Rating summary
| Movie |  | 4.0 |
| Video |  | 4.5 |
| Audio | | 4.0 |
| Extras |  | 2.5 |
| Overall | | 4.0 |
Whisper of the Heart Blu-ray Movie Review
Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson January 9, 2018
In collaboration with Studio Ghibli and GKIDS, Shout! Factory has reissued Yoshifumi Kondô's Whisper of the Heart (1995), which was written and storyboarded by Hayao Miyazaki. The 2-disc Blu-ray and DVD set has ported over all of the same extras present on the 2012 Disney/Buena Vista release, has licensed a nearly five-minute featurette that appeared on both the Region B UK Studio Canal and AU Madman Entertainment editions, and has enclosed a slender leaflet. For thoughts on the highly acclaimed anime feature and a critique of a/v specs, you can see my colleague Kenneth Brown's review of Disney's BD/DVD twin pack here.
This edition comes with a slipcover, an Elite case for the discs, and an exclusive booklet (see centerfold photo in Screenshot #3). Cover art on the slip and keep case covers is identical (see #s 1 and 10).
Front of slip cover and back of BD case.
Whisper of the Heart Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
Shout! presents Whisper of the Heart in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1 that mirrors its original theatrical exhibition. For reasons unexplainable, Disney encoded the main feature on its BD-50 at an average video bitrate of only 17.95 Mbps. Shout! has given the MPEG-4 AVC-encoded transfer a new encode that almost doubles its predecessor (a mean of 30000 kbps). The entire Shout! disc boasts a total bitrate of 40.76 Mbps. Frame grab #s 5-9 are taken from the new disc.
Shout! has divided the feature up into twenty-four chapter breaks.
Whisper of the Heart Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
Whisper of the Heart's sound track options consist of the original Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (3978 kbps, 24-bit), an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 alternate mix (3998 kbps, 24-bit), and a Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps) dubbed in French.
There are three subtitling options: English SDH for the English sound track, English subtitles for the original language version, and French subtitles.
Whisper of the Heart Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
- Feature-Length Storyboards (1:51:04, 1080p) - Miyazaki's complete storyboards framed in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. All of the other BDs, including the US Buena Vista, incorporated them as solely a picture-in-picture option. (PiP is not available on the Shout!)
- "Four Masterpieces of Naohisa Inoue: From Start to Finish" gallery (34:46, 1080p)
- "Background Artwork from The Baron's Story" (4:47, 480i)
- "Behind the Microphone" featurette (8:02, 480i)
- Original Japanese Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots (10:51, 1080p) - the first is like an extended promotional featurette about Whisper of the Heart.
- NEW Exclusive Booklet - seven color stills accompany a statement by producer Toshio Suzuki and an essay on shōjo manga by Miyazaki.
Whisper of the Heart Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
For a time, Whisper of the Heart was arguably the rarest American Blu-ray in the Studio Ghibli library. Indeed, used copies of the B.V./Disney package go for over $70 while factory-sealed copies will cost you $150. Shout! Factory has rectified this scarcity with a fine reissue that features a new video encode and an illustrated booklet with original text translated into English. The re-release is a no-brainer and comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
