Koe no Katachi

[Story] 7 - Plot holes and cut sub-plots, excluded from the original script/manga.
[Art] 10 - Characters true to their manga designs, high quality animation.
[Sound] 7 - Creative use of sound/music. Nothing too special and memorable besides theme song.
[Character] 7 - Side characters had their story severely cut. Leaving some with empty character.
[Enjoyment] 10 - Tears, sadness, anger, happiness and laughs, the whole package.
[Overall] 8 - Definitely would watch again.

For those wondering how and where I watched this film, I watched in Japan. At Keisei Rosa10 in Chiba on September 17th.

Having read the manga 4 times over and crying every time, I went into the theater ... not expecting much tears as I have pretty much dried up my emotional experience with this manga.

However, much to my surprise, it has been a very, very long time since I have cried that much while watching a movie. Even comparing to a similar anime film Anthem of the Heart, which surprisingly lacked the ability to really give me a tearful moment. Not to say it wasn't a bad movie, but if you liked that one, you will certainly like this.

Be prepared for a emotional roller coaster as the movie plays with your ever so weakening heart as the movie progresses.

That being said, this is no perfect movie. The story falls short, very short in terms of character/plot progression outside of the two main characters. Perhaps it was because of the limit of having to cram the story into a 2 hour film that the writers had to cut corners.

However, story/character development of Shoya was spot on. The movie clearly delivered his character and it was very easy to sympathize and relate to the character. Same with Shoko, though the film did leave out some specifics, the repercussions of Shoko's existence could be felt where one may even agree with Ueno who despised her.

Unfortunately, the remaining characters were pretty much left out. And the overall story was ultimately incomplete because of this. With audiences who hasn't read the manga asking why some characters were even there. Character development with the side characters were very lacking and a lot of important details were stripped apart leaving a big hole in the story.
The only character who avoided this cut was Yuzuru who retained a lot of her details and character development.

This meant that people who haven't read the manga can be very confused by the end of the movie. As I had heard people talking about while leaving the theater.
Many details were left out, but the film retained a lot of the core elements from the manga in puzzle pieces, allowing those who read the manga to fill in the gaps to understand what it means. But that also meant those who haven't were left scratching their heads.

Besides the emotional road trip of your lifetime, Nagatsuka's moments in the film are very comedic and actually funny in a lot of ways. Often when the audience was laughing, it was usually when Nagatsuka was at his antics.

As for the art, no complaints here. Besides having some overally familiar Kyoani characters faces, Kyoto Animation has done a excellent job in representing the characters true to the manga. It's no Makoto Shinkai film, but the quality is nothing to scoff at. The high quality is retained throughout the entire film and no lazy production was visible.

Voice acting was top notch and sounded very familiar to daily Japanese life. Though overall sound was okay. The creative use of music in the film is a bonus. Besides that, not much to write home about.

The movie tried to stay true to the manga as best as it could and in the core elements in delivering the original message that the manga had, it succeeded. But unfortunately while following the path, they dropped a lot of it's side content.
The movie was able to deliver the core plot of the manga.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable film and I can't wait for the disc release.

Note: I watched it at the Toho Cinema Complex in Ario Nishiarai (*I had thought I could have been the only person on this review list who had really watched it at a cinema in Japan after reading a particularly harsh review, but I was wrong).

A quick overview: Koe no Katachi is a very well done film, although not without shortcomings, and which has dealt with (a) complex issue(s), and which leaves the viewer with questions but no easy conclusions. It is a powerful enough film to remember and ponder over, and people may draw different lessons, or perhaps none.

Pros: The sound and vision (KnK ... is top-notch Japanimation. I dare say that in some aspects, it is better than a Ghibli film). The ambient piano background music really matches with parts of the film, and the use of marimbas and even silence at the dramatic climax worked out well. Shoko Nishimiya is adorable when she has that half-proud and half-shy face when she does ponytail. Cute, but elegantly done and not unpleasant. However, was this better than Tamako Loves Story - I cannot tell. There were recognizably magical rooftop sequences in Yamada's K-On! and at the classroom and school ground with Midori in Tamako Love Story. I am not sure whether KnK had such "magic" moment despite its very fluid art.
Voice actors have all done a great job. Saori Hayami, Yuki Aoi, Miyu Irino were expectedly good, and Kaneko Yuki (who played Midori in Tamako) was a great pick for Ueno, another difficult character.

Con: I feel that the original manga's theme was very challenging for a very young manga artist to deal with; I also felt that some themes weren't fully explored or developed properly. Besides the bullying/redemption theme, there is an attachment/detachment in relationship theme, and on top of that, a male-female friendship and romance theme. Those themes coexisted and had resonated against each other for sure, but it's not done in a well-calculated and clear-cut way. That was the main issue of the serial manga, and to explore those themes, the manga author had to involve the characters to comes to terms with each other in a slightly forced situation (like the movie club and the event of going to a theme park).
Although the story line of the movie club was completely cut and altered, the theme park sequence was saved for the film- which still felt forced. However, I felt that Reiko Yoshida has done a nearly perfect job with script-writing and editing the story to be able to fit in for a two hours film. My only grievance is that the reason behind Nishimiya's decision at the climax was not convincingly told (which was as in the manga- but the Manga fully told Shoko's mother's sufferings of being divorced because of her child's disabilities and sis Yuzuru's side story of being bullied because of the same reason- so there was a more natural reason why Shoko should have cumulative feeling of guilt that she was making other people involved with her unhappy [and not just that sense of guilt towards breaking up Shoya's relationship with others]). Viewers might be puzzled then why Shoko had to make that decision in the climax (as it was already not exactly written convincingly to start with in the original manga).

Final verdict: Having written down the cons, this is a very challenging work of art (yes, "art", which is not simple "entertainment"), and it did choke my heart at several moments. This won't be everyone's favorite, as it deals with a serious and dark issue, and as it's not all straightforward (as in Tamako Love Story) - but it leaves viewers questioning about their own relationship with other people in the past and present.

MAY CONTAIN SLIGHT SPOILERS!

Watched it two days ago at TOHO Cinema in Tokyo.

I remember that I was reading manga, but at that time it wasn't coming out frequently and scanlating wasn't going good either, that's why I read about 9 chapters, so I barely remember any events expect the beginning of the story and main characters. But I was waiting for anime adaptation since that time. Even though kinda hoped for series, not just a movie.

I must say that I was a little worried about it airing at the same time with Kimi no Na wa, but it still seems alright, box office going good, ... even though it is three times less than Kimi no Na wa (but don't compare original movie made by Makoto Shinkai with manga adaptation, even from KyoAni).

But for the first half an hour (or maybe more) I was sitting quietly, being afraid to move even, cause it grasped me completely. I was feeling anger, pity, shame, a whole parade of emotions. Story felt good and dramatic, as Japanese like to do. Never ending and always sharp problems of bullying in school, attitude to people with disabilities who are trying to fit in the society.

Animation was great. This is what you should expect from Kyoto Animation. And don't try to compare it to Kimi no Na wa, it is really just on different level from the very beginning. And camera work! It was really incredible, I loved tons of shots, how they tried to accent on legs and lower parts of the body (I mean shots excluding characters' heads :D).

But as for characters and their development, movie had some problems. Both two main characters were shown great. But such a large amount of, probably, interesting supporting characters weren't developed good enough, even though the movie is more than 2 hours. Like Mashiba (red-haired guy in anime), for instance, he said just few phrases and felt really left out. And two ex-friends of Ishida from elementary school seem to have been forgotten at all, even though there were at least two scenes with them. And there were some shots that I didn't quite understand, like, for example, why Shouya's mom was bleeding and looked really beaten up, after she gave money to Shouko's mom? She beat her, really?

