Expression of Hatred towards Detective's Review

Detective said:
I'm going to start this off serious and then we're going to all have a laugh and move on, alright folks?

First off Tenderizer17, you have messaged me multiple times regarding this film and my review. I suspect you have spent a lot of time reading and re-reading my review. I consider this flattery, but it is also a little concerning. I have read your messages and I decided not to respond as I felt we wouldn't reach a very constructive discussion as it appears you simply wanted to poke holes and misinterpret every sentence I wrote to further your own argument. In this light, we will never be able to have a good discussion. We are two opposites in opinion, and while I believe finding some common ground in our outlooks of this film is possible, your borderline obsession with my critique convinces me that is not something you will be able to do.

I will not comment any further after I make this statement and I hope it clears up some things as I have received death threats, threats to delete my account and retire from moderation, and exceptionally slanderous and rude comments because I did not enjoy this film. The irony in the context to this films supposed message is rather amazing. I have also received equally very positive and glowing comments from a lot of friendly people on MAL. Some of those people wrote some kind words - that my review resonated with them, or gave them a different interpretation or understanding of the feeling they had toward this movie. I think that this review is important, albeit polarizing. Yes, it is a sharp criticism of a very popular movie. It is hard for it to be without controversy. Ultimately I think if there's one thing detractors of my review harp on and really, really harp on, it is the first paragraph.

My first paragraph is about how I am not deaf, and how I believe that the movie is capitalizing on disease. I thought it was something worth mentioning because I did not want to alienate anyone who may have sympathized with this movie because they are deaf or would hastily conclude that I did not consider that this movie could be a great film for the deaf. Seeing as deafness is rarely talked about or utilized in media, I think it is great in a way for that reason alone. On a social level, representation of minorities is important and I understand that. This fact does not pardon the execution of the film. I was rather amazed at how shallow the narrative of this story is. It is very basic and very cliche. I say this because there are very few moments in the story where deafness actually matters. As other users and I have discussed, the movie is centrally focused on bullying. So I was rather shocked when they sidelined Nishiyama's deafness and used it instead as pole-vault to further explain motives of a rather generic young adult male.

I have seen a lot of anime. I have not read the manga this is adapted from. I know my limits on willing suspension of disbelief and what I wanted to get at in my first sentence of my review is that this movie is contrived. I will defend my words with this position with this: KyoAni is known for it's "crying genre" of anime and associated media and products. Clannad, Kanon, Angel Beats, Air, Charlotte etc. In all of these works, some of which I even enjoyed, never is the disability or illness that the girls (and they are ALWAYS girls) suffer from is named. This is KyoAni's first instance of this and their most swaggering. The disability is portrayed front and center, with the movie title even being a reference to deafness. You would think that the female character would at least be a little more fleshed out. Why do we have so much internal dialogue from our young male japanese protagonist but none from the far more unique deaf character? Koe no Katachi has everything it needed to be a great work, and maybe the manga is. I don't know, and that's not what my review is about. I wanted to get this portion of the review out of the way quickly as this part lends more to my personal philosophies than it does to the objective parts of the film.

As a final statement, I write all my reviews as factual. I am making an argument and since all reviews on art are of personal opinion I tend to write them as such. I prefer writing in a strong voice, as it usually helps remove confusion from my rather odd rhetoric style. I see in this case that did not come true completely and I have considered re-writing the first two or three lines of it. The message though, would remain the same and my argument would still hold. If there is any personal victory, my fellow detractors, that should be celebrated it is that you have almost made me re-write a line or two of my review so that I do not have to write massive walls of text like this any time soon. Maybe one day you will see such a beautiful thing occur!

While it would be funny to imagine this review is my ironic capitalization on the capitalization of moe or that I have been severely bullied so much it causes PTSD and I must exercise viciously against the morally altruistic userbase of MAL and subject them to my depraved and evil heart I really just wrote this review because I think the movie is bad.

I'm off to go bully more anime girls~~! Enjoy the rest of this thread lol