Whisper Me A Love Song

 Whisper Me A Love Song (ささやくように恋を唄う) is a 12 episode yuri romance based on the manga of the same name by Takeshima Eku.  The series originally aired during the Spring of 2024, with the final two episodes not airing until the end of 2024.

    Kino Himari becomes obsessed with the performance and lead singer of a band made of third year students who perform during the school event welcoming the incoming new students.  Himari can think of nothing else and when she runs into the upper classman later in the day doesn't hold back when telling her how much the performance moved her.  The girl, Asanagi Yori, misinterprets the younger girls words and thinks it was a confession of love for her, not understanding Himari was having difficulty properly expressing her feelings.  Kino is flattered by the forthright attitude of the younger girl and begins to entertain the idea of actually dating her. Himari learns that Yori usually sneaks onto the roof of the school after class ends to play her guitar and sing.  Wanting to experience more of her playing she intrudes on this sacred space.  Yori reluctantly lets her join in, hoping it will allow her to respond positively to the girls confession.

    As they spend more time together Yori quickly learns that she misunderstood what Himari had fallen so helplessly in love with.  Crushed by the misunderstanding, she still holds out hope for building a relationship with her.  Himari admits that she has never really thought about what it means to be in that type of relationship with anyone and feels bad that Yori misunderstood her.  She's glad that she can still spend time with her though and as they grow closer she begins to recognize that a deeper fondness for the older girl is growing with in her.  But not everything is rosy in Yori's life.  She decided to join the school band permanently, replacing the original singer.  One of the bands other members and Yori's childhood friend tries to tamp down her feelings for her new band mate, recognizing they will never be returned.    To complicated things further, the girl who left the band formed a new one and is set on proving to her old band mates that she is superior in every way to them.

    The show started off rather enjoyable but as it progressed into a narrative that didn't follow Hima I started to loose interest.  It also doesn't help that the last two episodes were delayed until the end of the year.  Not that it was bad but I just didn't care enough about the direction the story took.  Though...it did kind of run out of ideas with the original idea of the growing relationship between Hima and Yori.  I am being a bit harsh though.  The story presented an idea that sparked Hima's obsession and then it went on to flesh out that idea beyond being a plot device.  Yori was asked to perform with the bad at the last minute due to its original guitarist quiting.  The second half of the story really digs into why she quit and how Yori and in some ways Hima were a catalyst for it and later developments.

    The series wasn't too bad, it had some fun moments and developed its characters relationships better than a lot of other stories.  It told a complete story that involved more than just the main pairing.  It presented tension and friendship in realistic ways.  I think I just became bored with the story after a while and was only continuing it to see it though to the end...then the production delays set in.  But don't let me faded interest influence anything, it's not a bad story.  Though, the characters design is a bit...much I think.  Or at least some of them are a bit daring sim game like.

The series was simulcast on HiDive.