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Koe no Katachi sensitized me. It kept thinking about it during all the time I read it, and also after. I'll try to explain why this manga is so powerfull.

We follow Ishida Shouya in his quest for redemption, because in his childhood he bullied a deaf girl, Nishimiya Shouko, then being he himself bullied. Many would say he does not deserve forgiveness, but yet, he is trying his best to make up for the time he ruined for Shouko. This journey is just so relatable and credible because ,just like live itself, it has its ups and downs, its happy moments and its sad moments.

During ... Shouya's quest we face lots of diferents aspects of life. In the bullying theme, we get to see how lack of communication and comprehension, how jealousy and how the pressure of the society takes people to bully someone. Also its after-affects are greatly depicted. We see how bullying takes people to hate themselves and to devalue their own lives, to the point they wish to die. Nevertheless, many other themes are aboarded: we get to understand what real friends are and what gives one right to be friends with people; we get to see and understand family relations, like the love and protection between siblings and parents.

During the manga, Shouya tries to compensate for the time he ruined for Shouko. One of the ways he does that is by reintroduncing her to some of their childhood classmates, who she could have been friends with, if not for his actions, and by trying to get her to participate in the his activities, like the production of a movie . This aspects is good because, besides making Shouya face his past problems, it introduces lots of great characters. The side characters are great because they are all very credible and realistic, because none of them is perfect, all of them have or had their problems and suffering. It just makes us want to read more because, in my case, it made me curious and made me want to understand that character and what happened to him/her. Ueno is a troubled girl who suffers because by some reasons she despises herself; Kawai is an egocentric and manipulative girl but who hard-worked to get in her position, and for that hates not being recognized; Matsuba is someone who suffered bullying in the past and now expresses his anger mostly through violence when facing some bully; Nagatsuka is someone who does not have friends and who compensates his loneliness by being extremely energetic; Sahara suffers because she abandoned Souko in the past and because she tries to become someone better, but feels she can’t do it; Shouko’s mother is someone who struggled to raise her daughters, who suffers with the fact Shouko is bullied and who just wishes her daughter were strong enough to take it, although being too ; Yuzuru loves her sister and for that she also suffers when she is bullied and comes to hate the ones who made her suffer. Also, it is interesting because, with the experiences these characters pass in the story, little by little, they become able to understand and to accept themselves, which is a very interesting event follow.

About the lead, Ishida Shouya,. He is also far from being a perfect person, and that’s what makes him a great character. He is in many times insecure, in many occasions he gives up on what he wants/should do because he is afraid, and besides being his intention, in many times he does not truly tries to understand Shouko, he just “ intended to hear her voice”, which is a a great metaphor. Nevertheless, he is great developed. As the side characters, he learns how to deal with his defects and weaknesses, then seeing there is no reason to wish to die and being able to enjoy life .

Now to the most interesting character of the manga: Nishimiya Shouko. First of all she is a very interesting character because, for being deaf, her ways of expression are her communication notebook, sign language and her expressions. And OH MY GOD!!! What expressions she has and how well they transmit her emotions, because they are perfectly chosen and drawn. I couldn’t help feeling happy when she was happy, sad and sorry when she was sad and, most of all, feeling her pain when we come to understand the suffering she bears. All of that resulting in results in lots of crying. Also, she is the element which brings to discussion the heaviest and the most serious themes. Through her we see the suffering that accompanies those who are bullied, and how it takes people see themselves as burdens, to hate themselves and to wish to die. That is very well done because it happens in progression. We understand her like Shouya does, little by little. First, besides being bullied, we see her as a very strong character. Then, by the time of the climax (and what climax, my heart stopped for a moment; it just has so many feelings in it) we see her as someone who suffered A LOT. But then again, with her experiences and her interactions with the other characters(mostly Shouya), she learns to value her life, to see herself as more than a burden, to find happiness and to enjoy life. That journey of hers, through pain, suffering and happiness, is just so emotional I couldn’t help feeling empathy for her and, through all of it, loving her.

Then, I am going to finish this review reinforcing the greatest aspects of the manga, because I am pretty sure I said it by some point. This manga gathers amazing characters with dense, significant and touching themes and messages resulting in a very emotional piece of art, the most emotional I have ever read, I dare say, because if there is one thing ever present in this work is feelings, they being happy or sad feelings, reading Koe no Katachi will make you feel. That is why I love it.