In general, I enjoyed it a lot, and can say that it's the second best movie by KyoAni (after Haruhi, obviously) and it is definitely worth watching. And I probably should finally read manga completely.

Non-spoiler review
Story - 7
Art - 10
Sound - 10
Character - 7
Enjoyment - 10

Overall - 8

[I watched Koe no Katachi at United Cinema, Fukuoka, Japan on Sep 22nd, 2016](hope somebody will liscence it and get it abroad)
...
Short version; Kyoto Animation again brings great animation on to the table; The glittering eyes, cutesy-moe seifuku characters, great background, and much more. It is one of the finest animation quality out there, and if romance genre is your cup of tea, you will probably like the movie. Even if you don't like romance, it is not a disappointing film.

Ok, I'll start off by saying that I did not read the manga before hand so I will try my best to not assume what the original content did(I will definitely read it).

That being said, I have to mention that frankly, I was worried that I was not going to enjoy this movie as much as I initially thought I did because I still was stuck in the Kimi no Na Wa void. I was really worried that the visuals Kimi no Na Wa presented me with was Makoto Shinkai level amazing and I thought I would have been disappointed by Koe no Katachi just because I show Kimi no Na Wa beforehand.
Really, It did not disappoint me at all. The animation quality of Koe no Katachi is just tremendously amazing; Kyoto animation with a film budget definitely get things glittering don't they.

Aside from animation quality, the two 'meh' part of this movie was the story and the character. I can say that the pacing of the story was good. The climax wasn't too rushed, nor the premise wasn't too long and boring. I had enough time to get introduced to the characters and how they live through life before everything happened. As well as enough time for the important events to sink through my brain for comprehension. Now the problem was it was spending too little time outside of our two mains.
I remember a point in the movie where a bunch of kids were shouting out random gibberish to one another that obviously was not explored beforehand or even if it was, it was very vague. Thus made a potentially emotionally climatic scene to a lackluster. I would have understood how each character would have felt and reacted if I was able to know the side characters a lot more. Which leads to the failure of a solid side character I will be talking about next.

I hate how the side characters were unexplored throughout the 2 hours. Honestly, I get it, 2 hours isn't heck load of time to explore every single aspect of the original source material(I read through other reviews that a lot of events that happened in the manga was skipped), but still, some characters obviously did not matter(which those characters did not give damn about the two mains), furthermore, the characters that did seem important just got overshadowed. For example, so Mashiba satoshi a bad guy after all or not? I was just left hanging urging to know if that guy was genuine(hehe oregairu) or not. His eyes still makes me uncomfortable when he looks at Ishida. Even worse, Ueno's goal was just forgotten entirely by the end; Ueno mentioned how she wanted to go back to a period when all of the classmates when she was young were still happy together. However, in the end, did she just change her mind and let the whole friend thing drop? I did not see the development of change in her mindset to eventually like Nishimiya in the end. I hope the manga does cover side characters a lot more so the whole 'Im sorry all I wanted is ....' part actually does make sense.

Albeit, in the end, Koe no Katachi did pull off a pretty emotional moment, twice to be exact, during the climax. Not as much as Kimi no Na Wa(also Kimi no Na Wa struck me harder a lot more times), but I still believe that KyoAni had done what was needed to adapt an emotional story. The art was phenomenal, the voice acting was good, music was really good too(props on Aiko for the song in the ending credits), the characters and the story was a little underdeveloped where it was needed, but regardless of that I enjoyed the movie and I can guarantee it was worth the 2 hours of my time.

Mad respect for Kyoto animation pulling off that animation tho.(I had to mention it again).

It was my first review but hopefully, it helped someone, somewhere in the world out there ;)

[This review contains NO spoilers]
This is a story about the importance of listening and the effects of not doing so. It something we can all understand and learn from.

Social anxiety, Suicide, self loath/pity, forgiveness/acceptance, attachment, the desire/difficulty to be connect and most of all the complexity of human communication and emotions - all covered in this Movie as you delve into a journey to unravel a facade to find emotions we all contain and hide from others to void the difficulty of conveying them. We follow a character who closes his mind and refuses not to listen to create his own cynical narrative and in ... it we learn voice (koe) - or communication - has many shapes and forms (Katachi) and that it's shallow to think it's all monotonous.

When I heard Kyoto - with their legendary art style - was going to make a favourite manga of mine into a movie, I contemplated packing my bags and going to Japan for it's premier. Sadly I lacked the funds so I had to settle for the nearest cinema in London - 3 excruciating months after it's release.

It was sad to see the seats half empty, but when the movie started, the 60 year old man behind me was laughing, gasping and getting emotional along with the rest of the diverse crowd and this shows how well the message of the movie resonated and how universal the enjoyment was.

The plot evoked a roller coaster of emotions, some easy to emphasis with, and others MADE easy to resonate with! The plot starts vigorously but with a pace you could easily keep up with. It slightly stagnates to build context until the plot's climax - which got my spine tingling - a climax that I don't want to ruin for the unsuspecting! But the stagnation is what stops it from getting a 10/10 for it's plot. The strategic retreat from the plot's focus enabled for a good few laughs and set up what was to come very well, but it turned a 2 hours movie into what felt like a 3 hour movie, where I was anticipating the end mid way though as it seemed like they had reached a happily ever after. It somewhat ruined the experience for me and I felt like it could have been executed better by adding some more romantic develop (because I felt more pity for the characters than love).

I hate to be the guy who boasts how much better the source content was, but it's necessary to mention that a lot of the 60 + chapters of plot couldn't fit into the 2 hours time frame - hence we got hastily implemented and unexplained developments that the manga could easily clear up (one of the biggest being that fat that they all set out to make a movie and that is the real crux of how the MC makes and learns to socialise with friends), frankly the manga and movie could be considered separate entities considering their different approaches and focuses to this plot. This is a clear limitation the anime movie medium of story telling has so I can't personally penalise too much for doing the best it could, certainly better than other movie adaptations - and I rate based on comparison. There was room to fix some of the issues related to this, such as by removing some of the pretty/still/un-progressive scenes in exchange for progressive and informative development from the source content. Then again removing them could have made it feel too dense/melancholic and would likely have ruined the nice pace it set out and the mood those particular scenes set - so it hard to criticise.

The art was stunning, and Kyoto included their trademark extra, where the frames are never still - there are always subtle things happening in the background that just adds the cherry on top of their memorising art. The art could get any anime brownie points including Phantom world. Every nook and carny was accounted for, from the curves in the fingers, the change in colour form skin to nail to the glow emitted by the bright lighting and the distortion of their realistic dynamic multi tone shadows. Kyoto kept to their cutesy shiny art style with tranquil backgrounds and scenery - and props for their consistently amazing colour pallet.

The voice acting was ace, like most anime - at this point it's a given considering how serious people take voice acting in Japan. The music hit the spot, it started of with an English song, which may have confused the Japanese audience if they were unable to translate the lyrics, but it was pretty clever and a good way to summarise the first few chapters of the Manga which the movies wanted to power through with to save time. The Musics crept up on you and exploded sometimes, others it gently wrapped it's arms around you as you desperately tried to hold the tears back, And as your face prepared to unleash an unforced smile, the music came in to amplify it.

All in all, coming out of the cinema was hard, there was a plethora of emotions and thoughts swirling around in my mind, it created a moral dilemma that still has my mind in conflict now. Nothing felt too cliche apart for the typical anime personalities, which can be over looked considering what the plot done with them. The movie was truly touching, the ascetics was mind-blowingly good and the music was on point.

I enjoyed it as an avid fan of Romance, particular dramatic ones - despite the romance not being completely conclusive in the movie. I enjoyed this more than any other anime of it's type, and I'm sure anyone with the same taste wouldn't hesitate to give it a 10/10 and others wouldn't dare give it bellow an 8 unless it's not their thing.

*=======================================================================================*

Personal Onion/side note:

Many had an issue with what they saw as an emotionally manipulative plot that stereo typed emotions and disabilities and thought it gave a shallow outlook on them. However I think expecting a movie that tackles these theme elegantly with precision is too much to ask for, especially of the length of this plot and with it's density in content. Some people are choosing to get offended by how deaf people and suicidal people are presented here - as if this anime was tailored to be the political ambassador for these groups of people and has a duty outline the existence of a variation of people in these groups, as well as representing them as strong independent people - rejecting (or at least wanting to mask) the existence of vulnerable people in this category. It seems like this leads them to think adding convenience in a plot and a catalyst for progression is inherently a bad thing, as if the purpose of media itself isn't to entertain with by showing a collision of stark stereotypes that enable recognition and empathy (as well as saving time on unnecessarily developing a character from birth to present day) but to make a perfect recreation or reality without abstraction and stereotypes of entities (something even a computer is not capable of) that is primarily to educate viewers and not provide entertainment that's not difficult to decipher.
Of course not everyone who make such points fall into the pitfall of expecting too much form their medium, but many seem to give these point significant weight in their score, with a few minor flaws seeming to elicit a deduction more than 3+ points out of 10. They are free to do this and I have no right to lecture them on their scoring system, but I just think it's inefficient, ineffective and lacks the investment of deep thought with a widened scope - IE. it clashes with my philosophy. If you fall into this category and can enlighten me on your perspective I'd really appreciate it.

some people say "I love you" is the hardest word to ever say to someone... but is that really true? is it that hard to say? in my case it is hard yes, but not the hardest. have you ever thought of the word "I'm sorry"? I'm not talking of the "easy" "I'm sorry" i'm talking about the "I'm sorry" that comes from the bottom of your heart, the expression of your true feelings, being completely sorry, regretful, that word that burns inside you like hell... now, that's really REALLY hard to say.

at first I thought that this movie was just a movie about how ... a bully and the bullied make a relationship by forgiving each other, but in reality, this movie goes beyond that, and I feel completely relatable to what this movie had to offer, because I once felt that, that need of telling people that I did hurt "I'm sorry" the sensation of being burned alive when doing it crushes your soul, but in the end, you'll know it was totally worth it, you will feel relieved by doing so, and by watching this movie, you'll understand why. I'll try not to bully you with Spoilers, but you have been warned.

Story 10/10: if you have ever been bullied by someone, you will know how hard is to keep what you feel deep inside, developing fear, having trust issues, trying to keep yourself from people to avoid damage. it is something serious. having the will to overcome this is hard.

the plot goes around an average boy that goes to a school, he had friends, money, good reputation. but one day, a girl appears, that girl is deaf, that girl tried to be friends with her classmates, tho, she only got rejected by many, specially from that boy, he kept bullying her, to the point of damaging her, not only physically, but psychologically too. here we see a complete turn of events, pretty much Karma. yes, Karma is a bitch, and this boy ends being the bullied one. Ironic isn't it?.

After that introduction, there is the timeskip that deliver you the freaking ninjas cutting onions on your room, the amount of feels it manages to deliver is real. this movie takes your heart, and starts slicing it like you were on a heart surgery. why? well, past is a douche, he tells the future of your actions and then the present is in charge of destroying your life... all because of what? something as "simple" as bullying someone? is that easily forgotten? well is not easy, but hard.

from this point, you'll see the word regret inside your mind as the story goes around the MC, he is trying to redeem himself from what he did before, but he doesn't know the price he has to pay off, its a really big one, even if it sounds simple, it isn't. the feel of being guilty attacks, those that once trusted him, no longer does. a lot of stuff gets on his way, he is only trying to talk to that girl he once bullied, he want to become her friend... but something prevents him of doing so... what could that be? hint: it isn't the people that prevents him of doing so.

Art 10/10: you know a show is a masterpiece when it can deliver the feels with animation, is not just the fact of the topic of the movie, when it resonates with each aspect: Story, Ost, Characters, and the ninjas cutting onions on your room, I swear I could have cried if I wanted to, yet I decided to die deep inside, tho I was close to burst in tears, and I haven't done this with a single anime... and that's really saying something. that's the power of the movie being delivered into your heart with images.

Sound 10/10: Read Animation again, but exchange words related to animation to Sound and we have our deal with the sound department... ah, who am i Kidding? voice acting was GREAT, OST was GREAT, the sound of ninjas cutting onions was superb... this movie knows how to keep your heart in your hand the whole time.

Character 10/10: hate, sadness, pity, happyness, I felt each one of them on almost every character, not in a bad way of course. I also felt identified with the characters, being so relatable and knowing how they feel, is something heartbreaking, if you do, trust me, you will burst in tears, if you don't then this means you have no heart or you haven't experienced something like this... in fact, the character that would suit you is Ueno.

Enjoyment 1/10: sorry, but I couldn't keep the Ninjas cutting Onions out of my room, I really enjoyed the movie. that, if Enjoyment means to get your heart crushed and wanting to burst in tears for 2 hours.

let's say that the scale of 1/10 having 1 as being sad, and 10 as being happy is what could define Enjoyment here, so scoring enjoyment as 1 is the same as scoring it as 10, even if that sounds pretty stupid XD

Overall 10/10: this movie is a bit rude, but meaningful, it touches deep topics with the most kind touch ever possible, so heartwarming, so relieving, so annoying, so happy, so upset, so freaking real.

Don't let people say you can't be friends with someone you once had a fight with and got separated due to that. regret will come one day crushing you, and you will know the POWERFUL meaning of the word "I'm sorry", and how hard it is to say to someone, even harder than the world "I love you"

now, if you are satisfied now, I shall go to a corner and spent the rest of the day crying

Everyone in the world is distinctive, each person having both positive and negative aspects about them, and every society is known for their own distinctive features. There are those who disagree with this view as nothing more than a blind and false generalization, and there are those who completely agree with it. Both ways of thinking, in my opinion, are unnecessarily exaggerated. The best solution for this is a balance, as we cannot hide one society’s trait, nor can we realistically say that a whole society belongs to a certain feature. For example, Japanese people are considered to be people who love a clean environment, ... so, does that mean that every single Japanese acts in this manner? Certainly not, but most of them do act upon this certain trait. The characteristics of a society are important for identifying an important case, and that is that the goals of a story are to display those attributes in a precise manner, and to display the solutions that can be found in a literary artistic context, and not in an informative one. The Anime movie, Koe no Katachi, presents a social issue of Japanese society. So, how credible is this particular movie? How good is it’s credibility, and what are it’s positive aspects, and it’s negative ones?

