Whisper Me A Love Song Episode 1 Review - Love At First Sight
This is the first time I’m watching and reviewing an actual yuri anime. While I do prefer BL more, I do want to expand my horizons and try out different genres. The first episode of Whisper Me A Love Song was actually really cute.
The story is about first year Himari Kino who starts her first day in high school and falls for the cool third year Yori Asanagi when she plays for the opening ceremony’s live band. Himari cannot get Yori out of her mind and when she manages to see her at the shoe lockers, she confesses to her. After her confession, Yori starts becoming interested in her. However, it turns out that Himari’s love and Yori’s love aren’t the same! Uh-oh.
The premiere was super cute! I loved the colors and the animation! I just think this will be a sweet and pure love story between two girls. I do like how it’s similar to other romance animes that are pure and sweet like Sasaki and Miyano or My Love Story With Yamada. To be honest, it does kind of remind me of Given with the music theme and with the way the leads have the same hair and eye colors as Uenoyama and Mafuyu. Heck, even Yori, the black-haired and blue-eyed lead, finds inspiration in her cuter, red-haired love interest like how Uenoyama finds motivation to love music again after meeting Mafuyu who is also cute and has red hair. It’s like a happier version of Given but with lesbians.
I think the first episode really does solidify Yori and Himari as characters. Yori has never fallen in love before and despite misunderstanding Himari’s love, decides that she wants her to feel the same way. The fact that she’s motivated by cat merchandise is hilariously cute. Himari is super adorable. She’s like a puppy! I do like how straight forward she is when it comes to her feelings. While she isn’t exactly feeling romantic love right now, the way she’s able to express herself so well is a good trait. I do hope to see a scene where Himari realizes she’s in love with Yori.
The side characters are fun! I quite liked the red-haired rich girl. The way she was like “Go fall in love with someone” after hearing Yori struggling with making a love song was hilarious. Like, that’s a tall order, girl. Then there’s the tall ditzy girl who clings onto her. Then there’s Miki, Himari’s friend and Aki’s sister. Aki herself seems interesting as she is shown prominently in the opening, meaning that she’ll have her own love story.
The voice acting is good! Fun fact: Yori’s singing voice and her speaking voice are two different people. Her voice actress for regular dialogue is Asami Seto, who voiced Kasane Randall from Scarlet Nexus and Nobara from Jujutsu Kaiser. Her singing voice is done by Kana Sasakura, who is a singer. I think this is rather interesting because music animes usually have the singing done by their respective voice actors. To see Yori have two different voices is a rather unique concept. I’m not sure if Seto can sing, but I do wonder what the thought process behind this was. Do they want to promote a lesser known musician? Regardless, this is cool! Sasakura’s voice is good! I think that this is a good way to promote a musician! I honestly quite like Asami Seto as a voice actress so to hear her voice an awkward girl will be a treat for my ears!
Himari is voiced by Hana Shimano. This is the first time Shimano is voicing a lead and her voice is extremely adorable. It’s high-pitched but not like ear-gratingly high. There’s a right amount of high tone that doesn’t seem like she’s straining herself. There’s also a softness to it. It’s really nice to listen to! It’s something I’d definitely listen to constantly!
The side cast is actually stacked. Holy cow. First, there’s Miki who’s voiced by Aoi Koga. I know her from Hirogaru Sky Precure as Ellee and I couldn’t recognize her voice at all! Dang, she’s versatile! Is that her normal voice? If it is, it’s great! Then there’s Mikako Komatsu who voices her sister Aki. I think Komatsu is super versatile and is also a voice actress I really like listening to! Heck, I didn’t even realize Aki was voiced by Komatsu until the credits rolled and I usually can recognize her voice by ear! Good job passing through my good ears! The red-haired rich girl is Mari and she’s voiced by Konomi Kohara. I like her character and her voice so I’m keeping an eye out for her. The tall ditzy girl is Tachibana and she’s voiced by Ai Kakuma who voiced Mashiro from Hirogaru Sky Precure. There are so many Precure voice actors here!
Though, if there is one thing I am worried about, it’s mainly the state of the future episodes. The first episode is good, but, after doing some research, I saw that this anime was delayed from its previous Winter 2024 broadcasting due to a change in directors. I’ve honestly never heard of an anime where the director was changed in the middle of production. Will this ruin the state of the anime? Who knows. I like what I saw so far, so please don’t let this anime become a train wreck—I’m an anime-only, by the way.
