Whisper of the Heart is a 1995 Japanese animated film directed by Yoshifumi Kondō. Its original Japanese title is Mimi wo Sumaseba (耳をすませば), which means "if you listen closely". The film is based on the manga of the same name by Aoi Hiiragi. The screenplay was written by Hayao Miyazaki. This is the first theatrical Studio Ghibli feature to be directed by someone other than Miyazaki or Takahata, and the only film to be directed by Yoshifumi Kondō, who died in 1998 of a ruptured aneurysm at the age of 47. Studio Ghibli had hoped that Kondō would become the successor to Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata.