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SYNOPSIS
As a wild youth, elementary school student Shouya Ishida sought to beat boredom in the cruelest ways. When the deaf Shouko Nishimiya transfers into his class, Shouya and the rest of his class thoughtlessly bully her for fun. However, when her mother notifies the school, he is singled out and blamed for everything done to her. With Shouko transferring out of the school, Shouya is left at the mercy of his classmates. He is heartlessly ostracized all throughout elementary and middle school, while teachers turn a blind eye. Now in his third year of high school, Shouya is still plagued by his wrongdoings as a young boy. Sincerely regretting his past actions, he sets out on a journey of redemption: to meet Shouko once more and make amends.
Koe no Katachi tells the heartwarming tale of Shouya's reunion with Shouko and his honest attempts to redeem himself, all while being continually haunted by the shadows of his past.
Spoiler-free Summary: Shouya Ishida, a young high schooler, has many regrets about his past. Even his daily life is a prison, as he remains isolated and agonized by his actions. But one day, he meets the one who he tormented, and begins to slowly recover from his afflictions.
Preface:
When I'd first found "A Silent Voice", I was vaguely disinterested. After all, the movie isn't something with a lot of action, or romance. But, begrudgingly, I did entertain the thought of watching it, for the sole purpose of curiosity. How could anyone make a SOL plot like this interesting, especially for those who preferred shonen? Clearly, I was wrong.
Plot:
Like it's name, Silent Voice is a silent masterpiece, both subtle and humorous, yet powerful and emotional at times. Even after re-watching it multiple times, it doesn't fail to bring out something, whether tears and smiles. And similar to many coming-of-age ani-movies, it's characters are absolutely imperfect, but still work around their problems in a meaningful way.
Characters:
After reading many, many reviews, and watching the movie just as many times, I can still fondly remember its cast. Each character has their own personality, flaws and motivations, always revealed, but close to never outright. Each of the main characters' lives are deep, built with connected events that provide insight into the plot and reactions. The relationships between each and every individual are also unique; no two characters attempt to fill the same role, and neither does any character simply take the brunt of comedic relief without any other relevance. Now, many also state that there is often no change; no exceptional development of the characters, but I would argue there is, or if not, at least reason for why. Many of the main leads, in their journey to heal past wounds, learn about the importance of expression: to release themselves from their own shells to understand their place in the world, and in the minds of other people. Others learn about the consequences of their actions, or inactions. And then of course, Kawai tries to learn about how to not be hated by everybody, but gloriously fails.
Animation and Music:
Sounds and animation can arguably be the most powerful tools for an anime, either shaping an excellent story to something with little value, or bringing out a new world out of the words on a page. In that, it is safe to say that, once again, KyoAni did not disappoint. A Silent Voice is, frankly speaking, breathtaking. The warm palette bring out the beauty in even the smallest of moments, from a tiny splash, to the burst of fireworks. Every scene is a painting, a world in a canvas that magnifies the value of each frame alongside a touching dash of piano keys, woven into an orchestra of colors, imagery and sound. The scenes are consistently harmonious with the art and noise, directing a flood of tears at every sad, beautiful and painful moment. Again, it is very simply breathtaking.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I don't believe that this movie was "made" by any of its elements. Without the fabulous work from Kyoto Animations, the plot and characters would be much less interesting, and without the complexities of its plot and characters, I wouldn't name this my favorite anime ever. But, much like its cast, the sum of all these elements is much greater than each individually, with flaws in all aspects which somehow act to empower the message and beauty of the movie even more. I would recommend this movie to everyone, but as it stands, I cannot. Please do not watch this simply for the sake of watching it. From experimentation, I know this movie cannot be forced, and so, please only watch it if you find curiosity in it. Thanks, and have fun!
What does it mean to forgive someone? Specifically, What does it mean to forgive yourself? This is a big theme that A Silent Voice tackles in it's run time. And for me that is a really interesting theme to explore. This was the first anime that I completed after I knew what an "anime" was. This was the anime that made me see how great a piece of fiction can be. So today let me try to tell you why I think A Silent Voice is the one of the greatest movies ever made.
PAST
A Silent Voice starts with showing Shouya wanting to commit suicide. Which already makes you invested as you start questioning things like "why is he trying to commit suicide?" "What happened to him in the past?". We then jump into the opening of the movie which shows Ishida hanging out with his friends. We are shown this new girl called Nishimiya enter the classroom, She takes out a pen and there are the words "I am deaf". People try to be friendly to her at first but as the days go on, they start to see her as a burden and a nuisance. Then by the hands of Shouya the bullying begins since "Hey! She is a nuisance to us and she is different from us so It's fine.. right?". The bullying becomes worse and worse as time goes on and while some people as kawai are not taking part in it, They are doing nothing to stop it. The only person who tried to help Shouko stopped coming to school because people started making fun of her too. It's the mentality of "either you are with us or against us". The bullying comes to a point where Shouko drops out and while announcing this to the students, The teacher blames it on Shouya and only Shouya. Even though the teacher knew about the bullying, he did nothing to stop it but now the responsibility only goes to Ishida. Shouya tries to put the responsibility on others too but they won't admit to it since "Hey! As long as it's not me, It's fine.. right?". From this point on, the flashback just shows a tale about what happens when the bully becomes the bullied.
PRESENT
We jump back into the present time but now we understand Shouya's actions that we saw before. It's regret, hating himself for the actions he committed. He sees people with "X" on their faces showing how he is now afraid to look people in the face, he is afraid to hear their voices. He goes to meet Shouko to apologize to her for the first time ever. But the words he says to her are unexpected. He says "Can we be friends". Those are the same words Nishimiya told him in the past. Nishimiya doesn't "forgive" Ishida in that scene since she doesn't blame him in the first place. She blames herself, She has come to believe that she was a burden to them. From that point on, Many things happen. Ishida makes his first friend after a long time which brings into the question of "what is a friend" which results in a beautiful saying of "Friendship defies any logic or words". We learn about Shouko's sister later. We meet everyone. It looks bright since everyone is coming together again. Then.. the bridge scene happens. We have seen how everyone is flawed in the series over and over so now the time where Shouya just spit it all out. This moment has a big effect on Shouko since She has always felt she was a nuisance and a burden so seeing them fight because of her cause just ups that feeling. Later we are in a festival, Shouko says she will go home early, Ishida goes to her home too to get her sister's camera. He sees Shouko standing on a balcony trying to jump. Confusion, Sadness, all those sorts of emotions go through his mind. They were just having fun early on so why is she trying to do It? Why is she trying to die? He runs and yells her name grabbing her hand at just the right time. At that moment he thinks to himself "dear god please give me enough strength, I won't run from my problems anymore" then a hand approaches to grab the balcony. A will to live comes through her. But Ishida falls from the balcony instead. At the end of the movie. She doesn't see herself as a burden anymore. And as for Shouya we get this scene in the end where all the "X" on the people fall off showing that Shouya learned to see their faces again, he learned to hear their voices again, he learned to… forgive himself.
FUTURE
This movie's ending is a hopeful one. Now that Shouko doesn't see her as a burden, Now that Shouya learned to forgive himself. It's a bright future ahead of them. I think this movie handles a very realistic topic that many people can relate to. Most of us have something's that we did in the past that makes us want to hate ourselves. There's no point hating ourselves now or even hating our past self because what's done is done. So instead of doing that, let's try to be better from now and maybe let's learn to forgive ourselves?
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