Note: I saw the first two episodes of Whisper Me a Love Song at Anime Boston 2024 in an advance screening held by HIDIVE, ahead of the show’s official premiere in April 13, 2024.
Whisper Me a Love Song begins with the cutesy Himari Kino (Hana Shimano) attending her first day of high school. Per the suggestion of her best friend Miki Mizuguchi (Aoi Koga), Himari attends a school concert held by the band SSGIRLS, led by Miki’s older sister Aki (Mikao Komatsu). When the band performs, Himari seemingly falls in love with its stand-in singer and guitarist, Yori Asanagi (Asami Seto). As Yori begrudgingly considers on writing a love song for SSGIRLS, she gets a confession from Himari.
At first glance, I figured that the story would have Himari trying to win Yori over. Surprisingly, it’s the other way around. When Himari says she loves Yori, she apparently means that she’s a super big fan of her music. But because of the way she phrases things, it’s very easy to misinterpret her words as romantic so it takes a while for Yori to realize what Himari actually means. To further complicate things, Yori begins to “reciprocate” Himari’s “feelings”. By the time she realizes the miscommunication, she’s become smitten with her underclassman.
The twist is somewhat frustrating. There might be some nuances to Himari’s stance on romance but for now, it’s unbelievable that this girl is so dense and she fails to realize how easily her words can be misinterpreted. That being said, this reveal did get a big laugh out of me. Plus, the story is potentially more interesting this way than if it was played straight (no pun intended?). I like that the bubbly first year is the one who sees things platonically and it’s the cool and reserved senpai who is all flustered and has to win her over. It’s a more unusual dynamic than what I’d expect but I do find it charming so far and I am curious to see how it’ll unfold.
Aside from the main duo, I also like the SSGIRLS gang. They’re a fun bunch for Yori to bounce off of when she’s not spending time with Himari, cheering their honorary member on while giving her some whacky ideas for her to consider. I’m curious about the exact relationship between Mari Tsutsui (Konomi Kohara) and Kaori Tachibana (Ai Kakuma), the drummer and keyboardist for SSGIRLS respectively. The two are childhood friends and Kaori acts very chummy and flirty around Mari. Maybe they’re just there to yuri bait the audience while the actual romance is developing but it would be interesting if they really are a couple. I have something to say about Aki but I’d save for the Episode 2 review.
There’s a couple of insert songs here. Both of pretty good, especially thanks to Asami Seto’s singing. That’s a reassuring sign as I imagine music will play a big part in this show, what with it being Yori’s hobby and her main ticket to winning Himari’s heart. At the same time however, this premiere uses very short edits of the songs so I’m not 100% confident here. I can understand that for the second song but it is a strange move for the first one as it’s part of the big moment where Himari “falls” for Yori. Hopefully, this is just a fluke and it’s not the case for the rest of the series.
Watch Whisper Me a Love Song on HIDIVE
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