Whisper Me a Love Song (ささやくように恋を唄う) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eku Takeshima.It was first serialized in Ichijinsha's Comic Yuri Hime April 2019 issue and is licensed in English by Kodansha Comics.An anime television series adaptation produced by Cloud Hearts and Yokohama Animation Laboratory aired from April to December 2024.
Synopsis
On her first day of high school, Himari Kino watches her senior Yori Asanagi perform with a band, and instantly falls in love with her singing. When Himari confesses her admiration to Yori, she misinterprets Himari's feelings as romantic love. However, she falls for Himari anyway, and promises to win her affections for real after finding out the truth.
Characters
Himari Kino (木野 ひまり)
A fifteen-year-old high school student and energetic girl who falls in love with Yori's singing on her first day of school. She confesses her admiration to Yori, who misinterprets her feelings as romantic. Upon learning of Yori's true feelings for her, however, she eventually comes to realise that she loves Yori too and they become lovers.
Yori Asanagi (朝凪 依)
A seventeen-year-old high school student who serves as the vocalist and lead guitarist for the band SSGIRLS after their previous vocalist quit. Often seen as stoic by those around her, Yori enjoys singing while playing the guitar on the school's rooftop alone and collecting cute cat merchandise. Yori falls for Himari after her "confession", only to realize later that Himari was actually confessing admiration for her singing. However, she resolves to get Himari to reciprocate her feelings in time and they eventually become lovers.
Aki Mizuguchi (水口 亜季)
A cheerful third-year student and the bassist for SSGIRLS. She is Yori's best friend and tries to support her in winning over Himari while hiding the fact she has romantic feelings for Yori herself. She had a falling out with the band's previous singer Shiho, who left the band on bad terms. After eventually learning that Shiho had romantic feelings for her realising her feelings for Yori had changed, however, she makes up with Shiho and later agrees to become her girlfriend.
Mari Tsutsui (筒井 真理)
A stoic third-year student and the drummer for SSGIRLS. She comes from a rich background and is childhood friends with Kaori. She tends to refer to people by their full names.
Kaori Tachibana (橘 香織)
An easygoing third-year student and the keyboardist for SSGIRLS. She has been friends with Mari since childhood.
Miki Mizuguchi (水口 未希)
Aki's younger sister and Himari's best friend since elementary school. She is part of the brass band club and tries to support Himari and Aki any way she can.
Shiho Izumi (泉 志帆)
A third-year student, and former vocalist and guitarist of SSGIRLS, which she left following a feud with Aki. She now fronts a rival band, Laureley, while also acting as a ghost member for the Culinary Research Club. It was later revealed that she had romantic feelings for Aki, becoming heartbroken upon discovering Aki had feelings for Yori and leaving the band as a result. Thanks to the efforts of Himari and others, however, she eventually manages to make up with Aki, who becomes her girlfriend.
Momoka Satomiya (里宮 百々花)
A kind-hearted second-year student who is the president of the Culinary Research Club and the guitarist for Laureley. Gentle and supportive, she quickly befriends Himari, who joins her club.
Hajime Amasawa (天沢 始)
A third-year student who is the drummer for Laureley. She is often seen with Momoka and is the younger sister of Momoka's late girlfriend Kyou.
Kyou Amasawa (矢沢 キョウ)
A violinist who was Hajime's older sister and Momoka's girlfriend. She was originally friends with Shiho until Shiho became jealous of her talent. She died in an accident, leading Shiho and the others to form Laureley.
