Every Studio Ghibli Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

There's a tragic story to Whisper Of The Heart's brilliance: it was made by debuting director Yoshifumi Kondo, who was designed to lead the studio bravely into its next stage of development and to take over from the founders. Sadly, his work ethic proved too much and he died in 1998 as a result of over-working, just three years after his sole work was released.

The story itself is also brilliant and beautiful: it charts the coming of age story of a schoolgirl falling in love - another simple tale furnished with extraordinaiy fantasy sequences that punctuate its sweet, real-world setting without distracting from its simple humanist truths. It's a simple portrait of adolescent love and creativity, a pleasure whose light-weightedness does not compromise on its appeal at all.

it's no wonder Miyazaki was so fond of Kondo's work and spirit: within the Ghibli canon so heavily marked by yearning nostalgia, he was capable of capturing the simple, elegant spirit of being young and aspirational.