Spoilers - Does this film make it clear that Nishimiya and Shouya love each other?

On_the_Lam said:
I don't particularly remember any hints that they're together by the end of the manga.

Frostbyte98 said:
The manga itself had an open ending(people can take the ending as they may wish) but yeah, afaik they stopped long before it in the movie, even before


If you ask how I feel abt it, I am indifferent towards it as I saw the romance only as a side theme, not the central focus of the manga.

GohanwaOkazu said:
There is a romantic aspect, but this manga/movie's central plot is communication and dis-communication.

Shouko did confess to Shouya, because Shouya was the only guy who confronted her seriously at primary school that she should not just smile and let things pass (which is Shouko's problem- she finds it hard to communicate with others because of the hearing impairment, she tends to smile and apologize for everything and just let things pass, which isn't a proper way of handling human relationship, although it's tough to blame her). Shouko oppressed her inner emotions until the day when Shouya threw her communication notebook into the pond. Shouko apparently picked it up but decided to leave it there as it was enough for her- she returned home after that, and according to Yuzuru, she told her in the sign language that she wanted to commit suicide. However, years later, Shouya returns to Shouko will full repentance that communications notebook (which he picks up when he was bullied and dropped into the pond), and after learning sign language, ask for her friendship. Shouya even brings Sahara back to Shouko, and he is also kind to Yuzuru. So it's not really a surprise that Shouko develops affection to the only guy and one of very few friends she has who approaches her with utmost sincerity.

However, Shouko's feelings weren't readily understood because Shouya's mind was set on redemption of the past (in the manga, you'd see his highschool self stabbing his primary school self in his inner landscape exactly before Shouko's confession).

Shouya is, and probably have always been from the beginning (in the movie's interpretation) attracted to Shouko, but while he is also portrayed as not understanding her inner emotions and apologize that he hadn't though of her (or other's) feelings properly when he had thought of committing suicide to pay back his wrongdoings (until the climax bridge scene).

Shouko is shocked to see Shouya had been suffering all along with communication issues with other people (or I'd say, communication disorders) because of his distrust of others and hatred towards himself after he recognized and repented his wrongdoings when he in turn became the object of bullying. As Shouya distances himself from other people, Shouko develops strong feelings of guilt that she is responsible for all the grievances of her mother, sister, and Shouya- so much to believe that by dying she could end the her and others' misery (which of course isn't the case and Ueno confronts Shouko in her own crude way after the failed suicide attempt).

When Shouya wakes up and meet Shouko at the bridge, he tells Shouko that he also hadn't understand properly the inner emotions of Shouko prompting her to the tragic attempt, and although he had felt like that before himself, they can still make amends by communicating with other people and listening to other people's voices without making assumption by themselves alone- Shouya begs for forgiveness and asks Shouko to help him live properly together with her (and if that's not enough as a surrogate proposal of a mature relationship between a male and female, what is?)

As Shouya recovers from his communication disorder with Shouko and friends at the school festival, he no longer distrusts and hates other people or himself, and the world surrounding him is no longer a lonely world with indifferent people in "X" marks on the face, but it is full of actual beings with human faces Shouya can relate to, including even his former friends-turned-bullies, and people who can still throw harsh words at him.

... So is this story or the plot of the manga/movie can be labeled and categorized "romantic"? In a way, as it develops on relationship with people, you may call the manga/movie "romantic" in a very broad sense. I think it's clear that Shouko and Shouya haven't even kissed until the very end, although it's also evident that they've developed a bond that last more than a teenager couple.

In the manga, the last episode is set at the coming of age ceremony, a Japanese communal gathering to celebrate that kids have become adults at the year when they become twenty- and a former friend and bully of Shouya is caught seen as a nice father with a small child. In the old school's gathering, they are both nervous to meet old friends/bullies of the school, but they are now mature to know that any torn memories can be amended towards the better, as Shouya and Shouko have become partners for life.