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My mother is deaf, so this really struck a personal chord with me. Nishimiya Shouko's voice actor alone is reason enough to give this movie a perfect 10. She perfectly captured the nuance of a deaf voice without making it a caricature. I grew up around more deaf people than hearing people, and this absolutely touched on the problems they face as they go through life.

There are some reviews on here saying that it is exploitative, Nishimiya has no character depth except for being deaf, etc. I'm here to tell you how they are wrong. At the heart of this film, Nishimiya is just an ... ordinary girl who wants so badly to have friends, and she just so happens to be deaf, which causes many to push her away, and even some that would be willing to be amicable, to have a language barrier from having to learn sign language or write everything. This is a true problem deaf children face growing up. When my mom was young, she only ever had deaf friends, no hearing people knew how to communicate with her,and it was only as an adult that she met my dad (who is hearing) and started to meet other hearing people through him.

It is because of this that I feel Nishimiya Shouko to be one of the most honest, deepest characters of any from anime, because at the end of the day, she just wants to be loved, like everyone else does. The most emotional moment of the whole film is during the exposition part when they're in elementary school. Shouko exclaims using her voice, as best as she can "I'M TRYING MY BEST!" and it's moments like that that make this film beautiful. I realize there is a bit of personal bias, but I thought it was my responsibility as someone who grew up in deaf culture to communicate how real this movie is and let you know that it DOES NOT EXPLOIT DEAF PEOPLE.