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HIDIVE‘s second big premiere of Anime Boston 2024, Whisper Me a Love Song, has a few things in common with their first, Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night. Both shows center around the relationships between high school girls in a band. Where the nature of the relationships in Jellyfish might be up for interpretation in its first two episodes, however, Whisper Me a Love Song is full-blown yuri.
©竹嶋えく・一迅社／ささやくように恋を唄う製作委員会
Neither Himari nor Yori has ever fallen in love before, but when Himari sees Yori perform with the Light Music Club on the first day of school, she’s obsessed. Yori’s a substitute singer, but her bandmates want her to write a love song — and when Himari confesses her love to Yori, the reluctant performer suddenly knows what romance feels like. The first episode climaxes with Yori making her confession of love — which Himari somehow completely misses being about her and instead thinks she’s talking about some other singer.
I watched these first two episodes wondering just how stupid Himari and Yori are supposed to be. If Himari is just a fan of Yori’s singing and not actually in love, why does she talk and behave in such a way that looks so much like she has a crush on Yori? Alternately, suppose Himari does have a crush on Yori (as Himari’s friend Miki and Miki’s sister/Yori’s bassist Aki are convinced she does). How on earth could Yori keep missing what’s obvious to everyone?
Looking up information about the manga, it seems that there’s more complexity going on than just ridiculous miscommunications, and this story will go on to explore the spectrum of attraction and the different things “love” can mean. Even if this was just about ridiculous miscommunications, it’s pretty funny. The cliffhanger at the end of Episode 2, which turns the two-way relationship confusion into a love triangle, promises an additional source of conflict.
Production-wise, Whisper Me a Love Song isn’t too impressive (comparisons to Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night do it no favors). The characters are cute (give or take the weird flesh-tooth on one of the other band members), but the animation is limited. For a music-themed anime, I found the soundtrack underwhelming. Yori’s vocals are good enough for the reluctant yet talented singer, if not as mind-blowing as they are from Himari’s perspective, but the background music is sappy and generic.
These first two episodes are pleasantly entertaining, especially alongside an enthusiastic convention crowd. I’m unsure how compelled I am to continue with Whisper Me a Love Song. Perhaps it will be worth giving the good old three-episode test when it premieres on HIDIVE this spring.