Whisper Me A Love Song – Season 1 Episode 1 Recap & Review

The Rooftop, Guitar, and Senpai

Episode 1 of Whisper Me A Love Song starts with several students observing an SSGIRLS performance at their high school. The SSGIRLS’s singer, Yori, reflects on romance and notes how uninteresting it is to her. She says she’s more interested in singing. However, she notes how there was a day when her perspective of romance changed. 

Simultaneously, our main lead, Himari, mentions that she fell in love on this particular day. Then, we cut away to a different point in time. Himari’s cat Marota wakes Himari up. Himari thanks Marota for waking her on time. She doesn’t want to be late on her first day of high school. After Himari discusses things with her mother, she heads to school. 

When Himari arrives, her childhood friend Miki arrives. Miki tells Himari she and Himari will be attending the same class, exciting Himari more. Also, Miki tells Himari that her sister’s band will be playing at their school soon. She asks Himari to accompany her and Himari complies. At the performance, Yori and the SSGIRLS wait for their turn. 

Yori’s nervous about singing in front of people. Meanwhile, Miki informs Himari about her sister’s preferred instrument. Then, we return to the scene from the episode’s start. As Yori performs her band’s song, Himari is amazed by Yori’s singing voice. Once they finish performing, Miki confronts Himari, asking her for her opinion on her sister’s performance. 

Himari doesn’t comment on Miki’s sister’s performance. However, she tells Miki that she loved the vocalist’s (Yori’s) performance. Himari rambles on about Yori to Miki’s displeasurement. Miki departs to check out the Wind Instrument Club. We cut away to Yori and the SSGIRLS relishing over their achievements today. One of the girls asks Yori if she’d like to become an official member, but Yori declines because she doesn’t want to sing in front of people. 

The other girls ask Yori why she agreed to sing for their band. One of the girls tells her comrades that she bribed Yori with a limited edition kitty pouch item. Ultimately, Yori tells the girls that she loves singing on her own. One of the girls confirms that Yori’s an exceptional songwriter. This entices one of them to ask Yori to write a love song for them to play.

Yori’s against that idea because she has never fallen in love with someone. After discussing things further with the SSGIRLS, Yori heads to her locker. During her travels, she ponders love concerning her current objective and herself. Yori crosses paths with Himari, but the two don’t notice each other. Himari still can’t get Yori out of her head.

Himari notices Yori nearby and confronts her. She tells Yori she enjoyed her performance and Yori thanks her. Himari tells Yori that her music made her fall in love at first sight. Yori believes Himari confessed to her. Before she can chat with her further, Himari tells Yori she’s looking forward to her next performance. Himari departs. 

Yori leaves to tell the SSGIRLS about her experience with Himari. The girls praise and tease Yori about it. Yori feels she may be in love with Himari. The SSGIRLS offer Yori tips on how she should respond to Himari. Then, we cut away to Himari and Miki. Himari tells Miki that she told Yori her performance made her fall in love at first sight. Himari starts getting gitty about things and Miki tells her to calm down. 

Then, Miki gives Himari details about Yori that she attained from her sister Aki. Himari’s upset that Yori isn’t an official member of the SSGIRLS. She’s afraid she won’t get to hear her perform again. Miki’s surprised Himari’s this obsessed about music. Himari says she’s not knowledgeable about it, however, she finds music awesome. Miki tells Himari that Yori likes to visit the school’s roof and sing up there. 

Himari plans to meet with Yori after school ends. We cut away to Yori on the rooftop. She places her phone on the ground and we learn she is chatting with Aki. Aki demands Yori to update her on what happens if Yori does encounter Himari again. Yori ponders how things will go between her and Himari when she tells her she loves her. 

To lessen her anxiety, Yori plays her instrument and sings. Yori says she likes singing for the sake of singing, but wonders if she should change her singing formula if and when she sees Himari. Suddenly, Himari arrives and apologizes for barging in on her singing session. Yori questions Himari on how she knows her name and knows about her rooftop excursions. 

Himari tells her that her friend told her about Yori’s activities. Although Yori finds this intel strange, she tells Himari she fell in love at first sight. However, Himari believes Yori fell in love with the idea of singing at first sight. After this comment, Yori realizes Himari wasn’t in love with her, she was just a fan of her work. Himari tells Yori that she wants to visit her every day to hear her sing.

Yori still finds Himari attractive and tells Himari that she’ll try her hardest to make Himari fall for her. Himari informs Miki about her experience with Yori the following day. Then, Yori arrives and greets Himari to Himari’s surprise. Yori asks Himari if she and her can hang out later and Himari says she’d love to. Someone calls out to Yori. Before Yori leaves, she tells Himari she’s looking forward to their after-school meet-up. 

Himari and Miki chat about this development briefly before heading to class. Yori meets with Aki in school and tells her that she misread her first encounter with Himari. Aki tells Yori she had a hunch that Himari fell for Yori’s music and not for Yori herself. Then, we receive a comical scene, confirming that Aki is Miki’s sister. Yori tells Aki that she wants to take things slow with Himari. 

She feels she should make herself look more cool and reliable in front of Himari. The other SSGIRLS arrive, informing Yori they can count on them for support. Yori visits the rooftop and is shocked to see Himari’s arrived already. Himari discusses her experiences with some of the school’s staff and Yori gives her a few pointers on how to deal with them. 

The two sit by the rooftop’s gate and chat. Later, Himari realizes she talked Yori’s ear off and apologizes. Before they go, Himari asks Yori if she can sing a song for her. Yori starts playing her guitar and singing in front of Himari. While singing, Yori reflects on her ordeal with Himari. She knows her confession wasn’t of the romantic variety.

Nonetheless, she knows her feelings for Himari are true. The episode closes with a flower petal soaring into the sky. 

The Episode Review

After receiving marvelous romance anime like The Dangers In My Heart Season 2 and A Sign of Affection during the Winter of 2024 anime season, many romance fans might be searching for a series that could fill the empty void in their heart. Whisper Me A Love Song might be the anime romance and drama enthusiasts seek out.

Interestingly, this anime may catch viewers by surprise regarding our female protagonists’ roles. Most romance anime programs follow the perspective of a talentless lead and their journey to win over their skilled lover. Yet, this one reverses the roles and gives us a tale of a talented individual’s attempts to win over someone who isn’t as gifted. Although most romance series have done this in the past, it’s refreshing to see an anime like Whisper Me A Love Song tackle this concept in an age where we receive more of the same. 

That aside, this episode does a nice job of establishing our characters. From the introverted Yori to the upbeat Himari, I’m excited to see how this tale plans to delve more into their lives as we progress through this 12-episode series. Moreover, the visuals were compelling, mostly during the intimate segments between Himari and Yori. 

The band performance scenarios could use some work, but the SSGIRLS didn’t look too jarring to the point where it’d ruin a fan’s viewing experience of this chapter. Overall, Whisper Me A Love Song delivers an enjoyable introductory chapter for fans to observe. I’m excited to see how Yori and Himari’s relationship grows by episode 12.