Junkers Come Here

Another film about friendship between children and a talking dog, the schnauzer Junkers. 

Both a girl wondering about love getting some dilem trough magic. Junker is more focus on internal feelings where watashi wa neko is more about romance and magic. 

The dogs represent the "look on the bright side" aspect of their stories. 

Both provide a balanced mix slice of life and drama using the perspective of the difficulty of a youth's life as the story. They both have fairly plain character designs and a magical assistant of sorts to help the main character in their personal struggles. 

The anime's are both about a lonley girl finding a friend in a pet. Though Minna no Uta is alot shorter than Junkers 

Charming, family-focused drama about a kid with a fantastical pet. Coo to Natsuyasumi elaborates on the supernatural element, especially how society deals with it, and some dark themes. Junkers' magic remains unexplained, and is more of a plot device supporting the protagonist's characterization and climax. Junkers is also more character-focused, but both have detailed slice-of-life. 

Both are slice of life, telling the stories of two children growing up, falling in love for the first time and all the rest. 'Whisper of the Heart' focuses more on romance and deciding what direction to take life in beyond school. 'Junkers Come Here' focuses more on a young girl trying to carry on, despite not seeing her parents and them being on the verge of splitting up, also spending a lot of time advancing its lead by using her first crush. I'd say most that like 'Whisper of the Heart' will also like 'Ocean Waves' and 'Only Yesterday', too - all the titles mentioned are mostly realism heavy titles, aimed more towards mature viewers. read more