Though the voice actors succeed well in their work, especially Irino Miyu as Shōya, their performance is flattened by uninteresting and clichéd soundtrack by Ushio Kensuke. I expected more daring contrast between silence and cacophony of voices, which in my opinion would have expressed perfectly Shōya's inner struggle. The auditive elements of the film are pretty basic, which first left me disappointed. This is expressed through several shots where only legs are shown, indicating that Shōya prefers to see only parts of the people, instead of trying to see them as whole beings. Since Shōya can hear technically, he ought to be able to hear people's voices, but he decides to actively shut them out of his life. By this respect the anime changes the focus more clearly to Shōya's perspective. Even though the main character in the manga is Shōya and the reader gets only few selected glimpses through Shōko's perspective, it nevertheless emphasises the silent perspective of Shōko and underlying the manga's theme of the hopeless feeling of not being able to hear or understand each others' voices. Since the theme of the story is people's inability to listen to and understand each others' voices, I was intrigued how this theme would be handled via an auditive medium of film. However, the deep emotional wounds that torment both Shōya and Shōko aren't healing in the way they hope to. Five years later Shōya seeks forgiveness from Shōko, deciding to become her friend and listen to her voice better. ![]() Eventually Shōko is transferred to another school, and because of his actions Shōya becomes ostracised by his classmates. When Nishimiya Shōko, a girl with a hearing disability is transferred to Shōya's class, he decides first to make fun of her, then actively and brutally bullying her since he feels her transferring to the class has changed its dynamics into worse. In short, the film tells about Ishida Shōya, a 17-year-old boy who is tormented by his past self's actions. I felt that I need to organise my thoughts and feelings about it, since I'm not exactly sure what to think about it. In summary, in my opinion A Silent Voice is a modern masterpiece of comics that resonates most powerfully through its characters' silence and incompetence in listening each others' voices.Īfter reading the manga several times, I finally decided to watch its acclaimed anime film adaptation. The characters of the manga show how complex and irrational the adolescents' feelings and thoughts can be, which I find to be very rare in any art form. ![]() By contrast it also shows how important, though difficult, forgiveness can be in order to grow as a person. It shows how devastating bullying can be and what kind of mental wounds it leaves, yet the manga is never cynic, nor overtly manipulating. It moves me to tears every time I read it, creating an enchanting and one of the truest depictions of adolescence I've ever seen. A Silent Voice (聲の形, 2013-2014) by Ōima Yoshitoki is one of my favorite comics of all time.
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