“Whisper Me A Love Song” is an endearing series that takes us through the main characters’ first love and how they are able to navigate their feelings and watch them grow from admiration, into romantic love. The series reflects on the different forms of love, platonic, admiration, romantic love and walks us through the characters’ development through different forms of love as they learn to accept, grow and find confidence in love.

Yori Asanagi (Asami Seto), is a high school student who has never experienced romantic love, and is tasked by her bandmates to write an original love song. However, she is reluctant to do so because she has no experience on the subject and is afraid that the song will not be good. At the freshman opening ceremony, Yori’s performance catches the eye of a bubbly underclassman, Himari Kino (Hana Shimano) and Himari becomes enamored with Yori’s performance. Himari obsesses over Yori’s singing to the extent that she confesses her love to Yori, who has never been confessed to, and Yori experiences “love at first sight”. Being confronted with these feelings by Himari, she immediately decides to reciprocate to them. However, it becomes clear that there has been a misunderstanding between the two, as Himari was confessing her love for Yori’s music and not necessarily Yori herself.

Although Yori realizes the misunderstanding, she is now hellbent on pursuing Himari because Himari has ignited something in Yori. Himari’s friends help the two become closer by instigating more interactions between them, and the two go out on a date, which solidifies Yori’s feelings for Himari and Yori tells Himari that she is in love with her and would like her to be her girlfriend. Himari, who was previously oblivious to Yori’s feelings must now decide if she sees her the same way or if she is only interested in her music.

Yori goes from never having experienced love, to actively pursuing Himari with confidence that she will win her over, and Himari, through the counsel of her friend and mom also opens herself up to Yori’s love and agrees to give their relationship a chance by suggesting that they get to know each other more in order for her to get to the same place that Yori is, thereby also falling in love with her.

“Whisper Me A Love Song” is fast paced and although the story doesn’t develop as quickly as the pace of the show, the 20-odd minutes fly by that you are left wanting more. It takes you back to your young self, experiencing romance for the first time and you can’t help but swoon over the naivete of Himari and Yori’s newfound confidence to pursue Himari despite never having that experience. There is no “gay awakening” or even “gay panic” from either party, which is refreshing as it makes the conflict less contentious but rather a simple and normal obstacle that they have to overcome. The story will surely get better and better as it unfolds.

Rating- 4 out of 5

Streaming on- HIDIVE