I feel like my Saturdays are going to be great thanks to this show. I hope it’ll be the start for me to try more yuri anime. Are there any yuri recommendations you want me to take a look at? Let me know!
Mari Tsutsui (Rainbow Days/Nijiiro Days) vs. Ella (Total Drama)
More information under the cut!
Mari Tsutsui: Everyone thinks Mari is cute. Even though she seems mean and nasty at second glance. This is because she trusts no one except her best friend, with whom she is in love. But, in private, she loves girly things! Nail polish, nice clothes, glitter accessories, and so on.
Ella: Is a parody of a Disney princess, always singing to animals and being one of the kindest contestants
A popular Japanese makeup account tweeted that young girls today don't know how to self-style and will all do the same typical popular douyin-makeup instead of finding what works for them. They said they wished they were alive in the the early Heisei Era (1989-2001) when there were clear cut subcultures. For example in the Golden Era, there was Yaguchi and Maki who looked up to gyaru so that was how they styled themselves. During promo for Do It Now Rika called Fujiwara Norika who was popular with women in their 20s an influence on her hairstyles and fashion. In 2000 and 2001, Kei said she liked Harajuku street fashion so she styled herself that way with her hairstyles. In an interview with staff when she was auditioning on ASAYAN Aibon said she liked gyaru fashion and designer brands like Prada but when she debuted she was styled in that Nicola magazine fashion and Angel Blue style fashion that was popular with school kids because that suited her look better than the popular gyaru look.
Compare that to today, you see H!P members all do the same douyin-makeup. That style works great for girls like Kirara and Nanami but Roko always looks a bit off even though she's doing the same exact makeup. I would suspect that's why a lot of people complain a lot of H!P members look alike. They're all doing the same exact douyin makeup style (thick brow, creating the exact same eye shape, individual lash placement, a thin delicate eyeliner wig, drawing pronounced eye bags with brown contour, red lip) that's popular without thinking about if it suits them or not. As an idol fans hold them to higher standards when it comes to self producing.
Yuri Anime 'Whisper Me a Love Song' Announce April 13 Debut; HIDIVE to Simulcast
Last Friday, an announcement posted to the official website for the upcoming television anime adaptation of Eku Takeshima's Whisper Me a Love Song (Sasayaku You ni Koi o Utau) revealed that the series will premiere on April 13. Additionally, on Wednesday, Sentai Filmworks announced that it has licensed the anime and will stream the anime internationally on HIDIVE.
Whisper Me a Love Song follows first-year high school student Himari Kino, who, at a welcome ceremony, witnesses Yori Asanagi singing and instantly falls in "love." She immediately confesses her admiration to Yori, who misinterprets Himari's feelings as romantic. However, once she realizes her mistake, Yori swears that she will make Himari fall for her for real.
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The release date announcement also included a new key visual (above) and information about the opening and ending themes. Whisper Me A Love Song's opening theme, "Follow your arrows," is performed by the fictional band SSGIRLS from the anime and sung by Kana Sasakura, who provides the singing voice for main character Yori Asanagi.
Sentai Filmworks will simulcast the anime exclusively on HIDIVE in North America, Australia, the the British Isles. The North American premiere will be screened at Anime Boston 2024 on March 29.
The anime, which was delayed from its initially announced January premiere, is directed by Akira Mano at Cloud Hearts and Yokohama Animation Laboratory. Mano replaced the initially announced director, Xin Ya Cai, due to "health reasons." Character designer Minami Yoshida and script supervisor Hiroki Uchida join Mano.
The anime stars Hana Shimano as Himari Kino and Asami Seto as Yori Asanagi. Additional cast includes:
Konomi Kohara as Mari Tsutsui
Mikako Komatsu as Aki Mizuguchi
Ai Kakuma as Kaori Tachibana
Yuna Nemoto as Shiho Izumi
Reina Ueda as Momoka Satomiya
Chika Anzai as Hajime Amasawa
Aoi Koga as Miki Mizuguchi
Ichijinsha serializes the original manga in Ichijinsha's Comic Yuri Hime. Kodansha USA publishes the manga in English and will release the eighth volume on March 26.
Sources: Official Anime Website, HIDIVE Press Release