To start off with the story, it is supposed to be an autobiography about a young guy called Shouya, and the movie displays what occurs in his life from his elementary school days up until he reaches high school, and that is by highlighting the events that had a relation with him bullying and picking on his deaf classmate, a girl by the name of Shouko. So, what are the consequences of his insolent actions? And what will happen in this regard? This is the structure of the story, and it is rather good, because this structure depends on two essential elements that rarely fail. The first element, is picking the prospective of the story to be an autobiography. The best thing about picking an autobiography as a story is the fact that the viewer’s attachment during the story, and even after the story had concluded, is set on a human, and not on an object or a place. Meaning that the attachment of the viewer is not on an event or a set of particular events, nor on any action sequences, nor anything else. The attachment of the viewer is solely on a person with realistic features and components, aka a human. This is useful due to the fact that the viewer feels that they have identified and related with a human on an emotional scale. The second essential element of this story, is that the movie highlights interesting occurrences that go on in that character’s life. I can safely say that the story of Shouya, from him picking on his classmate Shouko, and the effect that had on their lives and on their classmates, is very intriguing to look at and watch.

The beginning of the movie was light and quickly used a hook that was impactful, even if I found the hook to be used way too early on in the story, because the time between that particular hook, until we reach the dilemma of the story, is long enough to the point where it can lessen the effect of that strong hook later on in the story. As for the events, I find that the script was very useful in portraying each and every single event, because I did not find one event with little to no meaning, and there are two essential categories that the writer used when it came to the events: Events which were centered around building the story, and events that were pivotal to the story. I really liked how these events were distributed throughout the narrative, and the way the writer dealt with them, due to the fact that many writers don’t know how to execute the events that build the story in an interesting manner. Usually, these events are dull, and the reason for that is due to the fact that they are non-interactive and their mission is to build characteristics within the characters in order to crystallize a pivotal event. I was surprised though, that these beginning events were more interesting than boring, and the reason for that is thanks to the realistic nature of the dialogue.

The characters here were fairly realistic, and they reflect on the age group they were placed in in a very precise way, whether they were in elementary school or when they became high schoolers, and it is an effort that deserves respect. Moreover, the Japanese values that are displayed here and the degree of emotion that characterizes the Japanese is correct, and that is very excellent. The way of communication between the students, the two genders and the general etiquette of Japanese society is to be found. Subsequently, the film was able to present a true image to a very good degree of the society it was representing. Unfortunately, there is a problem to be found in the duration of the film, which is that I find it to be longer than it needs to be. The length of the whole movie is a timely two hours and ten minutes, and this is a fatal mistake that cannot be overlooked. All of the characters and the events would have needed an hour and a half at most for them to be fleshed out accordingly, and if the staff had stuck to an hour and a half, then that would have greatly benefited both the movie and the audience as well. As for the climax of the story, it was written both emotionally and cleverly, and in a way that was harmonious to the narrative. The ending, though fairly normal and drab, is still credible in accordance to the events that take place in the movie. There is a dramatic exaggeration that I didn’t find good though, and a negative point that spoils the ending a little, which is Shouya’s dramatic reaction at the end. This particular scene is challenging to settle, as the producers messed up on this one. It doesn’t really ravage the film entirely, but it surely mitigates the strong emotional impact that could have been reaped.

Homogeneous to many Anime, there is a high quality in the selection of the camera angles. Each angle was carefully selected, and it’s dimensions chosen to direct the viewer’s attention to what the director seeks, and this movie was so creative with it’s angles, to the point where the viewer could recognize a character’s gender simply because of the genius that went into choosing the camera angles, the framing being very good as well. The animation is exquisite overall, but there is no point where it excels in quality and becomes above the normal standard. Excellent accuracy could be found when it comes to the facial expressions, but another problem is that sometimes it becomes difficult to understand the significance of those expressions and what they mean, as those expressions could be understood in a false sense by the audience. For example, there is a scene where Shouya offers someone to take his bike instead of his classmate’s bike, the facial expressions in that particular scene were correct, although they seemed to have been misplaced. Here I would have wished for the director to have at least used some sound effects to support the validity of what they wanted to convey, since the director managed to implement them when it came to later scenes in the movie.

The character design worked well at diversifying the characters from one another and were compatible with each character’s own unique personality, except for Shouya’s design when he grew up into his highschool years, as I find that his character design should have made parallel changes in accordance to the heavy psychological trauma that was inflected on him as a child growing up. The background design is very well made, and the settings reflect correctly on the characters that reside in them. The performance of the Japanese cast is excellent, and the credibility of how the deaf communicate is done well. As for the soundtrack and the sound effects, I find that they played a vital role in supporting the narrative and enhancing the viewer’s experience, and the music's presence was very important, as the way it entered and exited scenes was ideal, to the point where it contributed to the continuous mobility in the vicinity of the story in a smooth manner, and without disturbing the viewer’s process in receiving the contents of the story.

In conclusion, the long length of the movie being two hours and ten minutes, in addition to the ending that was fairly average and tended on thin, ruined what was supposed to be a great film. As such, a score of only a 7 could be given to this movie. Koe no Katachi, however, still remains a beautiful film, and it’s humanitarian messages are displayed in a respectful artistic manner. The characters are mostly fairly realistic, and they uniquely reflect an issue of Japanese society in a credible manner. The movie, A Silent Voice, is very well made, and it is still a movie worth checking out.

I was lucky enough to catch the very first screening of Koe no Katachi in Singapore's cinemas on March 9, 2017. This is also my first review, so please bear with me if my review layout is not great.

Please also note that my review of this will be Anime-only, as I have not yet read the manga. I do plan on reading the manga to get the full experience though.

Story: 9/10
- The story starts off with a young girl named Nishimiya Shouko, who walks in to a classroom and introduced herself in pieces of paper she wrote before coming in, then "I am deaf." was ... written. Ishida Shouya and a few of his friends bullied her as her time in school goes by to the point where she had to be transferred out because they have been damaging her hearing aids -which is very expensive- and the teachers were suspicious of a potential bully in class. Shouya's actions then turned onto him and he has to suffer almost the same fade of bullying as what he did to Shouko. Many years later, both of them met again. Regretting his actions, Shouya tries to make friends with her in hopes of trying to reconcile.

This is a rather interesting story to me as not many manga/anime generally does not focus a story about a deaf character. It's fairly genuine in the Anime community and I really applaud the setting and effort being put into the movie.

Art: 10/10
- As expected from Kyoto Animation, it has one of the most vibrant and smoothest animation one could get. Comparing this to Tamako Love Story, the quality is about the same, if not better.

Sound: 7/10
- First of all I must say that the ending song "Koi wo Shita no wa" by aiko is flawless. However, there are instances where the sound does not seem to fit with it's current scene/setting. Some of which threw me off in the cinema that I'd just prefer to watch it raw and without sound. Overall, there ARE still some music which really fits it's current scene/setting, but it's just that one or two sounds which were really unfit to be in there.

The voice acting is spot-on; especially the Nishimiya sisters, which was actually the main reason why I watched the movie. Saori Hayami did a perfect-close-to-flawless job in performing as Shouko and Aoi Yuuki's tone as Yuzuru is completely different from the other roles she took before this, which bewildered me because I almost thought that it's a completely different person. Miyu Irino's preformance is great as well.

Character: 8/10
- The only thing that left me a good impression while I was sitting in the cinema was Shouya's development throughout the movie. He makes a major change to himself in order to reconcile with Shouko. I really love his change and one can really relate (especially people who regret bullying their victims) to how he's doing his best to show his regret on his actions.

Enjoyment: 10/10
- Throughout this sitting I've never fidget at all and my eyes were glued to the screen for the entire movie. Fidgeting a lot has been a habit for me when it comes to watching shows in cinemas and I was really surprised when the movie ended. Hence why I gave my enjoyment the fullest.

Overall: 10/10
- I'm not really a person who cries at a really touching scene but this movie takes the cake. It's a very enjoyable movie to sit back and relax and I highly recommend people who do that to watch this.

