A Silent Voice (2016) is a compelling romance/coming of age drama. It focuses on a journey of a high school student, Shoya Ishida, who struggles with the guilt of bullying a deaf former classmate, Shoko Nishimiya, in elementary school. The film’s unique perspective on redemption as well as its high quality animation and writing cement it as a classic. 9/10
—SPOILERS BELOW—
Koe No Katachi (A Silent Voice)
Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!
I have to admit I am not a fan of romance in nearly any media. It just happens for better or worse in most storytelling including anime and anime films. For the most part it feels unrealistic or like an attempt to suck me into a story and it just doesn’t do much for me. Koe no Katachi or a A Silent Voice is no exception.
“But you said 9/10! NINE OUT OF TEN!”
I know, I know. The fact is, A Silent Voice provides loads more than simple romance. Along side Shoya’s and Shoko’s love story is a tale of redemption that is presented so well that it left me chewing on the idea long after credits ran.
Redemption: A Redemption Story
Redemption is often almost an afterthought. In anime it can be more of character quirk than a consuming journey wherein our hero becomes a better person. For example, in Tate no Yūsha no Nariagari or The Rising Of The Shield Hero the edgy main character is wronged and condemned by his would be allies. He then spends much of the story being mad and leery of others while covering for the other would be heros’ mistakes that could otherwise doom their world. He is eventually at least partially acknowledged as the initial deception that lead him down this path is revealed.
Now, I do like this show/manga. It’s a pretty fun ride that has good art and an interesting story that works well for an isekai. However, if we are looking at the redemption element there are some weird issues: the main character did not actually do something wrong, he feels no guilt, and as a result, his redemption story is mostly in the hearts and minds of the characters around him which he doesn’t care much for.
I won’t say this is THE formula for redemption in anime but some number of those last three points show up pretty often. The authors work really hard to make it obviously not the MC’s fault and therefore maintain the his/her likability. This is where A Silent Voice shines. We see Shoya’s bullying and even though it is from his perspective we understand that it is his fault. Yes, he was young and got carried away in a dynamic that children can be particularly susceptible to. And yes, he was not corrected at any point before things came to a head. And yes, he also likely didn’t understand how what he was doing affected Shoko. But, but, but! The film makes it clear he was wrong, terribly wrong. We see how Shoko’s mom reacts, how their teacher calls him out, and how Shoya’s mom reacts. These are powerful real reactions to a situation that suddenly force Shoya to come to terms with how he has been acting. I realize now I am just summarizing but it is just that powerful a flashback. This isn’t redemption on a heightened scale of melodrama. It feels so real.
Where does one go from a place of real earned guilt? What does redemption look like?
These are the questions the movie forced me to ask. In a weird not-quite-parallel it got me thinking about things like the Me Too movement and how men who have abused women should move forward. Redemption is not just a movie plot line; it is a part of our lives in big and small ways. A Silent Voice asks, “How do we acknowledge the past and demonstrate growth personally and publicly?” and it only has answers to the former. Shoya is able to, by happenstance, gather and convince everyone he might ever meet including Shoko’s family that he has personally grown. He actively sought to change which means he focused on personal redemption and let public redemption happen or not outside his control. I think the movie has done enough in raising the question. In my experience, this idea has never been raised in such a compelling way. We even have Noaka Ueno who bullied Shoko alongside Shoya but took none of the guilt and comes back years later with out ever really acknowledging her wrongdoing. This is groundbreaking. This is a love story is built on a question of societal importance that has rarely be so carefully considered. This is a 9/10.
9/10 < 10/10
Imagine a story where the main female lead has no agency and is simply a place for the protagonist to direct his goals and actions. That’s not just A Silent Voice, it’s a large chunk of what you’ll see in TV and in theaters. It is especially disappointing here because every other character has that agency. We know what Shoko’s sister and mom think of Shoyo and it feels justified. Shoya’s former friends and new friends have more emotional depth and development than the female lead. When Shoko is being bullied, she tries to befriend her bullies, never expressing sadness and this attitude continues into high school. When she meets Shoyo again she has not come to any new conclusions about how he treated her. By the end of the film her journey’s climax of a suicide attempt feels somewhat random. Her instinct to blame herself isn’t explored and it should have been. Perhaps to some viewers it was a natural reaction but the film makes no effort to explain what she is thinking and feeling. In contrast, side characters get monologues and engage in social dynamics that give us insight into the deeper theme of redemption the movie is digging at. All that is apparent from Shoko’s interactions is that she never blamed Shoyo and that she likes him.
I also have a bone to pick with the plot line of Shoya’s high school friend circle. During most of his redemption arc Shoya is human but when it comes to inadvertently making new friends he is the nicest, bestest person you’ve ever met. This made his whole high school friend group situation a little much for me but I do see what they were going for. If at the end of the movie when he allows himself to see the faces of everyone around him he has no friends to speak of it would be a bit weird. Maybe it is wishful thinking that redemption → maturity → fullfilling social life but I am will to let it go. Actually, I am mostly not bothered by much of this at all as the movie hits the core theme so hard.
Wait, who made this again?
I have to ask because it is just so good. The animation is full of color in a way that many films are not and the style is beautiful. The directing is great; just watching an emotionally drained Shoya walk down a hallway does more than a page of dialogue. Also the writing, did I mention the whole redemption thing? The characters with few exceptions are full, present and work cohesively with the story. Most importantly, the shows rides the line of drama/melodrama perfectly for me. Like I said, if I feel like it is too far from reality I disengage but despite a plot that includes multiple suicide attempts and a full blown love story I never felt this way. One last thing, this is a film that doesn’t treat Shoko’s deafness as a character quirk that requires pity. Shoko for her part is cheerful, communicative and more or less a normal anime high school girl (bullying flashback aside). The rest of the movie doesn’t really treat deafness as a defect which would have been a possible route for an anime movie. Good on you!
It’s Really Good, Trust Me!
How do I even recommend this movie? It is a must watch for most people and as with most of my favorites I can’t think of how to get it out there. Thankfully, it is incredibly popular. But is everyone who should watch it seriously considering it? You don’t have like the romance or school life genres to really enjoy a movie like this with so much meat on its bones. It’s funny, I think movies like Your Name probably got more people successfully recommending it because you can just say it has a good fantasy-ish twist and people will be like “I’ll watch a good twist.” Your Name is also worth a watch, but for my money I’d say A Silent Voice did more and did it better. Don’t @ Me!
-Alchil
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