Whisper of the Heart (Japanese: 耳をすませば, Hepburn: Mimi o Sumaseba, literally "If You Listen Closely") 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 of and Keiju Kobayashi. It was the first theatrical Studio Ghibli film to be directed by someone other than Miyazaki or Isao Takahata. 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 Takahata.[2] It was the only theatrical Ghibli film not directed by Miyazaki or Takahata for seven years until The Cat Returns was released in 2002, which focused on a minor character of the film, Baron.