Like any other slice-of-life anime, the plot is relatively simple, however there is an outstanding attention to the development of the characters.

As usual for Naoko Yamada, most of the scenes and dialogue from the manga are present, however she adds so much more to the anime, making it a truly emotional experience.

The story is very mature, not in the sense that it is dark and gritty, but more in the sense that the characters are fully realised, presented in a realistic manner.

A Silent Voice forgoes anime archetypes by maintaining internal-consistency in all of its characters, making all of their actions relatable, or at least ... understandable.

It is difficult to describe why the audio-visuals work so well using just words.

I found the film to be a powerful, transformative experience.

How am I after watching this movie? Angry. This movie was fucking good and it's such a pity that it came out when Kimi no Na wa did, because it deserves so much more recognition. Honestly, I believe it outshines it tenfold but this is a review not a comparison so let me give you my points:

- Great soundtrack/art/animation/the works. solid base. if you like kyoani why are you waiting

- EXPERIMENTAL. The perspectives and aesthetics shown throughout the movie are insane. Like if you think of one of those 'aesthetic tumblr posts' the entire movie is literally in that vibe.

- The noise level. not the ... music. the noise level- majestic. since koe no katachi is about living life as a deaf person most of the soundtrack is ambient noise, cute jingles or piano notes. It's quiet. But as soon as the action picks up and things get more intense the sound gets LOUD, in this huge juxtaposition of noise, on a greater scale than most anime take it. It's so good.

- Characters. Let's talk about that for a sec. I've only seen the original oneshot of the manga koe no katachi is based on, so I don't have a reference for what these characters could have been like, in for example, a theoretical anime series version of this movie. I don't know. But I can say for a movie with only 2 hours to spare it did pretty damn good to flesh out these characters as much as possible considering the size of the cast. We see 12 characters on the regular.

12 characters! (not just one-off, as regular appearing characters) and we know exactly who they all are. That's more than what I can say for a lot of movies and even anime out there. But naturally there is some bias. The two main characters bear the brunt of the character development (primarily our protagonist Shouya) and over time you can see a clear change not only in themselves but in their relationships. Characters don't 'learn a lesson' and change the next day. We're not talking about cheap development like that, in fact one of the more realistic things about koe no katachi is how each character's personalities stay the same but their values change. Everyone is trying the become a better person and clashing with everyone else by the end of it. It's gritty, it's messy, it's believable.

- As for story, Koe no Katachi is more of a 'let's put all these interesting characters together and see what happens' simulator than anything with a crazy, god-given plot. Suicide is a major theme and so is atoning for what you have done in the past. A bully is the main character, he picks on Nishimiya who is deaf, and the story starts from there. Everything past that is seen as a direct consequence of what happened back then, which eventually leads to the more suicidal themes as both main characters struggle with the realisation that many less people couldn't have been hurt if both of them had never existed. But this movie doesn't drone on. It's not preachy like that. Yeah, this movie will make you cry. But in a good way.

So did I enjoy Koe no Katachi? Um clearly yes. Go for it, you've got nothing to lose except all of your tears.

As someone who hasn't read the manga, I'm confused as to why some people rated the movie so low. The manga must have been a masterpiece, huh. Why can't people just review it as a standalone movie?

Story - 10/10
Rarely have I ever seen a movie/anime/book where the main character bullies someone and gets bullied back, effectively isolating him from his classmates. Do you know why? Because that doesn't happen in real life. Bullies become popular in high school and have a huge follower group. Despite this, I was glad that Koe no Katachi took a different route and made the bad guy into an even ... more bad guy, then switched him around and made him a good guy. The plot was fresh, in my opinion, and I loved (well love isn't the right word, maybe "invested in", or "hooked on" would be better) every hill and turn of the rollercoaster.

Art - 10/10
Bright, vivid, and set the mood really well. Nothing less than expected from KyoAni.

Sound - 9/10
In the moment, the songs were great. The OP was enjoyable, though I was a little confused about what was going on on-screen. Anyways, that's not sound. The only thing stopping this from being a 10 is the fact that I'm not humming any of the tunes right now. Maybe that's just my harsh criteria.

Character - 9/10
I have to agree with most negative(ish) reviewers on this one. Aside from Mr. Main Character and Ms. Main Heroine, the side characters, save from Yuzuha, didn't get much development. I was a little perturbed as to what each of their motives were. For example (not in the movie, so not a spoiler), I didn't know that Nishimiya's mother caught a virus during childbirth, resulting in her daughter being born deaf and her husband leaving her. I only learned that by reading the character description page on MAL. That, and other information, would have enhanced the movie as a whole. The little side stories is what Koe no Katach is lacking.

Enjoyment - 10/10
I was *this* close to crying, and I'm disappointed that I didn't. This movie deserved it.

Overall - 10/10
Being a high school student myself, I feel that Koe no Katachi struck home with me, having dealt with bullies and may have been a mild one in elementary school. It really puts into perspective how important it is to have respect for others and not be a total douchebag. Or else you'll end up like Ueno, a distasteful, cold-hearted, jealous baka. I seriously hate that broad.

Story(9)
The story has many resemblance of teenagers life and i gotta say, this has caught my heart. i see this movie that gave tears of joy like kimi no na wa with a very beautifully written story with me keeping flashbacks about the same situation i have encountered once, and i am here with so much emotion being mellow and grateful thinking of my friends i have made in the yeras. i am no dissabled but i, we(maybe some) might experience this

Art(10)
The art has yet to impressive me because of how beautifully has this been worked on which makes me think that kyoto animation ... might rival with ufotable in my opinion

Sound(10)
This is the most emotional thing i have heard, the spiking, the beautiful and the dramatic OST has caught my ears ever since i watched the trailer and it almost send me to an immediate tears, they have spiked my body and has gave me so much emotion from this work

Character(8)
Characters are not perfect but very well played in their roles, the character development was amazing and how they bave shown their relationship and how it was resolved but to think of it that there are some being left out much but overall, their development and actions are both entertaining

Enjoyment(10)
My now personal favorite movie that i would like to watch over again. It have have joy, Laughs, Tears and on how these emotions has played in the movie was amazing, it feels like i was in there but sure some romantic parts are not serious but it is one of the best experience i had in a very long time

Overall(10)
Flaws are always there but never i have ever gave a review with an overall ten because in my opinion, it is beautiful and no matter how many times i said it is beautiful, it is and this has quite gave an impact into my life right now and i will never forget this very soon

A young woman and a young man both on a journey of self-realization, and the latter half on his way to repentance and redemption.

"Koe No Katachi" is yet another masterpiece from the popular and ever-sensational studio, Kyoto Animation, and from its brilliant and rapidly growing author of its one-shot manga, Ooima Yoshitoki.

Koe No Katachi tells us a story of a young Ishida Shoya who was once a bully to a deaf young girl named Nishimiya Shouko and was doomed to being alone for the rest of his life until one day he decided that his life was more than just that and what he (and ... Shouko) really needed was to understand each other. The story is vibrant and complex yet sometimes comes as vexing or frustrating, but in that sense it shows you the beauty and the sophistication of a simple story (and how it can be more than just simple).

Story: 8 out of 10; I really loved the show. I really can't say much, but there were actual plot holes which I wish were never there. (I guess I really just have to buy and read the manga.)

Art and Animation: 10 out of 10; I LOVE KYOANI. Period.

Sounds and Music: 10 out of 10; the sounds and the music were stunning. I felt moved after that last part of the movie. I had trouble holding back my tears, and part of that was because of the music.