Production
Manga
Prior to creating Whisper Me a Love Song, Takeshima already had experience in drawing yuri manga, having created several doujinshi fan works featuring yuri relationships.She had also previously published a one-shot story, Kimi ni suki tte iwasetai (君に好きっていわせたい), in Comic Yuri Hime.[1] Takeshima has stated that she enjoys incorporating classic story tropes and is happiest when she can show characters being affectionate in these situations.[2]
Whisper Me a Love Song began with the idea of a senpai-kōhai dynamic, a type of hierarchical social relationship commonplace in Japanese culture. However, after struggling to develop a full story from this premise, Takeshima decided to focus first on character design, eventually creating twelve different character visuals. Yori's design was decided relatively quickly, whereas Himari's took more time to finalize.[2]
According to Takeshima, once the character designs were established, the story developed more easily. Her editor suggested incorporating a misunderstanding stemming from love at first sight and having the senpai character play guitar, both of which were eventually worked into the plot. As serialization began, Takeshima found the first two chapters challenging, since they were published simultaneously and depicted the same scene of Himari and Yori meeting from both of their perspectives. Takeshima named her favorite scene as the panel where Himari falls in love with Yori after seeing her singing, which she redrew five times.[2]
In terms of characterization, Takeshima aimed to portray Himari as an outgoing and straightforward girl who tended to act directly on her feelings. However, to avoid Himari coming across as self-centered, she made sure to show how Himari is also thoughtful with her actions. Meanwhile, for Yori, she focused on creating a contrast between her outwardly cool and composed appearance and her inwardly softer, more emotionally vulnerable side. The relationship between Himari and Yori was designed to be balanced, with each character alternately taking the lead and evoking emotional reactions in the other.[3]
Following the manga's publication, Takeshima said that one of her happiest experiences as a creator was meeting her work's readers in person during an autograph session, where she could directly see their appreciation for her work.[2]
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Eku Takeshima, Whisper Me a Love Song began serialization in Japan in the April 2019 issue of Ichijinsha's Comic Yuri Hime magazine, released on February 18, 2019.[4] It has been compiled into twelve tankōbon volumes as of April 17, 2026.Kodansha USA licensed the series in English and began releasing volumes in North America from October 2020.[5]
Ichijinsha published an anthology of the series, titled Whisper Me a Love Song Official Comic Anthology (ささやくように恋を唄う 公式コミックアンソロジー), on July 29, 2024.[6]
Chapters not yet in tankōbon format
These chapters have yet to be published in a volume.
Chapters not yet in tankōbon format
These chapters have yet to be published in a volume.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced on January 13, 2023.The series is produced by Cloud Hearts and Yokohama Animation Laboratory.Initially, it would have been directed by Cai Xinya; however, Cai stepped down due to health issues, and was replaced by Akira Mano.[33] Hiroki Uchida oversaw series' scripts, Minami Yoshida designed the characters, and Hiroshi Sasaki and Wataru Maeguchi composed the music.[34]
The series, initially scheduled for January 2024 but delayed due to "various circumstances",[35][36] aired the first ten episodes from April 14 to June 30, 2024, on the NUMAnimation programming block on all ANN affiliates, including TV Asahi
Episodes
Stage play
In May 2024, it was announced that a stage play adaptation titled Butai: Sasayaku yō ni Koi o Utau (舞台『ささやくように恋を唄う』) would run from the following July 26 to August 2 at the Theater1010 in Tokyo. It is directed by Tomoyuki Ueno, written by Yuniko Ayana, and stars Yui Watanabe and Momoka Ishii.[50]
Reception
Erica Friedman of Yuricon noted in her review that while the story is not groundbreaking it is "so pleasant and full of such pleasant characters, that it's a joy to read."[51] In contrast, The OASG criticizes its ability to keep the series interesting: "Eku Takeshima is betting the success of this entire story on the strength of the relationship between Himari and Yori and while that may have worked if this story was a short one-shot, it's not nearly enough for an entire series."[52]
Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network praised the characters and called it "a yuri series you don't want to miss."[53] Nicki Bauman likewise praised the characters, calling them "delightfully passionate and excited by each other" but criticized the series's pacing.[54]
In 2020, Whisper Me a Love Song was nominated for Niconico and Da Vinci's Next Manga Awards, and placed eighteenth out of 50 nominees.[55]
The Blu-ray Disc release, originally slated for four volumes released between September 13 and December 13, 2024, were delayed and later cancelled due to internal circumstances.
The opening theme song is "Follow your arrows", performed by the anime's band SSGIRLS with vocals by Kana Sasakura. The ending theme song for episodes 2-6 is "Giftee" (ギフティー), performed by Hana Shimano, while the ending theme for episode 8 onwards is "Meritocracy" (メリトクラシー), performed by Laureley with vocals by Sui Mizukami.[41][42]Sentai Filmworks licensed the series in North America, Australia and British Isles for streaming on Hidive.[43]