Story – 5/10

The two aspects of the story I am going to point out are the themes aboarded in the story and how that is done. The first , in my opinion, with a lot of potencial and the second which does not uses all that potencial.
First of all, the superficial/inicial plot is not at all new. Boy gets to fight to save the earth while he lives a school life together with some girls and new friends. There I put one of my critics. The introduction is very badly done. To me, it just seems the direction was too eager to create that scenary ... previously described. Many aspects of the universe are not explained to the viewer, which ,on one hand, makes it difficult to understand everything but, on the other hand, makes you want to watch more.
With the development of the series, many other themes are added, which contributes to make me think that the middle of the anime is its best part. Trouble of socialization is aboarded with Shinji and Rei; paternal and maternal issues are aboarded with Shinji, Asuka and Katsuragi; existencial issues like the reason why one fights is aboarded with the main trio, mostly Asuka and Shinji, and like the truth of one’s world and how that person reacts to that. That said, the choice of the themes pleased me, but not how mostly of them were exploited. One instance is that the story develops these themes way too fast, not being developed for enough time , which difficults their comprehention. Also, there is a pacing problem because in one moment there is not any substancial development but in the next there is a huge amount of information rushed in the screen, which also difficults the comprehention, resulting in an alternation between a too slow storytelling and a rushed storytelling. Also, other aspect that I dislike is that many events happen, but they do not seem to influence the future.
About the ending, it not a really good one. Although some other existencial aspects are aboarded, which I liked, in this section, also, many informations and events are rushed, which unables them to be well explored, creating a trouble in understanding the anime’s conclusion. By the way, it is not near to be a good conclusion, because it finishes events that happen only in the last part of the anime and does not explain many aspects of that universe, leaving many subjects and characters aside and viewers confused.
Thus, Evangelion ends up being a story that talks about good themes, but that does not give them enough time to be developed and that ends up being confusing and not well finished.

Art – 7/10
In the first two thirds of the anime the art is not exquisite, but is good. The drawning is good and stylish, the animation is fluid when it has to be. Nevertheless, the concepts of the art are a two edged knife. While the city and NERV’s base are very serious and futuristic, the EVAs’ and the Angels’ appearances distune of the anime’s atmosphere. They sure do look awesome, what is a good thing, but they are way to stylish and colourfull to the setting of the anime.
In the end of the anime, putting its difficulty of understandment, there was used some interesting visual effects. The narrative uses a lot of alternative arts like the manga drawnings or simple drawnings in a white screen, with water painting. This results in unique and interesting way to communicate the character’s confusion to the viewers.

Sound – 5/10
First, about the dubbing. The main trio is perfectly enpersonated by the dubbers. Shinji’s shyness, Asuka’s pride and arrogance and Rei’s lack of emotion are completely transmitted by their voices. That also happens to the side characters, although less noticeable. Thus, the dubbing is very good.
About the soundtrack, I can say the direction uses the silence better than it uses soundtrack. The silence and ordinary sounds are commonly, and perfectly, used to express the awkwardness of the situation or the solitude of the ambient. On the other hand , it does not uses music, most of the times, in the best moments it could, like the battle scenes, and when it uses, it is usually a soundtrack that distunes from the anime’s setting and that barely helps the build up of the scene.

Characters – 7/10
As the story, this aspect of the anime had a great potencial, which was not well explored.
The trio of main characters is very good. Everyone of them has a unique personality and issues, and all of them give the story a chance to talk and to develop good subjects. Also, their interactions with one another are really fun. Nevertheless, they were not completely explored. First of all, they do not receive a proper ending. Also, they lose screen time in spite of the development of side characters and events that are neither as interesting nor as important as they are. Thus, some of their characteristics and story are not as developed as they could be.
About the side characters, they are not all bad , but they are indeed worse than the main trio. Also their development was a bad call from the direction because by the end of the anime, they try to implement and to create importance and background to a lot of characters, which results in little screen time for any of them and , thus, in a superficial development.

Entertainment – 6/10
Again I am going to praise the trio of main characters while I think the most of the rest of the anime is just satisfactory.
Shinji, Asuka and Rei have different personalities. During the anime, they clash and interact with one another. It is really fun to watch this process, mostly when we have Asuka’s spontaneity and pride facing Shinji’s shyness and Rei’s indifference.
Other cool aspect of the series are the EVAs’ scenes. Most of them are really cool and, besides almost always having the same “Angel appears and we stop it” formula, they manage to have some diversity of in how the problem of the episode is solved.
Nevertheless, there is one big defect, at least in my experience watching the anime, that is one retrospect of the story. While the plot is being developed and you are being overwhelmed by information, the entertainment of the anime is seriously jeopardized by the confusing narrative, mostly in the end of the series, because of the difficulty in understanding what is going on.

Story - 7/10
The story works well as a conclusion to the series. In fact, there is a focus in concluding the conflicts and mysteries left from the first season, like the servants motives and ambitions, which is , at some point, well done, but lets talk about it in the Characters section, because their development is the most positive aspect of the story.
Also, the story brings some debate about themes like idealism, perseverance and regret, most of them aboarded in the Archer/Shirou conflict, which is the best part of the anime.
Nevertheless, in my opinion, the main plot fails in becoming a serious and deep story, ... what was well done in Fate/Zero. I think it happened mostly because the Grail and its importance was put aside until the very end.
That being, the story works well to keep viewers interested in watching the series, in part because of its plot twists, but does not avoid becoming a bit ordinary.

