Mimi o Sumaseba - 1995 Studio Ghibli

Mimi o Sumaseba ~ Whisper of the Heart

Story :)
The story revolves around a young girl , Tsukishima Shizuku, who has finished her junior high. Instead of studying for a high school, she channels her energies to reading books that she borrows from the library. Then she notices that the books that she check out from the library were all recently borrowed by the same person. Curious to know who this student is , she attempts to find him. However, she encounters a mysterious cat and follows it. She found a quaint trinket shop at the top of a hill. Besides encountering the cat and the shop, she seems to be always running into a boy around her age. (Little does she knows that he is who she is looking for.)
The anime is of modern day Tokyo, Japan where a girl knows that her life is changing. It shows the aspirations and dreams of the two young teenagers and the difficulties they encounter in trying to follow the path they want.
Comments :)
Mimi o Sumaseba is somewhere along the same line as Kiki's Delivery Service. It is about the struggle and determination of the 2 young teenagers to follow dreams and aspirations and to find a place in the world. This anime is more of the reality and life of a person (except for the part where Shizuku had a magical travel with a magical cat). Very detailed and vivid backgrounds and illustrations. This anime was not directed by Miyazaki nor Takahata Isao. Miyazaki-san, though did a bit in the magical travel. Despite being a work of the other Studio Ghibli's members, it is one of the best anime i have seen. The music themes are especially wonderful. -'Country Road' (originally sung by John Denver who has sadly depart recently 1997) If you want to watch this anime, look out for the combined singing with violin.