Characters: 9 out of 10; The characters may come eccentric and weak, but it's a drama. What can I say? The characters were actually portrayed in a sensible and tangible manner and that makes them feel unique and alive - like real people.

Enjoyment: 10 out of 10; I personally LOVE dramas and emotional roller coasters. I love bawling my eyes out while watching even though I know it's fiction. In short, rhetorically speaking - Koe No Katachi is right in my strike zone.

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My verdict: 10 out of 10

NOTE: I truly believe that Koe No Katachi deserves more praise than the actual praise it gets now. Watch Koe No Katachi in the theaters! Support KyoAni and Ooima Yoshitoki-sensei! (I'm looking forward to more works of this exceptionally talented mangaka.)

May 10, 2017: Watched the full English-subbed movie on the big screen with my kanojo.

A Silent Voice is a story about forgiveness.
It's a story about how we forgive others.
But also, it's a story about how we forgive ourselves.

At some point in our lives, were going to end up hurting or offending someone.
Whether it's a major or minor offense, whether that be by accident or purposefully.
Whether it be through the harmful things we do or the helpful things we fail to do.
It's a fact of life that at some point, we will be the source of one's pain.
And from doing so, we experience of feeling of regret, shame, and guilt.
And maybe unable to forgive ourselves because of it.
...
A Silent Voice is not just a story, it's a lesson on humanity, compassion, and growth.
It's a reminder that forgiveness is not a weakness, but a strength, and it's never too late to make things right.

The late Henry David Thoreau once said that this world is but a canvas to our imagination. The possibilities that exist within this stretch of life is endless. I would like to associate "A Silent Voice" or Koe no Katachi with Art. Because Art is something that is capable of bringing together the possibilities of life and the diversity of imagination as one. If I were to describe Koe no Katachi in a sentence, it'd be that its an amalgamation of various faux pas between art and life itself. I'll try and elaborate what I mean further ahead.

For reasons I won't specify, I'll look ... at this movie solely from the perspective of a "who should've been" titular character, Ishida Shouya. One of the first theme explorations the film tries to convey us is the societal upbringing of a child. This however, offers a stark contrast to the early stages of Ishida's childhood. Being the polar opposite of growing senility, Ishida's youth attracted him to commit harassment; which gradually grew into bullying. The victim of the bullying, the pale and the sorrowful life of Nishimiya Shouko, a girl who is deaf. The eponymous character of Nishiyama offers an outlook which differs from Ishida. However no matter how much the film leads you to believe, this is not a tale of bullying later turned into romance, its more than that. The film cleverly overlaps to a scene where Shouya throws Nishiyama's interpretation notebook into a pool of water, but any proof of further bullying on behalf of Ishida is cut out when he feels an incomplete albeit innocent remorse of his actions. Ishida's action provide a perspective on the miscellaneous and point blank behavior of suffering. This greatly contemplates on what kind of a character Ishida really is. The self-loathing and remorse that the 'adult' Ishida feels later on is justified from his behaviours from before. Ishida has faced his share of difficulties in his upbringing living with his slightly 'edgy', if you will; elder sister. Though the film doesn't completely ponder over it, it does a great job portraying what sort of personality he has and that relates with your average viewer.

I might have heaps of praises for Ishida's personality, but its not exactly the same for the others. The other supporting cast along with Nishimiya are... well, a bit generic. Nishimiya is a necessary antithetical for Ishida. Her inane behavior and the fact that she's deaf and is bullied plays a focal role in the turning of events. But the very fact that she's exploited as a scapegoat also makes her a plot device. This is supported by how she readily accepts Ishida's attempt at apologizing. Ishida's characterization proved that his feelings of wrongdoings towards Nishiyama in his childhood made him grow feelings of guilt reflected in his anti-socializing personality. And you can argue that she had always wanted to be friends with Ishida who she particularly found interesting as a child, but its downplayed by the readily acceptance from Nishiyama who's conflicting behavior doesn't couple well with the feelings of Ishida. You can hate me for saying this but I really think Nishimiya is just a masochist. I mean, having feelings towards the person who once bullied the crap out of you and probably scarred you for life? BDSM anyone? Things take a turn to the worst when Nishimiya attempts suicide. The timing of it couldn't have been any worse and literally everything that happens afterwards seems like a farce. The supporting cast never reach that level either, with most of them like Sahara and Kawai having little relevance to the plot. Kawai's increasingly irritating behavior never ceases in the movie. And the group conversations led by her about how Ishida bullied Nishiyama feels like a childish topic at best. Mashiba is yet another character who has little to no relevance even after compared with the ones having little relevance. There's a scene where Ishida shuns him by calling him an 'outsider' and that just hits the nail in his already dead character. Nagatsuka is the one who has the most relevance on Ishida next to Nishimiya. He has an upbeat personality and a refreshing role in the movie, constantly influencing Ishida's actions. Yuzuru is another who has a somewhat relevance in the film. She's the younger sister of Nishimiya and extremely protective of her elder sister, so much so that when she crossed path with Ishida at first she shuns him twice from meeting with Nishimiya. The two form together a bond as the movie progresses that helps bring the main duo closer as well. Surprisingly however, Ueno is by far the best of the supporting cast. She's shown to have a firm viewpoint on Nishimiya and hates her. She's one of the culprit along with Ishida concerning the bullying of Nishimiya. Now you may call Ueno evil and I see that majority of the people have a mixed reaction towards her. However I feel that she has the most genuine character development in the movie. Shown to be harsh on Nishimiya at times, she's always supportive of her childhood friend Ishida, and often tries to help him out. The execution of Ueno's personality was done well in my opinion. Her behavior isn't taken too far but is kept mildly interesting throughout.

Miyu Irino takes center stage as the adult Ishida Shouya and delivers a top notch voice acting performance. His mild and laid back expression really emphasizes his feelings of struggle and guilt. The rest of the cast produce a praiseworthy performance as well. Ono Kensho's upbeat impression as Nagatsuka being a noteworthy one. The stand out among the lot however is definitely Hayami Saori's admirable presentation of a speech-impaired Nishimiya. The lucid and a coherent use of background music is befitting of that a slow burning romantic drama. A special mention the intro "My generation" by the band The Who. The softly samba dancing resembling Beat and Rock tune is a classic throwback to the old age blues genre. The visuals accompanying an energetic Ishida in his teens leaves a memorable note in the movie and sets the audience in and relaxed. The art is done by Kyoto Animation, a name not unheard of in the industry. Well known for their previous works of eye candy, KyoAni did an amazing work with Koe no Katachi. The visuals are stellar, the backgrounds are flabbergasting and there's a tinge of 3D. There are usages of mild symbolism in the art designs of 'koi', and the montages are showered with visual excellence. But as often than not, it comes to the case of taking it a little too far. While not to exaggerate, the animation is indeed excellent throughout with very few hiccups, but there are scenes where the film just likes to delve into daydreaming with surreal but less relevant illustrations. This affects and halts the storytelling from time to time but I wouldn't call it major; however these are little dark blemishes within the movie that would've been better rather left out.

I wouldn't call spending more than two hours watching Koe no Katachi a waste. The film offers a refreshing tale of self struggle and appreciation. While its not a movie you'd wanna tune in trying to hit off a few minutes sipping on a cocktail, the pace is slow and the film is lengthy, but if you're in for a good two hours of good old melodramatic romance drama then Koe no Katachi is a must watch. The film has its highs and lows, some of the scenes just seem childish and forced but eventually it pieces itself together pretty well. As for me, I wouldn't call this an emotional drama. I didn't shed tears in the movie but I was moved by the brilliant character development Ishida was given. I would go as far as to say that I didn't love the movie but I loved Ishida as a main character. And if you haven't yet realized yet yes, I am biased towards Ishida. He is the central figure and the moving force in the entire movie. That being said, he might as well be the most misfit main character in a film or anime in recent times.

