When I read the description the first time I thought "this movie is about a deaf girl being bullied and we're expected to pity the guy bullying her? what??" and I saw the great reviews and I figured maybe I was missing something and boy am I glad I watched this. Its true at first you think "I'll never learn to pity this kid, he is awful!" but the anime does a unique take on regret that seems very genuine and sad. A lot of the anime is him pushing people away and denying forgiveness after he apologizes to the deaf girl (thats not a spoiler right?) while also mending their friendship, admitting that it was his fault for not trying to understand her and that he wants to make life easier for her, like he should have been doing in the first place. It's a very touching story that covers sensitive subjects like suicidal thoughts, bullying, self-worth among other topics. I liked that the ending wasn't one of those "everything is miraculously better" or "apologies fix everything". They acknowledge that an apology goes hand in hand with a change in behaviour, and that sometimes not everybody changes for the better.
Art 10/10
Stuuuuuunnnnniiiiinnnngggg. Really the best animation I've seen in a while. Their use of colour and visual cues contributed to the story in a great way and I would watch any movie that looks as good as this one.
Sound 9/10
Creative use of silence and the contrast of too-much-sound-anxiety-overload kind of sound quality.
Character 10/10
It was easy to tell the characters apart and there was really no question about the development of each character. The main character was extremely well handled and there was never a question about how he felt (again, visuals helped a lot). And as I mentioned before the characters had a very clear redemption or they didn't which I liked. There was no grey area so it was clear that the protagonist was like "this person is never going to changed and at this point I don't want them to but I can keep being me and they can stay out of my life" which is powerful in itself
Enjoyment 10/10
It's weird to say that I enjoyed it because it was very sad and very powerful but I really did like it. It had so many layers in plot, character, climax, everything. The ending was satisfying which I find a lot of movies that start out great screw up, but again the idea that if someone isn't willing to change you can't force them because it wont be genuine change was a great idea to bring into a movie about bullying.
Overall 10/10
Some things were a bit repetitive but by the end of it I learned to forgive it because it did add to the story and the story itself was really good. I haven't seen another anime like this one so if you are looking for a change in pace then this would be a good place to start !