Art - 9/10
What to say about one of the most positive points since season one besides it keeps the stardarts of the Fate series, which is, actually, a good thing.
The art not differs from the previous ones and it helps keeping you in that universe.
The animation is great as always. It is very well coloured and fluid, which makes it very easy and pleasant to watch the anime. Also the fight scenes, one of the best things of season one, continue as awesome as they were.

Sound - 9/10
As the animation, the soundtrack does not go far from the stardart of the fate series, which also helps keeping you in that universe. Also it helps creating the scenary of the epic and sentimental/romantic moments of the series.
About the dubbing, I can say I am very pleased about it. The dubbers know exactly how to empersonater their characters, for example the arrogance of Gilgamesh and the prepotence and anger of Archer are very perseptive through their voices.

Characters - 8/10
The most positive aspect of the second season, that differed it from the first one, is the development of the characters. Most of the remaining servants and masters had their backgrounds explored, some well done and others not that much. We become able to understand a lot about Illyia and her relation with Berserker and about Assassin's lack of purpose. One development that I think it was not well done was Caster's. In some points, attempting to make her seem more than just a villain results in contraditions. Yet, we come to understand why she cares so much about Kuzuki.
About the two protagonist, their relation evolved well, though sometimes it seemed a little bit too forced, due to not enough previous development. Their interations are, nevertheless, one the most pleasant things to accompany in the anime, in my opinion.
Now to the main point: Archer. In the second season he is the best characters by far. We come to understand who he is, what his reasons are, what pain and regrets he has gone through in order to lose and to curse his ideal and in order to become the character we were presented, everything very well done, resulting in an incredible and beliavable backgroud story, which culminates in the best sequence of the anime.

Enjoyment - 9/10
The combination of smooth animation and diverse character development makes it entairtaining to watch this anime. Also, in my opinion, the chemistry between Rin and Shirou and his rivalry with Archer and with Gilgamesh are very pleasant and exciting to accompany.

Overall - 8/10
This series is not the best one in the Fate series. Yet, it maintainsmost of its good aspects, and where it lacks deepeth, it has fun and enjoyability. That said, I think it s a very good anime to watch, although not coming to be a unique one.

This is my first review and I am doing it in order to improve how I judge the anime I watch. Thus, I am sticking to the story/art/sound/character/enjoyment rating, because I think it is a good way to categorize rating.

Story - 9/10
First thing, the story has a great apresentation because it is not presented to the viewers from the start. During the movie, you start to understand what is going on. This is so well done that the story progresses without become complicated, to the point that, by half of the movie, you can completely understant it. This presentation makes you curious about what the ... plot is and unable to leave the screen.
The themes adressed by the movie are very diverse, some are very common and others, not that much. The supperficial theme of the main characters is the common trust and friendship theme, but analysing deeper the story, you get to see more profound themes like, ambition and redemption.
Also, one more thing I would like to say, that made me love the story, is that every screentime given to a characters is important, that being for his development or for the justification of how he will act in future events.

Art - 10/10
The animation was one of te things that led me to watch this movie and I can say I am not one bit disapointed. The animation is perfect. It is very detailed and very fluid, something very evident during the epic fight scenes.
The art is simple yet beautiful. The design of the characters and the ambient, which are very detailed, accomplish the mission of setting you in the Segonku period.

Sound - 10/10
I am not an specialist in dubbing, but it sounded perfect to me. Also the dubbers' voice, in my opinion, matched perfectly with their characters.
Now about the soundtrack, boy, what a soundtrack. It not only set the tone, together with the animation and art, making you feel like you are in the medieval Japan, but it also set the tone for the various moments of the movie, they being moments of epicness or moments of sentiment.

Characters - 10/10
As the story, in the beggining you do not know much about the characters, what gives space to some character developing, and how it is well done. All the main characters, and some of the secundary ones, are presented either with a great and sentimental background or with their own ambitions and objectives, which were so well told that made me care about those characters. Also, with that development, all their actions and their behaviours become very understandable.
One more thing, during the movie, the relation of the two(or should I say three) main characters is so naturally developed and so enjoyable that i could not help it, but to cheer for the victory.

Enjoyment - 10/10
The combination of an animation and art beatiful for the eyes and relations between characters that progress so naturally makes watching the movie a very good experience, but the main reason of its enjoyability are the fight scenes. Those happens in various points of the movie and act to keep you thrilled until the end of the movie, which happens with one of the more gorgeous and epic fight scenes ever.
The fight scenes in the movie are epic , very fluid, very detailed and well choreographed. Like that, any one of them, from the first to the last, pushes you to the edge of excitment.

Overall - 10/10
The combination of the various good aspects of the movies makes it really easy to watch it. Not just that. It actually makes it a truly fantastic experience. That being, in my opinion, this is definitely a must-see.