A Silent Voice

I just rewatched A Silent Voice, and I just have the urge to write a review, so yeah, SPOILERS BELOW. Suicide and Social Anxiety are mentioned in the review.

Shoya Ishida:

Shoya is definitely my favorite character in the movie probably because I kind of relate to him, and many other people may too. The movie starts with him wanting to off himself and his elementary school years soon after. Shoya is portrayed as a mean bully to everyone and himself. He has trouble making friends. He thinks that he doesn't deserve anything good because he's a bully. Unfortunately, many others can relate to this situation, after his elementary years, he continues life in school alone.

Social Anxiety: After Shoya bullied Nishimiya he started getting bullied himself, but for being a bully, not someone "different". After he gets bullied a bunch he starts to believe what everyone else says about him, and that's where his self-confidence comes crashing down. He is scared to talk to anyone because he fears that they will bully him about being a bully himself. The X's on everyone's faces show how Shoya tries to avoid eye contact because he doesn't want to see everyone's faces when they look at him. He also muffles his hearing in some way. He tries to escape his reality by rejecting it and refusing to take any more pain.

Forgiving Himself: Shoya throughout most of the movie thinks of himself as a bully who doesn't deserve happiness, hence why he tried to commit suicide because he thought the world would be better off without him. But then new characters are shown and they show that Shoya isn't as bad as he thinks and they show him that it's okay for him to happy, (Nagatsuka and Nishimiya).

Ending: At the end of the movie at the school festival, he finally realizes that not everyone is judging him or making fun of him. He comes to realize that he shouldn't keep hiding from his fears. Because he hated himself he thought everyone else did too, but when he learned that he wasn't so bad he turned those X's off.

Shouko Nishimiya:

Shouko and Shoya both learn to love themselves as the movie progresses and I think their dynamic was very heartwarming and uplifting at the same time.

Shoya and Shouko: When you look at both their characters they are very very similar. They just couldn't seem to love themselves and constantly apologized for everything they did. However, they both saw the value in one another, they hated themselves but liked each other.

Ending: Just like how Shouko taught Shoya that he was not bad at all, Shoya teaches Shouko that it's okay that she's deaf.

Conclusion: I can confidently say that this is my favorite anime movie ever (tied with EOE). A Silent Voice is very important and can be life-changing, it covers themes like social anxiety, suicide, loving yourself, and friendship.