Koe no Katachi

As a wild youth, elementary school student Shouya Ishida sought to beat boredom in the cruelest ways. When the deaf Shouko Nishimiya transfers into his class, Shouya and the rest of his class thoughtlessly bully her for fun. However, when her mother notifies the school, he is singled out and blamed for everything done to her. With Shouko transferring out of the school, Shouya is left at the mercy of his classmates. He is heartlessly ostracized all throughout elementary and middle school, while teachers turn a blind eye.

Now in his third year of high school, Shouya is still plagued by his wrongdoings as a young boy. Sincerely regretting his past actions, he sets out on a journey of redemption: to meet Shouko once more and make amends.

Koe no Katachi tells the heartwarming tale of Shouya's reunion with Shouko and his honest attempts to redeem himself, all while being continually haunted by the shadows of his past.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Nishimiya, Shouko Main

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Ishida, Shouya Main

Irino, Miyu Japanese

Nishimiya, Yuzuru Supporting

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Ueno, Naoka Supporting

Kaneko, Yuuki Japanese

Nagatsuka, Tomohiro Supporting

Ono, Kensho Japanese

Ishida, Maria Supporting

Kamata, Erena Japanese

Pedro Supporting

Watanuki, Ryuunosuke Japanese

Ishida, Miyako Supporting

Yukino, Satsuki Japanese

Sahara, Miyoko Supporting

Ishikawa, Yui Japanese

Mashiba, Satoshi Supporting

Toyonaga, Toshiyuki Japanese

Nakamura, Shinichi Producer

Tateishi, Kensuke Producer

Iizuka, Toshio Producer

Uetsuki, Mikio Producer

Reviews

Feb 23, 2025

Mik0_o

Recommended

4 AM. I just finished watching the movie, and without much thought, I immediately want to write down my impressions. I've been wanting to watch this film for a long time—since last year, actually—since everyone praised it so much. And today, I finally decided to do it. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe it was a certain special vibe—after all, it started snowing in my city today, and believe me, in Tbilisi, that’s a rare occurrence. But let’s get to the point.

I'll start with my expectations. I thought, "Yeah, I’m about to watch a good anime movie. I’ll probably like it, but it won’t be anything ... special." After all, I’m usually skeptical about anime films and haven’t watched many of them. But let me say this—A Silent Voice exceeded all my expectations. While watching, I felt something warm and familiar, like I was experiencing something close and dear to me. In some ways, it even reminded me of Your Lie in April (one of my all-time favorite anime, and not just anime). The vibe was similar. Throughout the film, I went through a range of emotions—anger, joy, sorrow—all packed into just two hours. And yes, a good film should make you feel different emotions, but this one felt more real. It was as if I had fully immersed myself in the story and become a part of it, feeling exactly what Ishida felt.

Returning to the film, I also really liked the themes of friendship, understanding, and self-worth—especially the moment when Ishida asks himself, Did i deserve this happines? But perhaps the main theme is redemption, and again, it was done beautifully. As I write this review, I realize how well everything in this anime fits together. Every theme, every moment complements the others, creating such a wonderful story.

Now, about the characters.

Let’s start with Ishida—he is incredibly well-written, and most importantly, he feels alive. As I mentioned earlier, I truly felt his emotions. One scene I want to highlight is the bridge scene (where he was right, by the way). I understood and felt every single word he said in that moment. His redemption, his conclusion, his interactions with other characters—all of it was well-crafted and logical.

As for Nishimiya, I think her pain and emotions were portrayed well. However, she struck me as the kind of character who serves mainly as a supporting role for the protagonist. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. (I hope you understand what I mean—if not, we can discuss this point.)

I liked Nishimiya, she was enjoyble character, she had some vibe.
I also liked the friendship theme with Nagatsuka, but as a character, he was just fine. Nothing particularly outstanding. And finally, I want to sum up my thoughts on Kawai in one sentence: Indifference is a greater sin than hatred.

Now, let’s talk about Ueno Naoka.

Can someone please explain to me why she has 700+ favorites on MAL?! I know, I know—everything is subjective, but how can anyone like her? (And don’t come at me with "She’s actually a deep character, you just didn’t understand her.") She’s just a dumb brat, that’s all.