I just cant explain it, because I went through the same thing on both characters sides.. it's a terrible thing to go through and battle with at the same time. Please just watch it, A SILENT VOICE is a masterpiece..

I've never to this day have seen a movie, perfectly reflect on the things that I went through in my life until now. ALL of the characters are flawless. The story is flawless, pacing is flawless, and above all else. the character development. Is Flawless.. Please, watch this movie and don't compare it to anything, treat it as its own story and you reflect upon ... it. And once you've watched it, your view on life is going to change drastically, that's how serious this movie is.

Embrace the movie!

(THIS MESSAGE IS DIRECTED TO THE NO RECCOMENDERS), If you seriously somehow found a reason to not like this movie, then you must've been one of those bystanders at the end of the movie. Because you most likely went through none of what Shouko or Shoya experienced.

(8.0/10)
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If you watch as much film and television as I do, there is nothing you grow to not expect. I'll be the first to admit that my experience with anime is limited, however, my experience with other mediums is unbelievably large because I dedicated myself to consuming as much entertainment as possible. That, now a days, does involve anime. While anime does bring some new tropes to the table, in structure, it is still similar to other mediums. So getting surprised by something you feel as though you've already made up your mind about is a very rare occurrence...

So lets talk about Koe no ... Katachi.

I feel like I often repeat myself when discussing Kyoto Animation's work. Their consistent, impressive, in-studio work is of such high quality that there really is nothing else in the anime industry to compare them to. They stand on their own as the single most talented animation studio in the business, in my opinion. I felt their fingerprints all over "A Silent Voice", a film that I surprisingly really enjoyed as a whole.

Yamada Naoko, the KyoAni alumni takes lead as the director, delivering exceptionally throughout the film. What struck me about "A Silent Voice" over another anime film I watched recently, "Your Name", was how much more personal it felt. I suppose this extra touch of "love" from KyoAni is what makes them such a amiable studio. Each endeavor they embark upon always feels as though they have their absolute all put into it. They often change and deviate from their source material to create more palatable stories for this visual medium, and they often save potentially mediocre shows with their passion and ability to create from nothing. This is what makes me love Kyoto Animation so much. There is a passion here, whether it is in their films or series that I simply do not feel from any other studio.

What leads me to this emotional conclusion is their ability to create personable people in these fictional worlds through the character animation, which i'll touch on later. I've been becoming blase to the nature of a lot of more slice-of-life anime, where even a film like "Your Name", which I unfortunately find myself comparing to "A Silent Voice" often feels disconnected from my own emotion. While "Your Name" was sleeker, it never felt more personal, which is what makes cell-shaded two-dimensional animation superior to any other form of animation.

What "A Silent Voice" does above all else, however, is subvert expectations, and maybe not even on purpose. Going into this film I had a totally different image of what to expect, and I left completely baffled by the result. Going into "A Silent Voice" expecting a romance is perhaps a bit assumptious on the anime medium, but I see a teenage boy and a cute teenage girl and then my limited, but somewhat jaded experience with anime kicks in and I tend to expect a romantic film. This is not a romance film, though, in fact, it's a lot deeper than that.

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[Premise]

We get taken through the early life of Ishida Shouya. We see him in early grade school, no older than thirteen, and we expect nothing from him. A shy, adorable, deaf girl transfers into their class and, well, Ishida and his group of friends don't take a liking to her. A seemingly innocuous yet disheartening moment occurs, where Ishida makes a joke about the way she talks and everyone in the class laughs. He notices that he made people laugh by making fun of this girl and he continues. And continues. And continues. It gets worse, and worse, and worse. She leaves the school. He gets blamed. Everyone, including his friends turn on him. As is life.

Enter him during what can only be his senior year. Lonely. Unable to communicate with anyone else. Shunned. Suicidal. His momentary choice had repercussions that rippled down to his very being and totally changed him as a person. No longer is he just a regular, friend having, fun loving kid. He's just the "loner" now, no one expects him to socialize. This drastic change of character within just the first quarter of the film would be very hard to swallow if it wasn't for the superb direction and surprising restraint shown from the creators.

Anime is often criticized for its over-emotional nature, it's need to create drama and cloying sappiness whenever it feels like. These early scenes could have easily been that. They could have been a "Your Lie in April"-esq cry-fest where nothing is established and the only thing you know about these characters are their basest traits and their ability to cry. Yet this restraint shown goes a long way. The visual flair that KyoAni puts on "A Silent Voice" is palpable and surprising, to say the least. There is some pretty impressive cinematography, sound design, and overall direction. Especially in these early scenes. The stylistic choices made are blunt, yet creative enough to really give this film its own feeling.

I thought this would be a story about Ishida's redemption, and it is, but more importantly it is a story about repercussions. The lack of romance really helps not make this some redundant flick made to appeal to the masses, what 'A Silent Voice" does is pull back and show a more nuanced look at depression. That nuanced look wouldn't have worked if it wasn't for the subdued and tasteful VA work by both Irino Miyu, as Ishida, and Hayami Saori as Nishimiya, the deaf girl. These characters don't wear their emotions on their sleeves and they aren't supposed to. They, as well as the decently large cast of side characters have more subtlety to them than I expected. Apart from some pacing issues and somewhat unnecessary catharsis, the film's premise is solid.

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[Characters]

Ishida meets plenty of side-characters, from Nishimiya's sister to plenty of his old acquaintances from his past. Instead of giving them basic traits and letting those be their defining features, there are some smart characterization choices being made here. The characters are given somewhat vague motivations that make them feel distinctly more human in their emotions. Emotions are never black and white, so motivations shouldn't be either.

"A Silent Voice" does its best with these secondaries and gives them ample screen-time . There are some ham-fisted moments during the latter half of the film; however, it isn't ever a scene that doesn't end up benefiting the narrative. Just scenes that don't play out well enough, even if they do end up being useful to have. This is where narrative structure comes into play. The idea here is that every scene included is important, but the way they are included isn't smooth.

One particular scene at an amusement park never quite resonates and ended up being completely buried. The structure here was messy, but necessary. I wish there was some re-organization, however, the film itself was long enough. It needed to be to tackle a topic like this.

...

Let's talk Nishimiya, the unforgettable blind girl that plays as this shows empathetic piece. Or does she? As I slowly realized that she was significantly more than just an object of affection for the protagonist, her roll in this film becomes decidedly more intriguing. She's this really nice, well-meaning girl that got dealt a really shit hand. She has no choice but to hide behind a completely fake smile, therefore causing people to generally feel as though she's totally fake as a person. This interesting character flaw shines a light on the meticulous character building this film surprisingly succeeds presenting.

Who was initially a breathtakingly beautiful character design turned into a breathtakingly beautiful character. The voice work does wonders too. Deaf people sound different, as they are unable to hear themselves, and can often sound a bit goofy. The choice to actually retain a deaf person's voice when I sure as hell expected them to go with the usual overly-cutesy shtick was startling but ultimately a risk worth taking. The Voice Actress really had to commit to making this believable and for the most part, she did. Nishimiya's voice ended up being such a important aspect to the film as you realize its significance. As she hardly has a voice, Ishida loses his. And therefore we enter his arc and ultimate catharsis.


