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Hayao Miyazaki’s Whisper of the Heart concept art revealed in new Ghibli illustration book

Image Board Collection series turns spotlight on two classic Studio Ghibli anime.

Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki is famous for having a very hands-on approach to anime production, to the extent that he’ll sometimes just draw over an animator’s draft rather than verbally explain the changes he wants made. So Whisper of the Heart sticks out in his filmography, since it’s the only Ghibli film for which Miyazaki handled scriptwriting duties all by himself, but didn’t direct the movie.

This doesn’t mean that Miyazaki didn’t have any visual ideas for Whisper of the Heart, though. As someone who’s pretty much always dreaming and drawing, Miyazaki created a number of pre-production concept illustrations and storyboard segments for the film, including several for the in-anime story being written by protagonist Shizuku. And while Miyzaki’s artwork didn’t show up on the screen, it is included in a new book from publisher Iwanami Shoten, which includes illustrations that will be shown to the public for the very first time.

Iwanami Shoten is getting ready to release the sixth volume in its Hayao Miyazaki Image Board Collection series. “Image board” is used here as a collective term for various kinds of pre-production art, which give fans a behind-the-scene look at how ideas and designs evolved from their initial states to what audiences eventually saw in the beloved Ghibli classics.

Whisper of the Heart made its Japanese theatrical debut in 1995, and screenings also include On Your Mark, a Ghibli-animated music video for the song of the same name by Japanese pop duo Chage and Aska. Miyazaki both wrote and directed On Your Mark, which veteran Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki recalls was a liberating release valve from the difficulties Miyazaki was going through while trying to crystalize his ideas for Princess Mononoke, which would come out two years later, in 1997.

▼ On Your Mark

Miyazaki’s concept art for On Your Mark is also included in the new book. A story of two policemen in a futuristic dystopia helping an angel-winged girl escape captivity, Miyazaki clearly had more ideas than could be fit into On Your Mark’s sub-seven-minute running time, and the concept art might provide glimpses of the wider world beyond what there was time to show on-screen.

In total. Miyazaki Hayao Image Board Collection 6: Whisper of the Heart and On Your Mark contains 178 pieces of artwork, 21 for Whisper of the Heart and the remainder for On Your Mark. It’s priced at 6,160 yen (US$40) goes on sale June 4, and is available online from Amazon Japan and Rakuten (here and here).

Source: PR Times, Iwanami Shoten
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, Studio Ghibli
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