A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi) – A path to redemption

A Silent Voice (聲の形) was produced by Kyoto Animation published in 2013-2014. The moving anime has social themes such as teens bullying, suicide, disabilities. The film won the Japanese Movie Critics Awards for Best Animated Feature Film, the Japan Academy Film Award for Excellent Animation of the Year, and the film was nominated for the Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation Film.

The A Silent Voice graphic novel is an adaptation of the Shoei Mashiba manga A silent voice. A plot synopsis follows:

“A moving story about friendship, redemption and acceptance. A deaf elementary school girl, Shoko Nishimiya, upon transferring to a new school meets a boy named Shoya Ishida in her class. At first, he started bullying her because she was different because she was deaf. Then he got the target of that bullying with regret and guilt he started to redeem himself making amends. As the two start to spend more time together they soon became friends. A lot of things happen on the way of their friendship, making Shoya say the cruellest thing he can think of his friend: “I hate Deaf people”

Theme

A silent voice spends the first twenty-three minutes of the movie breaking our protagonist Shoya Ishida down. Shoya in his youth specifically in the sixth grade bullied other protagonist’s Shoko Nishimiya because she was different. After all, she was deaf and Ishida did it in the most many ways first by mocking her disability, assaulting her and fighting her. Because of this Shoko gets transferred to another school and left a notebook.

Throughout middle school for his reputation as a bully. Shoya, now in high school, is a depressed loner who is unable to look others in the eyes. Or can any other type of social interaction with others.

It is an explanation for the very first two minutes of the A Silent Voice film. Where he is shown selling his items. Shoya is planning to take his own life because of the actions of his past, it may be his way of escaping the burden. As the final act Shoya was planning to return the notebook he took from Shoko in her childhood.  When he met her Shoko asked him why he knows sign language and shame for what he has forced him to communicate with her.

He begins to spend time with Shoko he reunites her with Sahara some of her other classmates. And he also spends time with her family especially her little sister Yuzuru.

Following this three of them attend the fireworks, after a while. Shoko leaves her family and goes back to her home to do homework in reality she had different in mind. Shoya follows her to retrieve the camera for her sister. He found Shoko standing on the balcony, about to commit suicide. As Shoya catches her, pulls her back up, but nearly throws his own life away as he falls into the river. He was saved by his formal best friends from school but slips into a coma.

All this time Shoko was dealing with this guilt of her own. Her conversation with Naoka Ueno on Ferris wheel where she mentions “I hade myself.”. Since her youth, she felt as though she was a burden for other people because she was different. She thought that because she was deaf it made life harder for everyone around her. She didn’t want to feel that she was slowing others down to the point where she tried to take her own life.

Now with Shoko’s life in his hand, he understands this is the price he had to pay. After this, he has no choice to face life head-on. Shoya and Shoko are linked together because of the guilt that they are both experienced and he feels indebted to her because he contributed to her pain.

Redemption

When Shoya returns to school, he’s reunited together with his friends and involves perceive what proportion they still look after him. The friends go to the school festival together and Shoya finds he is finally ready to look folks within the eye once more. Wanting around at his family and every one of the new friends he has made. Shoya tears up, knowing he has finally redeemed himself.