than the situations she finds herself in like the other movies. I'm curious to see The Cat Returns because I loved the fantasy scenes so much.

3.5/4 baseballs.