A silent voice immediately showed me it wasn't like other anime. Most comparable movies take you on a ride in the feel-mobile during its second half, but A silent voice starts in the beginning, and there's no brakes.
Genre : Drama/Romance
Imdb : 8.1 ( 75k users)
My Anime list : 8.9 (1,351,107 users)
Run time : 2h 9m
Plot
The entire movie is a rollercoaster of emotions following a boy who suffers the insurmountable guilt of being a bully. His remorse was so powerful the opening act depicts him selling his possessions, canceling his bills, paying his debts, and planning to end his life.
So what exactly did Shouya do?
The following act displays his childhood wrongdoings as he bullies his classmates and friends for attention.His primary target was a new transfer student, Shouko, a deaf girl who sits in front of him. Some of these scenes hard to watch due to Shouko's innocence and kind heart.
Even after Shouya throws sand in her eyes and throws away her earpiece, she still tries to be friends with him. As the story unfolds, time skips forward to when they're young adults, and Shouya attempts to rectify his wrongdoings by befriending Shouko.
Rightfully, this is no easy task considering the long-term emotional and physical damage he's caused her, plus the added weight of everyone in school knowing what he did. I appreciated how realistically the weight of his actions weighed on him. The guilt was so heavy he couldn't bear to look people in the eye.
His existence was a lonely void filled with self-hatred. His efforts to right his wrongs were met by defensive behavior from Souko's friends and family, being labeled a hypocrite by his former accomplices, and general judgemental behavior from those not involved. While some may criticize the anime for depicting unrealistic circumstances and Shouko's saint-like attitude.
The film viscerally depicts the struggles of those who are different, how people shoulder the burden of their childhood mistakes in a world of quick judgment and no forgiveness, and the long journey of change.
I suppose the manga did more to flesh out the minor details, but I think the movie did a great job of subtly implying the subtext. It gives you a lot to think about, such as the flashback after Shouko's and Shouya's mothers met after a severe incident.
Overall Experience
I have mixed feelings about the anime's ending.In my opinion, it's complete, and I enjoyed it, but I feel like there's more of the story, and I guess that's where the manga comes in. I give A Silent Voice a 9 out of 10. Though these situations are unlikely, it's an emotionally powerful film that's impossible to forget.I recommend everyone check it out.
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