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[Art]

If I haven't harped enough about how amazing Kyoto Animation is, let me do it again. Kyoto Animation is the fucking best. There isn't a single series' oriented studio that produces work of this fidelity and artistic merit, in my opinion. "A Silent Voice" is them turning their talent to eleven, as they get to exercise their talent with a lot of time, money, and effort. The result is jaw-dropping.

The designs translate extremely well from the manga. The characters here are drawn dynamically, yet also detailed to an awe-inspiring level. Nishimiya is almost always heart-stopping with how well she's drawn and animated. The dreamlike, soft colors of this film help create a somewhat melancholic atmosphere that you feel nostalgic towards. A malaise blanket covered the first half of the film, aesthetically, and I loved it.

Comparing it once again to the sleeker production of "Your Name"; I actually vastly prefer 'A Silent Voice". Both in direction and visuals, "A Silent Voice" is much more interesting to look at. The dialogue is taken good care of, and the framing is often exceptional as well. I'm just so pleased with the way this film looks.

I can only recall one issue with CG, which I honestly thought was somewhat misplaced. Everything else is so beautifully drawn in cell-shaded 2D glory that CG really wasn't necessary and I think some extra time could've fixed this one moment. However, that is far from anything but a nitpick. This film is gorgeous.

The last outstanding quality I want to touch on in presentation is KyoAni's ability to create character qualities through animation. I have yet to see a studio perfect this, and KyoAni is incredible at it. Often times an actor in live action will give the character they are playing certain quirks and physical traits to personalize them for the viewer. Whether it be a nervous tick or just the way they greet someone. Voice Actors don't have this courtesy because they don't control the character.

Instead, the animators, and in turn the director are in control. KyoAni has incredibly talented in-house animators that work tediously on some tiny, meticulous details that really go the extra mile to give a potentially flat side character a bit more flair and personality. This doesn't have to be some overtly quirky thing, either, just something simple like the way they walk or open doors. Character animation is so important, and "A Silent Voice" excels in facial animation, especially for Nishimiya. In anime, the eyes are often considered the most important way to express an emotion. KyoAni attempts to make that the entire face. For Nishimiya, who doesn't talk much, there is a lot of expressive facial expressions that you really don't see all too often in anime.

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[Issues]

"A Silent Voice" isn't without its problems. As I mentioned, there are issues with the pacing and overall narrative structure. While every scene feels important in establishing key characters, they still feel misplaced and occasionally messy in design. One particular confession scene really threw me off and was hardly even addressed later on in the film, which made its entire purpose feel null and void. Especially since it felt as though it came randomly and without purpose.

This film is incredibly depressing, especially in its earlier half and while I appreciated its somber, heart-squeezing moments earlier on, I did feel like it dipped a bit too deeply into the "anime drama tropes" bucket with some of it's later moments. Especially with a fireworks festival marking a pivotal moment, as they often do, and some unabashedly corny climax-oriented moments.

But even with those issues in the melodrama, the melodrama itself still works. It works so well due to the extra effort put into establishing the characters and giving them some overtly human qualities. You buy it because you buy the characters, and in turn, are invested in the story even if the story itself isn't perfectly constructed.


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[Conclusion]

Ultimately, "A Silent Voice" shines brightly. The strong, assured direction, calm, reserved music, spectacular editing, and ability to let scenes breath without backing music make for a visually and auditory film that impresses greatly. The deeper topics are addressed with surprising nuance. While it isn't the most nuanced piece about depression I've ever seen, it still shocked me to see how much effort was put into communicating this emotion through imagery, rather than expository dialogue.

That's what "A Silent Voice" is, though. Not a romance like I stupidly though. Hardly even redemption. It is more about stepping into the shoes of someone you don't understand through ways that don't reveal themselves until you've experienced what they have. The symbolism in this film isn't too subtle, but it's creative and more importantly, effective. The eventual catharsis is so powerful because there is so much effort placed into these characters. "Your Name", while good, often felt a bit innocuous and overly saccharine, "A Silent Voice" earns its sugar-coated moments because its more heartfelt narrative is surrounded by poignant, relate-able characters. It feels everything but innocuous.

What can I say, there is so much positive to "A Silent Voice" that I feel like it'd benefit from a re-watch. While far from perfect in structure and narrative progression, those just happen to be the most formula-driven aspects of creation. That isn't what Kyoto Animation ever excels at. They excel at personality. They bath in attitude. They indulge in aesthetic and love, whatever that means. I feel like this kind of narrative needed that to be adapted properly, and KyoAni have once again proven as exceptional and incredibly talented.

I'm eager to recommend "A Silent Voice" to any drama fan. If you are as experienced in film as I am, you tend to get a bit jaded to overly-formulaic attempts at cloying emotionality and obnoxious romance, so when something does end up surprising you, even if it is due to your own ignorance, you can't help but dish some praise. Goes to show that maybe you shouldn't judge a film by its cover.

→ This is an old review, don't read it ←

Koe no Katachi is an anime that moves you and makes you reflect. Such anime is very much appreciated by recipients. Acceptance is a very important thing in life. Everyone is different and has different flaws and you have to accept it as it is. Some people have different faith, skin color and others have a disability, and this does not make them worse people. All people have the same right to tolerance, even if they diverge from the rest. Koe no Katachi is an anime that teaches tolerance and goodness and that not ... everyone who is disabled is worse, weird, they also have feelings and they have a hard time with the defect they have.

✿Story 9/10 - the story is about the life of Ishida Shouya and his reconstruction of relations with a former deaf friend from elementary school. I can't write more because I don't want to betray spoilers.

✿Art 10/10 - The anime line is wonderful. All the details are precisely marked and the chiaroscuro is amazing.

✿Sound 10/10 - I really liked the sound effects during the movie. Ending was great too.

✿Character 7/10 - Most characters are realistic but not perfect. The character of Ueno and Ishida and other characters shows the reality of today's people, people do not understand people with disabilities and they make fun of it. Most people, however, become converted and regret what they have done over time. The only thing that surprised me was that Shouko, even after the hell that her primary school friends did, was still making friends with them.

✿Enjoyment 10/10 - Although I did not cry during the film, it certainly moved and touched me. anime is beautiful and touching and it has to be admitted. I love watching such movies because they are very pleasant and nice to watch.

✿Total 10/10✿ - The overall rating was 9.2/10, but I will give 10/10 because this movie is amazing and moving.

This is my first review and I do not speak English perfectly because I am from Poland and in addition I am a very young person, so there may be spelling mistakes, but I hope it is surviving (✿◡‿◡)

This movie is actually a solid 10/10 for me, but it's not your straight romance movie. It focuses more on the personal development and journey of the characters, which is really the heart of the story.

Just a note - some parts aren't as down to earth as the manga, and the ending can leave you a bit hanging. If you want more information or a little closure, the manga does a great job of filling in those blanks.

Although there are some romances, the main attraction is the film’s handling of issues such as research and understanding others. The animation is great, but the story is ... what really makes an impact.

So, if this movie makes you curious or want more, it's a good idea to check out the manga. It’s definitely worth looking into.

In my opinion, KyoAni made it very well. If you read manga before, you'll see that there are some changes in anime version. Koe no Katachi doesn't metion much about love. I'm impessed by friendship or family love. Maybe some people will feel bored when they watch it but I think it brings us many deep meanings. The name of film - "The shape of voice", ia also. The shape of voice is not only about Shouko but also Shouya. if they listen others' voice with their hearts they will see the shape of voice. They will see how beautiful voice is. Shouya and Shouko ... will respect their friends and families more and more.