This words would much her perfectly "I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress."

Every time she appeared on screen, I just felt anger. And yes, there are perfectly horrible characters (like Furudo Erika from Umineko, if you know what I mean), but Ueno? She’s just Trash.

Now, about the ending.

Before writing this part, I read some reviews, and I saw that many people didn’t like it. Some even consider it open-ended. Personally, I think it was somewhat predictable, but that doesn’t make it bad. It’s logical, fitting, and well-executed for this kind of story. I’m more than satisfied with how it wrapped up.

To balance things out, I’ll mention a few flaws—some moments felt overly exaggerated, and in certain parts, there was unnecessary drama. But overall, I didn’t notice any major weaknesses. Sure, maybe not everything was executed at the highest level, but I didn’t see any serious downsides either.

One last thing I want to praise is the beautiful animation, the amount of symbolism, and the music, which was also great. Basically, all the key aspects were done well.

Final thoughts
I really enjoyed A Silent Voice. It exceeded my expectations, and I didn’t think it would resonate with me so much. If I compare it only to movies (not just anime films, but movies in general), it would rank pretty high for me.

As for my final rating—if I’m giving it only as a film (since in general, the film format appeals to me less than other media forms), my rating is 8/10.

So, if you’ve read my review (I doubt anyone will : ) ) and still haven’t decided whether to watch A Silent Voice or not—I highly recommend it. In exchange for two hours of your time, you’ll get a warm and heartfelt story. That’s how I’d sum up this anime.

Thanks for reading! <3

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Feb 20, 2025

jennisiaria

Mixed Feelings

A Silent Voice is one of those movies that’s trying so hard to tug at your heartstrings, it’s basically using a sledgehammer instead of a violin. The premise sounds great—it's about bullying, redemption, and learning to understand each other—pretty deep stuff, right? But somewhere along the way, it turns into a very intense emotional rollercoaster... that kind of gets stuck on the first loop.

The characters are very serious about their emotional trauma. Shoya, the main character, spends the entire movie feeling bad for being a bully (understandable), while Shoko, the girl who was bullied, is the human embodiment of suffering... literally every second. You’ll find ... yourself wondering if these kids even know how to smile. At some point, I started thinking, “Do they ever have a good day? Or is the entire movie just a sob-fest?”

The story has all the right intentions, but it gets a bit repetitive. Every scene feels like an emotional punch, but after a while, it’s like eating a whole box of chocolates—sounds nice, but eventually, you’re just full of guilt and regret, questioning your life choices. The pacing is slower than a snail on a lazy day, with moments dragging out longer than a New Year’s resolution that never happens.

Visually, the animation is stunning, and I won’t deny that the art style is gorgeous. But honestly, you could almost put this movie on mute, and it’d still be a masterclass in beauty. The real issue is that all that gorgeousness can’t hide the fact that the story doesn’t really offer much in terms of... well, fun. It’s like reading a 400-page book on how to apologize.

A Silent Voice is a well-meaning film, but by the end, you might feel emotionally drained, wondering if all the tear-jerking moments were truly necessary or if you were just caught in a cinematic emotional blender. If you're looking for a feel-good movie, this might make you rethink your life choices.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Feb 7, 2024

nosferatusbat

Not Recommended

Objectively a stunning and beautifully well animated film with a premise that sounds interesting. However, falls flat with the express focus on making the abled-bodied comfortable with Shoko being a mary-sue that forgives her bully in the end (not stating that she has to be cruel to her bullies or that redemption isn't good, it just comes across as being flat and disinteresting with how little Shoko is fleshed out beyond her traumatic incidents) and has no further personality than being a shy, sweet, loveable but sad damsel in distress. I find this extremely distressing given the topic matter, and my own experiences with being ... bullied as a deaf child - Note: I am not profoundly deaf like Shoko is, but I do wear a hearing aid and use sign language to communicate. Regardless, my own experiences with this film makes it very uncomfortable for me to watch, and largely, I would not recommend it to anyone who is looking to see narratives on disabled people in anime, because this movie, is far from that.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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