Note: contains plot spoilers.
Story - 5
Art - 10
Music - 8
Character - 3
Enjoyment - 5
Overall - 5
I can say without a doubt that romance is my favourite genre, despite that I did not enjoy Koe no Katachi when I watched it first at a cinema; my second watch more recently only reinforced my opinions. Please note that while I have read other peoples comments on the manga I have not myself read it, still a film should be able to stand on its own.
...
Let's start with the good points, KyoAni did a fantastic job with the art direction and animation. Likewise with the sound and voice acting, in particular Saori Hayami did an exquisite job of voicing the undoubtedly challenging Shouko Nishimiya; that being said the music while good, could have been more impactful, I didn't for example, feel I lost much listening to it on my mediocre TV speakers compared to the immersive cinema setup.
Staying with the good let's talk about the Nishimiya sisters. They were definitely the stars of Koe no Katachi. Shouko, our deaf love interest, is an upbeat moe character with a smile you want to protect; her younger sister Yuzuru is equally likable, is the source of some of the more enjoyable scenes in the film and is generally responsible for driving the plot forward.
This however is where the good points, for me, end. Let us jump into what really lets Koe no Katachi down most of all: the characters. Outside of the two Nishimiya sisters there is no-one that stands out as being particularly likable and only the protagonist receives anything close to what could be called development.
Let us talk about my least favourite character and the primary source of this low rating, none other than the protagonist himself: Shouya Ishida. At the beginning of the film Shouya is a grade school bully, who bullies the classes new deaf student to the point she has to leave, it would be no word of a lie to say that he was more likable at this point in the film than at any other. This isn't due to some mean spiritedness on my part, except for one childish smirk for which I immediately felt guilty, watching a young deaf Shouko get bullied was incredibly uncomfortable - as it should be - it is simply because this is the only point in the film where Shouya had any semblance of personality or backbone. Now to be fair this is kind of the point, his karma for bullying and excluding Shouko is to be bullied and excluded himself, it makes sense that he would therefore be detached and lack social skills when he got older. The trouble is that he does not grow throughout the whole film, it is only at the very end that we see him make the mere *commitment* to improving himself, by which point the credits are about to roll and we don't get to experience any of the reward.
This might not sound like the end of the world until you recognise how this changes the entire dynamic of Koe no Katachi, it is supposed to be a story of Shouya's redemption, but he does little to redeem himself. I mean sure, he learns sign language which must have taken commitment, he eventually remembers to apologise. On the flip side he introduces Shouko to one of his co-grade school bullies who immediately takes up bullying her again; rather than think 'hmm this was a bad idea' like any true redemptive soul would, he then allows this girl into his budding friendship group where she continues to terrorise Shouko. The only time he ever sticks up for Shouko is in an underwhelming and half-hearted rant against those whom were either involved or complicit in Shouko's middle school bullying; this tirade was done, not for her sake, but to assuage his own guilt and there can be little doubt that it was Shouya's poor decisions and lack of spine that accelerated Shouko to despair. Koe no Katachi is not a film about Shouya's redemption at all, poor Shouko is victimised from the beginning to the end with only her sister to stand up for her; it is a solo played on the worlds smallest violin for a boy who brought his woes on himself, does little to improve his situation and is eventually saved from himself by a girl he doesn't deserve. While such a description might not sound that bad, it makes for a very dissatisfying, cringe inducing watch.
There are other bad things too, the side characters receive very little development, we don't learn anything about them. By far the worst example of this is when a character that we had only just met, during what I'm sure was meant to be a moving scene, tells Shouya that 'you're supposed to be our friend' in response to his self-interested tirade; that's nice but who are you again? The other major example is that it renders the primary antagonist's actions completely beyond reason or understanding, worse still, she never receives anything close to karma for acting in what can only be described as an utterly evil manner. I hear the manga develops these characters more, but as I say, that doesn't help this movie.
In the end the art, the voice acting and music, and particularly the Nishimiya sisters prevent me from giving it as low a score as I otherwise would, it's just a shame they didn't appear in a better film.
Aug 17, 2017
Koe no Katachi
(Anime)
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Note: contains plot spoilers.
Story - 5 Art - 10 Music - 8 Character - 3 Enjoyment - 5 Overall - 5 I can say without a doubt that romance is my favourite genre, despite that I did not enjoy Koe no Katachi when I watched it first at a cinema; my second watch more recently only reinforced my opinions. Please note that while I have read other peoples comments on the manga I have not myself read it, still a film should be able to stand on its own. ... |
