Story: On the positive side, this movie ends the story on a more satisfying conclusion than the manga, and does a better job at keeping the story focused both in terms of the plot and tone. That said, the manga was far better at character expression and exposition (an advantage that mostly comes from the difference in medium.) Overall, still pretty solid as far as story goes, just a couple essential things from the source material I think they missed a good chance to include here. 8/10
Art: It's a Kyoto Animation feature length movie, of course it's going to look amazing. Captures and translates the manga's art style flawlessly (plus with some of those unique, signature, "camera shots" that Naoka Yamada is known for to give it an extra layer of charm). 10/10
Sound: For a movie about deafness, the sound design is ironically great. The music adds a unique touch, and the dub is quite good also. (I have not seen the subbed version, so I can't speak for that other than a few clips.) 9/10
Character: As mentioned previously, some of the character development and expression was lost in translation from the manga. That said, they are still well written and handled well also. 8/10
Enjoyment: I enjoyed it very much. 8/10
Overall: I'd say overall I enjoyed this as much as the manga. I'm almost tempted to rate it higher than the manga, but I think it'd be smarter to give it time to settle before I reevaluate my thoughts on it. That said, from the get-go I much prefer the ending to this movie, I like a lot of the movie only additions they put in there (such as the way the events are organized, the stuff with the ear scars, etc.) However, while the tone is more focused here as a straight-forward drama, I prefer how the tone was handled in the manga a little more as it was more balanced in terms of dramatic moments and comic relief. That said, I do think treating this film as a straight drama was probably the wiser decision in the long run considering the subject matter. A solid film. 8/10
