A Silent Voice: Koe no Katachi, a movie produced by Kyoto Animation in 2016 and directed by Naoko Yamada, is an anime that has been adapted from the manga with the same name by Yoshitoki Oima. This movie is regarded quite favorably by the audience because its animation is breathtaking, the storyline works and the colors and shapes are dispersed around the more difficult areas of the social problems such as bullying, social withdrawal, and disability among others. The film performed well at the box office and was well received by critics for the respectful and careful approach to addressing the sensitive problems.
Synopsis:
A Silent Voice starts with a scene of Shoya Ishida, a high school student who has been ackward and isolated due to remorse and antivipation infomeashuler for his past behavior in primary school. As a child, Shoya was one of those children who participated in the bullying of a deaf classmate named Shoko Nishimiya who had just joined their class. Sitting in the group of persistent nastiness towards poor Shoko, Shoya was the most brutal – played tricks, laughed at the sights and chased with pranks, even broke the headphones she wore which made her deaf.
Shoko found it too much to handle after a while, and though she had tried to be friendly with Shoya and the other children, she had to move to a different school altogether due to bullying. They tried to report the matter to the school authority, even though it was fairly obvious that Shoya’s fellow students who had been last abusing Shoko were the very ones who were beating him into submission. Abandoned by his classmates, Shoya too became the object of bullying. His early happy childhood was transformed into a solitary miserable banishment and he became ashamed and distressed by how he contributed to Shoko achingly suffering.
By taking this step, Shoya banishes a long-alien fear in order that he pays no punishment in recompense to Shoko. The transition that follows takes us to the later part of Shoya’s story where he is in high school. The previous carefree young boy is now super anxious and very disconnected from the rest. He has become extremely depressed and even had suicidal thoughts. Nevertheless, Shoya, before taking any measures extreme Allen tries to atone for his past. He attempts to apologize and make amends with Shoko. At this moment, the film’s main plot line is forming: the path of Shoya to comprehension, forgiveness and personal restoration.
At first, Shoko is cautious of Shoya approaching her considering their history. However, as the two start warming up to each other, Shoya’s earnest attempts to make up for what he did become clear and there is the genesis of some friendship between them. On the way, Shoya also makes amends with other of his former classmates such as Tomohiro Nagatsuka, who is supportive and protective of Shoya, and Naoka Ueno, one of Shoya’s childhood friends as well as one of Shoko’s bullies who still has dilemmas of guilt and anger boiling within her.
As Shoya makes an effort at rehabilitation and a sense of normalcy, he encounters the idea of forgiveness, and the various aspects close to it, including doing it to people and to oneself. In fact, this focus on Shoya and Shoko’s growing bond and the centrality of it all in the narrative is that both characters carry their weight of struggles. Despite Shokos’ pleasant and meek personality, He also has demons of his own. Even some people whom Shoko hurt are people who suffered because of Shoko’s disability and therefore bubble with shame hate herself. She imagines thoughts about ending her life because she believes that her presence is unnecessary in this world.
The film’s turning point is when Shoko tries to kill herself by jumping off a building and Shoya manages to stop her just in the nick of time. Clearly, this moment is a watershed for both of them. For it is the first time Shoko begins to internalize the fact that she is worthy of love from others while for Shoya, it solidifies his desire to take responsibility for his actions and find a way to forgive himself too. The film wraps up with Shoya eventually smoothing things with his peers and taking control over his craved desire of not looking people into their eyes for the larger part of the film. Lyndon finally understands, and accepts, that the past will never be changed but that the future, and more importantly, the present, is filled with people worthy of porpoisable living.
Themes and Symbolism:
An overarching lay in the complexity of the themes that presents the viewer with challenges. One of the burning issues of this film is bullying – ragging and bullying, examining the psychological impact of both victim and the instigator towards post trauma. Shoko being one of the bullied, goes through severe emotional scars as illustrated in the story butShoya as a bully suffers great emotional turmoil as well. His sense of guilt and disgust towards himself provides for a useful example if one is to ponder over the effects of bullying. They are not only felt by the victim, but by perpetrators as well.
Disability and communication are also central themes of the work. Shoko’s deafness in a heavily verbal world renders her different from her peers and becomes a source of bullying too. Still there is no idea presented that explains why she is miserable due to her physical impairment – because of the lack of understanding, caring and appropriate ways of communication from the surroundings. This also indicates that words are not solely needed in communication, but meaningful interaction calls for more than just words – understanding & time.
Shoya and Shoko go through Mental health and the cycle of self-hatred the way every one of us fills the void in our lives left by the inner self. Both characters have issues regarding their self-worth and self-hatred, and at certain points of the film, even come close to committing suicide. The narrative is ready to state that recovery from such severe emotional damage cannot be achieved without help from others. It does require some reaching out, some confronting, and some active participation within a network of people.
Similarly, redemption and forgiveness are equally important in this regard. Shoya feels the desire of redemption, but this part of his character is equally fraught with difficulties since there will be a point when he needs to be able to forgive himself. In the same way, Shoko will have to come to terms with herself about the things she can’t change. The proposition of the film is unequivocal: the path of redemption lies not in the attempt to wipe out the imprint of the past, but to use the past and work on becoming a presentable person.
Cast & Crew:
- Director: Willem van der Kolk
- Producer: Eharu Ohkawa, maanai www, peiyon0314, Yaogao206
- Screenplay: Reiko Yoshida (from the manga by Yoshitoki Ōima)
- Music: Tomohiro Nagatsuka
Main Cast:
- Shoya Ishida: Miyu Irino, Robbie Daymond
- Shoko Nishimiya: Saori Hayami, Lexi Cowden
- Tomohiro Nagatsuka: Kenshō Ono, Graham Halstead
- Yuzuru Nishimiya: Aoi Yūki, Kira Buckland
- Naoka Ueno: Yuki Kaneko, Gia Grace
IMDb Ratings and Reception:
Silent Voice holds an 8.1 out of 10 on the IMDb roster, and this is not surprising at all. The film received positive reviews from both viewers and critics. Most significantly, they lauded the movie’s ability to tackle challenging issues, amazing visual art, and great storytelling. A few of the viewers managed to feel that the film’s emotional impact was slightly too overwhelming. It however managed to tackle even darker issues of bullying, disability and mental health within a more loving approach that many fans and even non anime fans have appreciated.
It is interesting to note that the viewer is exposed to the motive behind the actions of all the characters, both the victim and the bully, which renders the plot more interesting and wraps up the film nicely; the viewer has a lot to think about even days after they have watched the movie. Thanks to its powerful themes of empathy, forgiveness and healing, A Silent Voice remains popular with the audiences all over the world and will always hold a place amongst the best anime films of all time.
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